Ride to Derwent Reservoir

Aviator Cafe

What a great ride! We didn’t get as far as originally planned, so missed out on Snake Pass, but we made it as far as Castleton. Twelve bikes started from Birstall Services, running up to the Aviator Cafe, Darley Moor. Some lovely roads with only one single track - well - track, with serious amounts of grass and very little tarmac. Fortunately it was a very short stretch, otherwise Mike A would have had words!

A quick break at the Aviator Cafe turned into a slightly longer break, with a team effort fixing a puncture as Mike H had managed to pick up a huge bolt in his back tyre. That gave everyone else a chance to finish their cake, or a very good full English!

Onwards up through some beautiful scenery, albeit a bit blowy. The second man drop off system worked really well and we all ended up at the Bird Cafe at around 1pm for a very welcome break for lunch. An assessment of the route led to a rethink and instead of continuing up to the Snake Pass and Glossop before returning, a new route was plotted, back to Donington Services. For a back up route, there was still plenty to enjoy and the whole group was snapped by The Two Wheeled Photographer. The pictures look look great, although hi viz doesn’t really look cool!

We arrived at the services at around 4pm and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who was secretly quite glad we didn’t go to Glossop.

Next ride is at the end of September when Bill leads a group West. Watch out for more details.