The details of one of Britains best – but (thankfully) under hyped – weekend events, the 2001 Offroad Tour of the Peak District are finally out. The weekend event – not race – prides itself on excellent riding and a diverse range of people all out to have a good laugh and ride big hills. It’s organised by the local mountain bike club, NATS, who make sure all routes are recce’d beforehand and organise “marshal points loaded up with water, home-made cakes from the Women’s Institute and, if you’re lucky, sun cream if you’ve forgotten your own (we generally do quite well for sunshine on the NATS-ORTP!) There is also Red Cross first aid backup (Land Rover ambulance etc.), a support van to collect broken bikes etc. and full radio coverage between the checkpoints and the event control unit”. To cover all this there’san entry fee of around £16, with any money left over going to good causes.

The Saturday route is typically around 35 miles, with a slightly shorter easier route on the Sunday, but given the mileage and nature of the peak district terrain it’s not a weekend for beginners.

This years event is on the weekend of 12th – 13th May and you can get more info from their website. But be quick checking your diaries as entries are limited to 300 riders and it fills up fast. We’ll hopefully see you there.