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An extremely pleasant night was in store for those who could be
bothered to turn out on Thursday, 25th September 2008. Pleasant
weather-wise, at least. For our regular adrenalin junkies, however,
it was a snooze session, as this turned out to be what I'd christen
a Hybrid Ride. Hybrid in so much that we covered ground more suited
to a hybrid bike rather than a full susser. That was brought about
by a couple of factors. One was our lateness getting away from the
start as there was perhaps more than the usual amount of mucking
about with bikes, lights etc. And that was directly responsible for
our sudden need to hurry in order to keep an appointment. That
appointment was with our newly-elected Femme Fatal, Katy (she'll get
a proper title later!) who was due to meet us on Armstrong Bridge in
Jesmond at 19:45. Then there was a slight mishap in the bushes
behind ASDA when the Gollum lost sight of the lead crew and took a
wrong turn in there. And THAT was because, as usual, the
front-runner (yep, the Speedian) sees a tree and puts his head
straight down, going into Stealth Mode and forgetting about the tail
behind him!
Normally, half an hour to get from the start to the Bridge wouldn't
be enough. That's because we do it off-road as much as possible.
This time we couldn't bear the thought of tarmac all the way so we
started with our usual ASDA tree canopy and then did the bottom edge
of the Rising Sun Hill before hitting the bridleways through to
Wills' Factory. Somehow we made it to the bridge before Katy decided
to pack up and go home, in fact with a few minutes to spare.
However, that had obviously meant more hard-surfaced trail than
normal and more-than-likely didn't thrill the speedsters. Still, we
try to cater for all needs.
From the Bridge, Speedy led us, now a group of thirteen men, women
and Gollums, into the darkness and as many narrow swoops, twists and
turns as he could find into Jesmond Vale. Once again, we tortured
Chris K by riding past his front door half way through a ride. hehe.
We escaped that vicinity by crossing over to Byker, down under the
bridge and then further down onto the Quayside. Can't remember the
last time we did this loop the "wrong way around" but this was for
Katy's benefit as we Cavalieros didn't want her to ride home to
Heaton on her own.
We paused for breath and capers at St Peter's Marina, where a few
indistinguishable photos were taken, and one of the brethren (and
sisthren?) produced a cigarette shaped object and proceeded to set
fire to it, causing smokeless-zoned Gollum all manner of physical
discomfort. He failed to pass a new Club Law banning the despicable
decadency and there followed a long medical explanation of it's
major analgesic and ecclesiastic benefits to Siberian Goatherders by
Doc Katy. She also told us all how to make the 2012 Olympic Team,
eazy-peazy!
Time to move on again at around 20:15 as we eased our way along the
riverside, all the way back to Segedunum Fort at Wallsend. That's
where the Coastal Contingent left us, cutting our number to ten. The
ten followed Speedy up Park Road and down the dip into Richardson
Dees Park. Somehow, the party got split into a 6 and a 4 in the
darkness - Gollum taking 5 lucky souls the flat way, while Ian
forced his smaller group to undergo various stages of amputation and
crucifixion as they battled their way up the North Face of the Burn.
When they finally reached the others, smarmily jeering at the A1058
Coast Road, they were ripped to shreds, and Katy had blood streaming
down at least one leg. Never Dare a Fool, see!
From there it was just a case of crossing under the road into Battle
Hill, joining the Waggonways at the back of the estate, and tooling
down to Hadrian Lodge. Once there we split up again, with Alex, Katy
and Chris rejoining the main road to head home past Wills' Factory
again.
Down to six now - Arthur, John, Mick, Ian, Chris D and Golly. We set
off up Station Road, but only got a few hundred metres before that
old Swiss Black Hole finally exploded. Bang! Well, that's what it
sounded like, as Chris' rear wheel spewed it's guts and completely
ruptured the side of his tyre. WE couldn't see what caused it but
there was a 3 inch gap in the sidewall. Shame - Rubber Man had
lasted a good couple of months since he was last so deflated. Never
mind, we comforted him and stuck his new tube in within hours.
At this point, the time was approaching 21:45, so Ian suggested he
and Arthur head straight for home up the road. We remaining
four crossed over onto the trail we'd started on from the Rising
Sun, taking a final jaunt through the Edge Trail but once
again doing it in reverse for the first time. John met us at the top
gate and we then poddled back to the Cave for the finish at ten.
Nice little ride, and more than enough for John on his first outing,
especially with it being on an old Marin rigid frame!
Maim a
Bike Thief - Now!
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MidAirCrisis
