A Small Presentation

While out on Monday for a little jaunt up to Tanfield, Jim came a cropper preparing to cross the roundabout by the Angel.
Always said those cleats were a bad idea.
Wasn't so much a crash, as a topple, and no harm done.

I hadn't the heart to take pictures though.

Hownsgill Sprint Challenge

This is one for "Competitive Ian" really, but anyone can feel free to give it a go.

Basically, it's as fast as you can from the Swalwell Visitor Centre at the start of the Derwent Walk, to the Hownsgill Tea Rooms, near the Hownsgill Viaduct past Consett.
That's more or less exactly 12 miles following the Derwent Walk.
This is a sprint for mountain bikes, none of those fancy racers with the slick tyres.
And of course, there's marvellous food to be had at the end, just to spur you on.

So, here's the route.

The route, all 12 miles of it, all uphill.

So, to start you off, here's photo evidence of my time.

That's 1hr 10mins 42s in case you can't see.

So, 1hr 10mins 42s to beat. Shouldn't be too tricky.
If you post your times in the comments, I can always make a leaderboard, but there has to be some photographic evidence.

A Monday Night Ride - Tanfield - 11th July 2011

Approx 14.5 miles

Tentative plans had been made for an evening ride, and despite heavy rain in the afternoon, warm summer sun meant it was fairly dry come 7.30pm.
Ian cried off with the "man-flu", so Jim and I set off from the Horse towards the Bowes Railway path at Birtley, picking up Tim on the way.

The rain earlier meant it was a little heavier under the wheels, a few puddles, but nothing too bad, most of it had dried up.

We sauntered up the steep section to Tanfield, at least the other two did, I was powered by a freshly cleaned and oiled chain, and pork pies and profiteroles (not at the same time), and was in a good hill-climbing mood.

Just for a change, at Tanfield, we doubled back and headed towards the engine sheds, but on the narrow dirt track that runs on the west of the railway at Tanfield.

A bike, and some plants, and a building.

There's quite a view when you get to the vantage point.

Birds. Lots of them.

Those black dots in the picture are Jackdaws, at least that's what our friendly Bill Oddie / Dr Doolittle / Jim reckoned anyway. It was like a Hitchcock film. Trying to find a roost for the night probably. Hundreds of them, kept coming in from Stanley. I've cycled through Stanley on an evening, I can see why they were leaving.

"Ladies.... please form a queue"

The bomb goes off over Consett

Well, as the sun was beginning to set, time to head back, 'cos as usual, Jim didn't have any lights.
"I'll ride on the pavement" he says.

A railway picture for Jim.

So, that was it. We hurtled back down the way we'd come, always a fun descent, slogged up the other side of the valley and back to the pub, where I left Jim getting a pint.
"Just stopping for one".
A likely tale.

Make your own caption up. I've got no idea.

This picture was lurking on the camera, so I'll let you post a caption for it in the comments.
The winner gets my undying gratitude for being the first to post a comment. Ever. Pah.

Return Of The Bionic Man - Tanfield Loop - Monday 4th July 2011

Well, we do go out quite a lot and just don't get around to blogging about it. Even managed to get Ian out with us for this ride, breaking him in gently with his new knee, although he's already racking up 40+ miles a day. A medical marvel.
As a treat, and to show off my technical prowess, I've embedded the route in a little Google Maps plugin, which lets you see where we've been.

Let me know if it works for you in the comments.




Just so you can see everything on a bigger screen in Google Earth, you know with 3D hills and that, you can always download the route by clicking on the link below.