The Good, the Evil and the 2 Headed Dog

Sunday's ride was a real melee of experiences. 12 riders rocked up at the shop ready to roll at spot on 11am,  despite the forecast of freezing rain and snow due this afternoon. As usual some old regulars and some new faces, some new bikes and some old trusty rides! 

Calvin having broken a Titus was riding his newly built Mojo SL and I was riding my new Lapierre Zesty 514 which has already won my heart! We even had 2 roadies, Simon and John who were trying out the demo Turner and Lapierre Zesty as we attempted to convert them to the dark side of biking!

There was still some snow on the trails in a lot of places but melting to slush with a splash of mud, a nice recipe for sludge. The going was entertaining in places due to these varied conditions wheels could slip in any direction at any moment. But the sun was shining and the sky blue and it was really another glorious 

winter's day.

Heading up to Holmbury, Jason skipped his Cove Stiffee into a rut and a stick promptly entered his rear mech and broke his rear hanger off. (Testament to why we have replaceable hangers instead of broken frames). This is where we split into EVIL nasty riders who took off with Simon to carry on riding and the goody two shoes NICE riders who stayed with Jason as we converted his bike to a singlespeed! (Ken and me!)

The Nasty and nice ones reconvened at Peaslake for a cuppa after a run down Golden Birdies/Barry Knows Best/ Reservoir Dogs (whichever you call it). Then we headed up over Winterfold and everyone had a look at the 2 headed dog, most riding it to varied levels of success- John who was riding the demo Turner 5.5 Spot took a real fast run at it and escaped with only a minor crash. (See video)

We piled some more miles under our wheels skirting the edge of St Martha's and back through Albury. By the time we got back to Abinger Jason's singlespeed legs were burnt out and Gilles was spent (and that hardly ever happens!) but we made it back to the shop to repair bikes and replenish energy with a nice cup of tea. Smiles all round and a couple of roadies who had also been won over by the Zesty and the North Downs riding- only time will tell if we succeeded in converting them but judging by their smiles.....!

Riding stats: -

Riders: - Simon, Nick, Gilles, Ken, Claire, Jason, Simon, John, Calvin, (oops- 3 names I didn't get sorry guys let me know who you are and eventually I will learn!)

Distance: - 37 km (for the NICE guys, a tad longer for the EVIL ones)

Duration: - 4hrs 24mins

Photos: - see slide show in right column and video above.