So sometimes a plan just doesn't go. Today, Sunday 21st March 2010 saw seven NMBC reps go head to head with Nature in a completely unexpected Trail Creation Day. Chris D, Ian M, Jason, Steven Wa, Francis, Terry K and new recruit Mark from Killingworth set out from Powburn just after 10:00am to follow one of our "old favourites" for about 25 miles on a cold but pleasant morning.
The initial tarmac stretch to Beanley gave way to dual bridleway and the first offroad climb of the day. It was round about now that Mark must have thought "Oh, crumbs, what have I let myself in for?". It was also here that Jason quipped "Should we not be coming from down there?" pointing at the farm to our left, but ridiculed by the Gollum. "No, you idiot, we go up here" was all he got by way of reply. Of course, silly Golly would live to regret his last statement.
Our course correction did in fact put us on the right route, just a bit later than it should have. The other thing the diversion did was to cut out a nice chunk of singletrack down by the River Breamish, but hey, we're only part human after all. Next carefully planned error came at the head of this bridleway when we turned left to follow Terry's GPS map. If only he'd turned it the right way up! I blame it on Thursday night's crash, making it too uncomfortable to twist the old shoulder to anywhere but straight ahead.
So we were now climbing hard up stoney dual over Beanley Plantation, and that's where we got our first chance to play in the bushes. This place is only half a mile square but we managed to get lost a few times inside it's tall trees and spongy ground while we searched for goodies. And we did find them eventually. And it also had a massive payoff with a superfast downhill, lumpy, grooved fireroad terminating in a strategically placed pond. Reaching the foot of the hill first, Terry stopped and turned his bike sideways just in time to point the way to the rapidly descending nutters behind him. In they went, taking a short pond bypass through the trees.
Last down was Steven. Dunno if you've ever been behind him, but he travels at a fair old lick. As he closed rapidly on Terry's indefensible position straight across the trail, he suddenly saw the outstretched arm of a Gollum ahead and began to apply some anchors on that massive Trek Fuel EX 9. Now if you've ever watched Speedway you'll know what a broadside is. It is NOT what you'd expect to see in the middle of a forest, performed by a pushbike. But it was supremely well executed, and if Steven hadn't managed to keep control at what must have been around 30mph, there would have been one bald and one ginger uninvited guest in Rothbury Community Hospital tonight! Funny how you focus on the whites of the eyes when you think you're about to be wiped out.
We emerged from that episode to skinny tarmac, still not knowing which way to go as the Gollum once more botched the GPS readout. As fate would have it, the road took us along towards Beanley again but as we were passing a dirty great hill, riding along watching a model glider performing around it's peak, Steven interjected with "That looks fun, can we go up there?". Terry's sharp retort was "No!" as it was a steep hill and he doesn't do them (upwards). More pleas followed as Chris and Francis joined in, so he finally relented and up we went.
Chris showed that a week's honeymoon hadn't tired him at all (!?!) and pedalled all the way to the top, while those with more to live for took a calm stroll to the summit, stopping for breath at regular intervals. It was noon when we reached the top and settled down for bait. A squint at the map showed this to be Titlington Pike, all 233 metres of it. Fantastic view of mid Northumberland from the top on this brilliantly clear day.
Steven's planned route back down through the trees of Titlington Wood from the Mast initially proved impossible, so after 15 minutes rest we took to the edge of the wooded area for an enjoyable thrash behind Jason over the gorse and heather. That lost us some height but also presented the opportunity to enter the woods on a decent singletrack. We had two choices: the first dived straight off the hill and down towards the road 200 feet below, whereas the second looked like it was going to weave its way down. We chose the latter hoping to prolong the pleasure and Steven led off.
We managed a few hundred metres of this and it was great, but it hardly lost any height. That was good but when it ran out, it was every man for himself as we all rummaged about in the undergrowth searching for the most fruitful way down.
By hook or by crook we all made it after another ten minutes or so. Down on the road, we were poised to try and rejoin the planned route again, but Terry decided there may be better behind us if we took the long way around the Pike. Minutes later we found ourselves on a wide bridleway (a real one) with big steel gates which soon put us on course for another blast along sweet wiggly singletrack behind Jason. Yet more goodies for future rides discovered!
This one dumped us at another gate at the edge of freshly burnt-off moorland above Kimmer Lough. Someone suggested we visit the puddle as it looked very picturesque squatting down on the valley floor and presented us with another long downhill! Jason took a slightly more arduous route down than anyone else, and paid the price with an unforced error resulting in a dismount, but as usual he said he wasn't hurt. It was weird riding across this stuff, completely black and crunchy. Beneath it, however, as the land levelled out, it became a stubble bog, very hard to pedal on and with plenty of wet traps awaiting, although they weren't deep. It took a Gollum to land in one, of course.
We rounded the eastern edge of the tarn in search of another of Terry's phantom bridleways, and eventually found it. This one led us upstream across Shipley Moor to Bannamoor Farm where we risked life and limb crossing the Eglingham Burn with a few wet feet emerging before pedal-friendly tarmac took us to the village itself. We stayed on the road now and headed for the illusive Beanley again to give a shattered Mark a chance of surviving, made harder by turning into the wind for the first time.
We drove on through Beanley and Hedgeley Hall before swooping down, unfortunately still on tarmac, to the old railway embankment, where Terry had promised a nice blast back to Powburn. Unfortunately the "blast" wasn't quite on today unless you had an engine fitted, with the heavy ground making it a continuation of the previous hard graft over the final meadows. We were back at the cars around 1500 with someone clocking 16 miles. Well done to Mark for sticking with it on his first tough bike ride. We weighed his Giant Yukon at the Cave and he sure did well to drag it around all day! Nice to have discovered more goodies though - just need to link them in to the other proper stuff next time. Remind me.
Pix here and a few from Mark's Mobe: One Two Three Four Five Six
