he'd like you to be scheming too,
oohhhe'd like you to be scheming too
bad time " *
Big group ride today . Took the van down to Delamere Forest .Me ,Jeff ,our Daniel and Danny .Van was rammed with tasty kit.
We were meeting a group of Jeffs buddies from work,a mate of mine from work was bringing some of his mates ,and Stu was coming down with our Matthew. In the region of 20 riders .Mostly beginners. Shouldve done a head count really.
Very lucky with the weather . Forecast gales came to nought.Nice day . Bit chilly . Delamere's always a bit slimey ,and today was no exception. Fun for all . Everyone seemed to be 'mucking in ' ,as it where.
It's not often that I'm genuinely concerned on a ride . Obviously people can get the odd knock ,but there's rarely a potentially life threatening event . Not on my watch ,anyway.
About an hour into the ride ,the group was spread out . Stu and I were 'sweeping up ' the back markers . One of the lads ,Anthony , suffered a mechanical . His chain threw a wobbly . We got separated from the rest in the minute or two it took to fettle . We ended up taking a wrong turn which took us even farther away from the group . I rang Jeff and he directed me to where they were waiting . Down the hill ,turn left ,then up the long climb . Halfway up the long climb I saw one of the gang , Mark , who it would be fair to say is a 'big guy ' at 6'4" and 20 st. He's prostrate at the side of the trail . Having a nap in the style of a little baby . This doesnt look good . We ask him if he's OK ,and to be honest it's a rhetorical question. He looks like shit . White as a sheet and a bit babbly saying he just wants " 10 minutes rest ".
He tells us that halfway up the hill he felt faint and kinda keeled over onto the verge.
After a few minutes and a good drink with a flapjack ( or similar ) we walk up to the top with him . He seemed better later on ,but it just goes to show that if youre not used to MTBing it can be quite an effort . Build up slow.
Things started to go bad after that difficult follow-up hit to "Happy talking talking happy talk"
The ride was very 'stop/starty' ,which suited the group . Everyone seemed to enjoy it . Not as fast a pace as we would normally go at ,but I enjoyed the change of pace . A chillout .
A few jumps , a few bumps . We didnt have to call the helicopter . Result .
We'll try to get a few more in like that .
A quick word on the demo bikes. We took a Cannondale Moto. Not silly heavy at all ,but way too much of a bike for a pootle around the woods . Would've been good on the road gap had anyone stepped up to the plate. My son , Daniel, rode the carbon Rize and declared it to be 'proper good'.
Also loaned out were the other Rize and the Carbon Rush lefty thing. I'd hoped the two guys would have a swap and a jig about ,but once they got their hands on them they didnt want to let go.
Capt Sensible in happier times.
*Bad Time for Bonzo . The Damned.
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