Thursday 13th May saw a meagre 15 riders leave the Cave at 1910 for the short trip east to St Mary's Lighthouse. We took the direct route this time at a fairly brisk pace heading over to the Pavillion and down onto the newly surfaced (spoiled!) bridleway to Backworth Crossing. Nice to have Stian and Suzanne out again.

Through the fields next towards Hollywell Dene and a slightly different entry as we turned left into the trees. That's where Paul had the misfortune to flat and where the small group with him managed to miss the turn down into the Dene itself. However, when we emerged into the village we could see the tail end of the front runners dropping off the footpath into the trees. We followed and with Arthur last man down he decided to provide the first bit of excitement of the night when he mistimed his braking for the drop to the bridge and spilled off the Trek, bouncing straight back up and none the worse for it (he said!).

We blasted along the riverside to the concrete steps and out the other side for a short rest before touring through Hollywell and into the Dene proper under the road. Those two little clicks in here still catch a few people out with the suddenness of their rise but it wasn't long before we gathered again at the jump spot. Jason looked to be having a few issues with the singlespeed monster truck but got that sorted and we scrambled over the fence for the singletrack drops to the river with just about everyone finding a different route down. Paul's turn to gather some moss when the Stumpy kicked him overboard.

Terry was first away from here and took the unusual step of deviating from our normal course by crossing the little bridge to the south shore. It's a nice little trail but because it was put there for, erm, walkies there are quite a few stops along the way to climb steps. Half the squad seemed to stay on the other bank so missed out on this little gem.

Next regrouping point was the Coast Road at the melton Constable, and this found Terry putting too much faith in the man in front and failing to make the climb, to the expected chorus of p:$$taking. Always leave space between yourself and the bloke in front - advice ignored!

We crossed the road and played in the dunes for a while with two groups hitting the highest point from different directions. Richy took the opportunity to try out a little used steep drop, just avoiding intimacy with the wooden bench on the grass below. Wheeee!

Time for Terry again to take the group on a dead end loop around the headland before Tim plotted an escape route into New Hartley. Ian A and Terry then found themselves trailing the rest by some distance as they scampered off to the Lighthouse. The tide was in so they couldn't cross the causeway, so they plonked on the seats for snacks. Meantime, Speedy and the Gollum were taking their time and following the skinny singletrack right around the cliff edge, either side of the caravan site. Team NMBC had just about finished its meal break when the two stragglers arrived to start theirs.

With time on our side due to the sheer pace of the ride, Ian suggested we stay on the coast and do the whole run into North Shields Fish Quay. That went without incident until we got right to Tynemouth Priory where the squad ignored Speedian's streak away onto another new, secret trail and ended up half way to Shields but without him. Time for the ubiquitous Walkie Talkies to spring into action, but Ian was out of range around the corner and shielded. So we waited until he appeared, and then after he'd rejoined the group, Terry vanished up the hillside somewhere. He'd discovered yet another little section of singletrack at the end of a newly-constructed shale path and that spat him out at the east end of the Quay with no-one else in sight. Walkie Talkie time again, but this time they worked and he trotted back to where Ian and a few others were waiting.

The remainder of the group were gathered at the far end past the Chippy, out of sight. We regrouped and climbed up away from the river with something of a race taking place between Jason and Terry, mimicking the same gear ratio as the singlespeed Trek. Full sus won up the hill, but only just, and it hurt.

Although time had been on our side at St Mary's it wasn't now, so we darted back through the commercial top end of Royal Quays and up through Percy Main onto the Silverlink Waggonway. There followed a relentless, tiring drag up the tarmac which seemed to gobble up the miles rapidly, before turning west into Cobalt and and onto the ash trail for the final blast back to Holystone. Three of the membership, however, chose to do the field edge trail around the Building Society before hitting Siemens Gatehouse - Terry, Chris and Richy making the most of the dry conditions although tired legs slowed the leader somewhat.

Home around 2220 with 18 miles on somebody's readout.