2010 - slurrrp...
NORMALITY RESTORED?
Fourteen riders assembled at the Cave for a 10:00am kickoff. Yes, FOURTEEN! And there was more to come with two very welcome returns in the shape of Derek and Steve W, who we managed to collide with along the way. Also making a welcome comeback were Suzanne out of hibernation, and Paul and Peter. Was it the sunshine or has the Festive beer supply run out? Whatever it was, every individual managed to contribute something to this ride.
Target One
Leaving the Cave late after Jason's usual last-minute dash, this time to tie his cranks on that weird Trek 29er thing he rides, it was 10:10 as we set off. The Gollum zoomed past the Holystone to cross that devilish A19 roundabout as he pointed in the direction of Shiremoor. Rather than face that significant "puddle" alongside the new flyover, which cost Matt his ride on Thursday night, we fiddled our way through the bridles and paths behind the Backworth road until reaching the railway crossing.
Forgot to mention the weather - still reasonably cool but not icy, and the sky had cleared completely to leave a beautiful morning for us, with the prospect of 5 or 6 degrees to keep us thawed. Luverly.
We stayed on the road all the way to Earsdon Pit to miss the anticipated gloop, as we had to get a shuffle on to meet Derek and Stevie at reasonable times. We also skirted Hollywell Dene this time, and when we reached the bridge at the edge of the village, the Gollum pedalled off up the hill in search of Derek. Not at the top, so he continued past the Rest Home - still no sign. However, outside the Milkman's house on the corner we normally pop out of, there was Derek peering down into the Dene to try and spot us.
We rejoined the others down at the bridge where Derek demonstrated why he wasn't invited to compete in Prancing on Ice this year, but he wasn't hurt too badly! We managed to get through the Dene racetrack without losing anyone and Tim led up onto the High Trail for the long cruise to Hartley.
Target Two
Ignoring Golly's instruction to stay on the right side of the river, the squad crossed the metal bridge to the left and proceeded along the trail to the Melton Constable, and that short, sharp climb up to the coast road which has now been conquered by just about everyone - time to find a new challenge!
Anyway, who should be descending from the dunes on the opposite side than our Steve W, MTB Roadie Extraordinaire, with that unmistakable grin of his. We joined him for the lengthy trek up the dune path to Blyth, with Jeff popping on and off the sides onto the firmer dune paths, and soon being joined by a few more of us before we reached our first rest halt above the promenade at South Beach.
After that liquid snack break we followed Ian B up the east side pavement (who cares, survival is first!) and through Ridley Park in Blyth before hitting the Harbour where unusually we didn't stop but rode straight through and out of the Town Centre towards the old Power Station. Golly's blast up the old waste pile was short lived as they've fenced the top of it off to prepare the ground for new housing.
He did, however, end up in front by virtue of a sly shortcut and led until we reached the industrial estate at Coniston Court where he resumed his normal position at the back, and a little further on was quite glad as the front runners hit a nasty stretch of ice on the singletrack under the A189 between it and Furnace Bridge. We stopped there at 12:00 in Ha'penny Wood for our lunch break, taking in the sun and avoiding piles of stuff on the ground.
Er, where now Boss?
Cue Derek and his knowledge of the area, managing to convince Golly that the road up the hairpins to Bebside would provide the best route and the least tarmac back, in view of the expected conditions beyond Humford Bridge. Good decision, and after Suzanne demonstrated her considerable uphill speed even without fitness by dragging us up top, we were soon scuttling along the Hathery Lane bridleway, south to the A189 again, although that climb got us pretty well strung out.
Oh, no!
It was on this stretch that Golly noticed Ian M tailed off the back a little so he dropped back and kept him company. Not good. Reason for Ian's sloth was one of those escaping air scenarios. We used to call them punctures. Us tubeless wollahs have another word for them now, but hey, we're all mates! Anyway, we stopped to give it some gas, with Ian wasting the first cartridge as he hadn't closed the tap on his gun! Tastes lush, a blast of super chilled CO2 down your neck. Next one was almost as expected, but we only got another hundred metres when it went down rather more quickly than before.
Tim, Chris D and Justin (or was it Francis?) came back to see what the trouble was and we discovered a thorn so we stuck in Ian's spare tube. Almost said "Ian's new tube" but after investigation Tim described it as being more like a couple of boxes of patches joined by short strips of rubber.
Hard graft.
Dead easy from here. Over the 189, past Low Horton Farm, past the Golf Course then onto the Newsham Lonnen to take us all the way down to Seaton Delaval. Easy to say, but with ground conditions today it proved quite testing, especially to those slightly out of practice. Derek and Golly were last out onto the road, both gasping for breath.
Up to the top road, we crossed and took the path past Wheatridge, taking care to miss a couple of elderly pedestrians who had, you might say, more right to be there than we did, nudge, nudge. At Mare Close, Derek turned right for home and the rest of us left to Seghill.
Mistake, mistake.
It was the Gollum again up front who dived, somewhat unwillingly, onto the singletrack at the edge of the village. The first part would have been very fast, but his legs were falling off so he could only manage quick. When we reached the wooden bridge, however, he was on his own and grinning to himself.
That didn't last long though, as half a kilometre into the very, very claggy railtrack single he looked back to see - no-one! A few minutes later some of the troupe caught up but were dismounting and crying. Ah, poor things! Unfortunately, not only had the mud jammed everybodys' wheels solid, but it had also, apparently, snapped the rear derailleur off Chris D's Giant Trance.
Ian B and Suzanne pushed their bikes as far as Golly, who climbed the fence onto the track to take an easy walk back to see what state Chris was in. In just a few minutes Chris himself, with Jason's help, had done the required singlespeed conversion and he was good to go. The only way to go, however, was to lift the bikes over the railway fence and ride along the trackside, which we did until we found Jason up ahead directing us to the only available drop to the trail below.
This little episode (the mud plugging, not the mechanical so much) cost us the early finish Golly had promised, but we weren't that late back, exceeding the four hour limit by about half an hour. There were some tired bodies back at the Cave, but a few that still had some way to pedal home. Jeff clocked 25 miles on his bike PC.
Just want to thank everyone for turning out today, it was a real surprise having that many to ride with, and as usual more bodies = more to talk about, and normally more incident.