Words by Eric
Crew; Butty, Mr I, Slim, Dr S, Stunt, Croxy, El Pres, Eric
In the pub; Post “B” ride Dunc, in civvies PTD and Kersh
Lame excuses; 3 Sheds, – not back in time
Route; Old Buxton Road, zig, no zag, Teggs, RHS to the reservoir, Leathers, Concessionary Bridleway, Charity, Narnia, Hardingland, reservoir again, Leathers again, anticlockwise loop to Bob’s bench, Leathers again.
Conditions; Chilly higher up but still not winter. Ooh soo slippery under wheel.
Stats; Non reported for the second week running, or should that be riding
Offs; Stunt, Slim.
With a pub rendezvous planned for the slowly recovering PTD, the forest and The Leathers was a bit of a given. Before the off there was much speculation about the size of Butty’s new rubber, with the front wheel of his hardtail looking more akin to something found on a JCB than a lightweight racer. It was good to have a rare appearance from Croxy although he admitted it was only to make sure he was on the A list for the Christmas do.
Normally the zig is just a bit of a warm up for legs and lungs but tonight the surface warmed up the reflexes aswell with a couple of unexpected slippy bits. The normal start for the RHS descent was considered too slippy by the leadership team – what’s the world of ‘elf and safety coming too! Slim was quickly into the accident book with a novel first as he managed to crash without actually being on the bike at the time. Moments later Stunt lived up to his full name of Stunt Double with two falls in two yards, both before mounting his bike, the first one left a rather nasty bruise, the second left the rest of us laughing but also considering our own options. It was so slippy you were safer sitting on the bike than standing and hanging onto it.
No one was brave enough for the LHS but the banter at the car park assembly point suggested that the RHS had not disappointed anyone either. It was up to the Leathers next to order victuals for later before the long pull up to the top of Charity, not too much to report here except heavy breathing, on the climb that is not the food ordering!
It seemed to be a bit of a “ “ ‘em sort of night with no regroup at the top. The new sport seems to be to go down to the entrance to Narnia and then shine your light up into the eyes of those following down – hmm.
The Narnia steps proved suitably terrifying on one’s little bike and we waited for El Pres to face his nemesis again. With the food now nearly ready it was along the ruined track to the road and swift blast down Hardingland, and back up to the reservoirs; so swift in fact that the food wasn’t quite ready so we took in a final loop around Bob’s bench, arriving fashionably late for dinner.
The hospitality was warm as ever even though we seemed to be the only folk in the place. Aside from the usual (gammon for Slim) there was a rich variety of freshly shot things on the menu. The conversation turned to injury recovery strategies, healthcare schemes and operations various – it’s a sign of the times; but you don’t stop playing because you grow old …………….. !