Date: Tuesday
15th March 2011
Route: WP, West of A386, Lopwell, Fishacre
Wood, Denham, top of B***ard Hill, HQ.
Riders: Keith, Colin, Paddy, Sam, Stephen,
Nick, James & Alex.
Depart: 19:37
Arrive HQ: 21:53
Distance: 15 miles
Weather: For the end of winter, perfect.
Conditions couldn't have been
better, dry, mild, still and moonlit. So why only eight gents
turned up I don't know! First task of the night was to inspect
Paddy's
new drive train. It passed muster and we allowed him to proceed!
Second task was for Nick to introduce himself to Alex but when
he got the reply, "we've met before, I was there the night
you fell in the leat", the friendly handshake stopped
instantly!
So off we went with the bright idea to call
in at Al's new house to see if he could come out and play! But
afraid that this recluse might let off a couple of volleys over
our heads instead we followed the fence west of the A386 to the
Maristow
gate then
down
to Lopwell
on the
cycle
path.
I
had
my
fairly standard
'rut
off' here and talk briefly turned to record collections, Punk and
the New Romantics! Alex didn't have a clue what we were talking
about!
Onwards to Lopwell and an opportunity for Paddy to get the
monkey off his
back, which
I think
he succeeded
in achieving.
It was just a shame that as the ride went on he appeared to have
replaced the monkey with an elephant!!!
We decided to leave out the usual Bere Ferris loop and headed straight
into Fishacre Woods. With over a week of virtually no rain, it
was almost rideable! There were some tricky sections and at one
point Nick decided to take a break just beyond a tree branch on
the track to warn those following. A gentlemanly act if ever there
was one!
By the time we'd climbed to the top of B***ard Hill, nobody wanted
to add a Doublewaters loop and we just headed for HQ where we
arrived before 10:00pm for what must have been the first time
this year! Paddy followed in last, his tanks were empty and he
was a pale imitation of his normal self. However, three pints
later and the recovery was remarkable!
Reporter: Keith
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