NOT SUNDAY, MONDAY

"He tells me in his bedroom voice
C'mon honey, let's go make some noise
Time it goes so fast
When you're having fun " *

Good little spin today.Usual meet at 9 ( ish )on the barn Rd.I picked up Jeff and we met Dave and Andy with Stu bringing up the rear in the A-Team van.
I was on the Commencal this week. A big difference from the stupid old bikes I've been riding recently.
We set off on the now standard climb up through the gardens,winding up to the pigeon tower and ,after a short rest purely for the view,pushed on to the Pike.It's a different tactic on this bike compared to the stupid old bikes.It's happy to spin uphill all day long ,but out o'the saddle climbs are a no-no.Five and a half inches of bounce front and rear soak up all the power,but by way of recompense,sat here post ride I'm not aching in every bone. Ah well.
It goes down good too,but as I've said before ,the masochist in me likes a bit more 'involvement'.
We stopped for a blow on the Pike and i had a chat with guy on a pink bike.Pink.Say no more.Nudge nudge wink wink.He's a goer.
We dropped off the back of the pike,usually I'd say 'as usual' but i've not been up here for a few weeks and the rain has eroded it something ace.It's not especially harder,just different,edgier.I dunno . It's a laugh every time.
From the gate at the bottom we turned left ,past the Pike Cottage,and on to the bottom of Wilders Moor lifting our bikes over the gate at the bottom of the moorland slog,a bit moist ,but not as bad as I've seen.
We all pedalled up to the half way point gully crossing ,where I had a fairly good attempt at the nadgery bit ,but truthfully I bottled out on the last bit,unclipping my SPDs a half crank before the top.What can I say.It was slippy and very eroded.The shame will live with my future generations for centuries to come.Jehwah forgive me.
Overwhelmed by a general feeling of inadequacy I hoofed the last bit to the mast road with the lads on the big bikes ,Andy and Stu.Just to be social.
It was Mark Twain who said " 18 holes of mountainbiking spoils a good walk ".

On the top of the moors near the mast there was a fairly stiff breeze blowing.As we set off across the slabs we turned into it and it cut across the trail.Just to make it that bit more tasty.Once we ran out of slabs and hit the peaty moorland again it was quite boggy in places,requiring a front wheel loft+manual to keep up the momentum.Hard going in the wind though.

STU,DAVE+JEFF.

GANG OF FOUR
The next bit takes us on a loop back around to the mast road.Easy bridleways rolling over the moors past Gilligants farm.We climbed back up the mast road ( more masochism) to enable us to do the classic 'dog kennels' .It's not too far to climb ,5 mins ,and well worth the effort.
I set off across more boggy ,peaty moorland ,wheelieing across deep mud gullies and trying to stay loose in the ruts.,not easy with andy breathing down my neck.A pleasure I havent had since we stayed in those digs in edale in '87.He was fit then.At the top of the kennel run proper I chose the technical right hand line ,with Andy taking the schoolboy left hand line only to rejoin at the last well eroded tasty last drop bit. Ever seen swallows catching flies?It was like that.
We regrouped at the cottage to find out Jeff had taken a wee tumble . Twice. The second time he banged his head ( with helmet ) and now had double vision. Twice the fun then. We gave him 8 secs standing count and pressed on.Ding ding . Round two.
Ice Cream Run.
TKO.

JEFF. ICE CREAM RUN

THE GANG.ALL OVER THE ICR LIKE A CHEAP SUIT

Ok ,maybe not that bad,but you've got to build it up a bit.I'd gone on ahead to take some pix on the downhill.Everyone came past without incident and I got back on the bike to finish the drop to the carpark( no ice cream van today).
Halfway down Dave and Jeff are stopped in the middle of the trail. I assume theyre waiting for me ,or something. Jeff's hit a fair sized boulder,gone over the bars and head butted the floor.Oh ,and banged his ribs and knocked his elbow.And he was speaking in tongues.Fairly normal then.

JEFF AND DAVE . JUST BEFORE.

Time for a brew then.
Straight down Sheephouse Ln to the tea rooms. A pot of Earl Grey WITH a slice of lemon AND a slice of victoria sponge'll fix owt. I dont know what Jeff had though ,but he seemed better after it.
Andy was tempted by the servant girl's baps ,and I have to say they did look tasty,but in the end he went for the lemon drizzle cake.
A short spin back to the car from here and all in all a good ride,if not exactly 'as usual'.

* Bangles.(Not) just another Manic Monday.