Newcastle Mountain Bike Club aka Midaircrisis

Happy New Year!

Thanks for the company Colin Mitcheson, a decent ride once we found our way!
https://www.strava.com/activities/12695002072

https://www.strava.com/activities/12433514571

Well, back to the daily grind after a late invite from Colin Mitcheson to nip out a day before I'd planned. But so very glad I did! We got to Chopwell Wood car park where I rang Ian Browning, hoping but not really expecting him to be up for a ride at such short notice, but thankfully he was. Half an hour later there were three Midairkateers instead of two, although Colin and I managed to be late after getting snarled up at a dead end trying to avoid a stinking bog before setting off to collect him.

Fortunately Ian's battery had been topped up and ready for the previous Sunday when he couldn't make Grizedale so it was good to go, and off we tootled for yet another excellent, pressure-free little scoot through the trees on a perfect day for it (as we didn't have to face the brisk breeze anywhere).

Thanks to Colin for that phenomenal chunk of apple pie and the drink at Ian's favourite tea shop where we sat in the sun for a goodly spell yapping 🥧. Then after the second and final half of the ride we did the same again in Ian's back garden where we decided on which way we should advise the new government to go with its policies. 🤣

Another splendid day on the bike. And more thanks to Colin for taking over the pilot seat in the van when savage cramp kicked in for me (as is now the norm) as we approached Ryton. Aaaaarrrrgh...!🙈

Thank You so much Terry Hewison , Peter Whitworth , Steve Bowden , Gavin Brown , Paul Houghton who rarely comes out to play with us and especially Paul Baister who NEVER does, for making this a great ride and a special Midaircrisis Memory for me. I say 'especially' because it was one of the last rides I did over here with Paul some years ago that made me want to come back and do it again as one of the best ever, and I couldn't have found all the bits I was looking for without him. I should also thank Ian Mundy for turning out on Thursday night to wish me well as he couldn't make it today. I have a feeling that something closer to home (this place being a pig to get to) or at one of our more regular trail centres may have encouraged a few more to join in, but I've wanted to come back here for years and I'm very glad I did.

I don't think we've ever done an away day where there wasn't a good deal of humour involved, this being no exception and an absolute delight for me. It really did make my day special.

The downsides - there have to be some!
First came the weather after our bait stop overlooking my favourite Lake District view over Lake Coniston to Torver. That's when the precipitation began, lightly at first and sporadic depending upon our height, but gradually turning into proper rain towards the end. Didn't spoil the fun though!

The surprise - the end of the super, technical drop to High Nibthwaite has been totally ruined with the crushing of that lovely boulder field of days gone by, really changed the complexion of it but not for the better. Still a proper challenge!

Then the calamities - only two, but thankfully not requiring medical treatment - both due to the saturated, moss-covered and very slippery rocks we faced in a few places.

The first befell (sorry) Paul H who managed to get his hand down in time to save face (literally!) but copped a nasty little hit, and the second went to Paul B where the grassy bank side of the final descent almost offered a soft landing but the Mondraker pushed his knee down onto the rocks. Both rode on regardless.

Paul Houghton's tipoff here https://youtu.be/Agsj7Bg50S4
Paul Baister's here https://youtu.be/yYhQb7kS140

Thanks to all my Cycle Speedway and MTB friends here on FacePuke for the birthday wishes too, an amazing response I'm hardly worthy of but very grateful for.

The best laid plans, dee daa dee daa! Thanks Tim Burdett for destroying my plot :). "We're NOT going to Jarrow". Err, yes we are as Tim shoots off ahead...
I really enjoyed the last three sprints though after struggling for the first half of this ride. GT85 and WD40 poisoning (again) in my shed. Lovely night so good to see a few more bods out with me..
https://www.strava.com/activities/12280543254

Two old dafties getting into plenty of trouble in unexplored territory. This was brilliant, thanks Ian Browning for the sidesplitting laughs and the skin-splitting barbs (he got the worst of it, tee hee!).
Two unexpectedly super rides in two days - I believe "stoked" is the word. I just hope some of the video evidence was recorded - for later.
https://www.strava.com/activities/12239823342

Billy no-mates today out west. A lonely place is Blanchland Moor! I was careful but still got caught out twice or thrice, nowt serious this time.

Daft watch only tracked my first hour or so but I also had the OSmaps app running on the phone sporadically so I managed to amalgamate the data to show the full plot (photo below, purple track). 22 miles searching for goodies, and by some miracle I did find some singletrack! Short vids coming later but I'm sure my NMBC classmates will know them all.
https://www.strava.com/activities/12180739821

ALSO at the same time (ish) - lost my Garmin GPS off the handlebars (thanks to Marcin Socha for being as helpful as Peter Whitworth when he noticed it dangling but didn't tell me, and then I lost half of my Samsung Galaxy watch in the second crash, Great news though - the third dump only cost me some scratches.