The Jury was out for this Thursday nighter, 27th November 2007. Twelve Good Men and True gathered at the Cave at 7:00pm, ready to pass judgement on Speedy (Ian A) and Gollum's (Terry K) selected route for this nocturnal MidAirCircuit of Tyneside. We headed out at 7:10 with a couple of surprise additions to the squad - Craig who'd once more bravely heaved himself over from Kenton Bar with the obvious prospect of getting himself back there before MidAirMidnight (definition: 03:00am), Gordon who'd sneaked an Evening Pass to escape the indoors at Seaton Delaval and we also welcomed newcomer Rob from Winlaton who is perhaps the most accomplished all-round MTBer we've hosted and who doubled the number of Specialized Enduros out on this ride (Craig on the other Big Hitter).
Following a brief discussion between the two ride co-ordinators we were off behind Ian into the trees behind ASDA again, a run we've neglected for a week or three. Mayhem ensued beneath the leaves as many tried to second-guess Speedian's route through here. However, us oldies know that's virtually impossible as he doesn't know himself until a twig diverts his front wheel in a particular random direction! And speaking of Ian, this was a very rare outing for his "other" Specialised Stumpjumper, the one he keeps shiny. Catching sight of this the Gollum quickly switched into deep thought mode to try and direct the route through as much mud and goo as possible. Didn't have to worry though - it's what Ian does best.
After the normal headbanging session through the Branch Bash we emerged at the Hadrian Lodge end only to be led straight back up the Rising Sun Hill again by Golly. Gathering at the top there wasn't much time for breath taking as the Gormless One shot off in another slightly different direction, cutting over the side of the Hill to the western tree line, and with tonight's wetness on the grass it was plenty slidy on the off-camber startof the descent with most people ending up doing it sideways, but great fun unless you were a Gollum at the front with that devil Terry H snapping at your heels.
We rode eastwards on the bridleway behind the Barking Dog before turning south at "The Roundabout" to the Coast Road, dipping through the underpass and taking a breather at the other side. Time for the Speedian to shoot off down the steps and along the ledge of slippery singletrack along BurnSide. Beyond the trail, half of the party took the singletrack descent to the bottom, while the rest took those famous steps. The Gollum found himself at the back of the steps party being blinded by the bright waterproof in front of him and wondered who it was bopping down the scary staircase with such aplomb. It turned out to be young Arthur who's obviously overcome his phobia of these potentially fatal concrete steps and just launched at them this time!
From there we had to climb Crow Bank before crossing over to Wallsend High Street, down Park Road and onto Hadrian's Cycleway on the riverside. We maintained a fair old pace all the way through Wallsend, Walker and into Byker taking in as many off-track sections as we could including the mad drop to the river where last time Chris D almost took himself and the Mongoose over the rail and into the Tyne's waiting gloop! There was no let-up as Terry headed us under Byker Bridge and left the rest for dead up the climb into Heaton.
On reaching Heaton Park it was Ian's turn again to lead down the little singletrack downhills he's uncovered over the years and with the Prof (Tim) moaning about his borrowed Decathlon, Golly swapped him for the Trek for the homeward loop. Now here's a Mongoose rider that calls a Trek Fuel EX-8 a heavy bike!!! Well, I reckon professors are all crackpots. We were into Jesmond Vale now and after crossing the first field, Arthur compensated for his brilliant performance on the steps earlier by inexplicably dumping himself off the Decathlon in a sideways get-off on the muddy path just short of Armstrong Bridge. No damage done though, and after saying goodnight to Gordon we rode up the bank to enter the Dene from the north-western edge with Ian finding yet more singletrack descent on the way to the little bridge (Golly's Bridge) feared so much by the Gollum after his mach1 mashup last year. Chris K left us here about a hundred metres from his front door.
The Terrys and one or two others leapt the wooden fence at Pet's Corner to maximise the singletrack possibilities before having to climb back out onto the tarmac half a mile further on. That's where the party became split with both sets of riders navigating the riverbanks side-by-side with the Ouse Burn between them until emerging at Castle Farm Road. We became one bunch again for the final stretch of Dene trail out onto Freeman Road at South Gosforth. That's where, after parting from Craig and Dave, we decided just to hit the old Tram Track back over to Little Benton Farm and the Powder Monkey.
Arthur and Ian left us at the Whitley Road Sports Ground leaving Chris D , Rob, Tim, Terry and Golly to get along the road to Holystone, which we actually hit at 9:45pm!!!
Alex,
Tim,
Arthur,
Chris D,
Chris K,
Craig,
Ian A,
Gordon,
Rob,
Dave,
Terry H,
Terry K.
Seems like we're due to cover some ground this Sunday with Rob at Laggan, Terry in Yorkshire, Keith in the Lakes and Mick and Gollum at Killingworth!
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