Two
new steeds were on show this evening, Keith’s new
birthday present and Neil’s new bike. Both looked exceptional
and very clean so Paddy & Sam tried to identify the wettest
and muddiest route to spoil the “new” look! In
the absence of the Routemeister tonight (sidelined due to illness)
our imaginative duo decide upon the reverse of last week’s
route.
We set off from WP and headed for Lake Lane and then
up Iron Mine Lane and the gentle route above Burrator towards
the “Shaggers
Van”. This was when it all started to go wrong for one
biker who has a real love of deep water. Sam turned sharp left
after crossing the Devonport Leat to follow the path beside
it and took a tumble, I was following immediately behind
and avoided
Sam and then for some inexplicable reason (well I was chuckling
to myself at Sam’s misfortune!) I over-steered to the
left and the inevitable cry of “oh s**t” and toppled
into the leat, I managed a “Keith dismount” and
landed standing knee high in the leat holding onto my bike.
Much to the amusement of all but Paddy (serve you right for
setting such a high early pace) I managed to clamber out, empty
my boots and pull out a few gorse prickles before continuing.
That water was freezing and I now realise why Keith’s
best purchase are his waterproof shoes.
On through Burrator
woods and turning left onto the Princetown road. Across the
road to the car park and down the hill to join the old railway
line. Paddy as usual in the lead on any downhill, led the way
and waited for the rest at the bottom, Keith had managed a
tumble and I think Colin also admitted to one! By this time
Neil and Paddy were the only ones able to stay on their steeds.
We followed the railway line to King’s Tor bypass and
decided to turn right to Princetown rather than via the more
adventurous route of Yellowmeade Farm and North Hessary. At
the Plume Neil decided to leave us and take the road back to
Plymouth, his new steed serving him well, but felt it was like
riding with the brakes on (hopefully he will recover before
next week?).
We climbed South Hessary towards Nun’s Cross
and down toward the disused Tin Mine but not before Colin took
a spectacular fall to try and miss a granite slab followed
by “yes me again” crashing out to avoid Colin but
unfortunately not the granite. When will I learn not to follow
Colin! Paddy & Sam continued to set a cracking downhill
pace towards the tin mine whilst looking for the left hand
fork towards Ditsworthy Warren. Two further chain stops and
a couple of tumbles from the following members in the group
and we reached the fork.
The path initially seemed easy to
follow but by this time 21:45 some of the batteries were dimming
(no 700 lumen lights this week!) and we missed the path and
found ourselves in very wet marshy ground and continuing to
take numerous tumbles as front wheels sank into the soft ground.
Finally after much deliberation and fear we might not make
it back before closing time we found the path again and followed
Edward's Path towards the Scout hut. At this point we were
confronted with soldiers out on manoeuvres which given their
camouflage
came as somewhat of a surprise!
The final decision was to climb
up to Ringmoor Cottage and take the “Earthquake” back
down to Meavy and then to HQ. Again not without incident (but
Colin did let me go down ahead of him) and further tumbles
we managed to arrive at HQ just after 22:30, probably one of
the longest rides (time-wise) we have undertaken. We all lost
count the number of falls during the evening and we even managed
to find Alan lurking in the shadows of Yelvi Garage to join
us for a drink although unfortunately I was not able to partake
in liquid refreshment as my better half was poorly.
Reporter: Paul
President's Footnotes: In remarkable tradition, following on from Stephen, Paddy
and Colin, my off was the classic GOWCC 'over the handlebars within 45 minutes'!!!
Despite promising to 'lagg behind in an effort to see the accident, score
it
and pick up the pieces', Paddy missed most of tonight's drama by being at the
wrong end of the pack!!! I, on the other hand, have lots on material for our
Annual Dinner and Presentation Evening!!!
And it's great to see our 'Social Chairman' living up to his title and joining
us for drinks even though he'd been doing 'domestic chores' all evening!!!
