Ashbourne Limestone Plateau Loop

A loop north from a handsome market town onto the White Peak plateau, with its pale drystone walls, small fields and wide skies, then across two quiet river valleys and out to the edge of the Staffordshire Moorlands before turning for home.

The first ten miles are a broad, fast main road, so this is a ride of long gradual gradients rather than tight bends. The B-roads in the middle are the best of it, village to village with good views and little traffic, and the return is open and quick. It is an easy ride with no single-track, and it is at its best on a dry, bright day from spring to autumn.