It’s been almost five years since Sheffield Ski village was burned to the ground. While a little rough around the edges and certainly a little past its prime, it still provided a haven for Sheffield’s snow sports lovers, not to mention providing a testing ground for a few Olympians in the process too. Flying somewhere under the radar was the plans to development mountain biking on the site too (with the hope that it would compliment the XC loop being built at Parkwood) (more…)
Another year has flown by, Ride Sheffield is now six years old, Lady Cannings is one and a bit, RADmires is well on the way to being built, lots of meetings have been attended and mountain biking is even more established as a key part of this Outdoor City.
It also means that it is time for our winter social! So on Monday the 21st of November we will be meeting in The Holt, which is a great new venue in town. For the past couple of years we have been a bit squashed in the Lescar, so we thought it was good to give people a bit more breathing space, it also means we can have a better format, making it a bit easier for you to talk to us and let us know what direction you want us to be going in for the coming year as well as having more time to talk amongst yourselves. (more…)
While we have know about the planned felling works in Lady Cannings for a while, we have only just received info on when this is going to be.
The trail will be closed from Monday 24th October for approximately a month
Once there work has been done, Bike Track will be in straight away to carry our reinstatement works on any part of the track that is impacted on by the felling (we expect a couple of crossings of the trail but have been promised that it will be kept to a minimum) (more…)
2 years ago, Derbyshire County Council began surfacing works on a trail at Rushup Edge (DCC call this Chapel-en-le-Frith Byway), which were not well accepted by user groups and the local community – mountain bikers included! Works were paused and we’ve not really heard much since. Until now!
The folks at Peak District MTB have been steadily plugging away, pushing Derbyshire County Council for proper consultation and it now seems that their efforts may well have been worthwhile! DCC have recently posted on their website with some updated plans and a link to an online survey as consultation. (more…)
Time flies when you are having fun, especially when that fun is beautifully flowing singletrack that is on your doorstep. Growing from a fledgling project that was actually discussed at the very first Ride Sheffield Meeting six years ago, it is now part of the fabric of the city and one of the most used trails in the area!
With almost 14,000 runs down it recorded on Strava, this really only tells part of the story, firstly because that is only one app and a lot of people do not use any form of tracking app at all, so my statistician friends will be able to give me a much higher estimate. But really its not the numbers that are important, its how people feel about the trail and how it has impacted on their riding. Its great that it has provided an access point for more people into the sport, that it offers a place to progress your riding before heading further out into the Peak or into Greno or Wharncliffe. That it has taught us that a little flow in our lives is a great supplement to our gritstone diet. Some of the best things that we have seen up there have been the number of families and kids up on the trail. We have even heard of a few kids using the trail for their birthday parties (which is an improvement on bowling!) Sure we have had a couple of little teething problems, but in general it has been a great first year. (more…)
The Nutcracker team have been bringing their excellent brand of xc racing to Parkwood Springs for the past 3 years; and their forth visit is just round the corner, next Sunday the 26th of June
it is an excellent race series, with the organisers managing the difficult task of making races that are fun and entertaining for all racers, pleasing beginners and elite athletes alike.
If you haven’t raced before, its a great change to give it a try in a familiar place and on a fun course, if not chances are you will know someone racing so why not come along and encourage/heckle them around the course (it is particularly spectator friendly, with good access points meaning you can see a lot of different spots per lap) (more…)
This month for our trail day we will be teaming up with Sheffield Wildlife Trust to help with some of their work on Blacka.
We may also have a couple of impromptu evening trails sessions, which we will post up on the Facebook.
Full details below….
The next volunteer work day is on Saturday 4th June and we will be installing some of the new Finger and Waymarker posts and carrying out some maintenance work on the cross drains on the Bridleway going down to Strawberry Lee Lane car park.
We will bring gloves, tools and refreshments as usual but please remember to wear rough clothes, sturdy footwear and bring waterproofs, sun cream, lunch and water. I’ve haven’t spotted any midges yet but you might want to bring some repellent just in case.
I will be running the session so please can you meet me at in the usual place, Stony Ridge Car Park car park (SK 29581 80251) at 10am. Please ring me on 07964745451 if you arrive after 10am and need to find me.
Thanks Hannah
Please not that we will not be providing lunch for this one. But please email us if you attend so we can update the incentive scheme, as a lot of people have been to quite a few days so far!
You may have been thinking that you have missed your chance to race at Peaty’s Steel City DH for another year. With some categories oversubscribed by four times the amount of places that were available you would be pretty lucky to get into the event. But this year we are able to offer three people the chance to get a place in the race after the ballot. (more…)
Its been a tough first year for Blue Steel, Lady Canning’s first trail. After a cracking start of warm summer nights and multiple laps in a lush (and midge filled wood) followed by crisp and dry night laps, or as a nice dry option as the winter crept onwards. Or even just a chance to find (and refine) your flow.
But after being hit by trees felled in the wrong direction, the trail opened for another month before the onslaught of the wettest winter on record, that raised the water table to a level where we ended up with a couple of springs in the trail, meaning that we had to ultimately close it to preserve the trail and for rider safety. (more…)
Last Friday on a beautifully sunny lunch break, we took a trip up to Lady Cannings for a quick catch up with Bike Track and Jon Dallow.
The first bit of business was to look at the existing track and to see how it was doing. You’ll be please to know that the majority of the track was looking pretty fine in the winter sun. However the handful of spots that had springs in were still a little soft, but an improvement on last week and after a dry few day should be even better now. As well as quick wander of the trail, Bike Track walked us through the new start, which looks great (the newly vented woods might even be a bit easier on the midges in the summer too!) (more…)