# Best Ride Ever: Kielder



## Thompson (12 Jul 2011)

This was a few months ago, but it was by far the best off-road ride I have ever had. It was only 30 mile but as the terrain was mostly mud, tree roots, and some rather large stones it made it a good burn up.

I had recently joined a new group and they're all a good laugh, and Ken (the guy who asked me to join the group) had said it will be really rainy and so wrap up warm. Turns out it was a very hot day. Anyway, there are parts of the ride that stand out the most. One of which was this descent which lasted for a few mile, I had got up to roughly 35/36 ish mph and hadnt realised there was a tight turn further down. It wouldnt have been as bad if the ground wasnt made up of the large rocks. Although it was kinda scary the thrill of it all was amazing. I skidded round the corner sending smaller rocks flying and managed to stay on my bike. There was a few more metres of descent and a group of riders at a junction ( there were two roads leading to different parts of the forrest and they were blocking the whole road) so I was flying down and hadnt known they were there, applying the breaks did nothing so I went flying through the middle of them and continued down the bank, luckily only once person was knocked off, but they were laughing so it wasnt bad.

Another great part was in a thicker part of the forrest, people had been in and crated jumps out of mud (and I had never really jumped on my bike) the first jump was awesome, the adrenaline was amazing. We'd stopped at one jump where Ken pointed out 'Johns tree'. John had been on this jump and head-butted the tree, you could see a massive chip out of it.

A third, out of hundreds, of best moments was when we were leaving Scotland. There wasnt a proper path it was just a small rocky, windy muddy path with trees dotted everywhere. Ken had warned us that he had fell at a spot just up ahead and to leave a big gap, so I did. We were going along fine then as we hit the incredibly steep rocky climb (so steep you couldnt cycle up, yet we tried), Ken fell. Luckily I has left a big gap and was aiming to roll up behind him and stop. Unfortunately, my feet were stuck in the pedals (those clip ones with the shoes) so I had to keep going becuase if I applied the breaks I would stop and fall. So as I got closer and closer, I was frantically trying to remove my feet but to no avail. Long story to relatively short, I fell behind Ken. 

To anyone who has lasted through this post, I would strongly recomend Kielder as an off-road route as despite the falls and the scares, it is incredibly worth it. 

I would add pictures but I dont know how. If you want some, please explain. Thanks for reading.


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## Shaun (14 Jul 2011)

To add pictures just click "Use Full Editor" at the bottom of the reply window, and you'll see (underneath the post area) a button to attach images.

Click the button to select the image on your PC (should be no bigger than 2MB) and select it to upload it to the CC server. Once that's done, you can click the 'Attach to post' button on the right to insert it into your reply.

Give it a go, and if you get stuck you could always email to me and I'll add them for you.  [ webmaster ~#at~# cyclechat.net]

Cheers,
Shaun


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