The Ride That Almost Never Was...
With the sun beating down, bikes falling apart, no one appearing very awake, the Olympic road race on the big screen and the picnic tables outside the pub looking oh so inviting it really is impressive we made it out at all. But with some ingenious and determined bodging and a selection of large spanners in a jiffy bag, all was made well. Ignoring of course the stripped thread in my cleats which I was sure would be fine - that's why there's two bolts right?
With my couple of previous meanders around the forest resulting in a complete loss of direction and escape through the aforementioned ladyfarm, I was really looking forward to being shown the best that Delamere has to offer. Sadly it quickly transpired that my vast lack of local knowledge was easily matched by all present so the phrase of the day soon became 'I think I recognise this bit', followed by a round of disbelieving faces as I lead us up another thorny dead end
However we did find plenty of good trails, a few excellent descents to ride up and various amusing bogs to nearly vanish in, so all was well and I certainly had a great time, despite bramble decimated arms, legs and chin!
We even timed the return to pub perfectly to lay into some much needed grub and catch the end of the race over a couple of beers.
So in the end a great day out exploring the woods with the elite of the North West! Sometimes just turning up with a £25 bike, no map and very little idea where you're going really is the very best way to go riding