THE MUDDY BUMS (aka "the Clarty Ars#ses") MOUNTAIN BIKING IN NORTHUMBERLAND AND BEYOND

September 12th 2010
Where-Alwinton
Who-Graham,Tony,Julie,Tom,Willie,Arthur,Ian A and Dave?
Weather-Bright and Breezy all day
The plan today was to have a not to strenuous ride as Tony had been getting his puncture repaired for the last few weeks so we were going to break him back in gently ,but certain other people had more challenging plans
Tony was picked up bright and early by the other member of the Nemo club long discussions on the size of our loads helped while away the minutes on our journey east wards,
On reaching Alwinton we were surprised to find Tom setting up his bike on the grassed area at the start of the village, not the usual spot but apparently its where you park when you have no change (Window cleaner with no change!!!), so we all ended up keeping Tom company depriving the National Park of much needed funds, which we paid back later at Barrowburn.
One nameless rider turned up on what might or might not have been a new bike (Trek Evo Pro Red and White jobbie) the hard tail has gone and the difference was instantly recognisable for all to see with climbs which would normally be pushed cleared without dabbing a toe, these full suss bike are a revelation he/she said (Identity withheld for legal reasons).
A lad new to some of us introduced himself and apparently he is the local oracle on all routes around Keilder, and he is totally responsible for Julie’s decision never to visit the place again.
A prompt departure as usual saw the seven souls start the climb Clennel Street/Border country ride, it’s funny how you forget but the trail appeared to head upwards relentlesly, after the first 100 metres Willie was 1000 metres ahead and that was without Suzanne or Izzys encouragement, poor Dave had seen enough and headed for home having tried to ride of an illness which wasn’t going to improve by bursting your guts for the first ten minutes.
And climb ,climb ,climb is what we did this morning but everyone just kept their heads down and rode to the top some more effortlessly than others. After a relaxed rest stop, the reward was a super fast descent down Copper snout to Shilmoor followed by a stunning track to Fairhaugh,many of us have done this route countless times but not in this direction, it was like being in a totally different place with some parts of the track feeling a bit trickier in this direction, Ian A had three falls along this section first his left leg totally submersed in mud then his right in the river followed by his piece de résistance a perfectly held over the handlebars pommel horse dismount a he tried to round graham on the last section of single track before hitting his leg on a concealed rock in the long grass.
Climbing up from Fairhaugh and down to Barrowburn,perfect timing for an empty tea room and our more than welcoming hosts, we decided to spend our saved parking money on soup and hot crusty bread with cake and coffee to follow, Christmas party provisionally booked it was time to leave,I am sure if one in our party had suggested riding back on the road they may have had a few followers but the well fed and watered just followed the leader what was once again a mammoth climb but with an overfilled stomach this time, the Border County ride again up to Ward Law and a descent to a beautiful remote water fall on the Hebden Burn ,jelly baby stop prior to the last major climb of the day eventually contouring Yarnspath Law and the descent down Clennel Street retracing our earlier route at a somewhat greater speed not quite fast enough for Tom as his shouts of coming through left Arthur and Ian no time to manoeuvre out the way so Tom just skittled them with what appeared to be a perfect strike but the two old pins refused to be bowled over and regained their stature and remained upright.
Back to the cars for 4ish a brilliant day but not for the feint/weak hearted
Cheers Willie Tony appreciates the easy route.
Good luck to Tony over the coming week’s treatment
Get well soon Mark H were missing you already
Happy Birthday Gavin, we’ve had the cakes the invoice is in the post,