The Cat & Fiddle

Se7enUK · Borekit Bruiser Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Karma :

If any of you lot know the Cat & Fiddle then I have just put a complete corner by corner photo guide in our gallery. I used to run a site which was dedicated to the famous piece of tarmac and have dug out the pictures. Each bend has a relevant name and you can leave comments on each bend letting us know if you (like me) had an altercation with the tarmac!!

https://www.motorbikeracer.com/gallery.php (last page)

https://www.motorbikeracer.com/albums/cat/a537027.highlight.jpg

Smile

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Johnny GSX-R · World Chat Champion Joined: 14 Feb 2005 Karma :

Dont meant to offend but NO photo in the world can prepare you for the Cat & Fiddle.
The road isn't really too special unless your on a 400/600 type machine as its very twisty, a lot of 90 degree bends and to be honest i've ridden far more technical and enjoyable roads than that. The CAT is running on reputation, a reputation which claimed the life of an old friend of mine.. He died because he was show-boating and fooked up trying to impress others. RIP 'Dave'

The A54 which runs off the CAT and across to LEEK is a far better road, more rewarding to ride and more of a hidden gem.

Good pics though none the less.. 'XX'

colin1 · Captain Safety Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Karma :

its a nice road, the landscape its in gives it more of an impact.
The main thing for me was that there are no hedges so you can see from a mile away where the road is going and any bends coming up etc which is handy.

i couldnt find the pics on the site
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Jamie_ducati · Scooby Slapper Joined: 30 Jun 2005 Karma :

iCraig · World Chat Champion Joined: 05 Jun 2004 Karma :

The A5006 is also an unknown gem around there too.

Although I quite like the Cat And Fiddle, I haven't really ridden it since I nearly crashed at Walker Barn in 2004! Laughing

Nath · World Chat Champion Joined: 28 Jul 2004 Karma :

There aren't many roads better than the Cat here in England in my opinion...

Johnny, am I misunderstanding, or are you saying you don't think the Cat is anything special because of its twistiness? Are you saying you prefer riding in a straight line to wrestling your bike through the twisties? Confused

As i'm a wuss and don't like leaning the bike over at speed, my favourite roads are the really slow twisty ones such as the Cat. It means I can push the bike a bit more than I normally would, without going really fast.

The problem with the Cat is that it's a rarity - A twisty mountain pass in England! - And hence is full of traffic and at the weekends coppers as well Thumbs Down

If you go to more mountainous countries such as Spain there are tons of roads even more twisty and far longer than the Cat, and yet almost totally empty of traffic.
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distortion · Nearly there... Joined: 08 Mar 2005 Karma :

Shellshock has a video of the Cat & fiddle road.

She took it from the pillion seat of her zxr400 whilst i was riding. Its not the best of vidoes as i got stuck behind a lorry towards the Macc side of it and the road was quite wet, but shows what its like.

Dom_ · Points Mean Prizes Joined: 02 Aug 2004 Karma :

And this is the corner where my mate wrote his cbr4 off with me pillion...

https://img256.imageshack.us/img256/6462/1050525medium4ek.jpg

Laughing

Andy99 · Spanner Monkey Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Karma :

I was a bit let down by the Cat and Fiddle to be honest. Sure it's a good enough piece of road but i think it gets hyped as being this fantastic blow your mind road and nothing can live up to that kind of expectation IMO. The fact it gets heavily policed doesn't help either,when i was there earlier this year there was a camera van and a helicopter there and i'm sure thats very common due to it's reputation as a great road for bikes.
I much preferred Snake Pass to be honest.
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colin1 · Captain Safety Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Karma :

it daft to call it the best road. its quite good, and nice as destination for a ride but i wouldnt really call it a mountain road. Wales has some nice mountain roads.
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mr.z · World Chat Champion Joined: 04 Feb 2004 Karma :

Weridly i was at a job today in macclesfield so been there today there and back Thumbs Up

I used to use it quite allot to get too and from my girlfriends @ uni, (its interesting in the snow! Shocked

)

Its overhyped yes, its more famous for being a "scarey" road, half the bends are very missleading, what you thought was a gentle curve turns evil very quickly and you deposit your pants. Once your ready for it they aren't nearly as bad and the terror aspact is replaced by oddles of fun.

If you do go stop at the cat and fiddle pub, the food is great Thumbs Up

but make sure your not in a hurry to get back on or expect to explode..
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Metal_Mickey · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 29 Apr 2005 Karma :

In my opinion the road is far too overrated. I went there for the first time after hearing about it on TV and came away unimpressed. I did it a second time on a trip up to Snake Pass (route attached below) and realised what a waste of time it was.

If you really want a twisty road then try the A5004 which runs from Buxton to Whaley Bridge. I did this as part of the route and couldn't understand why the C&F got so much attention when this little beauty was only a few miles away.

Nath · World Chat Champion Joined: 28 Jul 2004 Karma :

Mickey: You're route map only shows you doing half the length of the Cat. You have done the part on the Macclesfield side of the pub haven't you?
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Metal_Mickey · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 29 Apr 2005 Karma :

tony532 · World Chat Champion Joined: 29 May 2004 Karma :

to se7enuk

are you the guy i saw bin his r1 on the balcony about 2 years ago?

the a5004 p****s all over the a537

you spend half the time avoiding cars and bikes that cut corners on the cat and fiddle

Johnny GSX-R · World Chat Champion Joined: 14 Feb 2005 Karma :

The cat isn't long enough to warm the tyres.. Yeh its an OK road but certainly NOT a fantastic road. Try the Lakes, Yorshire, Matlock-- Ashbourne .... there are endless amounts of good roads in England, buy a terrain map from 'Waterstones' and simply plot a route, don't rely on others for suggestion.

Shaun · Likes 'em bent Joined: 17 May 2003 Karma :

I love the cat, done it a few times now and if the weather wasn't so shite I'd do it again.

Pretty good mix of corners witht he only problem being if you don't know what to expect it could have you off quite easily, a lot of the corners are quite deceiving until you're right on them. Also good for knee down because you don't have to be doing incredibly silly speeds round the corners to do it.

RickHolt · Traffic Copper Joined: 17 Mar 2004 Karma :

Have been to the cat a few times, too busy for me really. It's a convenient meeting place though seeing as everyone knows about it. I find I go round most of the corners thinking "there could be anything, i'd best take it easy". Much preffered the roads up near the lakes when I stayed in Alston. Think the pub I visited was called Hartside, amazing road there. Can see miles ahead in places so you know exactly what's happening around the corners, but it's still nice and twisty.

The cats not bad as a meeting place, that seems to be its main use now, most people seem to just stand around talking about riding their bikes.