Riders :–Bazzar, Gadge, Seamus, Sinbad and Coops

Sunday, the day of rest in the Lords eyes, yeah right, not for us, at least not for a few hours anyway.  Sinbad decided that it was about time the boys got together to help celebrate me turning the BIG FOUR O, yes 40!  Who’d have thought that the child faced one was actually born in ’72?  So a meeting time of 1.45pm was set and the location was to be Sinbad’s abode.

Once the three five amigos had assembled it was a very quick greet before we hit the road for them thar hills.  As we set off Sinbad passed comment on how he was very surprised not to be aching after Thursdays uphill beasting, although that soon changed the moment he sat on his saddle when he said his ass bones must have contracted from not riding for such a long time……I quickly replied with ‘what like when you give birth!’

So as we chuckled up the road and headed down to the Clypse track Seamus reached the gate first and did the honours.  The pace was very gentle as I hadn’t been out for ???? oh so long and was feeling it already.  Sinbad and I took the lead followed by Coops and Bazzar with Seamus passing us like we were standing still, well maybe not that quick but still…once he was out of ear shot Coops said to Sinbad, ‘I see our tactics are working again’…I was puzzled at first but then Sinbad said, ‘we’ll have to start calling him the Gate Keeper!’

Honey Hill was reached and yes, Seamus had already opened the gate for the rest of us so we could continue riding, not sure this is a good or bad thing really!  Bazzar took point followed by myself, Sinbad, Coops and Seamus doing the honourable thing and bringing up the rear, which for him might have been a bad move as the sound of flatulence emanating from the rears of me, Sinbad and Coops was probably not what he wanted to hear, or fear the after effects of such noises!

Honey Hill was cleared dab free, well except for Coops who dabbed early on, and even without the gale force head wind we’d experienced the last time I was out was still a tough climb and by the time I reached the top my legs, arms and lungs were singing!  Oh and my heart felt like it was in my throat trying to get out!  There should be a warning on Beta Blockers saying to avoid strenuous exercise!

Up the road to Conrhenny and over the hedge to take a look at the work the boys had done on Saturday in preparation for the Longest Day, Longest Ride event before the blast down to the big water splash.  It was at this point the cameras got turned on, Sinbad with his Contour bar mounted and Coops with my GoPro chest mounted.

At the bottom of the hill just before the water splash we turned left in to the trees, this is where Coops decided he didn’t like his head on his shoulders and proceeded to get ripped off his bike by a low hanging branch!  No sympathy or concern for his welfare, just echoes of laughter.  Now the fun part……Barrose!

Bazzar took lead, followed by Coops, Sinbad, Seamus and me, the pace was less than sedate, this has to be our most favourite track of all times.  As we descended, the others out of sight for the first few corners until rounding a right hander caught glimpse of Bazzar turning his bike upside down!  Then further down I met a young lad coming up and just passed him came across Seamus pulling over to let me through, confidence was building again as was the speed as I headed further down towards the narrow rocky section where I saw Sinbad stopped in the hedge and just managed to miss the biggest rock ever in the middle of the track!

Finally hit the bottom to see Coops standing there with a grin as big as you like, he was like the cat that got the cream, he was also laughing, and proceeded to tell me that he nearly hit the young lad coming up the hill who got the fright of his life and fell off and then how he too just missed the big rock.  Next down was Sinbad, who wasn’t so fortunate, he hit the rock which caused him to part company with his bike.

Now where were Seamus and Bazzar?  Bazzar we suspected received a puncture, the up turned bike a bit of a give away (and so the puncture fairy returns and Bazzar can once again wear the Patch Crown) but where was Seamus?  Worrying that the pub might just close before we reached it, Sinbad decided to take a hike back up the track to find our missing comrades, returning five or so minutes later with Seamus, closely followed by Patch.  Seamus too had fallen victim to the Puncture Fairies.

So off we went down the road to the Liverpool Arms (LA) where we sampled the fine ale that is Hobgoblin, oh and Patch had a shot of Knob Creek to help wash it down.  So there we were, five mates all having a beer and a laugh about the ride thus far and rides gone by and before we knew it the second pints were sunk and on to the third…well for Seamus, Sinbad and Patch that is.

We somehow managed to empty the pub of the Sunday regulars, was it the small of sweaty men or the talk of chammy butter and Skippy’s Kleenex day!  Who knows but it was time to hit the road again.  This is where the fun and frolics started.

Note to all sensible riders, of which we all consider ourselves; beer and bikes really don’t mix too well when in a jolly mood!  The carnage that could have been would have been enough to force all self respecting landlords to ban cyclist from their establishments!  As we are all law abiding citizens I’ll refrain from going in to too much detail but the results of a total of thirteen pints of Hobgoblin and one Knob Creek were several near misses, several visits to the hedge, Sinbad and I trying to half-pipe two nice new hedges and two broken spokes for Seamus, courtesy of Sinbads handlebars!

All in all it was a fantastic ride, fantastic company and bloody good to laugh again!  Thanks guys!

Gadge