Sunday 11th February 2007 saw the squad split again, Andy and Jason not satisfied with a local ride partnering the Reivers, and heading west to the Stanes. Meanwhile John and Terry headed in the opposite direction, but only as far as Seaton Sluice Links. Yep, you read that correctly. The Roving Reivers rambled rearwards rewarding their "local" members with a ride significantly different from their usual jaunts in the heart of Northumberland to this one through the heart of Tyneside. Ian led it starting from the main seafront car park on the dunes. I must admit I thought all or most of the Reivers lived in or close to Morpeth but that's obviously not the case. Some are almost as English as me.

We set off just after 10.00am at a scarily brisk pace south through Seaton Sluice along the clifftop road, turning down to the coastal bridleway between the golf course and the sea at St Mary's Island. The ground was as wet as expected after so much heavy rain lately but the little singletrack easily passable if a bit clarty. We cruised Whitley Bay's prom-prom-prom emerging opposite the forlorn Spanish City and stayed on the paved area all the way through Cullercoats to Tynemouth Priory, with not too many pedestrians to avoid.

Here's Derek with baby Ian in his backpack:

Ian then dropped us down to the river mouth at Black Middens and here you can see Derek giving the locals sight of his undergarb while the Tyne is being swamped by the wild incoming North Sea waves. There was no wind, by the way, so the Moon must have been out. Didn't see it, mind. We were now following National Cycle Route 10 (the Reivers Cycle Route!) inland towards The Toon, thi Centa iv thi Univors. Wen yi luk owa the wata yi cn see i forin c**try caald Gatezeed. Nasteez liv thair, leyk me forst weyf. End iv inglish langwij lessin. Ian turned sharp left at the Ferry landing and disappeared on board the madly bobbing deathtrap with most of the other Reivers on his tail. John and the Gollum stopped short, however, for two good reasons:

Swift arrangements were made to meet up with the Reivers at the far side of the Tyne Pedestrian Tunnel. So while the Norsemen went for a plodge, the MidAirCrisis duo set off west for the Tunnel. We were certain to beat the others up there but none of us had any idea when the ferry was due to leave. We duly arrived at the Tunnel and trundled down the escalator. We got through and out the other side to wait for the peloton. While we were waiting, the old Gollum's bladder gave out. Looking for a suitably discreet bush to enrich, the faggot managed to skid off on a very slow, tight, moss-covered corner. And of course these days, he's wearing clipless pedals on the Barracuda, so it was a ton of pure sh*t that hit the floor in slow but hard motion to add more damage to already shattered shoulders. Could hardly direct the spray after that, but the oh-so-satisfying release of bladder pressure compensated for the crash somewhat.

Here's Derek showing how they use cycle paths in Morpeth A few minutes later the Reivers appeared in the distance heading towards the waiting pair. When they arrived, the ride plans had changed, probably just for spite, and we had to retrace our steps through the Tunnel again. As the downhill was out of action (North Face of the Escalator) we had to take it in shifts of three to get down in the elevator. Hey, that might be a good song title - Let's Get Down in the Elevator. Perhaps not. Reivers emerge from underground

The riverside path to Newcastle Quayside was reasonably clear - no burned-out cars in  Walker or Byker and not too much broken glass to circumnavigate. And we weren't mugged and didn't have any bikes stolen. Just like the Border Ridge, really - God's Country. By now there was some tiredness in the ranks and the hotdog stand opposite the Law Courts was a welcome sight for our little band, so we had lunch aside the floating cesspit that is the Tyne. Nice to see so many plastic bottles being recycled, but I didn't know they had catch nets between the piers at N & S Shields. Still, on the bright side the sun was trying to make an appearance, and we hadn't felt a drop of rain either.

A moving, historic image - The Reivers On Tyne!

And here's Tom's "interesting" fix for a missing split pin:

Moving along, it was time to give Those Who Hadn't the opportunity to cross the Millennium Bridge. Once out of England we did a Clint (turned Eastward) and rode the South Tyne Cycleway back to the Tunnel again. John and Golly got to go through it a third time in case they hadn't counted every brick. Back in Merrie Olde Engerland it was time to head for home, so we crossed under the dual carriageway at Royal Quays and headed north up the bridleway towards Backworth. We persuaded the Reivers to stop off at Silverlink and Golly led the troupe up to the Sundial, hoping to get the guests to try out the Steps. The Gollum bolted down them and shouted for the others to wait for him to get the camera ready at the bottom. History had already been captured with the shots of the Reivers at the Tyne Bridge, and now they would be preserved forever on video descending our favourite suspension test run. Or would they? No. Only John followed Golly down the steep, tricky drop giving the Kikapu it's first bone-jarring taste of Repetitive Step Injury. Reivers got back down any which way they could, more's the pity.

We continued north turning east just short of Hollywell Dene and followed the south bank of Seaton Burn. Great to see Suzanne bite the dust on the first climb - just a bit slow getting the camera out as she'd managed to extract herself from the dyke by the time I clicked! She wasn't hurt, so she's fair game for a dig. John steamed ahead leading the bunch through the twists and turns of this super little trail until we emerged at the jump site near Crow Hall farm. We crossed to the north side of the Burn and then into the Dene to finally emerge at the Melton Constable pub where Derek turned left to ride back to his home in Cramlington, Ian and Suzanne turned right into Seaton Sluice, and Mick, Tom, John and Gollum went back to the car park. Tom rode home to Blyth from there. It was now a beautiful sunny afternoon and around 7 degrees. Another easy but satisfying ride with plenty of leg work to maintain the muscles. And wet bums all round.

My bike PC said 37.79 miles max speed 26.5mph ave 9.3mph mounted time 4hrs 5mins. Roughly.

Afterthought on Monday morning - for me this turned into a hard ride, because we never had to dismount, so saddle soreness was the order of the day after such a distance pedalling all the way.

Video snippet - Reivers do the Silverlink Stairs 5.5MB .wmv vid

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