If we ever get all our riders out together they'll have to close the roads for us. There were eight of us for this one, Thursday 6th September 2007, including two more new bodies. Daniel's Dad Dave joined his son for a leg stretcher after digging out his old Roadie Lycra gear, but thankfully deciding not to wear it! And and we also welcomed Craig from Hadrian Park, Wallsend who is no stranger to the Great Outdoors like our favourite trails in deepest Northumberland but has been off the bikes for some time. And bu**er me if he isn't ANOTHER Specialized owner! Daniel and Stu were there with regulars Derek, Ian, Keith and Terry to make up the eight.

We started as usual at Old Geordie's Cottage at 7.00pm and after a quick discussion headed west for Weetslade. We've ridden past the old pit heap a good few times lately, but tonight it was time to test the troops' legs and climb it. We took a bit of a breather at the crest before picking one of several routes off it. Here's a nice mood shot of Keith for the first issue Cover of "the NMBC Style Catalogue" due out on April 1st.

Note Keith's Ferrari-style ceramic rear brake disc, glowing after his high speed descents.

Stu rides a Giant (I kid you not) but it still looks small under him!

Craig has a problem with wind

This time it was Keith's turn to blast off the top after Gollum's warning to the new lads to be very careful crossing the drainage channels on the way down this scary fast descent, and it wasn't too long before  Speedian zoomed past everyone else to join Keith at the bottom. We turned north to cross the road on the waggonway through Seaton Burn to allow us to sample Derek's little singletrack treat. Dave had already commented to Terry how surprised he was just how much off-roading there was in the area that you just don't appreciate as a car driver, and now he was getting his first taste of bark rubbing on a bike as we threaded our way carefully towards the A1.

We stayed with the Reivers Route across to Ponteland, with everyone now having their lights switched on, but not until the secret Dinnington Village singletrack had claimed Craig and Daniel, both fallers, then a near miss for a hedgehog after Keith spotted it just in time. The presence of the local farmer necessitated a slight diversion instead of treading on his freshly seeded field, where we had to lift our bikes over a fence to get onto the main road. We left the north end of the village so Ian could point out Shay Given's house (it's for sale, by the way) then into Ponteland over the firing ranges. That proved a tricky ride with so many potholes in the skinny old tarmac road being almost invisible by candlelight.

Actually, it wasn't candlelight at the front, where Derek was using his Hope headlight to laser the rats out of the way and light the whole place for everyone. After a wee glitch when Stu's chain came off, we made our way onto the bridleway along to Wolsington before again dropping onto one of Ian's secret bike paths to take us back to Brunton. We used the tarmac of Brunton Lane from there to get us across to Gosforth Park quickly for the highlight (pun intended) of the night. After a photo stop at the GP Hotel gates, which proved fruitless for Golly's new digicam, it was time for Ian to lead us a bit more gently than normal through Dark Park. Derek's immense beam came in very handy through here, and with Gollum's headlamp supplementing his Blackburn LED beam at the back we managed to get through the place without much trouble, except for another wee slip from Dan. Dave, who's not exactly a dwarf, served Stu well as a branch seeker, and he kept his head this time after pruning all the trees on our last visit.

Emerging from the park around 9.30, Derek left us at Peter Barrett's Garden Centre to sprint home to Cramlington scaring the car drivers with his Lumens. The rest of us crossed the dual carriageway and arrived at Dave's and Stu's cars about 9.40. Ride ended with about 23 miles on Ian's clock, with Derek doing an extra 6 to get to the rest of us. A pretty good ride, and probably quite educational for anyone who didn't really know what "you'll need lights" meant before the ride started. By the way, the Hope light and stem combo Derek has cost him about £300. Gollum's Blackburn X3 was listed at £149 and his headlamp was £40. Not cheap, any of them, but highly illuminating. Well done everybody.

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