New friends and old bones

    I had been looking forward to today all week I was going to heading out on my bike,   regardless of the weather, well unless it was a full on down pour with thunder and lightening (I get scared in case my metal bits get struck lol)

Earlier in the week I had planned a ride to the coast with my new riding bud John. The pair of us aren't exactly fit, so we had come to the decision we would ride down to Sunderland, go along the sea front and then follow the coastal path to South Shields, then cheat a little and ring Ern (my dad for a lift home. The way I see it is it's enjoyable having a nice ride, but when you push things too far well you just sicken yourself off.

Today was also special because I was going to be meeting up with a very nice lad called Lee, who was going to be joining John and I for a look out.

Allreet there John

 It's weird how things happen in life sometimes. And I mean good weird. You see a few weeks ago I got an email out of the blue from Lee's wife Michelle and in it she described how both herself and Lee had been out and spotted me riding my Fat Bike. Michelle went on to say Lee was very impressed not only with my bike but also with my Bartlett Tendon.  From that email I passed on my mobile number and Lee contacted me during the week asking if I was up to anything this Saturday and did I fancy a ride out with him. I told him of mine and John's plans and offered for him to come along. And so we arranged to meet at 8:00 am this morning at the start of the farmers trail.

John and I got there early and only had a few minutes to wait before Lee came along, we introduced ourselves and off we went. From the start Lee was off like a whippet,he was so quick I didn't manage to get a photo of him all day lol (so if you get to read this Lee, need a few pics next time m8)

It was really cold today, we sharp warmed up, heading up the farmers trail, it's a canny little trail to start with and gives you a bit of a burn as you go up the incline. Luckily it wasn't washed out as it can be a nightmare if it's really muddy.

Once up that section we came out at No Place (yes it's a real place and that is it's name), it was then a case of getting on to the C2C and all the way down to the coast. Both John and I felt a bit guilty at times as Lee was off and he had to keep waiting for us. He was going at his own pace, which just happens to be the same as Bradley Wiggins or Warp Factor 9. On a couple of occasions we even lost him, partly due to my terrible sense of direction. We soon found him again thanks to modern technology and the use of a mobile phone.

I asked Lee how he came about how to contact me and he said "oh by pure chance". He had seen a link in the side bar of Facebook and recognised the video of the trail I was riding at Tanfield Railway. Lee uses the trail regularly to ride back and forth from work each day (no wonder your so bloody fit Lee).

And so we got to Sunderland. John and I had a quick ride on the beach where I collected some more pebbles for my jar and then we headed up through the Park, managing to lose Lee again as John and I took photo's. Mobile to hand once more. We then rode up into Seaburn and got on to the coastal trail. This follows the edge of the cliffs, a bit to close in some sections as the cliff face is eroding away so you have to watch what your doing. 

John knows what these are,some kind of mobile food thingy

Lee shot along this section of trail as John and I now a bit sore in the old posterior trundled along like geriatrics lol. Lee waited again, by now it was bloody cold, so I felt a bit sorry for him as he was keep getting cold waiting on us. We then headed along to South Shields. I couldn't wait to get there to crack open my Nutella sandwiches I was Hank Marvin by then. As we got to South Shileds there was no sign of Lee. I then got a call and Lee said we had passed him a little ways back, he had gotten a puncture. I told him where we were as he said he had it sorted and John and I headed over towards the rocky beach to get some photo's.

Nice Pose Mr Chambers

John's trusty steed, with awesome stickers I must say

By it was cold in that spot

After a while Lee rocked up, he had had problems with his inner tube and said he was freezing with standing around for so long messing around with his tubes, so he was going to say his goodbyes and head off along to Jarrow and call in and see his mam.  We all said bye and have promised to keep in touch and head out again sometime soon, good stuff.

John and I then rode a little further into Shields found some cover and got stuck into our grub. I phoned Ern and arranged  IntERNational Rescue (see what I did there lol) we then justrode a bit further down to the car park where my dad would be meeting us a did loops in it to keep warm.

Lots of cold sea mist

Checkout my awesome Bike Bag Dude frame bag, kept my sandwiches nice and dry

What a grey day

More Grey

Lying down on my belly to get this shot lol

Some nice crashing waves today

Had a really enjoyable day today, yeah the weather was poor, but having good company more than made up for that. So new friends and aching old bones as the title kind of says, oh and don't forget my poor ass, which is a bit tender to say the least...

Still having probs with using camera, every shot came out yellow today....WTF? it wasn't even sunny lol