Calder Divide Trail

[Karl]

Just seen this which looks interesting. 150 mile, 80% off road. £45, fundraising for Overgate Hospice.

https://www.calderdividetrail.co.uk/

[redefined_cycles]

Nice find that Karl. I love Overgate and the rest of the hospices for the amazing work they do. I'm in

[Shewie]

Hmmm, I could be up for a bit of that

[Bearbonesnorm]

I've just been talking to Adrian about this and I'm sure he'll be along shortly with more details.

[Holgateeng]

That looks good and on my doorstep

[ton]

that would be a good tough ride, and i wouldnt need a map.

i may partake.

[woodsmith]

deleted

[outonmybike]

Morning folks

Good to see the buzz around a new bikepacking route and event. Its basically a mini Bear Bones 200. But in West Yorkshire. After doing the BB 200 in October last year, I came home and thought I could put together something like that and benefit Overgate Hospice. I choose the hospice as a riding buddy - Will Norman - died of cancer last year and his last few days were at the hospice.

Just one thing, its called the Calder Divide Trail as it traces the watershed of the River Calder from Todmorden through Hebden Bridge and onto Castleford. But it doesn't go on the boring roads its along the wooded valleys and across the big moors.

To be technical 'Calderdale' is the name of the borough council and the River Calder flows through three local borough Council areas - Calderdale, Kirkless and Wakefield. Add in Bradford and Leeds council and you have West Yorkshire.

Cheers
Adrian Wright

www.calderdividetrail.org.uk

[outonmybike]

There's a Facebook page with a background story, news and pictures of ace bike trails on the CDT.

And a picture of our logo which I'd post on here but can't work out how to put an image on the forum!

Calder Divide Trail

[ton]

gonna ride this as soon as the weather dries up. and make a donation to the hospice. good work with the route.

[thenorthwind]

Interesting route. Will bear the group start in mind, it would be nice to meet up with some of you locals.

Good to see the name "divide" being used in its true geographical sense, rather than a trendy name for "route"

[whitestone]

Could well be up for that. Looks like there's bits around Holmfirth to Marsden shared with Shaf's North Peak 100 loop.

Suggestion: could you add "Follow the Country Code" to the list of rules

There's a sticky thread on how to add photos to posts - basically the image has to be publicly hosted, i.e. not on your phone or computer.

[Karl]

Hi Adrian,

I've changed the thread title to reflect the correct name. Apologies for that. Great to see a new route popping up. I can't make the ride weekend but I'm keen to try it out. Will make a donation before I head out to try it.

[outonmybike]

the north wind: "Good to see the name "divide" being used in its true geographical sense, rather than a trendy name for "route"" -

I agree. Its my opinion that a route should reflect its true nature, purpose or 'spirit'. The BB 200, the King Alfred Way and the Hebridean Way do reflect their purpose and a host of other long distance bikepacking routes do but many others are just marketing ploys. Ill not write a list of them as its just my opinion. Using the word 'divide' when a route doesn't cross a divide or, perhaps worse, when a route crosses several different ecological and cultural divides but doesn't recognise their diversity and instead labels them with a bland title only encourages a superficial attitude to the land and the living things that sustains us. A bit heavy i know but if we are trying to reach a better understanding of our nature its good to start with the right title. So yes the Calder Divide Trail most definitely follows the high contours of the River Calder's watershed. Mind you no ones perfect cos the 150 challenge will take riders through Hebden Bridge and that's a big diversion from the watershed!! (see one of our partners/sponsors)

whitestone: good suggestion, I will add 'follow the country code'.

Karl - thanks for changing the name.

[Johnallan]

Looks good to me and for a very good cause!

Mostly very familiar trails as I'm placed somewhere in the middle of the circuit, within striking distance of the Overgate hospice in Elland. Although some of the flatter stuff east of Dewsbury will be new for me.

I'd like to make the mass start but it's a bit too far in the future to commit just yet.

Cheers for sorting it out

[Cheeky Monkey]

I agree. Its my opinion that a route should reflect its true nature, purpose or 'spirit'. The BB 200, the King Alfred Way and the Hebridean Way do reflect their purpose and a host of other long distance bikepacking routes do but many others are just marketing ploys. Ill not write a list of them as its just my opinion. Using the word 'divide' when a route doesn't cross a divide or, perhaps worse, when a route crosses several different ecological and cultural divides but doesn't recognise their diversity and instead labels them with a bland title only encourages a superficial attitude to the land and the living things that sustains us. A bit heavy i know but if we are trying to reach a better understanding of our nature its good to start with the right title. So yes the Calder Divide Trail most definitely follows the high contours of the River Calder's watershed. Mind you no ones perfect cos the 150 challenge will take riders through Hebden Bridge and that's a big diversion from the watershed!! (see one of our partners/sponsors).

Laudable attitude

[GregMay]

Happy to provide some brews and "encouragement" for people passing through my local. May even ride....

