• September 29, 2011
• Nick Hamilton

Our second Autumn Get Together

We all enjoyed getting together so much last week that we thought we’d do it again on Wednesday. This time we decided to ride around the beautiful peak district for a change so all met up at a particular bridge just before we set off on our ride together. There was no beer consumption this week, just a punishing climb to start us off nicely; I think I would have preferred the pint. This steep hill climb kind of defeated the point of the ride together as the faster riders dug deep and pulled away from the rest, stringing us all out. Once at the top there was a very scenic ride looking back down the valley and, with it being such a warm night, it was really nice to be out. The descent down the other side was fast and loose with a couple of sharp corners to catch out the unaware. Thankfully we all got down safely and pedalled as fast as we could to get back to where we started from. Because it was such a nice night and it was still just about light, we all decided we needed a bit more exercise. So we carefully popped our bikes down and trotted off on a bit of a jog down the river bank. Being the competitive types we are some took it a bit too seriously and started to run, not waiting for anyone else. There’s always a few isn’t there. Anyway, by the time we got back to the bridge we started from and seeing as it was really warm, we all just jumped in to the river to cool off. This was much to the delight of our mates who were watching, Henry, Emma, Helen and John.  A lovely end to a great evening.

One of the lads, Shane, works over at Hassop station. They were kind enough to send a few treats over for a few of the lads who’d sweated the most on the night. Their gifts were very gratefully received and are much appreciated.

Richard Baybutt was kind enough to bring his camera with him on his ride over from Sheffield so all the amazing photos in this post are courtesy of him.

This was our mate Will Ockelton’s last (and second) gathering as he’s leaving Freecaster and going to the Dark side to work for the UCI. Best of luck Lad!

We’re enjoying all these Autumn get togethers so much we think we might do another one. But that will be another story.

Nick

Ruari and I tested the water the night before to make sure the jump was ok, cheers to John for the video