Bikepacking the Pennine Bridleway

2020 is looking like the year of roaming home. With restrictions being gradually lifted, multi-day bicycle trips are back on the agenda – first up, bikepacking the Pennine Bridleway.

Amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic this summer, I’m swapping a ‘round the world bike tour’ for a summer of UK exploration – it’s a good thing the UK is an awesome place to ride bicycles! I’ll be spending my summer roaming home & exploring some UK based bikepacking routes, swapping the Pamir Highway for the Pennine Bridleway.

The Pennine Bridleway is a 185-mile route which traverses the backbone of England along the Pennines, from the southern Peak District to the North Yorkshire Dales. Being a bridleway, its mostly off road & traffic free. However, the route is far from smooth – it crosses just about every surface type imaginable, from boggy fields & muddy singletrack to the smoothest gravel & quiet back lanes.

I’ve ridden quite a few sections previously around the Yorkshire Dales & Hebden Bridge, however I figured bikepacking the Pennine Bridleway in its entirety would make an awesome 4-day adventure. Nothing quite beats the simplicity of unplugging from the world, packing up some kit & living in the moment, where the only thing that matters is riding your bike, what to eat & where to sleep each day.

My younger brother & I cycled the route from south to north, over 4 days. Ambitious & challenging, but achievable given the long summer daylight hours. Starting in Wirksworth – nicknamed ‘the gem of the Peak District’ – on a damp & drizzly evening, we pitched up at the Peak View campsite on the edge of town with a chippy tea to carb load. Funnily enough, we had no views of the Peak District.

The Peak District is a place I never visit, often favouring the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales for my two wheeled adventures. The route begins on the High Peak trail & works its way up past Chapel-en-le-Frith and gradually into the Peak District. Day 1 was a wet day, on fast rolling gravel, occasional (very) muddy & horse-shit-strewn-singletrack. It was fun, kinda.

We rode all day, figuring there wasn’t much point stopping to enjoy the scenery on a day like this – eventually calling it a day somewhere near Tintwistle. Sticking the tent up in the corner of a field, hidden from view by trees, but unfortunately a spot also selected by a ferocious swarm of Midgies! (Wildcamping is illegal in the UK – I won’t share my exact camp locations in this blog or encourage such behaviour… perhaps the midges were our karma!)  

Bikepacking the Pennine Bridleway allowed an opportunity to explore a new area in the Peak District – I’d been excited about this for a while. The trails were fantastic, varied terrain with lots of climbing and incredible descents – just a shame the weather didn’t play ball. I guess it’s just an excuse to come back another day!

We left the Peaks & headed north on day 2, rolling towards Hebden Bridge, I spent much of the day contemplating my set up. It was perfect for the most part; however panniers generally aren’t associated with off road bikepacking!

As the saying goes, nothing is a stupid idea if it works – but the infernal rattling & compromised handling was a little finicky on certain parts of the route… i.e. the chunky gravel descents & trying to dodge horse-shit-strewn-singletrack! There was method in the madness, with the varied weather forecast we decided on a tent over a tarp & figured it would be easier to carry a stove/pan set as opposed to trying to do everything via jetboil. My brother had it somewhat easier with his more traditional bikepacking set up – I was left with no choice but to run panniers!

Day 2 saw us move from the Peak District further north onto familiar territory in Hebden Bridge, aided somewhat by a gusty tail wind. Progress was fast, although we knew things would get a little tougher in the form of steeper terrain around Hebden. The bridleway snakes its way around the moors and reservoirs past Todmorden & Hebden, offering views back home towards the Ribble Valley & north towards our destination; the Yorkshire Dales.

The problem with the East Lancashire section is finding a wild camp spot. You either take your chances up high & out of sight, or try to find a quiet spot down low. You’re never far from a road or village, so discretion in a 2-berth tent is all but impossible really. Luckily we stumbled across a local farmer & caravan site owner who very kindly offered us some flat grass in the field behind his house for the night. Its times like this, after a tough day, that you really appreciate the simplicity of somewhere flat & sheltered to bed down & a warm evening meal – it’s an instant mood lifter & such an underrated part of any bikepacking trip!

Back to the trail on day 3 of bikepacking the Pennine Bridleway – it was a slog to the Dales & possibly the most uninteresting day. The route crosses many fields & bushwacks along many overgrown road side ‘cycle paths’. We stuck to the road in some places where it seemed pointless to trudge across fields & avoid the frustration of unnecessarily slow progress. Perseverance was key, as were snack’s. Goodness only knows how many snacks we consumed on this trip!

Evening came around & brought with it some much anticipated sunshine as we rolled into the Yorkshire Dales. I’m a huge fan of the Yorkshire Dales, as a cycling location its arguably one of the best gravel havens in the UK. From Settle we knew the route towards Clapham & further north would be fairly plain sailing, by no means easy, but the end & the best trails were in sight. To end the day on an even higher note, it was pizza for tea & an amazing camp spot in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.

This is what I love about bikepacking, freedom & exploration – the satisfaction only travelling under your own steam & being self-sufficient can bring.

Sunday, our final day bikepacking the Pennine Bridleway was perfect. The sun shone all day, the trails rode so well, our packs were light & plenty of other riders out to wave to. With views of the famous Yorkshire Peaks, we followed the trail north on one final push – cycling across limestone & grassy fields, quaint back lanes & lovely smooth gravel.

The route ends with one final hike-a-bike up from Garsdale head. From there the moors open up revealing a spectacular valley with our end destination nestled below. It was all downhill from here – and it was a fast downhill! With smiles on our faces, we raced down with wind rushing through our t-shirts, hopping all the drainage ditches – punctures this late on wouldn’t have been fun!

We hi-fived upon arrival in Kirkby Stephen, we had completed the Pennine Bridleway! All that remained was to find a pub, drink some beer & work on evening out those cycling tan lines!