event Details:
Date - The 4th Calder Divide Trail event will take place on 20th - 21st September 2025.
Entry Price - £25 for 25 year olds and under
- £75 to £130 for adults
The trails - A rider is free to choose whichever route takes their fancy but two of the routes have trails selected for gravel bikes and two with trails selected for mountain bikes.
GPX files - All four gpx files are sent to your email address two weeks before the event.
Venue - Mytholmroyd Community Center (MYCC) is our Event Hub where riders sign on between 7am - 10am. Throughout the weekend there is access to changing rooms, first class showers, toilets. The Event Room will be closed from 12 noon on Saturday till 11am on Sunday.
Car park / train - MYCC has a large, free car / van park and is two minutes from Mytholmroyd train station on the main line between Leeds and Manchester.
Nutrition - Tea / coffee / juice / toast / porridge at the Event Hub in MYCC from 7am. (Sunrise at 6.40am).
Ride - Depart from the starting line outside Mytholmroyd Community Center between 7.30am - 10am on Saturday 14th September. Aim to be back by 6pm the next day.
GPS trackers - For the 2025 we are providing the option to hire a GPS tracker from ‘Follow my Challenge’ so that friends and family can ‘dot watch’.
Luggage transfer - Go ‘traditional’ bikepacking and carry your own bivy/tent or opt to drop your tent and sleeping bag at the Event HQ and it will be transferred up to and back from the camping village.
Camping village - There is the option of pitching at our camping village halfway round the trail. It is a working farm with a level grass field for your tent, a water tap, secure lockups for your bike and ample toilets with sinks / cold running water for your basic needs. No showers.
Barn - The farmers large wooden barn is a very useful social space. We will have a hot water urn for a tea/coffee inside the barn where there are benches as well as tables and chairs. The barn is where you store your bike (lock needed) on Saturday night.
Artisan food van - There will be an artisan van serving delicious burgers and wraps from 5pm till late and breakfast options on Sunday from 6.30am
Pie n peas - On Sunday from 11am till 6pm hot pie n peas will be served (meat / vegan / gluten free) as well as tea/coffee/juice.
Badge - All riders who return to Mytholmroyd on the Sunday from 11am-6pm will be awarded a cloth badge embroidered with the CDT logo.
Community action - The CDT began as a promise to a friend to 'do a big ride'. In our events across 2022, 2023 and 2024 we raised over £9,000 to support the hospice where Will Norman had his last few days. In 2025 we have decided to support Calder Valley Search and Rescue and our target is raise £1,500 to aid their work.
YouTube - A short film about the CDT: https://youtu.be/6HNyZ6wt3-s
Updates and reels / trail photos - Follow Yorkshire Divide on Instagram and / or Facebook
Every rider will receive:
Badge - Lovely embroidered cloth badge
Certificate - A record of which route you rode
Pie n peas - You’ll need something to replace all those calories!
Event Location
The event takes place at Mytholmroyd Community Centre (MYCC) located on Caldene Avenue, HX7 5AF.
Contact
Adrian Wright
Can I enter on the day?
No ‘on the day’ entries. In 2022, 2023 and 2024 we closed entry a month before the deadline as we were full.
Is this a race?
The Calder Divide Trail bikepacking event is a personal challenge. It is not a race. There is no ‘mass start’ as the route heads through the park in Hebden Bridge with its narrow cycle path. Riders depart any time between 7.30am-10am on Saturday and aim to be back before 5pm the next day.
What is the terrain like?
The Calder Divide Trail is best described as a ‘trail of two halves’. The western section towards Todmorden is on open moorland and steep valley sides. The eastern section towards Castleford is on free-flowing greenways and gravel paths across the level floodplain. Each of the routes covers a variety of terrain including gravel that is compact, gravel that is loose, gravel that is smooth, gravel full of potholes, stone slabs, tarmac and everything in between! We recommend tyres of 40mm upwards. And yes whilst riders have completed the CDT on gravel bikes, a mountain bike will give you more comfort, control and speed.
Are the routes signposted?
There are no route signs for the CDT 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 the ‘original’ CDT 145 mile ‘black’ mtb route is available via a link on the page tiled ‘The Divide’. GPX files for all routes will be available on ‘Ride with GPS’ one month prior to the event.
What type of bike can I enter with?
You can enter with the following bike types: Gravel bike / Cyclocross bike / Mountain bike / E-bike on the short routes. The terrain is not suitable for road bikes. Your gravel bike should have a minimum of 40mm tyres.
What is the minimal kit I need to 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. An emergency thermal bag. Head torch and front and rear lights. Puncture repair kits, spare inner tubes and trail side tools such as tyre levers and allen key. A bag for carrying kit. Snacks and water.
Will I get a record of my time?
We will NOT be recording riders individual times on any of the 4 routes. A rider having a go at the FKT on the ‘black’ grade mtb can submit their Strava / Garmin time for the record book.
Are there feed stations?
There are no feed stations on the trail as the ethos of bikepacking is to be self-supported. But you’re not riding in the wilderness. Within 5 miles of leaving the starting line riders are within sight of Mays Farm shop with an impressive range of supplies and at 10 miles there is Bob’s café which does delicious teas/coffee/cake. The Route Guide has a list of shops, cafes and pubs to call in at should the need arise.
Is there parking at the start/finish line?
Yes. 100 spaces.
What happens if the route changes?
The organisers reserve the right to adjust the routes ahead of the day to account for unforeseen conditions (e.g., flooding, landslips, angry farmers) but if it does it will notify all participants who have signed up by that point of the changes.
Can I get a refund if I sign on and don’t ride?
Full refunds issued if a participant cancels before August 5th, 2025. The entry fee is non-refundable after the deadline of August 5th 2025 as we start paying the many bills that have piled up and the ‘pot’ is soon empty.
Motivational bit
“Not all who wonder are lost.”
Bilbo Baggins
What is the Calder Divide Trail?
The Calder Divide Trail is a bikepacking adventure on bridleways, causeways and greenways that run on the high ground where the waters of the River Calder gather. The tracks are connected so riders follow the flow of the river onto the floodplain and back up onto the high ground.
On the event weekend you choose a route from a list of four route options - 2 for Gravel bikes and 2 for MTB’s - and ride at your own pace across ‘12 valleys, 6 moors and 1 floodplain’. You will receive all 4 gpx route files and so can choose nearer the day which to ride and switch between routes, eg, on Day 2 opt for the shorter route.
You choose when and where to sleep or whether you ride on through the night. You can ride the trail completely self-supported and wild camp up on the moors or take the option of luggage transfer to our camping village.
The CDT was set up with the two aims. Firstly to introduce riders to the diverse landscape and range of trails we have in West Yorkshire. Secondly to raise enough money to fund one day in the life of the hospice where our riding buddy Will Norman had his last few days.
The daily running costs of Overgate Hospice in Elland, West Yorkshire, is in the order of £2,000 a day. The target is to raise £2,000 and so make a ‘Will Norman day’. The 2022 event raised £2,250 for the local hospice, in 2023 we donated £4,850 and in 2024 we donated £2,437 making a total of £9,537.
The 2024 CDT will be the third and final event in aid of Overgate.
The focus will change in 2025.