THE GRUFF
Our good friends at Alpkit Hathersage support The Gruff, our adventure ‘gravel’ ride and there is NO LIMIT to entries. You’re welcome to turn up On The Day and bung us your entry fee – there will be a complimentary barista coffee, chouice of breakfast options, post ride curry or pizza plus beer and a lot of type 2 fun.
There are 4 route options based on a roughly 68 km MID and an 88 km LONG. You can mix and match the route files to suit the weather, your fitness or your mood 😉 This year we are starting along our beautiful gritstone edges for a truly epic Grindleford start 
NOTE: The 2026 Route details only will be posted on our Strava Club Event page – Route Files will be available 7 days beforehand.
This is a Charity event so please DO enter online and help us share the love.
For the other 364 days of the year, DM us and we’ll happily share all our routes for anyone to ride 
This is our ninth Gruff year and we have sought permission to use one of the areas greatest examples of permissive bridleway – the four gritstone edges that make our bit of the Derwent Valley so unique.
We will have re-tested every metre of the ride before the event. 4 route files will be available on The Goat Strava Club for you to ‘mix and match’; you can switch as you like on the day. Consider your tyre choices with the weather in mind. It has all been tested on a gravel bike with 35s although 40+ / 650B wheels / hardtail MTB will add comfort if not speed! Throughout the route there are several quality coffee, cake, butty and pub stops if required. Stay safe, hydrate and please share photos and feedback!
We hope everyone will appreciate the choices we have made, with some challenging but rewarding riding our priority. If you have ridden the Gruff before, you will recognise many sections; as always we have introduced variations to ‘peak’ your interest, a few tweaks to improve the flow and given you the choice between a steady or a BIG finish.
We believe in a relaxed start where you register and go in your own time, maybe after a breakfast and complimentary barista coffee/tea. This allows us to stretch out the riders and keep the tracks and trails free for you and your mates to enjoy. It’s still not a race!
Our good friends along the valley at Alpkit Hathersage and Eric of The Cycle Shed and Gravel Bikes UK are providing mechanical support at the Event Centre, plus spot prizes for a couple of the Gruff ‘Strava Segments’.
Previous Gruff editions were forays into the Dark Peak, often over tough, off-road tracks shared with our MTB community. After feedback, we turned our focus to the White Peak and the green lanes, quarry tracks and trails, drove roads and bridleways that suit the gravel riding we love.
Last year’s loops emphasised the gravel tracks and trails we have in abundance in the South Peak and were very well received, described as the ‘Strada Bianche’ of the Derbyshire Dales. Take all the time you need, enjoy the views and the flow.
FAQs, advice on terrain, food and drink stops, equipment and conditions will be updated via email on Thursday before the event. All participants can register from 8.30 a.m. and are free to set off individually or in small groups in your own time. If you are Old School Audax, you’ll bring your own OS Map for your back pocket…
