Full Moon Night Ride

It feels like all my mountainbiking is night rides lately, and these are only once a week. Last Thursday’s was a corker though. I had another ‘shall I/shan’t I’ dilemma over the singlespeed/geared bike, with usual dad-with-young-children fatigue hanging over me like a grey cloud. I took the line of most resistance and wheeled out the singlespeed, telling myself ‘just walk if the hills are too tough’. Yeah, right.

We met up in Hayfield, 4 of us, just me on the singlespud Inbred, the others on a Giant Reign (borrowed from WhatMTB), an Orange Sub 5 with silly big forks and a rigid Tinbred. Quite an eccentric mix then.

We did a relaxed two hour loop over Ollersett, Coldwell Clough and the Shooting Cabin. We had blue skies, a gaudy polluted sunset over Manchester and then a full moon bright enough to cast shadows on the heather. My legs remembered how to turn a 32:16 on the climbs, and I actually got into a groove on the technical descents, flowing over the rocks instead of my usual ricocheting from one to the next. The recent rains have spruced up the moors nicely, bringing out rich greens and purples, even the sheep looked like they’d had a good shampooing. The guys were on good form and it was a pleasure to be out.

I rode home along the Sett Valley Trail on my own, and saw two badgers, one had a good look over his shoulder at me, his eyes reflecting my lights. He seemed pretty nonchalant and trotted down the trail ahead of me until he got to his turn off. A minor event, but it gave me a buzz, and I said 'thanks' to badger when I passed.