17th October 2013 - Whinlatter

Charlie, Grant, Jamie and CT met up at the lower car park, just as it was getting dark; the international space station had just passed by when I drove up. It was a clear evening with a bright moon assisting the ride. A bit nippy to start but you are soon on a steady climb, so the first layer comes off and short sleeves survived the rest of the ride. I've not been to Whinlatter for a night ride for a while and it does seem different, some of the zig-zag turns are tight but a good challenge, especially for long vehicles;) So we did the north route first and then the south, on the second part we climbed to the top, turned our lights out and admired the view over Keswick as well as seeing a plane flying below us! Onwards and Grant set off first, over a rocky section with drop offs to the next singletrack, we heard some noise and then Grant laughing, he had gone a bit wrong and tumbled over a log barrier and fell into the forest, luckily he was OK, but had to fight his way out of the trees :) Onwards to enjoy the singletrack descent and keep an eye out for the toadstools, especially the bright red ones, poisonous and known as 'fly agaric' I believe; a great ride on a star lit night. Next ride is Elterwater.