A couple of weeks back we held one of our favourite Cotic CC rides, the annual Beat the Winter Blues Ride.

Now a firm fixture in our calendar, and one of the best attended owner's rides of the year, the 2024 edition was a great day out on the bikes.

It was also one of the warmest yet. We normally have to fight through snow at least once on this ride, but this year the jackets were taken off pretty much as soon as we left the car park. Assembling at the Traveller's Rest pub just outside Hope in the Peak District, Cy almost had a tear in his eye seeing so many eager Cotic owners chomping to ride.

There was a great mix of bikes from Souls to RocketMAXs, with plenty of familiar faces and some new friends too. We span up the quiet lanes and disused railways to the Ladybower Dam, before beginning the long and technical climb up to Whinstonlee Tor. It starts with a punch; loose and steep, but fairly soon the gradient eases with lots of fun line choice if you want it. Big views are over the reservoirs are well earned, and we had lots of height to loose.

The descent we rode from this point is usually done the other way round as a climb, as it has quite a few gates. With a squad of us Cotic staff on hand though, we dropped in ahead of the group to hold the gates open. It makes for a screaming descent; deep ruts and surprise drop offs in the first section, flat out with tonnes of lines in the middle before techy bedrock sections and a scary flagstones finish. It was awesome!

Next up we cruised round the water's edge and climbed up a steady fire road to a classic Peaks descent, Hagg Berms. Paul and I hadn't clocked that Cy had already dropped in to get the gate part way down, so we dropped in with the intension of doing some gate duty, but got a surprise full run down! It's a trail of two halves as you can rail the corners up top with minimal braking, but the lower section gets seriously loose and scary with the speed you carry in. Despite a loud clang from my rear wheel, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one, we all got down without damage and grinning like idiots.

We then climbed up a fairly steep and sometimes technical bridleway through gorgeous woodland, up to the Hope Cross. At this point the group split, with some riders razzing down the Roman Road back to Hope, and others opting for a lap of The Beast, one of the best descents in the Peak District. It's a classic trail which is great at this time of year as it is mostly on big lumps of grippy gritstone bedrock. It's fast and rough with some great line options. However this did mean we had to climb up again to get home!

Right at the bottom of the climb, local lad Chris's Jeht picked up a huge stick and smashed his mech hanger off. I hung back to assist, with the added benefit of a good rest before the appropriately named Sh*t B*stard climb! A fresh Syntace bolt in there and it was all fixed. With heart rates lowered, we cruised up for the final descent.

Right at the bottom of the climb, local lad Chris's Jeht picked up a huge stick and smashed his mech hanger off. I hung back to assist, with the added benefit of a good rest before the appropriately named Sh*t B*stard climb! A fresh Syntace bolt in there and it was all fixed. With heart rates lowered, we cruised up for the final descent.

It was a bit of a breezy run down the Aston bridleway, but the last section once you're off the open hillside is scary fast, especially with some more well placed Cotic staff to hold those gates open!

Pints and chatter in the pub after a winter ride is always nice, and this year we had the added bonus of not needing to thaw out quite as much.

We're keen to do more Cotic CC things this year, and would love your suggestions for where to host some rides. Pretty much anywhere in the UK is on the cards once spring and summer get going, so please get in touch. Uplift days, short rides, long rides, gravel rides, MTB rides; we're up for it all.

Big thanks to everyone who joined us on the Beat the Blues ride this year, if you like the sound of a day out with us and bunch of other like minded Cotic owners, get in touch to discuss your new Cotic.

Remember, if you own a Cotic, you're in the club.