The Domino Effect

Another Sunday morning, another Sunday ride.

Six Backpedalers assembled outside The Delaval Arms on a warm June morning with the intention of heading north on the Coast to Castles cycle route. The weather forecast was for a fine morning with the risk of a shower in the afternoon.

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The route, by now very familiar to the Backpedalers, took the group up to Blyth, Bedlington, Cambois and on to Woodhorn.

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The journey through Lynemouth was uneventful and in stark contrast to the group’s last visit. Likewise the journey from Lynemouth to Cresswell passed easily and the decision was made to end the outward journey at the Drift Cafe.

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This turned out to be a good choice as no sooner had the Backpedalers been served their coffees and bacon sandwiches when a group of about twenty cyclists arrived and filled the remaining seats in the cafe. It turned out that they were a group based in Newcastle who called themselves the Old Gits Cycling Club. They were on the second day of, in their words, a bastardised version of the Coast and Castles cycle route and had called in to the Drift Cafe before heading home.

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We Went Out Into The Fog And Mist

The forecast didn’t look good.

The track through Holywell didn’t look good.

Recent heavy rain had left its mark. 

The Delaval Arms was shrouded in mist………………

………….. but seven Backpedalers assembled for a Sunday morning training ride.

One member of the group must have looked at the wrong forecast.

The route started with a warm up loop around the Avenue, the old railway line, Monkseaton Drive and back along the coast to the Delaval Arms.

The next stage followed the familar route through the dunes at Seaton Sluice, then on to Blyth and Bedlington. At this point a little extra challenge was added to the route by cycling up both sides of Furnace Bank before heading on to Bebside and then Low Horton.

Plantation Row, with its abundant supply of slippery tree roots, was the next challenge safely negotiated by all.

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