2010 - slurrrp...
Sun day at last!
No, that's not a mosprant, it was Sunny Sunday on 7th March 2010, hopefully signalling the end of a long winter. Turning out at the Cave for a nine o'clock start were Jason, Francis, Steven G, Ian M and Terry K. They headed south through the Tyne Tunnel to meet Tim, Chris D and Mick at Seaburn for the latter to lead us on another, long-overdue tour of Wearside for version two of Mick's Meanders.
The start and first few miles were the same as last time as we followed the Wear upstream searching for as much offroad surface as Mick could find, which ultimately was to be plenty. Just below Wessington Way we managed to lose Steven and Ian who'd lost sight of the very pacy front bunch and kept rambling along the road until Ian figured he could see far enough ahead to know he'd become detached. He quickly spotted the bridleway and the pair got back on to catch Mick and Terry waiting for them a few minutes later.
We continued swooping down to the riverside then climbing away again until the time came to duck under the A19 where Mick volunteered to relinquish his lead for the tricky singletrack, so Terry went in first followed by Chris and Francis. It wasn't long before the leader burnt himself out again and Chris took over at the front to stretch us out. This is a great little stretch of slithery and at times treacherous grassy/muddy trail, but we all got along there just fine and stopped at the fork near the metal bridge to watch the Sunderland Uni Ladies Boat Club training on the water. They seemed totally unimpressed by the Gollum's camera pointing at them.
Back to the trail and this time we took in the final riverside section rather than moving inland straight to the farm road, then we followed Mick through some more industrial stuff before dropping down to cross the river at the picturesque Glebe House Footbridge.
Time for a short climb as we now headed downriver again into Southwick looking for somewhere pretty for lunch. Did I say something funny? As Tim had been moaning about his empty guts for the last hour we made our stop in the Retail Park where we sat in a bus shelter to shade ourselves from the glare of the midday sun. Crikey.
After us more sane types had eaten and Tim had greased up his inners we took off again to cross the Alexander Bridge and seek out Mick's promise of some more offroad delights. After a short uphill bridleway we found ourselves in the old Witherwack Quarry where we found time to stop and play on the drops and chutes for a while and to give Steven his first flying lesson.
Moving on over a nice enough gentle singletrack climb popped us out at the top of Carley Hill which allowed us the luxury of a twenty metre drop down to the A184 on bridleway which was both fast and tricky with the top two inches being icy, grooved mud. Great fun getting your eyes filled. We crossed Boldon Flats stopping at the Metro Line for Tim to remove some accumulated filth from his Genesis hardtail. I suppose I should mention, as Francis pointed it out, that fifty percent of "us" were on hardtails today. Don't worry though, normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. And as it happened, it was the hardtails which caused all the slight mechanical delays on this ride! Wouldn't be surprised if they still use inner tubes aswell. (Thanks for that sniping opportunity Francis!).
It was time to plod the flat stuff for a while as we used the waggonways to get to Boldon Crossing and beyond as Mick drove us north east for Cleadon Hills. We paused on the Linnet Way which runs nicely into the Great North Forest Trail and had a break in the sweltering sunshine. Believe.
After a decent rest and some photies we were off around the side of Whitburn Golf Course as we skirted the top side of old Marsden Quarry before attacking the brilliant descent down to Lizard Lane where the bikes took a bit of stopping to avoid spilling out onto the road. All that was left before the Coastal Path now was the amazingly difficult bridleway drop to the coast road outside Souter Lighthouse as the cattle had been marching up and down the thing and it had frozen afterwards. Tim, unsurprisingly, found a shortcut down to the road and avoided most of the hard graft. Can't blame him, being on a hardtail today, I suppose. In fact, I would have left the thing at home and walked around our route rather than have my spine disengaged. They'e supposed to be good for plaque though, so I've heard.
Once we'd collected ourselves and took a minute to peer up the coast at the remains of Marsden Rock, you'd think we'd have it easy sauntering down through Whitburn and finally back to Seaburn, wouldn't you? Yes, but today was the day that grumpy old Bill and dopey old Ben decided to take a walk in the northerly direction. We came across them about half a kilometre apart, and both stubbornly refused to give an inch as Jason led us southwards. The first just stood his ground, solemn and silent, stone-faced. We got past him OK, just, coz he was a big 'un.
The second, however, was obviously intent on impressing Mrs Grump, walking next to him. She, as everyone else did today including us, adjusted her position on the path. He, on the other hand, decided he had God on his side and that once the leaders were past him he should let off some steam and start the old Rambleresque name-calling. We were all well past the moron by this time and couldn't be arsed to interrupt our flow. Tail End Charlie, however, (Mick at this point) knew he could catch us up again easily so he did stop to offer some verbal retaliation to the tosser. Dunno what the outcome was but I know Mick would have given a bit more than he recieved, so we wait for the story breaking in the Sunderland Echo any time soon.
We were back at the cars around three and gone in sixty seconds. Great ride, oodles of surprising (if maybe slightly less than legitimate) singletracking and another great ride planned and executed in style. And glorious Wearside Weather. 30 miles on Steven's bike PC. Ta for that one Mick.
Pix later...