(Late because I been busy, and Steve didn't want to pen it. Oh, someone kind will have a couple of
photies up soon too, I believe).
Well, right, it's like this see - Saturday afternoon, about 1:30-ish, our own dear Spademan
was due to nip over to my place, the idea being to catch a quick couple of hours (heh) of
riding on the fell.
Anyhow, he arrived sometime after 1:30, we put the BASE in the back of the car, all snuggled up with
his Turner, and promptly fecked orf to the carpark above Kemple End. Excitement was the blood in our
veins.......
Got there, got bikes out, set up, and hit the switchbacked fireroad climb. a massive 0.8 miles of
climbing later, and we were at the top of the hill-ish. We stopped by a little pond there, and the
Diggerboy proceeded to do his thang with a bit of a drop into the small basin. Good fun to watch,
but I didn't follow him. No siree......
After he'd gotten his jollies, we continued on, and I led more or less the same route as I'd done
the previous week, along the fireroad a bit further, hang a right onto a nice bit of slightly uphill
s/t (it were reight lovely), and back out onto fireroad. Follow this to the left for a ways, and
we're turning off into the woods. Now, it's been pissing down with rain for a few days, so, it's a
bit wet in places, but hey - we're real men, so, we persevere. In fact we persevered our way through
the woods on a loamy track to that rock strewn climb I did last time, only this time it's wetter and
slicker, and not too easy to keep going on at all. The piccyture of me on it is on an easier section
of it than the harder sections were.....
I'd had to take my glasses off earlier, 'cos they'd steamed up. Well, me, I forgets this, and trying
to make a move over a big slippy lump of rock, I bury my head into a conifer, and get all pine
needles right in my wide open eye. That hurt and my face became wet on my cheeks, but it was
ultimately quite amusing. Hahaha.
Rest of this bit went without incident, apart from the constant dabbing, sto pping and re-starting,
and we climbed alright, Spademan doing the business on his Turner and spinning on up with me, and me
huffin' and wheezin' along <coughsplutterwheeze gotta give up the smokes etc.>. We soon came out
onto the more open stretch of trail, hills and valley to the right, trees to the left, two ribbons
of s/t weaving in front of us toward the big white trig point, and we hammered our way along at
breakneck speed (ain't that right Steve?!?), paused at the trig point for photies, then continued
down the hill. I enjoy this next section, because I can get a bit of speed up, and it's fairly
straight, so I don't have corners to deal with. We merrily bounce along, launching a bit off a few
boulders and dirt ridges and generally having a merry old time, when suddenly and without warning,
we're at a junction!
So, since the track goes left, so do we, and onto a real [censored] mudfest at the start of a short
downhill. I try to get up onto a narrow track on the ridge at the side of the 'bog' that's supposed
to be 'trail'. Anyhow, I fell over straight away, then when Steve got going again (ahem - !), he
fell over too a bit later. 'Heee-heee' we laughed. It was funny!
So, we ripped down this short section for all the world like pro' speed freaks, then we both hung a
near instant l/h right angle onto some multi-singletrack-ish stuff again. Oh, did I tell you about
the woman and the black dog? Well, earlier, this woman who had a black dog was near us, and her dog
was angry at our bikes, so, she held on to it and let us go by unmolested. Then, a bit later, we
passed her again. Then, on this particular trail section, they're both there again! 'We gotta stop
meeting like this!' says she. The dog remained suspiciously silent. Bugger, thunk we, and slowed
down. That meant it took longer to reach the next junction, so, we tootled along for 30 seconds,
admiring the scenery.
At the junction, I took the left last time, onto a narrow trail up through the heather and
winberries, back up toward the trig point. This time, Steve and I opted to go right, into the woods
and do some more 'splorin! Kewl, we got onto the narrow deep rutted track where I definitely didn't
wobble in a rut and dab, and into the woods. This bit is a fun little DH (Steve jumping in the
pictures), a bit swoopy with a few nice jumps - looks like it's been cut/added to by MTB'ers.
After a few swoopy bits, there's this nice little jump, and Steve decides he wants a few runs at it,
so, I get camera duty, and manage to catch him in the air a couple of times (he was way higher than
it looks in the photos - I caught him when he was 90% through his landing - that right Steve?!?). He
seemed to enjoy it!
The trees close in just after the jumps, and open out again into a very muddy bit - looks like 4
wheelers have been parking there or summink. Anyhow, through here and back onto F/R, take a nother
left and find a rocky uphill section that leads back to the s/t to trig point. I enjoyed this little
climb, but for me, it's more the sort of thing I'd like to descend on, because it's straight, but
it's got rocks on it, so, I can pretend it's technical and 'Xtreem'.
Whoah! That's us, back on the top of the hill, following the s/t, past the trig point in the other
direction, and to the top of the rock strewn section we came up earlier. Steve is in front, and we
have a try at some speed. Despite his protestations that this is a [censored] descent (can't gain enough
momentum to get over the rocks well), Spademan leaves me standing...and errmmm, falling off to the
side a couple of times too, and I bounce along jarringly, sliding off all the rocks until we come
back to the muddy loam section through the trees, then out and onto the f/r again.
We turn left and have a rip down the f/r towards my favourite section. Starts off as tight s/t
through the trees, then gradually widens out to lots of s/t's weaving in and out of each other all
about and around various obstacles, right under the canopy. I'm loving it, and presume Steve is too,
heheheh - whooooo! I'm doing my bestest here to push myself a bit, and I'm loving it! Soon, we're
thrown out of the tree cover (woody bit piccyture with me in it, coming out of trees wearing a
gormless grin) and onto the top of the final, really cool twisty s/t DH (Steve's favourite, he
says). Spademan goes in front, and he's off like a rocket. I soon lose sight of him as I cautiously
descend right into a fir tree. 'Heh! That was fun!' thunk I as I picked myself back up and continued
the slippy-in-places DH. Ahem. Well, I feel I'm going rather quickly, twisting and turning with the
track, bouncing and launching and buzzing, but no sign of Diggerboy, the [censored], until I get to the
bottom, where I find him in a log hut he's just built while waiting for me....
He takes a trip back up a bit for the photo opportunity, and I catch him exiting the trail. Picture
doesn't do the middle section of this run any justice at all - it really is a fun and tricky rip. Oh
yeah baby! Ahem......
Well, that's us back out on the road, and, after Steve scares me by looking at a drop right on the
edge of a quarry wall, we pedal the few metres back to the car, pack up and head off back to mine.
Steve has a cup of tea, I have a can of beer, we chat, look at the pictures, then he heads off home.
2 hours time spent outside the car, 1 hour actual pedalling, and 7.01 miles covered - 'not bad for a
quicky'. We're gonna have to hit that place again for a longer ride sometime - there's more to see
there, I'm sure of
it.',;~}~
Cheers Steve Spademan Diggerboy - it were a right grand do!
Shaun aRe - There, that wasn't too long was it?