Pitch black and cold beer

No, not the film that helped launch Vin Diesel's' career - rather a dark night ride and the virgin outing for Les' new rig a, Specialized FSR Pitch Pro.

As the route map shows we opted to meet in Streatley (at the Chequers) for a change and then head off over the A6 and explore the eastern trails. Les cranked up from his pad and arrived well before I'd finished faffin' with all the clobber required for a winter night ride. At least it gave us chance to setup his FD on his new rig...in the granny ring the cage was rubbin' the tyre (lower limit stop) and a big to middle selection was reluctant (tension). Oh and my HID failed to start causing me much palpitations until a re-seat of the battery connector had my retina's burning :p

As Dozer wasn't 100% familiar with the trails we mapped out the route before hand and popped it on the GPS. As the screen isn't constantly illuminated I sneaked Chipmunk's L&M onto my helmet and angled it down at the bars - it's drowned by the HID so "backlighting" was the name of the game. The downcast light often had my thinkin' Chevok was gonna beam me up :p

The weather stayed dry and the chilly 3 degrees was soon forgotten after a few miles rollin' our knobblies. Rain earlier in the week had nicely softened up the surface so many sections were spent spinnin' and a slitherin', much to the delight of the posse. It seems that autumn is giving way to winter. It never ceases to amaze me how different trails look at night, especially where you're not that familiar with 'em or riding them in reverse. My repeated "loops" at junctions gave Dozer a few chuckles. I'm thankful that L&M helped light the way, although I'd have done better hammering down "the springs" if it had been pointing in front !

Apparently the Pitch was a delight to the riders nether region/thigh's with many a mumble about "I ain't had to get out of the saddle yet". He simply wafted over the trails and both he & I were surprised when Dozer face planted on a root that neither of us felt. T'was commendable for his h/tailness to entertain us. However, our fully convert was initially quite perplexed that his steed now didn't have skippin' gears, or rubbin' this, or squeakin' that ;-) He did have one sketchy moment racing DH as he hauled on the anchors (that bite) and he locked up both ends...the joys of hydro's over mechanical disc's - he'll soon learn to be gentle. As it's only the first outing, he needs to tweak the ride position /fiddle with pressure's but I reckon he's now on a winner and that we'll all be moving aside at Afan :lol

Thanks guys for a tip top blat. Oh and the post ride tipple was great, albeit a bit "parky".

Posse: Darren (Heckler), Dozer (Rockhopper), Farqui (5Spot), Les (Pitch)
Weather: 3 degrees, dry
Mechanicals: Puncture (Les)