It was probably a good thing we kept things close to home for this one, Sunday 13th December 2009, as weekend numbers have been disappointingly low for some time, and so it proved again.

It may be food for thought for the agitators (I use that word in lieu of what I really think, coz this is a family show) if we had any, who would perhaps keep plugging Trail Centres or whatever, that if the Club isn't supported locally then why on earth risk arranging Trail Centre ride days with the likelihood of only a handful of bods turning up?

Only Ian M and the Gollum were at the Cave by leaving time, 09:05, and they were met at Whickham Thorns by the two Chrises - D and K. It felt very mild as we prepared to ride, and it wasn't long before we were all removing outer layers or winter head gear. Even trail conditions were surprisingly good with only sporadic puddles to deal with as we made that initial blood-thinning climb up Woodhouse Lane bridleway.

At the end of that stretch Gollum began to bring his MidAirCrisis Midnight Mapping session into play as he diverted the foursome along Fellside Road past the Golf Course in search of a bridleway bypass. It took a hard climb to find it but it then provided us with an enjoyable off-road passage all the way to Sunniside Crossroads instead of picking our way through the housing estates.

We then crossed the Dipton road straight into the woods for our first mud fest and a little test for Golly's spanking new Panaracer Trailrakers which shrugged off the mud and slippery leaves without any suggestion of losing grip. Just incidentally, the idea behind trying yet another make of tyre was two-fold. One, to find something that weighed a bit less than almost the kilo of a Maxxis High Roller Super Tacky, and two, to maintain the wet grip the STs offer. Idea One was a success - 40% weight reduction. Two was also a winner - grip levels are even better, extremely impressive. However, when the things sniff tarmac or sand they just suck themselves down onto the deck, making pedalling as much a chore as it was before! We confirmed this as the ride went on with freewheel tests down every hill, resulting in three riders relaxing and one pedalling like mad - again!

We were forced to delay our entry onto the Tanfield Railway because of a couple of young horse riders who beat us to the start. We spent a few minutes exploring the old trails on the other side of the track before returning when it was clear, then Chris D led along the wiggles to the car park.

Over the road we headed up the bridleway towards Birkhead Cottages before stopping to allow Chris K time to just double-check on his GPS that Golly had things right this time, this being the scene of several navigational errors over the years!

We joined the official Great North Forest Trail here and continued to Birkland Lane where we dropped off the bridleway and freewheeled (well, most of us did) down to the start of that sweet off road test of man and machine to Beamish Hall. When we paused at the start to allow a Beamish Oddsock to get by, Golly took the opportunity to slip on some waterproof overtrousers in an attempt to keep the forthcoming mudfest out of his underwear.

Off we went in order of age and ability, Gollum at the back. At the half way point of the descent three of us managed to catch up with Chris D who had mysteriously stopped. Turns out he'd been forced to by scaring himself, after he'd tried caning it down here with his fingers away from the brakes! Result - He'd come very close to mincing himself on the steel gate which needs careful (and hence slow) negotiation.

Time to tackle the mudbath section next, so on we ploughed. Except that we seemed to be picking up speed very easily, rather than having to work for it. And Ian M showed no signs of being absent for most of the last few months.

Amazingly the trail was almost in summertime condition, with two distinct dry edges offering any speed you liked! Further down the Gollum tackled as much of the mud piles as he could to see just what his tyres could do, but again he couldn't get them to let go. Only thing remaining now is to test out their "Puncture Resistant" qualities. Hopefully not today though.

We stopped at the gates of Beamish Hall for the plastic pants to be removed after proving totally unnecessary. While we were there, the Oddsock appeared again from behind us. Naturally we were curious as to how we hadn't passed him, and he proceeded to tell us about some good singletrack back there in the woods alongside the trail. Ah well, next time.

As it happens, Chris K thought he knew the bloke and struck up a conversation which could have lasted 'til now, had the other three of us not started yawning loudly. Part of the crack was an invite extended to NMBC to participate in some of their "socialising" should we wish to, very nice of him.

Up that awful hill past the Museum next with Chris D dragging us up, taking his time, sympathetically. We stopped at the gates to partake of some refreshment, recalling the last time we stopped here in very different weather conditions last winter.

Once more in search of subtle changes to the ride, just to create a bit more interest, the Gollum stumbled upon a short singletrack which we greedily conquered before rejoining our proper route on the old Consett to Sunderland Railway path.

After another stop, this time to repair the intricate but delicate rear mudguard on the Trek, Golly wasn't content with that last snatch of singletrack so attacked the nearest gap in the embankment, being propelled straight back out again by the brambles, much to the amusement of the others. However, Chris K had got the bug and soon spotted a potential route through. And this one proved to be an excellent discovery, with a good couple of miles of undertree stuff lapped up as we just tried to maintain roughly the right direction.

We didn't know we were in Beamish Woods and we just got stuck in, with loads of brilliant valley-edge, off-camber, dangerous stuff to tackle. Of course we managed to bump into an old Whingeing Git (aka Pedestrianised Plodder) who told us the sign at the end of this track said "No Cycling".

Sure enough, after we'd completed the next mile or so just to confirm what he said, there was the sign, so thank you Sir. Miraculously, as we thrashed through this super singletrack with Chris K continually asking "Are we going the right way?", here we were emerging onto the road below Urpeth in exactly the right place but having chopped off a big tarmac loop to get here!

We cruised down half way to the old village before turning again on bridleway through that nasty farmer's fields to cross the River Team and climb again up to Kibblesworth Bank on the other side. We stopped at the end of the Waggonway to let some horses past and have a very late lunch break, WITH MIDGES ALL AROUND US!!!

Once we'd dragged ourselves up that old coal track we rejoined Birkland Lane for the climb and following drop to the A6076 and the last chance to take in some more offloading on the Street Gate Waggonway. We actually took that fairly easy until the last section when the scenery began to vanish quickly, and then we accidentally fell into the woods at Watergate Country Park.

Unfortunately we couldn't get out until we'd searched extensively throughout the maze of singletrack and found the exit only after we'd become a little tired. That forced us to backtrack to make sure we enjoyed the drop down those awesome steps and over the little bridge.

All that was left now was to defy the local Police as one member chose the footpath past the cop shop in preference to the road. Duckpool Lane was coasted rather than attacked madly as normal, because on the way out Golly had spotted a black skidmark across the field opposite the Poacher's Pocket. We located the start of it and while Chris D and Ian chose the steeper, faster but shorter route down to Market Lane, Chris K led Golly down the longer run which meant they enjoyed the most singletrack!

We crossed the road into Whickham Thorns and were all very careful crossing Chris K's Bridge following that horrific, chainring-stabbing, jacket-shredding, helmet-crunching, gut-wrenching crash he had almost a year ago! 1:30 back at the cars, home for 2:00pm. Champion.