8 made it out, Jamie M, Grant, Joel, CT, with George and Andrew arriving just in time and Phil (who came out last week for his annual trip;) decided that he would delegate and send his wife in his place! so we welcomed Amanda and a colleague Mark to come out to play train with us (I hope I have remembered the names correctly...?). We are a very informal group the main thing is to get out, ride and enjoy the evening.
So we headed into the forest with a broad plan of riding round and about...so we did head over to join the NF trail on the north side and then end up at Moor Top, first blood to Amanda after some off or other (don't worry Phil the bike was fine;). At Moor top we headed south east over the road and into Hawkshead Moor for a little exploring, at The Fox we (CT) decided to head down the 'training' route Esthwaite Intake down to the road, in the end it was a little too nice and CT punctured a rear tubeless! after trying to pump up with air and Hissing Sid still escaping a tube was required, it was a tad close/warm with the threat of rain due later; but Joel stayed to assist. Not had a puncture for a while, so more juice in the tubeless system I think.
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| "Coffee" for those not riding sitting at home;) |
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| Boardwalk on NF trail, note quite a few boards are broken |
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| See how fast they are moving....... |
Now down to the road and re-group, turn right and up the hill, Amanda leading from the front shouting "attack the hills" apparently something learned from fatty riders;) We were now looking for the track back up to the Fox, Joel peeled off early to check a possible route and we went along the road, JP eventually caught us up after a bit of hike a bike! Back on track, left at the Fox and down to the center, it's a rocky route but fun!
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| The section was a tad tricky and overgrown |
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| Big wheels helps and a HT:) |
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| Medium wheels OK too! |
Now down at the Grizedale center, time to head back up the NF trail and into the forest, nice and steady, JM had an off going uphill, must be catching Joels disease;), we stopped half-way up and re-grouped for some jelly babies and we had some Aldi and Basetts but did not have the inclination to do a blind taste test, just eat them! At this point someone decided it was dark enough for lights (if you have them use them!) no worries we'd just race to the front; then re-grouped again at the top and continued along the fire roads and NF. Along the way on a fire road junction it was starting to get darker and Mark was thinking about his upcoming holiday and not to risk technical riding in the dark, good plan, so he, Jamie and Amanda set off back via the fire roads, maybe they just knew the wet weather was coming and scooted off early...never to be seen again!
Meanwhile that left 5 to try a few more NF sections as we navigated back to High Cross, where did we leave the car, it was on top of a hill, Hawkshead hill, so we do not want to drop down into Coniston or Hawkshead, so there were a few worried faces, especially as it started to rain. Anyway we did make it back and along the way had to dodge wildlife jumping around the fire roads, no doubt awakened by the rain!
