Another attempt at a record turnout saw 24 riders appear at the Cave on this Thursday evening, 6th August 2009 at 19:00. Lovely evening for a ride with very light clod keeping the harsh rays away. Those present, according to our Master Registrar Ian A (the Speedian) were as follows:

1.  Anton

2.  Alex

3.  Arthur

4.  Chris D

5.  Chris K

6.  Ian A

7.  Ian B

8.  Ian M

9.  Jason

10. Jay

11. Jeff

12. Jonny

13. Mark W

14. Marius

15. Paul W

16. Richy

17. Simon G

18. Steve

19. Stewart

20. Terry H

21. Terry K

22. Tim

23. Tony C

24. Keith

Nice to see another couple of new faces - "Welcome" to you all - as one falls off the end, another turns up to replace her/him it seems. We took off along to the Holystone Pub and out behind it into the fields, but had only got half a mile before Jeff brought the party to an impromptu halt with a puncture! To make it worse, this was in his new Stan's No-Tubes tubeless setup, just freshly installed for the previous Sunday's Selkirk Merida! It didn't take long for the cause to be discovered, and Jeff attempted to get the sidewall hole sealed by waving his wheel around his head, the thinner air up there helping the Stan's fluid to coagulate. However, it failed to seal, so off came the tyre as someone produced an (sharp intake of breath) inner tube! It was only then that Jeff discovered the culprit - a full-on two inch rusty nail, poking right throu7gh the top and then out through the side of his lovely new Maxxis Ardent tyre! He figured it probably got there during the Merida but who can say for sure?

Anyway, tube in and off we went again - was this going to be "one of those nights" where punctures or other problems thwarted our progress? What it was going to be was a decently pacey ride, especially with Terry H up front and intending to stay with us for a bit longer than of late. As soon as the Speedian and he got side-by-side we seemed to be on an ever-upward spiral of speed increases as we headed past the Pavillion before diving off the side of the new Shiremoor bypass onto one of our favourite rat runs.

That brought us into the fields just north of Backworth Crossing and it was here that the Gollum realised both Walkie Talkie carriers were riding side-by-side at the front - not a great deal of use with such a big party out! So he dropped to the back as Ian took the lead over to Seghill Tip and that long straight blast of singletrack to the Tip entrance road. We all survived that and after a regroup were hard at it again along through the windy bit to Holywell. Ian took us straight down to the burn, not leaving out any of the good stuff as we did the full run through the woods and up the steps at the Village end.

Time for the swoop down to the bridge and the gravel trail through the Dene, where the two sharp climbs proved a stern test for many. Luckily for the Gollum, out on the 37lb Kona Coilair for a bit of exercise after that easy-peasy Merida do, the bikes downward momentum carried it up comfortably. We cruised through the Dene, pausing at the dirt jumps for another regroup and short breather, before scurrying off again for the next stage down to Hartley. The only excitement along this stretch was created by the queuing at the stile which almost caused a couple of us to fall into the river as we tried to squeeze by impatiently.

Once we'd passed the few irritating dog walkers on the final hike along the waterside it was plain sailing until we reached the coast road at Seaton Sluice, and that's where the next vertical challenge up to the pavement from sea level claimed about 50% of the troupe as failures. It's also where it seems the Gollum was caught with some sort of "concentration face" on as he again hauled the Coiler up the climb successfully. We crossed the road and Golly led straight up the facing dunes with the other Terry (H) snapping at his heels, as normal. Unfortunately this time he didn't clear the crest and Terry snarled at him for blocking the path with the usual degree of sarcasm! Sorry Terry, but it couldn't last all night!

Dropping down the chalk chute from the top of the dunes, it was time for Ian M to suffer a rare puncture. he'd stormed off the top but hammered the kerb below and incurred a classic "snake-bite" double puncture in his rear. All hands to the pumps again as his spare tube was quickly installed. Hunger was setting in so we decided to skedaddle along to the Lighthouse for our snack break. We gathered at the foot of the big lamppost and grabbed a well-earned rest around its base, admiring the fantastic, blazing orange sunset behind it.

After we'd managed to get a group photo thanks to Alex and his Revolution hardtail tripod, the clock showed 8:50. Got no idea how we were this early but it would be nice to get near our planned 10:00pm finish for a change. We re-crossed the wet causeway and rode along the tarmac to Feathers where terry departed for home at Cullercoats. That left 23 still rolling as we reached Cemetery Corner. Things went a wee bit skew whiff from here as we managed to turn left instead of battling straight across the fields in the direction of Holywell Dene, as Ian A and Terry K had planned to do it again in reverse on the way home. However, once Ian B had taken care of his puncture, the third of the night, we found ourselves following him in search of a "trail" across to the Beehive Road.

What we found were a succession of fences, stiles and funny little green signs. They did, however, provide an entertaining route through some fields with loads of pretty little horses for company until we finally emerged at the Beehive itself, much to the amusement and confusion of the customers in it's beer garden as the wiggly string of LEDs buzzed toward them.

Out onto the road, Golly led off towards Earsdon Road Ends until overhauled by Stewart, Jay and Jason but once into the village we stopped to wait for stragglers before continuing down onto the new bypass bridleways through to Shiremoor Crossing and finally back to the Cave. We arrived there, amazingly, at 9:50, much to our surprise, after a nice little exercise prelude to Saturday's Birthday Bash at Glentress in honour of Ian B who celebrated his 60th two Mondays ago.

And here are Alex's pictures, copyright Alex of course! (clik-a-pik for bigger image).

Pix 1 to 4 - final Hill Climb Challenge!

Pic 5 - what's brightest - Sunset or Stewart's bike?

Pic 6 - De Mob at St Mary's Lighthouse.