And then there were two (or "The art of conducting trail side repairs")

An early start this morning, meeting at Hurtwood Control Car Park 9 at 0830.... or at least Rich and I did!! 0830 arrived... no sign of Mark...... 0835..... no sign of Mark!!! Given the car park is remote, neither Rich nor I had any signal...so Rich took a little jaunt up the hill. Mark was five minutes away... he'd forgotten to set his alarm!! Mark arrived at 0843... only the 13 minutes late. We then proceeded to watch over him build his bike. Today would not be the day that Rich or I bought the tea!!! (or would it.....?)


Just the 15 minutes late, we headed off up to the summit of Holmbury through the woods. The weather was slightly cooler, but you could feel the heat building. We headed past the entrance to Parklife, and up to the summit – being passed on the way up by a lycra clad cyclist, cycling at speed...and as we pointed out – missing all the potential wildlife, like deers and badgers and things.... We arrived at the summit, to find our passing cyclist taking a rest on the summit seat.... so much for impressing us with his stamina!!!! The view was impressive – with some rolling low level clouds in the valleys below - nice view at 0900 in the morning.


Having gorged on the view we set off to the entrance to Parklife. We followed the left hand trail, dubbed “Rollercoaster” - the route was nice and dry and flowed nicely, we came out and proceeded back up to the entrance to Parklife – this time to do Parklife! For the first time in months (in fact the first time ever for me), Parklife was dry... all the way... it was great... Rich and I completed the route with a little jump... and then waited for Mark... and waited... and waited.... 2 more riders appeared from the trail, so we asked them if they'd passed anyone en route. “Yes” they said... “I think he's got a puncture!!”. So Rich and I headed back up the trail to find Mark. Thankfully he didn't have a puncture – he'd just wiped out....phew!! But he was unhurt – which I suppose is a bonus!!

Whilst we'd backed up on the trail to meet Mark, we decided to do a little trail off the side with a big down and up. Time for Mark to get back on the horse that threw him. Rich went first, Mark second.... and..... fell off at the top. Second time on virtually the same trail!! Back on our bikes we headed off and for the second time Rich and I finished Parklife with a jump.... and waited for Mark..... and waited. We heard a shout in a distinctive Irish accent...”That's my cycling over with for today boys...”. Rich and I looked at each other. Another Irish cry, “My rear mech has bust!”. For the second time, Rich and I made our way back up the Parklife trail to meet Mark, and his bust rear mech.


We all helped convert Mark's new 27 speed Trek Ex-8 into a single speed, and after trying it out, he felt it was only good enough for him to get back to the car. We said goodbye to Mark.... and then there were two.....

Rich and I headed off on a new route down to the top of Barry Knows Best. Passing a group of girls out hiking and changing (!) in the forest, we started down Barry Knows Best and caned it! It was nice and dry and flowed well...all the way to the bottom. We stopped at Peaslake stores for the obligatory cup of tea – courtesy of Rich, as Mark wasn't there to fulfill his obligations!! Downing the tea, we headed back up to the top of Holmbury, with a few forays into the surrounding woodland.

The ride finished in a blast down Telegraph and back to the car park.