Ride Report Ogden 29/03/09
“Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but they can fix my freehub” slightly different from the original nursery rhyme but very relevant none the less. The last ride in the busy month of March was again well attended. The group was 15 woollies strong made up of Roger, Pol, Tyre, Tracey, Hemlock, Clone, Pieman, Turner-Merlin kid, Mr and Mrs Sidge, Julian, Brownpants, Terry, New Stu, and myself.
The gang were feeling the effects of losing and hour in bed, but keen to get going in the glorious sunshine. New bikes for Pol and Helen, were poked and prodded and lifted and scrutinised before the off. All agreed that Pol had added far too much helicopter tape in a bid to protect his glamorous paintjob, and that he should have got pro pedal!
A good enjoyable rolling climb got the group going and stretched out the legs and served as a great warm up for the day ahead. The terrain was tough but manageable and all enjoyed the first sections. Some good climbing followed where New Stu endured the first mechanical of the day with a snapped chain quickly sorted out by the guys.
Some more good open moorland sections were a little boggy in places and sapped the energy from the legs. Nigel very graciously decided to demonstrate to the newer members of the club how not to navigate deep boggy pools by getting his front wheel well and truly stuck, sending him over the bars much to everyone else’s amusement. Well done Nige! Taken like a trooper.
Roger kept the new members spirits up by declaring that we had conquered the worst hills, (until the next ones!) a lunch stop followed were a team effort decided to try and fix Clone’s dodgy freehub. Nige’s amazing hypercracker again proved most useful however the cassette was well attached to say the least. At this point Neanderthal Man’s basic instincts came out and the real men’s tools were deployed in the form of a big stick and large rock. Some faffing and near misses of knuckles followed, plus a bigger rock! and eventually the lockring relented and the cassette was off, soon as you know it the hub was in bits and with some zip ties, sticky back plastic, washing up bottle and a loo roll and Eric was rolling again. Hurrah.
Julian found that the handicap in the form of a large rock in his backpack failed to slow him down. Off the group rolled, some more climbing (surprise, surprise!) and some tough hike a bike sections followed. A long moorland open slog, then a very tough and technical downhill, which had Pol, Nige, and Terry all over the bars, Terry shrugged of his cuts and bruises to soldier on however. Another broken chain problem, where I demonstrated to New Stu the importance of threading the chain through the front mech (ahem!) before rejoining it.
Last section of the day saw a small shortcut, over a wall and then the last climb of the day, Tired legs and weary bodies were dragged to the top before a long rocky fast downhill back to the cars, were tired riders enjoyed Mr Whippy’s in the sunshine. Another day in the history of the Wooollybacks on another great route, great team spirit, looking out for each other, and a great day all round.
Stats from the rides are 2 punctures, 2 broken chains, one rebuilt hub, 23.2 miles and plenty of height gain.
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