The photos don't really show off the trial, we had neglected taking photos in favour of a chat about the site so we took a few in the end of the river by the gates.

I got there, late as usual and a lot of surprised looks on several faces, the majority of people in the club not having seen me for a couple of months. There was a pitiful turnout on the day, all because of a bit of rain at the start. There were all the familiar faces down there, although it was mainly the experts that turned out.

To the trial. I haven't changed my back tyre since i got the bike so it's a bit worn, so when i went into the first section and my tyre span out on the way up the muddy climb i wasn't surprised. As i pushed my bike up the hill Gary had a go at me, saying it was pathetic and suggested that i let more air out the tyre. After telling him it was useless i did it anyway and it worked!

The first section was a drop down the hill to the river at the bottom. A sprint across the river and around the back of a tree, quite tight turn, into the river, hopping out and up the hill. Should be simple but the hop out the river was undercut and then you had to climb directly up the hill.

All the sections were of good standard, a lot of time had been taken to plan the route through the land. There were a number of rocks and logs and climbs to tackle but for me, the last series of sections were by far the most interesting. The sections running along the top end of the river were fantastic as i love to hop along rocks and up banks etc.

A great day out, even if the wimps of the club showed themselves up by being put off by the light rain (plus occasional thunder storm).

All my love, Ed - ha ha