Words by Alex, Photos by Pete, Dunc & Simon (the one above)
The Bretheren: Dinted Dunc, Bern, Butty, Dr S, Slim, Smiffy, Stunt
Route: Backeddisbury, Zag, Charity, Extension, Tea rooms, Stakeside old coachroad decent, Shooters Clough, Shrine ascent, Pyms Chair, across the moor to Wingather, Picnic, Taxal Edge, Kettleshulme, Bakestonedale road, Poachers.
Conditions: Dusty dry trails, sunny, chilly later.
Dunc takes leadership with an ambitious jumbo ride to take advantage of the amazing trail conditions. With instructions to bring your own butties and a jumper, we assemble at the bottom of the zag in sunny conditions and short sleeves.
Dr S brings out the E bike, and Butty has his range extender on. Dunc shows off a new cane creek rear shock which looks like a blinged up R2D2!
With the evening “a marathon not a sprint” the pace is sensible up to charity, where on our off road climb we are accompanied by an enthusiastic young black lab out with two guys. The one with the mullet has his arm in a sling…likely MTB injury?
The main lane is dusty and loose rock, the RHS is dry and fast, Dunc is testing out his new shock when he loses the rear tyre. Inspection shows a nasty vertical rim dint that has broken the bead seal.
How do you pull out a dent that big at the trailside? Bernard to the rescue with adjustable spanner, and pliers…but it is still not enough! oh G you will kick yourself for not being here…the solution is hitting it with rocks off the wall!!
Now the small matter of resealing the tyre, extra fluid from Pete (no sniggering!), valve core tool from Smiffy, CO2 cannister and the tyre is on – but leaking air at too big a rate from the dinted area. Time for the gooey wiggly worm tubeless repair kit from Smiffy (now rapidly becoming Inspector gadget) and his mini stanley knife. Gunk applied along the rim, more CO2 and behold – a fully inflated tyre! Top work team.
The ride down the rest of charity and the sketchy extension (with new lines on the side to avoid the rockfest) are a good test – and all is good at Bottom’o’t’ Oven.
Time to warm back up on the climb up to the tea rooms (we were in the chilly shade during the de-dinting). A heron spotted in the field to the left by the stream, and a cuckoo heard calling!
Curlews and lapwings seen/heard above the tearooms, and a pair of e motor trailbikes come down off Shining Tor throwing dust up in their wake.
The old coach road down to the finger post is dry and flowy all the way down, perfection.
Shooters clough is also dry – even the really wet muddy bit only has a couple of token damp patches, and the stream at the bottom has dried out to a few puddles (Errwood reservoir also very low).
The Shrine climb is also in as good a condition as it can be, we emerge onto the Street by Patelvis’s van (the indian elvis) before heading up to Pym chair and taking the gate to the moor.
More super smooth twisty loveliness all the way to Windgather, with a setting sun, a few climbers descending back to cars below, and time for a refuel.
Butty has some rather good Sangria, Dunc has brought sharing pork pie, Smiffy the mustard, sausages (including the Quorn…or was that Porn ones :-)) and charcuterie, Stunt offers empanadas! what a feast.
The bring a jumper request was wise as the temperature is dropping fast, and we are catching a bit of breeze. The skies to the west are orange and purple, and the light is wonderful.
At 21:15 hours on the clock, Dunc wisely polls for route from here, Taxal is non negotiable (too right), but the priest lane climb out to the moorside and mudhurst lane drag up to Bowstones look like a loop too far. We (gratefully) decide its road all the way back to the poachers for a pint instead.
Taxal has a herd of cows at the start, but then is wonderful, the light is going so lights are optional, and it’s a third wonderful piece of trail on this jumbo night.
Lights definitely needed for the ride back, instructions to regroup at the poachers.
Heading down Bakstonedale road we kept being flashed by the oncoming cars…nothing to do with our lights it turns out – sheep loose on the road, and not just a couple, a good couple of dozen down towards the brickworks estate.
Badger spotted crossing the road by Stunt and Dr S.
Poachers almost deserted – bereft of the Nancies, the other bikers, the harriers or the locals, just one group of guys who might have been travelling with work.
The blonde not bad for the lower alcohol brigade, the ruby mild a decent pint (although neither properly ruby or a mild!!) so we all dig deep for the pump of doom inception for pint number two.
Perhaps the decline of the pub might be summed up by the chalkboard above the bar trying to flog chilled italian red wine at £11 a large glass! ..perhaps to be quaffed in the beer garden where the furniture has been painted a trendy blue/grey colour!? We will send our local undercover reporter to dig into this story more…
In TNR news Dr S is moving to Kerridge! (no not the horsey 6.2 acres being advertised by White Nancy) but an end terrace near the Bull. Will need some fixing up before he can move in if all goes well with the transaction.
Ongoing debate on what to call non E bikes, it seems to have moved from acoustic to muscle to now meat bike!?..more evolution needed.
Bern gives us one ring (he was too tired for three 😉 was the lunchtime football to blame?) before we don extra layers for a chilly ride home.
Stats were impressive for the ride with it being an official Munro night of >3000 ft vertical climb, and Jumbo >20 miles (Butty had done 30 miles and 1300m climb from Poynton).
Smiffy gets home on 1% battery.
Dunc’s dilemma – keep riding the repaired rim/tyre or change the rim/tyre?
Overnight leg cramp stats awaited 😉
Monsoon season approaches…