We were due to be a fivesome for this our second trip to Dalby Forest in North Yorkshire but at the last moment Andy got a call-up from work, and unfortunately his pal, ready for his first ever rideout, didn't feel confident enough to come along with a set of complete strangers (VERY strangers). So that left Derek and John to accompany the Gollum. They arrived at the cave while Andy was still there, inspecting Golly's new DDG Mutha pedalling machine while explaining his unfortunate callout.

By the time they'd nattered to Andy about his Trans Scotland epic adventures and loaded up the Gollycar it was around 9.15 and we were running late. Down the A19 through the Tyne Tunnel and in no time at all we were approaching Thirsk. Now when you've got a memory-zapping problem (Old-timer's Disease) like the Gollum has, and a co-driver (Derek) who won't stop yapping, it's easy to whiz past Thirsk, isn't it? So, we lost half an hour backtracking and then got stuck behind the world's first  electric car rally from Thirsk all the way to Pickering.

Below: who are the men with cars in their hair, and why is John winking again?

So we started our ride in very warm but cloudy conditions, about 19 degrees, at 11.25. You'll never guess who hit trouble first, on the initial climb. Give up? Gollum did. Why? Because he ripped up the trail leaving the two strongmen to eat his dust (disgusting). And he got a good rollicking for that, even though he thought they were both nudging his back wheel all the way up! Puff, pant and all those precious extra heartbeats wasted for nowt.

From there we took turns throughout the day at the front, lapping up the Red Trail in it's most recent incarnation and also taking in the Black as we went. Some sections, even on the Red, are now as gnarly as the seven Stanes offerings, and this gave Gollum the opportunity to break his lovely new DDG and those fabulous CrossMax wheels, but luckily the whole rig proved it's sturdiness and passed this first real test without flying Gollums.

Some sections John and Golly remembered covering,  while others were new or just forgotten. We certainly didn't do the under-tree drop so memorable from our first visit in the wet, but another section looked like the steep, dark dry stream gully that followed it. There's plenty of raised timber boardwalk ("North Shore") stuff in there if you like that sort of thing and a whole stack of sweet singletrack. Most of it, in fact, is quite technical and we all scraped a good set of trees with our elbows and/or ears. Could have slowed down and missed them, I suppose. Not. Somewhere John suffered a nasty gash to the back of his calf muscle which immediately swelled up, throbbing. It looked dead sore to me.

We collected a fair number of new acquaintances along the way aswell, and kept running into 3 or 4 sets and pairs of riders. The pairs were the best to look at. Doesn't the sunshine bring them out? That was because on this particular day our visit coincided with the British Heart Foundation's fundraising ride through the forest, and the place was absolutely heaving. Not everyone was riding a bike though, and the picnic areas all had barbecues belching away, just like their porky sausage-turning owners.

Derek surveys the scene of his Downhill conquest - a real tricky 3 foot drop-off descent vid 2.5MB mpg

while John directs from a safe distance Derek laughs at John's log ride effort

We did all the decent Black Route sections which are tacked onto the Red Trail at various places, and we also had two go's around the BMX track where a decent sized crowd was watching the action. First try was on the way into the ride. Second time was while trying to get out again! The signs are pretty good here until you need to get back to your car, and that's when they let you down. Finally Derek sweet-talked the Heart Foundation lady into letting us see her map, and she pointed us in the right direction to stay off the tarmac forest drive and miss the returning BHF riders. Altogether John's bike PC clocked 17.8 miles and we were out three and a half hours with a couple of good food stops and several shorter breath catchers.

Spot the donkey Spot the Gollum with a built in aerial

After changing and loading up the bikes on the car, we adjourned to the Visitor Centre restaurant where, courtesy of Derek, we enjoyed a four course luncheon on the sun terrace. Very nice, and so were some of the views looking down from above. It was here that the three of us witnessed the birth of a new baby. You just don't know what's coming next, do you? Well, not quite what you'd expect. And not a physical baby either, but the birth of a concept, or more precisely, the birth of a new Mountain Bike Club.

Here in the picture are the Founder Members (well, two out of five) of the new Newcastle Mountain Bike Club.

I don't know how it was for you, dear reader, but I know in my early years on an MTB I searched for but failed to find a local bike club. By local I mean based in or on the edge of my home town, Newcastle. There were plenty of road clubs but none for the mountain bike enthusiast. We got together largely through past exploits or friends-of-friends. So, the two bods above plus Andy, Jason and the Gollum decided they should do this in the hope of being able to offer what should have been there all the time around this size of city. There'll be a new web site, and it should be easier to follow than this pile, and ultimately the facility to encourage and guide new and experienced riders in their quest for the kind of two-wheeled entertainment we all thrive on. This site will continue to be the crazy side of a dubious partnership in a "sister" relationship. I will announce the new site on the MidAirCrisis home page pretty soon.

Videos, duff as usual, coming later this week!

Keep watching and if you fancy a ride out with us, drop us a line here: bailout@midaircrisis.org.uk