After rain and wind today, the trails were still remarkably dry. But creche leader Nigel managed to find some mud for us anyway on his Undergrowth Explorer ride. As well as Nigel, there was Russ the Pliers, Big Keith, Langdale Richard and me. 

We worked our way over to the old red route, which had fallen branches here and there and was a bit overgrown - a good test of how well your helmet light was held on! Keith broke his chain, but Richard donated a chain tool and we were soon rolling again. 

I had a nervy powerslide chasing Nigel and Russ on one smooth flattish descent, but thankfully wasn't on summer tyres tonight and they dug in before I could slide all the way off. Good old Nobby Nics. We got onto the new red just after.

Keith told us how much pressure he had in his shock when we paused at one point. I can't remember what it was, but I can remember thinking: if anything big tries to bite us out on a night ride, all we need to do is jam Keith's shock into its mouth then fire a pistol at it. It'd go up like Jaws!

The new red was pretty broken up across the sandy traverse towards Dixons Hollow. We turned off not longer after the hump-backed descent to the fireroad. Four deer went bouncing across at the top of a climb. 

We tacked across to the old red again, then worked our way through some more mud and undergrowth and emerged onto the road. Another good ride. Thanks, Nigel. Definitely off the beaten track!

Here's a link to my Garmin plot of the ride. The pace was fairly steady overall. The HR spikes are me trying to wind it up a bit on climbs, in the hope that I can use climbs to take the fight to the PIckering Three on 17th April.