Devon TRF Group Forum

Riders - Me, Biff, Shbay, Adamski, Rijonz, Pete B (I took him across at least 1 lane he'd never ridden before (Lopwell)!!!!!!!!! never thought that would happen),

I'll put a few words here from Sunday's run (no lane numbers as I'm just at work) - so that those with their Go-Pros (Pete, Rich, Adam) can link in their vids if they wish.

Another long run planned, taking us from Totnes, down to Roborough, across Lopwell, Bere Alston, Tavi, up towards Angel Steps and onto Sourton.

Leaving 9am sharp (even Pete had arrived on time ) it was clear the weatherman had got it wrong again and I (and at least one other) were clearly underdressed for said occasion. Luckily although feeling pretty cold late morning to early lunch, the afternoon did appear to get a tad warmer/dryer and that was far nicer.

Lanes were pretty damp and the summer foliage is growing nicely (meaning back to centre rut or engrossing yourself in vegetation). Good progress all the way to Lopwell using our "2nd man drop-off" system which works well when travelling further afield, or larger groups, or when you need to maintain a good steady pace. I was suprised when we crossed Shaugh Bridge how much whitewater was coming down from the hills - and new Lopwell was going to be intertesting!!

We arrived there and to be honest it did not look inviting to say the least. I got the tide times right, but the amount of water forcing its way across this weir/ford was "not good". Whilst I thought about my next action to get across, Rich promptly took the bull by the horns and across he went. It looked pretty sketchy, you could see the bike being pushed leftwards each time he past a waterway. He was tiptoeing across with 1 foot down. when he was a good 2/3s of the way across I took the plunge (not literally) and off I went. It was heart in mouth time and I wasnt comfortable with the situation which was made 10x worse by the fact the concrete underneath was bright green with slippery weed. As you past the waterway you could feel the slip of the bike trying to break traction. But I was able to let out a breath of relief and got to the other side "sunndy side up". And that was the pattern for the rest of the riders - all feeling somewhat uneasy, but gingerly getting across. Poor Adam stalled it twice but luckily got going again each time. I'm sure Russel will let us know "I did warn you" but hey - we made it and it was fun in a nightmare kind of way

Rest of ride went well - apart from my SatMap packing in - which luckily I was able to fix with a roadside repair (as I was even outside of Pete's lane knowledge-base!!!!!!).

Got to Tavi around 1pm, quick lunch at off to Grenofen. No one had too many issues here (I had a minor stop after a light bounce of Shbay who'd stopped on the rough stuff). After this Pete departed across the moors and the rest of us headed on.

Angel Steps was fun - especialyl with only me sporting a very worn (3mm) MT43. But the bike got straight up, no issues. At the top I remained by myself - had some malt-loaf, 2 quick phone calls, a pee & a little chat to man/dog at the house at the top, before turing my bike around and helping the last few up the slippery stuff. Bloody knobbly boys !!!!

We called it a day after arriving at Sourton (4pm) and took the long road trek home. Pity as run would have been broken up by the few lanes I had marked up on the homeward run.

An excellent day - must do it again soon - and include the extra lanes on way back. Looking forward to it already

Best go do some work now.........................