Salisbury May 2015

[mudeevee]

Great weekend!

Good weather, great trails, great views and spectacular companions – does not get much better………………

Friday 15th May

Iain Maino, Strongbow, Shovels, Billy, Kirk, Charlie, Kev, Dan, Mike, SteveO, FarmerDave & Freebike Shaun set of on Friday aiming to ride the 120 mile route from Guildford to Wilcot (Nr Pewsey, Wiltshire). All were riding light/endure type trail bikes (a mix of 2 and 4 stroke bikes). All heavy luggage and camping kit was being taken to Wilcot in the backup van and luggage car – so no heavy gear to unbalance the bikes or riders.

Due to some unfortunate health issues, I was unable to ride/lead on the Friday – this meant that we’d be riding as one group and with a standby leader. It was a slightly nervous Iain Main who stepped up and then led the group for the whole weekend – huge thanks to Iain for taking the reins and leading faultlessly for around 400 miles over the 3 days!

We had hoped that the van would be used solely for shifting kit and carrying my bike – this hope was dashed by mid-afternoon Friday when Freebike Shaun had a slow speed ‘off’ on a slippery trail near Sidown Hill, Ashmansworth. The ‘off’ managed to dislocate Shaun’s shoulder and an ambulance was called to put him back together. When I arrived the Ambulance crew were about to add some morphine to the gas & air Shaun had been receiving before carting him off to Basingstoke A&E.

We learned later that Shaun’s shoulder had been popped back and that he was released from hospital on Friday night. He was well enough to travel down to Wilcot on the Saturday and pick-up bike and kit. Later still I heard that he’d gone to work on Monday – tough little bugger!

Interesting to note when the ‘fellowship’ bit kicked in – as soon as Shaun was safe in the ambulance, Strongbow started taking pictures of the group in front of the ambulance and Kirk/Dan had put Shaun’s bike on ebay! That’s what mates are for……………

The rest of the route was handled without further hitch and the remaining riders arrived at the Golden Swan in Wilcot at around 6PM. A little bike maint and a quick beer was the order of the day – followed by sorting tents/beds/showers and more quick beers and a bite to eat. It is worth noting that The Golden Swan was busy (understatement). Along side Surrey TRF were 25 Oxford TRF members and a wedding party that turned-up a day early. So service was not as crisp as we had experienced on our last visit – but the place is inexpensive and well suited to our needs………. You kind of takes your chance on these things. We’ll be taking our chance somewhere else next time…………

Saturday 16th May

The riders from Friday were joined by some Surrey TRF ‘day-trippers’. Bultaco Bob, Enduro Ade (with his +1), Syed, John on his gorgeous Husa FE390 (see what I did there)? and Dom joined the fray and by 10:00 we were ready(ish) to ride.

We set off from The Golden Swan and headed south towards the Plains. On the 2nd lane BultacoBob had a number of minor wobbles that aggregated a back injury. John and I escorted him back to base where he headed home. Hope you recover soon and we’ll see you out and about in Surrey.

John and I re-joined the group and we pushed on with the planned route. When I had planned the days routes I was certain that the Bulford/Tidworth ranges were not in use. This turned out to be false and some route re-arranging was required to navigate around this couple of million hectare obstacle! After getting back on route the group headed south of Bulford and picked up a few lovely lanes before lunch. A couple of punctures delayed things for about an hour before we split into 2 groups. Myself leading a tourist group and Maino leading an Inters group.

The tourists headed around Larkhill to Stonehenge (opportunity for pictures and a giggle at the new visitors center that you can’t actually see from the Stones). We met one of the many groups riding the plains over the weekend. As well as our Surrey TRF there were 30 riders from Oxford group and around 50 riders taking part in the Wessex Wanderer weekend. With all of these out and active, we only met with 2 other groups all day! Just goes to show how much good riding is available in the area.

Our route took us south of the Stones to take in some fantastic views before heading back to the Imber range area. As we headed across open country we were ‘buzzed’ by a very impressive lump of hardware in the form of an Apache attack helicopter. I checked the maps to ensure we were riding legally! Although it may be considered a tad harsh to be shot to pieces if we had not been!

We then came to Imber village and stopped for a quick look around. A bit of interesting history in this setup – worth a visit if you are riding down that way.
The day finished with some lovely whoops on a permissive byway to the north of the training area and a real tricky little lane (chalky slippery mud, massive ruts and big steps) before heading back to the Golden Swan. Our little tourist group had covered 60 or so miles since splitting with the others at lunch time and had ridden around 100 miles in all. A very good day!

The Inters group were plagued by the ranges being closed – but Maino again came to the fore and navigated the group with aplomb. They covered an impressive number of miles with some great riding. Iain had them back at Wilcot in time for a quick beer or ten and a late meal.

The day trippers departed after a busy day and the remainder were ready for the ride home on Sunday……..

Sunday 17th May

A planned departure of 10:00 am was delayed for an hour by a broken chain on Dan’s KTM. This delay was compounded within 15 miles when a broken handlebar clamp on Maino’s KTM required the use of spares from the van. One other small injury to mention – Kirk’s back. He managed to put his back out while putting on his back pack! He did recover enough to ride, but looked sore at the end of the day.
So it was that the group finally left Durrington at 12:50 with only 100 miles to go!

The route back to Guildford headed south towards the Wallops, Stockbridge and Winchester before heading to familiar ground at Bighton and on to Alton via the long Four Marks trail. The only real additional delay during the ride was when Charlie took a mud bath at Bighton. An odd choice, but there you go, we cater for all tastes!

At Alton the group split so that people could get home before they fell asleep on their bikes! The remaining 5 riders hit Guildford at around 6 pm – weary but still smiling.

Some Highlights

FarmerDave’s Shorts. I have checked and these are actually illegal in 43 counties of the UK – Do NOT wear these again. I’m adding a tripadvisor update on these shorts!

Steve Brahams legs – If he gets these out again, I’m going to Help for Heroes to see if we can get him treatment.

Charlie’s disappearing Duvet – muppet!

Strongbow & Shovels cross dressing – we are now banned from the B&B!

Kev & Dan – missing the highlights in the pub. Glad you did that as it gave us all someone to rip apart!

Kirk – ‘found it in me garage’!

SteveO – “it just went from underneath me” That tends to happen when the front wheel has not touched the ground for 20 miles. Brrrrrrurrrrrrp!

Laura – “I said I’d move it and I shall”. The stare (Kirk)

Maino - "yep, no problem"

All – approx. 4500 miles ridden, a few minor mishaps, a few mechanicals, a few litres of fuel and a squillion giggles.

Thank you all!

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[danbox]

Absolutely brilliant Derek! Had a wonderful weekend with plenty of thanks again for organising!!!!

[farmerdave]

What's wrong with my VERY cool shorts??.

[mudeevee]

What's wrong with my VERY cool shorts??.

Well.........
They appear to be the equivalent of these 'coco the clown' meets Fred Couples in short form:

http://www.royalandawesome.co.uk/mens/golf-trousers/multi-diamond?gclid=CJ-q2qqB1cUCFYeWtAod6lkAGw

And, I did not mention the Labrador top!

[Strongbow]

Excellent weekend thanks to Mr & Mrs Muddeeeeeeeee Veeeeeeee.

Excellent navigation by the one and only Maino.

The shorts, the top, the legs, and the piss take made for a great weekend.

Big thanks to all.

ps Sean hope the shoulder is better.