It was Sunday and it was 17th February and it was 2008. By now we should have been knee deep in frozen white stuff but ridiculously, Mother Nature smiled on NMBC yet again with a beautiful crispy morning laid out for those who could be arsed to de-bed themselves. Quite a few couldn't, and one or two had other commitments (how dare they) but you can't knock the core out, and so it was that once more Jason, Steve B and a pair of Terrys turned up at the Gollum's Cave for another exploration of the deepest darkest middle of Northumberland. However, after a string of recent surprises, here was another in the shape of Our Andy, missing for half a year after a life-changing change of lifestyle. So there were five intrepids ready to tackle whatever Big N could throw at them.

What utter shy t.

Andy kept Terry 2 company on the ride up to Alwinton and we arrived in time to start riding at 10.25am. Still a fantastic morning, and we'd picked up a few degrees on the way, from 1 all the way to 3. Hot stuff. The hustle and bustle around the cars before we left was the frenzied application of winter coats, but Terry advised everyone that the initial kick up Clennell Street would see them being dumped in the dyke, so they were left in the car. All apart from Gollum's famous lime green fleece, that is, which remained glued to his wizened little body in grim anticipation of a cold ride up to the Border Ridge.

So we rode up there, then we stopped for a bite and rode back down. End of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, actually there was a bit more, but I didn't want to bore you again - there's already a few hundred ride stories hereabouts, and this is just one more, after all. EXCEPT, that if you get any more than one of us together out here on two wheels, you're gonna get at least a chuckle. And so it was today. And on top of that it is EXTREMELY rare that you see Terry H downside up, such is his bike handling skill, but one of those tricky little muddy gullies got him, out here on a downslope where he knows every millimetre of the terrain. At the time, as he did most of the day, he was scooting away out front when gravity turned on him on the latter part of the ride. But as usual, NMBC men always triumph over Evil, and he just bounced back up giggling and proceeded to the next hurdle, no sweat.

Off go the lads, leaving Gollum trailing as usual Jason heads east to cut them off

Steve had his own moment, predicted well in advance of the obstacle by Terry and proven correct, and yet again it was grin and get on with it after a shared hearty belly laugh. In fact, Steve became "target of the day" as every time we got near a gully or small ford, we all focussed on our adopted Buckingham Biker wondering if (well OK, hoping!) he would bite the kitty litter again. Rotten sods. Steve gets close to wipe-out!

Border Ridge Ahead!

Andy, on his comeback ride, began to feel the strain when the big climbs beckoned half way through, lightweight hardtail or not, but he soldiered on and enjoyed himself as much as ever. Great to see him back out again. And Jason, out on his Whyte E5 for a change after a load of recent rides on his singlespeed rigid weapon, admitted it felt "very different" and although he handled the climbs well enough, he was plenty careful on the downhills. Gollum, as usual, kept burning himself out up front on the smaller gradients only to be overhauled and left way behind for minutes at a time when he ran out of steam. On the early bridle road descents, rock hard tyres didn't help at all, but they were eventually deflated much like himself at half way before the first stony descent towards the Ridge.

Terry's exotic bike makes a nice frame

This here was a breather after Golly led down the ridiculously fast descent in the background - scary stuff and Steve dumped himself after getting stuck in a rut at around 30mph! Back we go up to Uswayford But at last a lunch break And now onto the glorious singletrack   Andy wishing he had Gollum's Decathlon today instead of a crappy hardtail

There were a couple of attempts to stop for lunch but we managed to delay it until about 12:20 when we sat in a ditch to have the Michael extracted from each in turn. Jay and Andy descend cautiously. Then it was time to turn for home and again follow Terry down the valley all the way back to the final climb of the day over (I think) Barrow Law, and the crazy descent back to the road and Alwinton.

The Final Bouncedown What a view Bliss, Peace, Serenity

Not sure how many miles we covered as I haven't traced the route yet (maybe 17), and may need help with that anyway, but it was quite tiring and a brilliant ride with some superb, hardly-ridden singletrack. Cheers, Terry. And Bonus Time! Not a single puncture all day, not that we expected any this far from civilisation. No humans=no hedge cutting. In fact, no hedges=no hedge cutting. Super! We got back to Golly's to wash the bikes at about 4:15pm.

 

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