A huge thank you to my good friend Ade for all his support

As  promised here are some images that my good friend Ade took whilst we were up at Hamsterley Forest.

A visit to Hamsterley Forest...WoW it was Brass Monkeys

As I drove home from work yesterday I checked out the sky in the general direction of Hamsterley. Thinking to myself  "Mmmmm a session at the gym lifting weights and getting all sweaty" or a nice fun filed afternoon riding down trails surrounded by beautiful scenery. That was it mind made up.

I had spoken to my mate Ade earlier in the week and asked if he felt up to it did he fancy taking a few shots of me whilst out on my bike. It's always better to get someone who can actually use a camera and knows what they are doing, rather than me setting my camera on a 30 second delay then trying to time it just right for a ride by lol.

 I also wanted to try and get some nice shots to pass on to Brian and Pace Rehabilitation who have both been fantastic in their support of me. I know it's not much in the way of payment for all they have done, but at least they can see I'm putting their prosthetic components to good use.

So I called in to Ade's and he said he was up for a look out...Perfect. I told Ade I wouldn't be long and set off to get my gear ready. Well an hour and twenty minutes I was ready... Had a bit of a nightmare finding stuff.

My dad had decided he fancied a ride out so he came along, bringing Mr Hinks too, WoW family affair lol.

We had just pulled out the corner of our street when Ade rocked up along with his son Jordan and so  we set off for Hammers.

Inside the car the weather looked gorgeous, the sun was shining and there were blue skies. We arrived at Hammers and I opened my door and OMG it was FFFFFFF!!! Freezing. Very windy too. The car temp gauge read around about 8 degs C, however what with that wind it felt much colder. Never mind here now so may as well have a bit play. It was then I discovered I'd left my XC helmet...aww crap. Good job I'd brought my full face.

I hadn't rode up at Hamsterley for ages so just hopped on my bike and set off down the Red Trail. WoW his was totally different to what I remembered it, some canny drops and ups n downs. I got to the bottom in what seemed a matter of no time and rode along to the hut then turned left and headed up the steep hill. I was on my NS Soda, which is quite heavy and only has 10 speed gearing and was quite chuffed that I got 3/4 of the way up the hill. I even passed a couple of fellow bikers who commented saying "hey have you got a motor hidden on that thing" lol. I wish I was flippin knackered.

I then caught up with Ade and Jordan, my dad was off somewhere exploring with Mr H. We had a nice slow walk down the trail and picked some nice places to get a few shots. It was difficult for Ade as the sun was really bright and behind me in each shot as I rode down.

Finally as we were getting real cold by then I decided to have one last ride down the trail wearing my new WizMount. Again I think I've misjudged the camera angle, this is going to take practice lol Never mind will keep trying.

Hopefully Ade will have some canny photo's for me and I'll post them and add them to the end of this blog. Until then here's a short movie of me coming down the trail.

These shots were of me at Hamsterley in 2010

Me getting to grips with my Bartlett Tendon (2010) 
(photo courtesy of CYM Imaging)

Again just having a bit of fun on my bike, using my Bartlett Tendon (2010) 
(photo courtesy of CYM Imaging)