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Post by hodgy on Apr 2, 2015 13:37:16 GMT
Wey Aye Man ..sittin here aaall togged up waiting for a shout from Mr .Bell prop. of the Bike Place Bellingham & Kielder to go for an afternoon / early evening ride up to Kielder ..
Hob Nobbin because he had just this morning taken delivery of his brand new toy ...a fresh out of the box V.W. Transporter Van ..so travelling up there in style !
Hurry up o'l chap !!
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Post by hodgy on Apr 3, 2015 6:44:44 GMT
Well here is the happy chappie in his new wheels ...it's the High line version and is verrry nice ..un-liveried at the moment ..but compared to his last transporter ( 2006) ..the difference in the intervening years is like chalk & cheese .. The equipment level is superb ..and the ride is a lot plusher ..drives like a car ..very impressed !   And so to the ride ..a shorter version of the ride we did a couple of Saturdays ago ..the weather was great ..the wind having left us ..and Mr Blue Sky was out to play ..we did a fair chunk of the Lakeside Way and then some off-piste ... The Janus Chairs ..Lakeside Way ..the chairs swivel 360 degrees ..one of the "works of art " that are scattered around the lake  Ian doing his best Tommy Cooper ....  Half way down the off piste section known as " Banksy's Tunnel" " we noticed for the first time an overgrown track heading up to Pithouse Crags ..too overgrown to ride ...so we ditched the bikes and walked up to see where it headed ( not marked on map ) ..with every intention that if it worked out of doing some ninja trail clearance at a future date ...unfortunately it ended up being a dead end ..but with evidence of some form of dwelling having been there ..among other things there was a railway sleeper ..a bolted down concrete cover ( cess pit? ) and Ian found this old brick from Pegswood brickworks ( located between Morpeth & Ashington) and itself a mining village ! A little bit of online research told me that the brickworks had closed down in the 50's . Not wanting to carry it with him he has hidden it to collect another day  Mid-way section of " Banksy'sTunnel " this is the only gap in the trees on a 2km section ..it's fantastic !  Back to the van ...wonder how long it stays looking that new !?  A nice pint followed in the Riverdale Hall Hotel in Bellingham afterwards . www.google.co.uk/search?q=riverdale+hall+hotel+hexham&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2015 7:59:46 GMT
Great little read mate .. Always liked the look of the new t5 ... Do you find when you ride down little trails like that in the woods some times how spooky it can feel or is it just me :omore so on a nite ride or just starting to turn dark   |
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Post by hodgy on Apr 3, 2015 8:15:53 GMT
Definitely more spooky in the dark on a night ride ..when despite how far I've been riding behind folks ..I always close the gap and chum up ! Lol
During the day that section is just so good ..thats pretty much near the end ( as you can see ) ..but prior to that "gap" there was another 1.5 km of tunnel which riding it in that direction is mainly down and a real hoot !
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Post by will on Apr 3, 2015 8:41:04 GMT
Nice read and pics Hodgy but come on 'Simons Tunnel'!!!! we're hardcore MTB'ers - Spookey Tunnel, Tunnel of Death or Tunnel of no Return but not Simons Tunnel !!!!!
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Post by hodgy on Apr 3, 2015 9:02:29 GMT
Yeah Will ..it's not particularly hardcore...but named after Simon Banks who works for the F.C and did a lot of clearing work on this section in preparation for a Montane sponsored Kielder 100 mile race a few years back ..he probably knows the forest better than any living man and is a good friend to mountain bikers being a rider himself he cleared a lot of this section by hand ( chainsaw) ..so it just seemed kinda fitting .
I'll make a rufty tufty name up for the next section I write about though ( even if it's not true! ) lol
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Post by will on Apr 3, 2015 9:06:45 GMT
Okay fair point - should have called it Banksy Tunnel - has a bit more cred  |
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Post by hodgy on Apr 3, 2015 9:13:38 GMT
Done !
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