Peak District Gravel Epic

Here it is, one of Glorious Gravel's biggest rides of the year. 136km taking in huge sections of the mighty Peak District.

Starting in Buxton, head onto the Monsal trail for a quick start to the day – a chance to find a group and smash out easy miles. you then split from the other routes and go north up a tough gravel climb to Eyam and a road climb to Hathersage. After a quick feed stop you hit the gravel to Redmires Resevoirs and then head back south over wild moorland before a fast road descent all the way past Chatsworth House and meeting the other routes again. There is one punchy climb at 73km but eventually you join the High Peak and Tissington trails for the last 50km which is mostly flat or rolling.

It’s an absolutely epic day out with varied and glorious scenery throughout. The main challenge (apart from the distance) is the really punchy 40km to the north of the route. It comes early in the ride (just after 15km of quick riding on the Monsal trail) so legs will be fresh but it packs in almost 1000m of elevation in those 40km so the epic route is not to be underestimated.

One of the fastest 100km rides in the country. This route takes in a flat start on the Monsal Trail, then heads south on some lovely local gravel before hitting the High Peak and Tissington trails.

You can choose to switch to the Epic or short route on the day but this is a really lovely century ride most cyclists can do with some training.

A really nice short route taking in a mix of back roads and two long gravel sections. The route follows the long route for the first 30km to the feed stop and then chops out the bottom half, finishing on some nice gravel back to Buxton.