The Bats were out again on Thursday 27th September 2007. Must have been nowt on the telly. Another new face was joining us tonight, that of another Terry who hails from Cullerocoats. He's our kind of XC biker, with loads of experience of most of our favourite haunts throughout the North of England. Work and life commitments have decimated the merry band he used to ride with so he thought he'd try us out. Gathering on the Great Lime Road and at Holystone, the two little bunches met in the middle like last time, and the Gollum pointed them into the gloom that was Killingworth. Arthur, Craig, Derek, Ian A, Keith and Paul C made it 8 with the Two Terrys (oh, oh!), maybe a few more than expected considering what the weather had threatened to do all day. 

Dark had already decided to join us so the lights were blazing early as we sought as much dangerous terrain as we could find, just for a change. Golly headed the bunch over to Camperdown and the East Coast railway line where we crossed and followed Ian through his favourite fields to the end of Sandy Lane. Someone had decided it was plenty dark enough to enjoy the blackness of the Park very early in the ride. So in we went, the meandering array of twinkling lights attempting to keep track of the Speedian as he sought out another of his crazy undergrowth trails. These are tricky in daylight, never mind blindfolded.

We made reasonable progress with the odd hiccup as riders stumbled or hit chopped-off stumps and overhanging branches. Arthur became the first victim of the night but landed fairly softly on shrubbery and remounted quickly. When he and Golly caught up with the bright red glow-worms ahead it was time to tackle stage two. Just as we were about to head off, however, the Speedian managed to snap his chain! A very rare occurrence, and it just had to happen in the dark, in the jungle, in the middle of the night! Luckily we were very close to one of the gaps in the Park walls on Sandy Lane and we moved out to effect a repair.

Under the streetlamps it was a bit easier to see, so Golly set about whipping Ian's chain off to view the damage. One link just burst apart. He must have been on that treadmill at home all week getting ready for tonight's ride! Like most of us old hands, Ian carries spare SRAM Powerlinks for just this kind of emergency. Get some, if you haven't already. They're £1.99 from ChainReaction but a only quid at some other bike shops. Big advantage is you don't need any tools, although this time Arthur's chain tool came in handy to dispatch the broken link, once the Gollum figured it out and switched on his headlamp so he could see his hands.

All fixed, so we dived back into the trees. When we collected together a second d time we found ourselves where Ian hadn't been before, strangely, and were forced to lift the bikes and ourselves over a 4 foot barbed wire fence. Somehow, nobody became a kebab on the way over. We were now stuck on the edge of a rough field, with the old Great North Road behind a wall to our right. Who was daft enough to lead off into no-man's land?

So the team followed Gollum as he groped his way across this unknown territory. One bog, one pond and one gate later and we were back on familiar ground, at the Dirt Jump spot behind the Garden Centre. We stopped outside it for Golly's attempt at another group photo, as he's determined to get a decent one before the light nights kick in.

North we went from there and immediate west into Hazlerigg. We were a few hundred metres from the edge of Brunton Woods when - go on, guess. Chain Number Two snapped. Not Speedy's this time (Ian now has another nickname, courtesy of Keith - "SpeedyLink") but Terry's. No, not New Terry, GollyTerry. Tonight he was on his CoilAir, just returned from a loan spell at Jason's. Not Jason's fault though, as much as I'd like to blame him! Once again the headlamp was on and the Gollum on his knees, groping in the dark. As I said earlier, us Old Timers carry more spares than Halfords, so it wasn't a problem. Or wouldn't have been, if this dozy old timer had his spares with him! Worra Plonka! As luck would have it, all us Old Timers carry not one, but two Powerlinks, so Ian kindly donated his last one for the cause. And we were off again.

After a quick vote on whether Ian or Derek should lead us into more grief and an even blacker hole, SpeedyLink got the short straw and led into the blackness. The Gollum fully expected a mudbath in here, but the place was fairly dry and we got away with it. After the first regrouping pause we lined up behind Speedy again to meet our destiny. About five metres into the bush, Ian met his, ending up over the bars. Most unlike him, but fantastic viewing from behind. At exactly the same moment, Craig, a few riders back, did exactly the same! Crumbs, two rolling around the undergrowth together and no-one with a camera quick enough to catch it!

No lasting injuries, except for a further tweak to Craig's wrist which sustained a bit of damage at Kielder on Sunday. On we ploughed over the boardwalks which carry the trail over the boggiest sections of ground. Reaching the end of the last timber run, another shriek filled the night air. Poor Craig, this time turned turtle, on his back in a very prickly bush when he missed the final drop-off. Old Guys 3, Pups 2. By now Terry 2's front lamp should have expired, but by careful management and riding behind Hope searchlights (Derek) he still had a flicker left.

We emerged onto the Dinnington Road and headed up Speedy's Lane towards Wolsington. Just nearing the old airport we were mowed down by a 4 wheel drive Police car, bodies scattering into the verges to avoid certain death. The driver and WPC Smith beside him must have been startled in the dark by our approach and called a sudden halt to whatever they were doing out here in the blackness. He opened his window to give us a piece but changed his mind when he saw Derek's MidAirCrisis logos. Lucky escape, I had no reflectors, no bell and no rear lamp! Lucky escape for Plod aswell, I reckon.

We took our regular route over the southern side of the airport and the fast singletrack into Ponteland. Then it was time to turn for home on the bridleway to the north along the side of the Army Ranges to the top of Dinnington Village and Route 10 eastwards. Speedian and Gollum got left a few hundred metres behind the bunch here, and just as the pair were winding up to cross the bridge over the A1 at Seaton Burn, the CoilAir shed it's left crank! Still can't blame Jason, but hell, why not?  At least it went back onto it's splines and re-tightened easily enough, but the two laggards missed the singletrack turn the others had taken, and ended up some way north of them when they hit the main road through Wideopen. Riding back to re-join for the final leg, it was time to say "nigh-night" to Derek, who scampered off through to Dudley and home. That left six, and we parted from Paul on the edge of Weetslade near Sandy Lane roundabout, the closest point to his South Gosforth home.

The rest of us continued along the Waggonway and over the railway tracks again. Just hitting Killingworth the mobile phones began their midnight rhapsody - "where the hell are you?" wailing out from tinny little female voices as we sped homeward. Only the Two Terry's left now after the Cottage start point, and they swapped stories on their way along the GLR to Golly's abode. At around 22/23 miles, that would give Terry 2 a total trip of maybe 30 miles on his first excursion with us. He seemed happy enough with it, I'll report back with more detail if I get any.

We were down an Ian, a Paul, a Kay, a Stu, a David, a Daniel, a Jason, a John and an Andy but the entertainment level, as usual, was maintained at a decent standard.

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