8.30 came and went this morning so it was Plan B and a trip to the woods with Mark and Celia. 10.00 is a much more civilised start time on these cold winter mornings but it was still bitterly cold as I went to inspect my mountain bike.
It has not been off its rack for about 2 years and the tires were worryingly flat. In fact when I pumped up the front the slime started seeping out and at first valve refused to seal.
Next up a quick trip along Valley Road to familiarise myself with the gears noting the large patches of ice…
Celia was the first casualty of the day falling off on yes, a patch of ice on the way to Narberth.
We met Mark in the main Narberth car park and then headed (back!) down Carding Mill Lane. Mark and Celia shot off as I tottered along still very uncertain of the whole off road thing.
We then went along Valley Road and over the main road to follow the bridleway past Narberth Bridge Business Park and the Caravan site before tuning up towards Coldblow and Narberth Mountain; a really long drag. At this point my gears started playing up (my excuse why Celia and Mark disappeared into the distance).
From there it was down the Knights Way (just) avoiding a horse and several dog walkers before turning up past the Grove and then right along the newly surface track into Canaston Wood past the old Chapel.
Arriving at the entrance to the woods on the Bluestone Road, Mark decided that we had plenty of time for a bit of a detour on the way back. The first right turn took us back to the track past the Chapel so we retraced our steps and had another go. Second right took us down a very muddy narrow track. Even Mark was struggling and nearly came a cropper crossing what looked like a small inland sea, so we decided to track our steps again. Having escaped from mud-plugging hell, Mark then fell off his bike whilst stationary.
Third time lucky took us on a wide well surfaced track contouring around a valley then back onto the Knights Way. We then dropped back onto Valley Road and headed home.
This was a hard two hours ride and perhaps I should have got my arse out of bed a bit earlier and hit the road.
Andrew may be turning in his butchers shop but that was the inaugural Dynamos Mountain Bike Section ride.
Finally thanks Tamsin, good luck and hopefully see you again some time.
It was going to be my last week as well. Thanks to everyone for making me so welcome and if I end up working out this way again I will definitely be joining you guys for some more rides. Hope everyone has a great Christmas and Happy New Year!
