Danny at Haggs Bank Bunkhouse near Alston held is annual March Moto Madness weekend this weekend, so Lucy & I got out the bikes, the van and the dog and headed off up there for some fun on two wheels.
The Friday night was a night of bonfires, beer, music, chat and plans. We met up with a couple of guys we'd ridden with before, plus got chatting to a few new faces. One lad had ridden up from London on his 125cc monkey bike, he turned out to be a hoot and well up for some fun!
Saturday morning dawned bright with some sunshine, which was ironic as either side of the Penines was getting a real soaking, lots of stranded vehicles and heavy flooding all around apparently! There was a bit of dithering about who was doing what, lots of people indecisive for various reasons, eventually the groups all got themselves sorted though and out...
Ride options were, 1. tarmac only, 2. trail rides for big bikes, 3. trail rides for trail rides, 4. total beginners group. Shaun's trail bikes for big bikes was the most popular, but only for the first hour, then several people had bailed off back to tarmac when it was found out that trail riding does not mean flat gravel roads!
Our group consisted of three 2 strokes, two 400 Ktm's and Lucy's 350 Ktm. The pace was really gentle with of plenty of time for gossiping or as Lucy labelled it, the Womens Institute gathering! We also managed some tea and cakes at the Chatterbox Cafe which made the most amazing cakes!
We rode a fair bit of the Alston loop, as Mike was leading and I was tail ending Mike managed to show me a few trails I hadn't ridden before which is always a good thing!!
The old Yamaha two strokes had a couple of problems, the side stand fell off one, the kick start off both of them! Still we managed to cover a fair bit of ground, even joining up with the beginners group in a couple of places, which was great...
At one point where we met up with the beginners group, we all gathered together for a gossip and to chat all things bikes, then as we set Brian, their leader for the day, caught three of us with a cracking splashing session, on his back wheel through a puddle!! Soaked - err yes!!
We finished off the day day just below Hadrians Wall, having a ride over some of the really long straight and flat lanes that are around there, then it was back to the moorland lanes, passiong by a couple of 4x4's late in the afternoon, obviously enjoying their time on the lanes too!
Some great riding as always, plenty of lovely folk from all over the UK and a fun filled weekend! Danny has a couple events more planned for the rest of the year with the next one in June.
The Friday night was a night of bonfires, beer, music, chat and plans. We met up with a couple of guys we'd ridden with before, plus got chatting to a few new faces. One lad had ridden up from London on his 125cc monkey bike, he turned out to be a hoot and well up for some fun!
Saturday morning dawned bright with some sunshine, which was ironic as either side of the Penines was getting a real soaking, lots of stranded vehicles and heavy flooding all around apparently! There was a bit of dithering about who was doing what, lots of people indecisive for various reasons, eventually the groups all got themselves sorted though and out...
Ride options were, 1. tarmac only, 2. trail rides for big bikes, 3. trail rides for trail rides, 4. total beginners group. Shaun's trail bikes for big bikes was the most popular, but only for the first hour, then several people had bailed off back to tarmac when it was found out that trail riding does not mean flat gravel roads!
Our group consisted of three 2 strokes, two 400 Ktm's and Lucy's 350 Ktm. The pace was really gentle with of plenty of time for gossiping or as Lucy labelled it, the Womens Institute gathering! We also managed some tea and cakes at the Chatterbox Cafe which made the most amazing cakes!
We rode a fair bit of the Alston loop, as Mike was leading and I was tail ending Mike managed to show me a few trails I hadn't ridden before which is always a good thing!!
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| Lucy Moss hunting for her latest project |
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| A little blackage on one lane! |
At one point where we met up with the beginners group, we all gathered together for a gossip and to chat all things bikes, then as we set Brian, their leader for the day, caught three of us with a cracking splashing session, on his back wheel through a puddle!! Soaked - err yes!!
We finished off the day day just below Hadrians Wall, having a ride over some of the really long straight and flat lanes that are around there, then it was back to the moorland lanes, passiong by a couple of 4x4's late in the afternoon, obviously enjoying their time on the lanes too!
Some great riding as always, plenty of lovely folk from all over the UK and a fun filled weekend! Danny has a couple events more planned for the rest of the year with the next one in June.
