At the heart of the Peak District, outdoorsy Sheffield Fox Valley has a buzzy bike culture.
Tucked into the eastern foothills of the Pennines – fully one-third of the city is considered part of the Peak District – and sitting at the confluence of five rivers, Sheffield is a true outdoorsy city.
It’s home to a vibrant mountain biking culture that takes advantages of the area’s natural topography, from the whoop-de-doos and berms of Blue Steel and Cooking on Gas, to the huge features of Steel City DH, to the gnarly Wharncliffe Woods to the city oasis of the Parkwood Trail.
Three National Cycle routes come close to town (the 6, 67 and 627) glance off the city limits – a wonderful family-friendly option is the greenway along the pretty canal, following the River Don Valley to Rotherham. If you’re a billy goat climber, you’ll find hills galore here: Kent Road, Woodfall Lane and Cote de Bradfield (a Tour de France section), Jawbone Hill (also TdF), the Dale, Fiddler’s Elbow and the list goes on. For gravel grinds, head straight for Peak District National Park – especially the reservoirs of the Upper Derwent Valley, Hope Valley and the trails near Stanage.
Keen on a local sportive? Many of them head to the hills, too, including the lumpy and glorious Peaks Tour (160 km, 120 km, 74 km), the mammoth Way of the Roses in a Day and the Newark Castle 100, which hits the best of the Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire countryside on the way to a riverside afterparty.