Words by Eric, Pics by Pete
Crew; El Pres, Mr I, Stunt, Young Chris, Dunc, Butty, Gee, TJ, Eric, 3 Sheds, Coley, Croxy
Making his own way : Slim
In the pub; PtD
Route: BL, NBR, Charity and extension, Stanley Arms, Cat, Danebower, 3 Shires option, CutThorne, Cumberland Brook, Wildboarclough, Standing Stone, RHS, LHS, Bob’s, Sutton Hall.
Conditions; Dry, amazingly dry, like it used to be in the old days.
Offs and stats; Your correspondent.
A big group assembled and with the big group came big ambitions for Three Shires and so we set off with a will. (apologies to Stanley Holloway). What seemed like a relatively wind free evening in the confines of BL started to change as we climbed, the weather man obviously fibbing again.
After the months of moist misery it was marvelous to make a dry descent of Charity, not quite dust but not far off and in the daylight to boot.
The long slog up from the Stanley Arms was slightly wind assisted and it felt as though there might have been a slight element of competition breaking out, either that or everyone was trying to keep up with Chris as he effortlessly drifted off up the climb – B*****y Yoofs !!! The climb might have been tough on us but not as tough as the descent was on the poor unfortunate who had parked his new hatchback at the bottom of the ravine.
The late starting 3 sheds appeared as we were regrouping.
It might have been spring but the seasons don’t often change at the Cat and it was on with a layer or two before the charge down Danebower. Again it was wonderfully dry and a great little local chase broke out with Stunt in the lead, closely followed by your correspondent, with Coley inches behind. We were a bunch of old blokes pedaling frantically like kids on the BMX track, all worldly worries lost in the thrill of the chase, heartbeat in the red and huge with huge grins. I hope we can still do it on e-bikes and then mobility scooters!
It was starting to feel a bit like beer o’clock and some decided to head back to the fleshpots, but we’d set out for Three Shires and Three Shires was where we were going. The drop across the field although dry was more bumpy than ever; almost as if the farmer had taken to keeping Bison rather than cows. By the way do you know the difference between a Buffalo and a Bison? – y’can’t wash yer hands in a buffalo.
Three Shires has long been known to be a place of mystery and strange goings on, with people doing odd things – not sure if we can put our behaviors down to that. Firstly TJ became lost although he was standing on the bridge with the rest of us; then Butty realized that he hadn’t forgotten his water, just forgotten to turn on the Camelback valve, but then he became more flustered when he realized that he really had forgotten his biscuit.
We decided it was time to go before further bewilderment set in. The climb up to CutThorne was enticingly almost cleanable and at the top everyone had a tale of “nearly” and “if only” Darkness fell as we headed on over Cumberland Brook although there was a certain irony in the proprietor of well known bicycle lighting emporium descending the last section to the gate “sans lumes”
Just as tired legs were starting to complain a little things got decidedly better with a tailwind pushing up to Standing Stone and a dry dab free descent of the RHS – perfect. A final swoop around the LHS and past Bobs and we were cruising down to Sutton Hall. Job done
The vanguard had already eaten by the time we arrived but they had left some beer in the tank so all is well that ends well.
