Good turnout this week, with eleven of us making the journey into North Wales. The weather was kind to us, staying mainly dry but cold. We had a new member with us this week with Neal joining us, hopefully we haven’t frightened him off. Welcome aboard Neal. After unloading the bikes from Micks new bike bus (transit van) craig with T-cut in hand gave his new Trek Fuel Ex8 a good inspection to ensure no chips or scratches had occurred on route. We hadn’t even got out of the car-park when the single track curse once more descended on Darren, gear crunching and crashing leaving him with only his granny ring available to him. (I’ve warned you in the past to about servicing your bike before we set off Dazza). The curse continued for Darren when his rear derailleur came off, time for Craig to put down the T-cut and get his hands mucky, try as much as he could he couldn’t get Dazza’s bike to run in single speed, so a long push and run for Dazza via the blue route ensued. While craig had been attempting the repair, a hill climb competition was evolving with Dave, Screw, Ash , and George all attempting a very steep banking, Ash bunny-hopped his way up while George used his youth to power his way up, leaving Dave and Screw red faced and knackered as they tried several times with no success. We arrived at a loop which involves table tops and doubles, Neal decided to miss this bit out as he said ‘wheels are designed to be in contact with the ground not in mid-air’. I bet George wishes he’d made the same decision as he landed badly, puncturing both front and rear tyres which threw him off into a tree. (ouch!) After another pitstop we moved on with a tired looking Rory who had decided to do three loops while we fixed Georges punctures bringing up the rear. Near the end on a section of Northshore it was Craigs turn to fall in spectacular fashion landing hevily onto a log leaving him with a sizeable bruise to his side. (old men that should know better). Another very enjoyable visit to Llandegla, but we were still in for the biggest shock of the day!!!! Ash sporting his new mophead hairstyle put his hand into his pocket and bought a round at a watering hole on the way home, hopefully he will have recovered sufficiently to join us on a ride next weekend.