Date: Wednesday 11th August 2010
Route: WP, Meavy, Greg's leat, Burrator, anti-handrail, Down Tor, Keith's Bridge, Leat, Leather Tor bridge, Burrator, HQ.
Riders: Colin, Keith, Stephen, Greg & David.
Depart: 19:45
Arrive HQ: 22:15
Distance: 14 miles
Weather: Dry & mild.

Up Down Tor!

Having made one of the worst decisions of my life by choosing Argyle instead of the GOWCC yesterday, my sanity briefly returned and thankfully there were four other gents out for a ride this evening. After heading down to Meavy then up to Burrator via Greg's leat, technical problems saw David's swift return home (or did he go straight to HQ)?!

We did the anti-clockwise Burrator handrail and followed on around to the end of Deancombe. From here we started the climb up towards Down Tor. As Colin was experiencing problems with his gears at the bottom, I looked up to see what must have been a rare 'controlled off' by Greg. He was standing still while his bike was falling down the very steep slope. Stephen had sensibly dismounted, so why did I not follow suit? I proceeded to use up far too much energy on this tiny stretch of hill.

So onwards and upwards to the very top of Down Tor. An ascent worth all the exertion, what a stunning view it is. Although from this lofty position, Greg and I managed to lose sight and contact with the other two! We descended to the bottom of Deancombe where we found Colin and Stephen waiting.

Up into the woods above Norsworthy then a circular route over Keith's bridge before returning to Norsworthy and into more woods. Although not far in distance, we were out for quite a long time and arrived at HQ at 10:15pm as David lined up the pints. We admired Stephen's new phone with pictures of his recent holiday in France with a particularly good shot of him wearing the GOWCC jersey at the summit of the Col du Galibier !

Reporter: Keith