Bewl Season Off To A Good Start

Mark's  Voodoo May Be On Borrowed Time

Our Bewl Water season has got off to a good start. Last week the trail was surprisingly muddy for the time of year but thankfully still perfectly safe to ride. Despite commuting to work a few times on the mtb , it felt strange not to be riding on a road bike, I blame this and the muddy conditions for a really slow lap of one hour seven minutes.

                  This week the conditions were far drier, the ground having been baked hard by a solid week of sunshine and above average temperatures. This brought out a larger clutch of riders of myself, Derek, Malcolm, Josef, Steve D and Mark all up for it. Riders now have the choice of a double lap or a single. Myself, mark and Derek were only up for a single lap but we were joined by Steve D who had already done a big combination of one lap of Bedgebury (across the road from Bewl) followed by one lap of Bewl. We set off at a stiffer pace than normal and round a blind bend, nearly crashed into a man and his son on their bikes who were going around anticlockwise instead of what we think is a more sensible clockwise direction. I wish the people who manage Bewl would do the same thing the managers of  Bedgebury have and decide what direction is best and put up direction signs to avoid this from happening. After this we were a little more wary around the corners and gradually became more spread out with Steve and

Derek takes A Moment To Pause Before the Off!

Mark pulling away from myself and Derek. With the far drier conditions I managed far more respectable time of one hour two minutes which was my third best of all time. Despite riding around the course at a good pace Mark is not happy with his recently purchased Voodoo banshee. After having a go on it I could see way, why do some of the manufacturers make mtbs with such short top tubes and sit up and beg ride position. Mark may well sell the voodoo and use the money to  tart up his beloved retro Marin this has  a much more aggressive riding position.
                  Following the ride we had time for our traditional pint at the John's Cross Pub where the landlord recognised us and exclaimed " is it that time of the year already?"