Sunday 9th October 2008 brought a beautiful clear sky and steadily increasing temperatures as the disgraced Gollum (see Thursday night's episode) answered the Cave door at 09:00. It was Matt H, ready for the ride but a whole hour early! So much for having a lie-in! The door was slammed shut in his face, and through the window Golly saw him disappear down the road. Back to bed then! Nah, you hadn't woken the old fool, Matt, just taken him by surprise.
About 45 minutes later Matt returned as gradually a crowd gathered outside for another very decent turn-out. Terry H had re-appeared on Thursday after a couple of weeks with a miserable flu-like ailment and he was back in normal mode for this one. The Speedian managed to join us but would have to leave after the first hour or so. Chris D was actually second or third to arrive and was one of only two people travelling by car today! We'll excuse him that as Chopwell is a few miles and a few hills away to the west. However, so is Seaburn, and Mick H arrived from there after pedalling up through the Tyne Tunnel and he looked as fresh as a daisy. Just as start time approached, so did two dodgy-looking characters from the east. One was Derek, but who on earth was that with him? Nah, not Wor Johnny W, surely! Yep, the Outcast, who we'd banished to Peterborough half a year ago, was back at last. Reunion Time! To finish off the MidAirCrisis core, recently absent Jason also made his first appearance for some weeks, keen to get the legs going for next weekend's Hairy Coo performance.
Alex zoomed up the road to join in and so did Ian M who's becoming a regular, as is Stewart J on the most orange Orange you'll ever see. And then, amazingly, and to rapturous applause, Our Tim B, he of the lost memory and internal organ disruption, managed to guide his car here for his first ride out since that fateful Thursday night in Gosforth Park a month ago. Great to see Tim back out again, and sensibly he was planning to take it very easy and turn back at the first sign of tiredness. He still has trouble staying awake but fortunately not too many people fall asleep pedalling a bike in the open air. I leave Gym Freaks out of that statement deliberately. Last to arrive were the two lads who first made an appearance a week or two back, from Whitley Bay I think, but once more I'm guilty of being unable to remember their names. PLEASE gents, let me know (the Blue person and the Purple person will assist!). Anyway, all that should come to a total of fifteen.
We launched about 10:03 and headed out through Holystone Farm to flatten out some more horses hoof damage on the bridleway up to Backworth. We stayed on the road for once to pick up some time and hit the bridleway down to Seghill where the fast lads began to move away up front. Today, however, we seemed to have the tribal instinct back and managed to keep regrouping quite regularly, so thanks to everyone for that. We rode north out the top of Seghill and over past the Spoon to Cramlington. Continuing up the cycle paths, Derek pointed us over the railway bridge and we were soon feeling the weight of wet grass under our wheels through the fields up towards the Garden Centre. before we got off this section, however, Matt decided it was a good time and place to incur the only puncture of the day! That gave us a chance to recover some steam and listen to Stewarts' stories of the usefulness of gaffer tape in greenland. Honest! It was also here that Ian A and Tim took the opportunity to curtail their ride and head back for home before we got too far out.
Once again we followed our normal, but fairly interesting path in the trees down the edge of the A1068, and continued down into the side of Plessey Woods. We were Good Lads here, sticking to the bridleway (which still didn't please some of the idiot walking humans!) and out of the car park onto the Morpeth Road. After a slight glitch with the first field crossing we got back on track at Nedderton before disappearing down the top end on bridleway again through to Choppington. Plenty of sticky goo to pedal through here, and zap the leg power. When we regrouped at the gravel track we noticed a slight reduction in our number, a few more than we'd envisaged. So Golly, willing (fool) as ever, began to steam back up across the last field. Fortunately he only got half wa before he spotted two mounted figures opening the top gate - John and Mick!
It was time for hunger pains to make themselves known now and at the tarmac road between Bedlington and Choppington, derek suggested some wooden benches not far away. Well, he lied. Actually, it was an "error", but it led us onto a footpath (ssshhh!!!) which was as much of a mudfest as we could handle, really sticky, tricky and exhausting. Somehow though, it led us to a nice little spot by the stream and the sun duly popped out to make it a pleasant lunch stop. After 15 or 20 minutes here, and a discussion on exactly where we were, Mr Blue and Mr Purple decided it was time to take their leave aswell, and they vanished never to be seen again, for now.
We continued to follow Derek on this latest trail quest until it allowed us to emerge back onto the main road not far from where we'd entered the woods. We headed for Bebside to get Terry H a bit nearer to his departure point, and stayed with him up to the Three Horse Shoes at the Bedlington turn on the Spine Road. Time for a "knackered, legs completely gone" John to say his goodbyes after a very welcome return to the fold, as he and Derek made their way down through Shankhouses to their Cramlington homes. The rest of us followed Terry over the roundabout and onto a secret entrance into the fields behind Blyth which carried us down past the golf course and onto one of our favourite tree-lined stretches of singletrack between Newsham and New Hartley. When we arrived there, Terry set sail for Delaval Hall while the other followed Gollum into the village and down to Holywell.
We skipped the first part of our Dene Run to save some tired legs a bit of grief, dropping in over the concrete bridge and up the other side into the fields and the dual up to the old Earsdon Colliery. Time for Chris D to take over at the front with Jason and get us up to the back of Shiremoor and the new bypass. For the last few miles, Matt had been really suffering with a painful right knee from the recent Ingram valley ride, so we decided to also miss out the final two field crossings at Holystone in favour of a tarmac approach via Whitley Road, arriving back at Gollum's Cave around 2:30pm as planned, 4.5 hours and around 30 miles. Out came the hose to get the thick of the day's mud off the bikes, and while Golly took Matt home in the van, Mick began his solitary return to Seaburn to complete probably a 60 miler for him today. Tough b@stard.
picshaz later...
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