Words by Eric, Pics by Pete & Butty
Crew; El Pres, Butty, Slim, Shaun, Croxy, Mrs. Croxy, Stunt, BE Berne, Eric
Route; BL, Zig Zags, Salters, Crooked Yard, Charity, Narnia, wet bit, Leathers, White Rabbit, Nessitt, slabs, Back of the Moon, RHS, Bob’s bench, Leathers again.
Conditions; Cool and clear as a menthol cigarette.
Stats; Stunt, mechanical 101
Offs; BE Bern x 3.
Complete lack of leadership initiative led to a meet 6.30 BL, ride round the familiar trails go to a familiar pub and drink familiar beer proposal. – perfect answer.
As we gathered some unfamiliar but very welcome faces appeared, Croxy H, just back from 3 hours of tennis and a 15 mile walk, Shaun, just back from making more wonderful spirits in the midlands, and Big Events Bernard back after last week’s epic Huddersfield to Macc via the Poachers big event.
We were a little late getting underway as Stunt found that the cause of the annoying chain rattle on the way to the start was incompetence, a mechanics 101 revealed that the chain had been replaced the wrong way round!!
After a week of grim weather the brightening evening had brought out a rash of citizens so we chose the Salters Way after the Zig Zags – what’s a very slippy and sketchy descent in the normally damp conditions turned out to be a flat out blind in the dry. Inevitably who goes down have to climb back up again and the grind up Crooked Yard doesn’t get any easier; onto the main road and then quickly back to Hacked Way avoiding Macclesfield’s finest TT riders on the way. We realized we’d lost Butty and Shaun – so which bit of Crooked Yard sounds like Hardingland – but were reunited for the climb up Charity.
With skies clearing by the moment and a Blue Moon rising the conditions were about as clear as they have been. Narnia was amazing with shafts of evening sunlight giving everyone the real afterglow!
We had hoped that the “wet bit” would be as dry as many of the other trails but after dropping in it soon became clear that the laws of nature do not apply on this particular piece of God’s earth. But the drop was great fun splashing about in the mud and general slippyness. It was quite amusing to see the look on the faces of other pristine groups of riders as they clocked us all wet, muddy and grinning – a sort of “what the”expression.
After a quick stop to order food we were off for the top of Nessit as the sun started to make it’s way home. Everything was in total alignment as from the top of Nessit look West to the glowing sunset and look East to the Blue Moon. For some looking downwards to the Leathers and the prospect of meat based provender was too much of a pull but for others it was one of those “could just keep riding forever” evenings so we split into groups to make descents to the pub.
BEB and your correspondent headed up the slabs hoping to catch a spectacular sunset from the Back of the Moon; sadly the clouds had come in a little so all we got was a bit of a red glow from the sun and also from the faces of the Manage a Trois which we seemed disturb at the top.
With the light going fast there was just time for a RHS descent, perfect with a little moisture on the ground, well perfectly slippy to be exact with BEB admitting to 3 offs in the 1K. Back over Bob’s, past an odd looking mother and son herbal bonding session and down to our spiritual home with the full moon sitting squarely on the summit of Nessit. – It doesn’t get better than this and eat your heart out Alan Garner!