With a quick scoot around Derby you are soon heading out onto the A52 for approximately 11.5 miles (18.5km) where you arrive at your first stop of Ashbourne. Also known as 'The Gateway to Dovedale' with more than 200 listed buildings, it was once the birth place of Catherine Booth (née Mumford, 17 January 1829 – 4 October 1890) along with her husband William Booth where the co-founder of The Salvation Army, a Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organization whose beliefs are aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement (They tend to see people more as image bearers than as representing a doctrinal, social, or political position and who find ways to relate to others even if they think differently about important matters). It’s also famous for its ancient tradition of Royal Shrovetide Football a "medieval football" game played annually on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday in the town and has been played in England since at least the 12th century from the reign of Henry II, it's a unique and unruly event that bears little resemblance to the modern game! It also has some fascinating foodie links. The original recipe for Ashbourne Gingerbread was acquired from French prisoners of war and the Original Ashbourne Gingerbread can still be purchased locally today.

Leaving Ashbourne behind it isnt long before you enter the Peak District National Park, this was the first National Park to be designated in the United Kingdom on 17 April 1951, it represents diversity being comprised of moorland, mountainous, plateaus, limestone plateaus, and gritstone areas and is one of the UK's most visited National Parks spanning around 555 square miles.

The first place you will visit in the Peak District National Park is Hartington, this has been an important village since the Middle Ages in the centre of the White Peak area of the Derbyshire Peak District, lying on the River Dove which is the Staffordshire border. The home of cheese-making in Derbyshire and one of the prettiest villages in the Peaks whose past wealth and importance can be seen in the impressive limestone cottages and houses around the village square, here there is a scheduled stop for refreshments offering ample free on street parking for motorbikes, so why not sit a while and soak up the peace and tranquil sounds of the village atmosphere. Upon leaving Harrington you ride through cobbled stone walled roads within the White Peak region, in a valley with rolling hills either side of you covered in scattered Limestone rocks and what an unbelievable view it is.

Approximately 3.3 miles (5.3km) before arriving at the next stop of Buxton you follow the course of the River Wye. Buxton is said to be the centre of England and where the River Wye is carried across the town by a viaduct, it is famous for a few things but mostly its mineral-rich water, the stone fountain (minus it’s collecting bowl) still stands in its original position today and is awaiting restoration, its spectacular architecture, Edwardian Opera House of 1903 and associated arts festivals, the notoriously unpredictable micro-climate. It has long been the playground of kings. The historic Old Hall Hotel dates back to 1573 when the captive Mary Queen of Scots stayed in the Tudor ‘Talbot Tower’ to take the water cure. In 1636, the philosopher Thomas Hobbes named the ‘Seven Wonders of the Peak’, two of which are found in Buxton these are Poole’s Cavern a two-million-year-old natural limestone cave that contains the largest stalactite in Derbyshire called the ‘Flitch of Bacon’. It is over 2 metres long and more than 100,000 years old and St Ann’s Well still a public water fountain the mineral rich water emerges at a steady 27°C. Analysis of the water has indicated that it has a high magnesium content and that it originated around 5,000 years ago, next to fountain is the Pump Room, built in 1894 to dispense the well water for drinking, the building is now the Tourist Information centre. Unfortunately, there is no free parking especially for motorbikes , there are however plenty of paid carparks to choose from.

After leaving Buxton you head out on the A537 to the Cat & Fiddle pub, set in the dark peak area and standing at 515m (1689 ft) above sea level, some reports state that it was built in 1813; however, it is believed to of been built slightly later in 1826, three years after the road to Buxton was complete. There is a schedule lunch stop here and do stop and soak up the great views overlooking the rolling hills. Exercise extreme caution on the next stretch of road from the Cat & Fiddle with its rocky walls lining the edge, giving it the nicknamed of the ‘widow maker’ for obvious reasons, it is a very technical piece of road, with its severe bends and steep falls, its speed limit has now been reduced to 50mph for the full 7.5 mile(12km) stretch.

This road leads you out of the National Park but it is not for long as you take the B5470 heading back into the park and towards Chapel en le Frith where just after leaving you take the road signposted for Buxton (A6) and shortly after there is a route option by taking the next right and following the A6 to Buxton for 1.24 miles (2km), at the roundabout take the first left onto the A623 and follow for a further 0.5 miles (0.8km) for your chance to visit the Ebbing & Flowing Well, the third of the Seven Wonders of the Peaks. It is here where Thomas Hobbes and Charles Cotton wrote about how this spring would ‘swell and boil up and become a little torrent’. However, the tidal phenomenon of the ebbing and flowing of this natural siphon stopped after 1790. The well is now largely forgotten and inconspicuous in the front garden of a private house.

