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Sunday 27th December and the final ride of 2007 for the hardy little squad who could be bothered to drag themselves away from the turkey remains. They were the Several Steves (B and W) and the Two Terrys, and their target was Kielder for a gentle tour around the Black Route followed by a possible scoot over to Newcastleton and back. The idiot Gollum had announced on this and the NMBC web sites that the start time was 09:00, but he couldn't help but notice first Steve B then Terry H arriving outside the Cave well before 8! That caused a bit of a panic splash and dash for Golly, and luckily a text to Steve W got him here earlier than he expected aswell, so we got away around 8.45 with Terry taking his car and the other three in the GollyMobileŽ. Terry was using his own car to transport the Fusion Floyd after it's last ride on the GollyTrailer™ resulted in a half sawn-through seatpost, courtesy of whichever other bike was rubbing against his!
My memory just gets worse by the day, but I believe we started the ride around 10:20am. It was fairly cool, grey and damp at Kielder Castle as we started out on the Red Route but not raining. As the ride progressed and we gained height, the proximity of the low cloud, especially atop Deadwater Fell, made it damper still but we escaped with only the wetness of the trail causing any problems.
Terry and Steve B took the first fireroad climb following the short couple of downward singletrack tasters in their stride, while Steve W and Golly waddled up to the Deadwater Junction more sedately. There were plenty of surprises on the way up there, especially on the very difficult Red section down to the start of the 3 Dog Climb which is getting very sticky and won't survive the winter without further fortification to the surface. We had an early lunch stop in the usual spot at the edge of the tree line for shelter, before Gollum led off down the lumps, bumps, rock gardens, berms and rollers of the descent that leads to the parting of the Red and Black at Devil's Elbow. Unluckily and uncharacteristically it was Terry who made the first mistake with a dodgy line choice over the big garden, causing the Floyd to spit him off when the front end compressed fully. He still made it down OK, we'd expect nowt less, but he sure had a shiner on his knee at the bottom.
Time to climb, and it was terry again who scorched up this strenuous black climb up to the timber bog crossing on the Black Route. This was extremely dangerous with the wood being well soaked and oh so slippery on the turns. By the time Golly took a few photos of the landscape with the mist rolling in the other three had vanished onto the first Black downhill so no pics of their descent there, but we all survived it. Golly set off first on the second stage so he could get shooting at the bottom. Unfortunately Terry flew past just as he lifted the camera!
The final drop of the three saw Gollum again blasting over the starting drop-off first so he could get down and warn the others about the drainage gully just short of the finish. No problems on that one for our intrepid foursome. By now Steve W was again asking questions about possible upgrades for his Specialised Hardrock hardtail to make his life on the bumps easier. I really envy anyone who can sit on solid aluminium all day on terrain like this, it just bashes me to bits when I try it.
Time to make the short trek along the Forest Drive to get back to the final Red section. After the first few triple rollers (christened "Craig's Demise" by NMBC) Golly took up position to grab a few video snippets of the others coming through. Note the different styles.
This bit now has a really nasty boardwalk section after the Forestry Commission insisted on removing the wire netting from the timbers as it was considered a worse hazard than bare boards. Not in the wet it isn't you tossers. How many FC executives have tried to ride over this crap, I wonder? It certainly gave me a scare with a huge rear wheel slide on the steep banking and Steve W sensibly walked past it to avoid possible injury. This is a real crazy situation and I wish they would reconsider before someone gets badly hurt. Or better still, take all the stupid woodwork away and dump a few tons of Dolomite over the boggiest bits of trail. If anyone from the Kielder Trail Reavers should read this, what do YOU think about this turd on your trail (no, the bare wood, not me) and were you consulted?.
Only the massive left hand berm a few hundred metres further along the trail halted Steve W's progress as Golly squeezed past on the high banking, with Terry and Steve W probably already back at the car. Fortunately no-one else got hurt and it was another satisfying if surprisingly short ride, around 10 miles showing on Steve W's bike PC. We finished at 2.15 ish, I think, and headed off to Falstone for a cup and a bite before heading home.
Pics and vids coming soon...
Keep watching and if you fancy a ride out with us, drop us a line here: bailout@midaircrisis.org.uk