It had only been a week since my last overnight pedal to parkrun adventure to Sence Valley Forest Park. I couldn’t take another Friday off work, so I decided to get up crazily early on Saturday 25 November to pedal to Monsal trail parkrun.
The Peak District is a regular haunt of mine and I’ve walked and cycled on the Monsal Trail multiple times, but I’d never done the parkrun.
The train to Matlock
I prepared everything the night before and set my alarm for 5am. As soon as it buzzed on Saturday morning I leapt into action. I rode to Beeston Station, a 5-minute ride from my house, to catch the 5.48am train to Matlock. I was the only person on the pitch-black, freezing cold platform.
The train came on time and was also eerily quiet. Thankfully it’s run by East Midlands Railway so I didn’t need a bike reservation.
I arrived at Matlock Station at 7.03am. It was still dark and absolutely freezing.
Pedal from Matlock to Monsal Trail
I hurriedly put on my second pair of gloves and started my ride. I set off on a roadside shared use path and then quickly dropped down onto a path by the railway – part of the new White Peak Loop cycle route.
It was completely flat and nice easy cycling, although the lack of effort didn’t really get the blood pumping and my fingers were already starting to hurt with the cold. I think it was about -3°C at this point.
I passed through the pretty Whitworth Park in Darley Dale. There were a couple of dog walkers beginning to emerge.
I cycled into Rowsley and I knew what was coming next – the one big mega hill of the ride. A couple of years previously, I had completed a 100km hiking event in the Peak District. This hill had appeared around 95km in, so I don’t have the fondest memories of it. This time though I was actually looking forward to it, because I thought it might help me warm up. I dropped into my lowest gear and dug deep.
The view was 100% worth it. The sun was just about to appear over the hills in the distance and I stopped just before the top to take a photo (which doesn’t really do it justice).
Have I mentioned how cold it was? I was almost crying with the pain in my fingers now. I have mild Raynaud’s and my hands were not happy.
Just as I reached the top of the hill the sun broke free and put a big smile on my face.
Cold as I was, it felt such a privilege to be the only person up there witnessing such a beautiful scene.
As I started to make my way down the other side of the hill, I encountered quite a lot of icy puddles. I had to get off and push my bike around a few of them. It would probably have been ok, but it didn’t feel worth the risk.
I cycled through a farm and along a lane, before going under the viaduct carrying the Monsal Trail. The path to the trail was very steep and there were lots of “cyclists dismount” signs.
I joined the Trail and rode a few miles to Hassop Station Cafe, where the parkrun starts.
It had only been 9.4 miles from Matlock, but it had taken a relatively long time and had been quite an experience!
Monsal Trail parkrun
The Monsal Trail is the site of a former railway line that was closed in 1968 as part of Dr Beeching’s “reshaping”. It’s an 8.5-mile traffic-free route which is popular with walkers, cyclists, and horse riders. There are a couple of very impressive tunnels a bit further north of the parkrun route which are worth exploring if you’re visiting and have time afterwards.
As I arrived there were a few volunteers already around getting set up. I asked about the best place to leave my bike and they suggested close to the start/finish. There were already a couple of other bikes already around. I think being a parkrun on a cycle trail, it’s probably more common for people to arrive by bike! There wasn’t really anything to lock to, so I leaned the bike on a bush and locked my wheel to my frame and paused to inspect the ice that had formed on my helmet.
I went to the toilet (there are a couple of portaloos behind the café which you can use before it opens) and reluctantly stripped off some of my layers. I headed back to my bike to drop my bag back off and had a nice chat with the chap who had left his bike next to mine. He lived a couple of miles further down the Trail and cycles to parkrun most Saturdays. It turned out he used to live in Nottingham, not far from where I live now – small world.
The first timers’ briefing explained that although the trail seems flat, it isn’t! It’s an out-and-back course and the first half is gently downhill…so you can guess what the second half is like. We set off and I could really feel the downhill, more than I had noticed the uphill when I’d cycled there a few minutes previously.
My feet felt a bit weird. I think it was because my toes were numb with the cold and the running was starting to bring a bit of life back into them.
I was pretty pleased with my time of 26.17 – on a par with my fastest times this year.
I unlocked my bike and moved it round to the bike racks in front of the café. In hindsight I’m not sure if they were supposed to only be for bikes that belong to the hire centre, but never mind!
I headed inside and as I was standing in the queue I began to shake. I ordered some cake, chocolate, and a cup of tea and sat down. Thankfully there was loads of indoor seating, so I easily found a table.
But I couldn’t stop shivering. To the point where I was struggling to drink my tea because I couldn’t make my hand stay still. It was quite disconcerting. I grabbed all the layers I had in my bag and desperately tried to warm up. It worked to an extent.
I had a quick mooch around the gift shop attached to the café before setting off. I bought myself a new bobble hat which I didn’t really need. It wasn’t to wear on the way home, but I wonder if feeling cold made me more susceptible to buy it, in the same way that you shouldn’t go to the supermarket when you’re hungry…
Pedal back to Matlock
I was pretty keen to get back on the bike. I was going back the same way I’d come so I knew I’d have a nice hill to warm me up quite early on.
Thankfully the sun was now up and shining right on my face. This made for a much more pleasant, and crucially warmer, experience.
I even had a reason to break out the sunnies!
Some of the icy puddles had become muddy puddles, so the ride up from the farm was quite slippery but a lot of fun.
On the way back down the big hill into Rowsley I passed a group of walkers. Just after I flew past them I realised that a member of their party had nipped through a gap in the wall to have a wee. As I zoomed past he must have heard me coming and he looked round in quite a startled manner, which revealed slightly more than I wanted to see! I embarrassedly yelled “Don’t mind me!” as I carried on hurtling down the hill.
I re-traced my tyre tracks back through Rowsley and Darley Dale.
The route passes the Peak Railway centre and some pretty heritage railway features.
This part of the new White Peak Loop is very well signposted and well maintained – I’d definitely recommend checking it out if you’re in the area.
I made it back to Matlock Station with about half an hour to wait. I spent most of this time researching heated gloves online.
The train arrived on time, and I got home without a hitch.
Cycle route
This is a fantastic route to get from Matlock Station to Monsal Trail parkrun and I’d definitely recommend it. It’s less than 10 miles so completely do-able on a Saturday morning as long as you’re prepared to get up early. It’s not suitable for road bikes but I was absolutely fine on my gravel bike.
You can find a link to the Komoot route from my Cycle Routes page.