Back on the Rushup / Edale road there is another route option by taking the next left into the National Trust carpark with only a 0.34 miles (0.55km) a relatively steep climb to visit Mam Tor the fourth of the Seven Wonders of the Peaks its summit a hill at the end of Rushup Edge at over 517m (1663ft) near Castleton in the High Peaks of Derbyshire. Its name means "mother hill", so called because frequent landslips on its eastern face have resulted in a multitude of "mini-hills" beneath it.

Slightly after here is another route option by taking the next right and follow for 1.3 miles (2.09km) to visit Eldon Hole the fifth location of the seven wonders of the Peaks, it's chasm is 75m (245 ft) deep, making it the deepest pothole in Derbyshire. The entrance at the surface is 35m (115 ft) long by 6.1m (20 ft) wide. At the bottom is a cavern with a dome-shaped roof and stalactites. According to folklore the devil lived inside, there is limited on road parking.

Continuing on , you get to ride through Winnats pass a hill pass and limestone gorge in the Peak District its name is a corruption of 'wind gates' due to the swirling winds through the pass. Once thought to have originated as a giant collapsed cavern; however, this idea has since been superseded. It is now believed it was formed approximately 340 million years ago as a reef fringing a shallow lagoon, with deeper water beyond. The presence of a small outcrop of fossiliferous rock (known as 'beach beds') can be seen at the base of Winnats Pass, with free off-road parking in the Speedwell cavern carpark.

From here it is onto Castleton where you find Peveril Castle with its imposing ruins it stands high above the pretty village of Castleton in the heart of the Derbyshire's Peak District. It was mentioned in the Domesday survey and is one of England's earliest Norman fortresses. The keep was built by Henry II in 1176. A climb to the castle at the top of the hill you will enjoy the breathtaking views over the Hope Valley. Explore the remains of the keep including the garderobe (medieval lavatory)! Now run and owned by English Heritage so there is a £7.70 entrance fee. Deep in the gorge below Peveril Castle is Peak Cavern's also known as “The Devils Arse” number sixth on the list of the Seven Wonders of the Peaks with its imposing entrance chamber it is the largest natural cave entrance in the British Isles.

Turn off the A6187 onto the B6049 and head for Ashton on the Water . You will arrive at Monsal Head Viewpoint on your right which lays in the White Peak area of the National Park and provides a panoramic view which require very little effort! From this historic viewpoint, you get an unobstructed breathtaking view of Monsal Dale, Monsal Headstone Viaduct, and the River Wye below, the valley became industrialised in the Victorian era due to the Midlands Railway that was opened in 1863. The viaduct when it was first built was called a monstrosity but is now a Grade II listed building since 1970. The whole area is of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), and part of the Natura 2000 network across Europe. There is also a scheduled refreshment stop here, so sit and enjoy the views.

It is only a short 4 miles (6.4km) from here and you are in the town of Bakewell, where the old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop was built in the late 17th century and was owned by the Duke of Rutland who sold it to the town's tallow chandler, Mr Wilson. Around 1860 Mrs Wilson became aware of a new pudding creation that had been made by accident at a local inn, then called The White Horse. The pudding was the result of a misunderstanding between the inn's mistress, Mrs Greaves, and her cook; visiting noblemen had ordered a strawberry tart, but instead of stirring the egg mixture into the pastry, the cook spread it on top of a layer of jam. The result was so successful that Mrs Wilson obtain the original recipe and the humble Bakewell pudding was born, again there is free on road parking but involves a little walk to the centre.

After leaving Bakewell on the B6012 there is a route option by taking the next left to visit the final location of the Seven Wonders of the Peaks, Chatsworth House. This stately home is the residence of the Duke of Devonshire and has been the Cavendish family's home since 1549. The house was built by Bess of Hardwick (wife of William Cavendish) between 1553 and the 1560s and is a Grade I listed building. The estate on the banks of the River Derwent covers nearly 2,000 acres of gardens, landscaped parkland and woodland. In the 1700s Lancelot "Capability" Brown designed the estate's landscape. Tickets to the house, garden, farmyard, and playground booked in advance to receive free parking during the open season are priced at £32 per adult.

Continuing back onto the A6 it isn’t long before you arrive at Matlock the final stop on this epic tour of the Peak District where this original settlement was built around the area of the parish church high on the east bank of the Derwent. Matlock Bridge was of course a major crossing point and meeting place where three roads culminated and was eventually developed as a settlement in the 18th and 19th centuries. The building of the mills at Cromford, by Richard Arkwright in the late 18th century provided some employment for Matlock people but it was John Smedley, born 1803, who established Hydrotherapy in Matlock and made it one of the most celebrated centres for the treatment of ailments with water therapy, in the country.

With just an 18.5 mile (30km) ride back to Derby you pass through the beautiful village of Matlock Bath to the south of its sister Matlock, it lies in the magnificent Derwent Gorge, which runs between the 750 ft summit of the Heights of Abraham and the 380 ft High Tor. The gorge forms a beautiful steep sided valley, with wooded slopes and the occasional outcrop of craggy limestone cliffs and is a popular location for motorcycles.