RIBER

MATLOCK

The road up to Riber Castle out of Matlock is a legendary challenge. It starts climbing from where you turn off the A615, just enough to get the heart thumping and the legs burning. This prelude to the main event flattens for 100 metres, and then, off to the left, there it is – Riber Road – arcing off the main road like a chute, beginning with an insanely steep 1-in-4 left-hander. There’s nothing for it but to build some speed, keep wide to the right, hope there’s no traffic, and attack the first of five punishing bends. It is merciless all the way, lessening to at best 1-in-6. The second bend sweeps hard right and then left to a double hairpin; the third bend arcs left; the fourth – steeper still – takes you into an impossibly brutal section, its rough, steep surface doing all it can to bring you to a halt. But the end is now in sight in the form of the fifth and final bend, veering left at 1-in-5 to finish at the crown of the road.