Well the news has been full of this amazing visual treat for days. Sunday, in Scotland, by Monday they had arrived over Northumberland  so Tuesday i hoped they would arrive over Yorkshire. So with this in mind i arranged for our route to take us away from as many artificial lights as possible  and hoped we would get a chance to see this wondrous sight! 

Only 5 of us made it out, Russ the Pliers, Ali, not sure of this weeks nick name, and Richard, formally of Langdale were the anti-social group and Elec-Ric and i were the social group. We all planned to ride the reverse route of Anne's broken ankle. The anti-socials soon left Ric and i behind but no matter we were enjoying the star lit night. We keep glancing overhead hoping to see the lights as we steadily rode up through 7 mile hike.

Suddenly we came across the anti-socials, stood as if turned to stone, staring at the night sky. And there it was, the  aorora borealis. It was a sight i will never forget. Pure poetry. The sight touched our very souls. I think all the guys shed a tear at the sheer majesty of it all, i know i did. We felt blessed.

Or rather we would have if any of the above was true, but hey best laid plans of mice and men!!

It seemed like a good idea this morning. The weather didn't agree. It turned cold. It drizzled.. all day. On the drive out to the pub the fog was so thick i struggled to see the road ahead never mind the night sky. i was late as i had to crawl along. When i got to the moorcock only Russ was waiting. We didn't get the bikes ready just stared forlornly down the road into the thick fog wondering if anyone else would turn up.  We heard an engine sound, a white van came through the fog, it was Ric but he drove past, couldn't see us for the fog i guess! Russ and i were puzzled, had we imagined it? Then another car appeared out of the mist, Richard and Ali has arrived. They had had the bright idea to ride over the top and down wrench green, they were unable to see the road, it was a tricky drive but they made it. We started to get ready to ride and Ric came back. We had two groups and off we went. Iv ridden seven mile hike hundreds of times, i almost know it like the back of my hand, but the fog was so thick i couldn't get any bearings , time and again Ric said, do we turn here? I had to do have a good look around in the thick fog and just guess!!! I followed the guys tracks in the snow, yes snow!!!! Eventually after a near miss or two we made it to the top. There was snow on top of the ice but at least i knew where i was and we blasted round towards Fylingdales. The cops came out to see us, a bit of light relief for them to watch us slip along in the mud. Then we were away from the lights at Fylingdales and off into the even thicker fog. I could not even make out the edge of the track. For some reason i relaxed and forgot to look out for our turning! I had a moment of pure horror , had i missed the turning and were we now riding into a part of langdale know to us as the Black Hole or Bermuda triangle. i get lost there in the sunshine so i really didn't want to be there now. moments later i realized we were ok as i saw our turning. We were almost on the home run. Over Thompson's Rigg, we saw some and heard some very frisky donkey!,  Crosscliffe a climb but the fog was still at the top!  A few moments of intense concentration and i found the top of the Blue man we were on the way home! Ric's front brake decided it wasn't playing anymore but i didn't care. I could see lights ahead.. not the Northern Lights but the anti-socials hanging around to make sure we had made it back!! We didn't see much and certainly not the Northern Lights but we had fun!