Date: Tuesday 8th December 2009
Riders: Colin & Keith
Departure time: 19.45
Arrived HQ: 21.50
Distance: Not sure, 15ish miles
Weather: Mild & dry
Wet, Wet, Wet!
Tonight was a throw back to the old pre-GOWCC days with
just Colin and myself to keep each other company. After the heavy
rain all day the Met Office just about got the forecast right,
although the evening's light showers didn't materialise. This
didn't make a lot of difference to how wet we got, because most
of the tracks we were on resembled streams!
So, with Paddy trying to spread the virulent WMF1 virus (Willowby
Man Flu) my way before the off and the Routemeister absent, there
was
a certain
lack
of direction about us. Then, having more or less decided on a
route, Westy changed his mind and we just headed for Cann Wood.
We picked
up
the old railway before the tunnel then did the interesting loop
by leaving the line just before the third viaduct then reappearing
back under the second one.
With Westy off the pace a little (having had
the
worst bout of
WMF1), I did my impresssion of
the Routemeister, I got up out of my saddle and gave Colin
that famous wiggle of the arse, as if to say, 'see you at the
top
gents'!!!!!!
From there we abandoned our Cann Wood plan and went along the
banks of the Plym then under the third viaduct and all the way
up to
the
A386
by
Turner's Garage.
It
was here
that
I had my first gentle off, I got to the gate at the top, grabbed
hold of it only for it to move away from me as I was still fully
clipped in! Onwards past the Argaum club and up the road before
Bickleigh to Roborough Down.
This next stretch was quite demanding given how wet the ground
was and a certain lack of really knowing where we were going
in the dark. I then had my second off, I decided at the
last moment to take the high track, my back wheel got caught
in a rut and I ended up falling right into a gorse bush!! I did
feel
a
little
prick!
We returned to HQ and managed to get the 107 account up
to an incredible £44 in one night! (Or that may have been
from our
dinner last week). We were a little disappointed that the Social
Sec had gone home before we arrived, obviously he's not quite
the social beast we thought he was!!!!
