To officially launch the twelve month trial of a brand new permissive cycleway at the Roaches, we’ll be up at Roach End on Sunday March 24th from 9am. Come along and say hi. We’ll be here.
The High Forest footpath is a continuation of the main Roaches ridgeline, passing above Gradbach Woods then heading downhill in the direction of Swythamley. It’s broad doubletrack with fantastic views, before forking left into a lovely piece of satisfying singletrack that joins the rocky permissive bridleway to Gradbach Woods. Or you can do it as a climb of course!
We’ll be up at Roach End to tell people about the new cycleway, the routes that can now be created using this new trail and our trail maintenance on the estate.
Not just for Mountain Bikers
This is not just for mountain bikers though. A hugely important part of this event is to do our bit for mountain bike advocacy. We want other users of these trails to realise that, yes, mountain bikers would like more places to ride, but we’re also a sensible lot who want to give something back, ride responsibly and of course to “Be Nice, Say Hi”.
Ensuring we’re engaged with other users of the Roaches Estate is an important part of the twelve month trial of this new permissive cycleway. We’re happy to listen to and hopefully allay concerns, and to encourage more people to “have a go”. If you’ve never mountain biked before, or just have some questions about mountain biking on the Roaches Estate and throughout the Peak District, please come and talk to us.
Jaime from True North Adventures will also be on hand to talk about the local guiding and hire that’s available in the area.
Will we have snow?
We tried to do this earlier in the year, but the snow meant a last-minute cancellation. Hopefully we won’t have snow on March 24th, but if weather conditions are bad we may reschedule, so keep an eye out on Facebook and Twitter for updates. Otherwise we’ll be there from 9am – 1pm. There’s parking nearby, or you can park a mile or so down the road near the main Roaches parking area if you plan on cycling up. Bear in mind there is no cycle access from Swythamley past Paddock Farm.
Hope to see you there. Don’t forget we’re always after volunteers for trail maintenance every month at the Roaches. If you want to get involved or have any questions contact Dan via email.
Thanks
A version of this article was originally published 27th January 2019