[thenorthwind]

I agree. Its my opinion that a route should reflect its true nature, purpose or 'spirit'. The BB 200, the King Alfred Way and the Hebridean Way do reflect their purpose and a host of other long distance bikepacking routes do but many others are just marketing ploys. Ill not write a list of them as its just my opinion. Using the word 'divide' when a route doesn't cross a divide or, perhaps worse, when a route crosses several different ecological and cultural divides but doesn't recognise their diversity and instead labels them with a bland title only encourages a superficial attitude to the land and the living things that sustains us. A bit heavy i know but if we are trying to reach a better understanding of our nature its good to start with the right title. So yes the Calder Divide Trail most definitely follows the high contours of the River Calder's watershed. Mind you no ones perfect cos the 150 challenge will take riders through Hebden Bridge and that's a big diversion from the watershed!! (see one of our partners/sponsors).

Laudable attitude

Agreed. I suspect many on here will share your attitude too Adrian

[woodsmith]

: "Good to see the name "divide" being used in its true geographical sense, rather than a trendy name for "route"" -

I agree. Its my opinion that a route should reflect its true nature, purpose or 'spirit'. The BB 200, the King Alfred Way and the Hebridean Way do reflect their purpose and a host of other long distance bikepacking routes do but many others are just marketing ploys. Ill not write a list of them as its just my opinion. Using the word 'divide' when a route doesn't cross a divide or, perhaps worse, when a route crosses several different ecological and cultural divides but doesn't recognise their diversity and instead labels them with a bland title only encourages a superficial attitude to the land and the living things that sustains us. A bit heavy i know but if we are trying to reach a better understanding of our nature its good to start with the right title. So yes the Calder Divide Trail most definitely follows the high contours of the River Calder's watershed. Mind you no ones perfect cos the 150 challenge will take riders through Hebden Bridge and that's a big diversion from the watershed!! (see one of our partners/sponsors)

Agreed. When I see the word " Divide " tacked onto a route , too often its just lazy and unimaginative marketing.

[whitestone]

: "Good to see the name "divide" being used in its true geographical sense, rather than a trendy name for "route"" -

I agree. Its my opinion that a route should reflect its true nature, purpose or 'spirit'. The BB 200, the King Alfred Way and the Hebridean Way do reflect their purpose and a host of other long distance bikepacking routes do but many others are just marketing ploys. Ill not write a list of them as its just my opinion. Using the word 'divide' when a route doesn't cross a divide or, perhaps worse, when a route crosses several different ecological and cultural divides but doesn't recognise their diversity and instead labels them with a bland title only encourages a superficial attitude to the land and the living things that sustains us. A bit heavy i know but if we are trying to reach a better understanding of our nature its good to start with the right title. So yes the Calder Divide Trail most definitely follows the high contours of the River Calder's watershed. Mind you no ones perfect cos the 150 challenge will take riders through Hebden Bridge and that's a big diversion from the watershed!! (see one of our partners/sponsors)

Agreed. When I see the word " Divide " tacked onto a route , too often its just lazy and unimaginative marketing.

'tis why I did the Aire "Watershed" last year.

[Chew]

I saw this pop up elsewhere, so thought i'd pop over and have a look.

First question would be, have you ridden this route yet?


Theres certain places I wouldnt be sending people, either due to access/ground conditions/conflict with other trail users.
Theres quite a few places where a gravel bike would be a non-starter
Footpaths....
Some of the legal stuff you've attempted to sidestep

Fairplay for raising some cash for an extremely good cause, but be aware of the hassle you could be getting yourself into.
'mates events' you can just run under the radar, but once you start to publicise it to the masses there are 101 things to consider.

[ton]

when i plotted the route onto my os maps, i did notice a fair bit of footpath. and a couple of bit where there is nothing on the ground or map.

[woodsmith]

Just had a quick look at some of the route and it uses a fair bit of footpath. If people want to devise routes for their own use that use footpaths then thats down to them but to publish a route and organise an event on it, regardless of how worthy the charity, is in my oppinion uterlly irresponsable.

[Lazarus]

Agreed cheeky use cannot be publicised and certainly not used for a well publicised event.Sending hundreds down footpaths on the same day is just asking for problems and complaints IMHO

[whitestone]

From what I can see, most of the footpath/non-bike permitted sections are around Todmorden and Hebden Bridge. There's already friction between cyclists and other RoW users in those areas so not the best place to be doing it. What's bizarre is that sometimes a legal, and IME rideable, section of BW has been avoided to follow a footpath, didn't use Komoot to plot it did you? That S/W has a habit of doing weird things. Of course it doesn't help when you get the "Bridleway ending in the middle of nowhere scenario".

Examples: At http://streetmap.co.uk/map?X=393288&Y=425975&A=Y&Z=115 the route goes to the S of Whirlaw Stones then uses a footpath to continue but there's a BW leading directly to the same point.
At http://streetmap.co.uk/map?X=401516&Y=428873&A=Y&Z=120 the route turns S on footpaths and tracks whereas the BW continues due E and is rideable all the way to the road. Actually, better is to go *up* the main road above Pecket Well and take the BW over High Brown Knoll which leads to the same place.

It would be a good idea to ride these sections and make sure they are both rideable/suitable and legal then adjust the published route.