1. Sunday 26th JANUARY

route: Luddenden Valley

options: 35km / 56km / 74km

Event hub: Cycle Gear, Halifax

highlights:

1. Over the only mountain col in West Yorkshire

2. Climb the longest continuous bridleway in Calderdale

3. Enjoy the bridleway through Castle Carr gatehouse in Luddenden Valley, a unique place with no through road

4. Zip along four quality gravel tracks that we link together below Midgley Moor

5. Cross over the packhorse bridge at the head of Crimsworth Dean

6. Climb up to the ‘House of Muck’ with a long descent into Hardcastle Crags and onto Hebden Bridge

7. Take in delicious moorland singletrack between Manshead and Crow Hill (on the ‘black’ route)

8. Return to the finish line at Cycle Gear (to enjoy hot homemade soup and bread rolls) via the traffic free canal towpath

2. Sunday 23rd FEBRUARY

route: forest of rossendale

Options: 32km / 56km / 72km

Event Hub: Blazing Saddles, Hebden Bridge

highlights:

1. Bridleway up through one of the most beautiful valleys in West Yorkshire: Colden Clough

2. Stunning views from Widdop Rocks

3. Thrilling descent down one of the longest continuous bridleways in the north of England

4. Tough climb (probably hike a bike) up to the monument to Mary Towneley, the driving force behind the Pennine Bridleway

5. Explore little know gravel tracks above Waterfoot in the South Pennines

6. Climb up Todmorden Ghost Road (its a broken tarmac single track lane, not a haunted lane which would be daft)

7. Descend 225 meters in one long swoop down to the floor of the Calder Valley

8. Return to the finish line at Blazing Saddles (to enjoy hot homemade soup and bread rolls) via the traffic free canal towpath

Sunday 30th March

route: silkstone beck

options: 54km / 90km / 100km

Event hub: marsh farm, shepley

There is free car and van parking all day at the farm and a large barn to register in and have tea / coffee / cake at the start and hot home made soup with bread rolls at the finish line. The farm has basic facilities eg a single water tap so we hire in portable toilets.

highlights:

1. Gravel track onto Gate Foot ridge with wide views across the Holme Valley

2. Track across the head of Winscar Reservoir

3. Pick up the Trans Pennine Trail at Dunsford Bridge where the River Don begins its long journey

4. Fast flowing superb quality traffic free trail to Penistone

5. Waggonway Trail north of Silkstone

6. Pass the Husker Pit Disaster Memorial to the 26 children who drowned in 1838 when the pit flooded

7. Onto Elsecar Canal towpath and the Heritage Centre

8. The long route takes riders onto Plank Gate in Wharncliffe Woods

Tickets for 2025: £5 for 13-16 years old /

£10 for 16-25 year olds /

£20 everyone else

FAQ’s

Is this a race?

The Mills n Moors Series is a personal challenge. It is not a race, there is no ‘mass start’ and your time out on the trail is not recorded.

what kit should i carry:

Wear a helmet that complies with the latest EN1078, ANSI Z90/4 or SNELL standards.

Waterproof clothes including full length trousers and jacket.

Warm layers for changing into stored in a dry bag.

Snacks and water.

Front and rear lights.

Puncture repair kits, spare inner tubes and trail side tools such as tyre levers.

What type of bike can I enter with?

You can enter with the following bike types: Gravel bike / Cyclocross bike / Mountain bike / E-bike. The terrain is not suitable for road bikes.  Your gravel bike should have a minimum of 40mm tyres. On each of the events all of the routes have been ridden on a gravel bike with 43mm Gravel King tyres and a hardtail mtb with 2.3 Mezcal tyres.

How accurate are the GPX files?

This is an important question to answer. Overall it takes 3 to 4 months for an event to evolve from the initial idea into the three gpx route files that riders get to enjoy on Event Day and over this time there are several ways I ensure that the GPX files are highly accurate and that riders will have a day to remember.

The routes are not ‘drawn from an OS map’ and or copied from an existing route on Komoot or Ride with GPS. They are tried and tested routes ridden over 30 years of living in West Yorkshire.

Each route evolves from an idea and built around three or four tracks that I know are rewarding to ride (either uphill or preferably downhill!). With a specific place in mind e.g. Luddenden Valley, I then go out and over several rides explore tracks and lanes that grow into the three route options that are put put with every event.

Once the GPX files are made I then ride the length of the ‘red’ and ‘black’ routes to make sure the route goes where I expect it to. This often throws up errors I have made in translating the paper map route onto the gpx file at ‘Ride with GPS’.

Recently I learned how to overlay the three routes and this also helps pinpoint places where the routes diverge and so helps me spot errors and when published gives riders a useful overview of the difference in the three routes.

Are the routes signposted?

There are no route signs for these rides out on the moors and valleys so you must be able to follow a ‘Ride with GPS’ gpx on your own Garmin or other navigation device. The gpx file for each ride will be sent to your email a week before the event.

What are the trails like?

The trail surfaces include cobbles, grass, gravel that is compact, gravel that is loose, gravel that is smooth, gravel full of potholes, concrete track ways, stone slabs and tarmac. We use public rights of way to ride along the valley floor, up through the wooded valley slopes and out across the wide open spaces of the Pennine moors. Whilst 90% of the trail are in good condition there will be mud, puddles, steep sections of trail where you might have to push your bike (‘hike-a-bike’), stream crossings and of course ruts / rocks as it's the north of England. 

What happens if I breakdown on a remote moor and I can’t fix my bike?

We know riders will bring their ‘best bike’ to the event and will have given it a proper check over in the weeks running up to the event but the event is self-supported which means there is NO breakdown vehicle or mechanic. You have to get yourself back to the start line