Ended up in Struther's Wood

We had a drive down to the Hamsterley Hall Gate House which is on the B6310 and drove along the road until we came upon the road which leads into Hamsterley Hall. As it's private access into the Hall we parked up just along the trail from the Entrance.

Our plans where to just have a leisurely stroll through the woods and take in the scenery, maybe get a few photo's along the way.

We walked until we came to a sign for the Pont Stones and continued up a trail, unfortunately we didn't discover any stones as the trail just seemed to fade out into the surrounding woodland. I used my mobile and Google maps to pin point our location and it appeared we were in Struther's Wood.

Struther's Wood

Mr Hinks had a bit play around, jumping over a fallen tree and rolling around in the undergrowth. He then proceeded to play with a stick and thoroughly enjoyed being let of his leash for a while.

Mr Hinks, doesn't usually jump, he's too lazy lol

Hinks having loads of fun, Ern watching on

We then proceeded back down the trail and continued in a wide loop back towards our car. I was taking various photo's on the way round of stuff I found interesting, however when I've got home and checked the images I was disappointed to find the shots were pretty naff. It's weird sometimes i can go out using the exact same camera and come away with great shots, then on another day I'm lucky if I get one or two. Ahh well that's the beauty of digital photography you can just wipe your memory card and go out and shoot on another day.

So anyhoo we continued walking around the trail towards our car, Hinks was still off and he suddenly stopped in the middle of the trail. This usually means he has spotted something and yes he had another dog. Now wor Hinks is usually fine around other dogs, yes he's a bit boisterous and can play rough, but he is friendly. Well I don't know what upset him, Ern reckons the other dog a Springer Spaniel growled at Mr Hinks, so he proceeded to try and have a go at it. So I'm shouting me heed off I mean I couldn't run (I blame the NHS they won't provide me with a blade lol). Wor Hinks is now in the process of chasing this Springer all over the shop. I then shout at my dad to run and get Hinks, to which he replies "I can't bloody run". Yeah sometimes I forget he's almost 72 years old lol. Anyways eventually get down to Hinks and grab him and there's no real harm done. The lady and gentleman who had the other dog apologized saying there dog could be a "bit funny" and I also said sorry for wor Hinks behaviour, the ickle git. I then grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pinned him down and repeated "No, No,No" in a stern voice. Probably doesn't do any good but made me feel better. Then he was informed "No more getting let off you bad dog".

This is one of the last shots i took as we came out of thee woods. This tree and the bit growing on it caught my eye. I know what it looks like to me but you might see something else.....

I know what it looks like to me.....

Across the farmers field and down into my local wood at South Stanley

Just a short loop today, up towards and across the farmer's field (don't worry no crops were damaged in the making of the video). Then followed the fields down until I came to a break in the fence and could get into the local woods (South Stanley Woods) which are actually at the bottom of where I live.





Not too many shots today as it was just a quick excursion.

This section of the trail was a lot steeper than it looks

Took a bit of concentration to get over the roots and not end up over the bars

Taking a break in the Woods

I saw this Bee on a pretty flower, went to take a shot and the bloody thing turned round so I got  a photo of it's arse!!!

A Bee's Bottom

Had a bit of fun over the Green

 I had an appointment at Shotley Bridge hospital this morning, nothing serious just my routine check up to make sure the Non Hodgkin's lymphoma I have is behaving itself. Apparently I'm very fortunate as if your going to get cancer this is supposedly one of the better ones.

A quick pop into my Aunt and Uncle's for a coffee on the way back and then it was a case of "Mmmm what to do today".

So I decided I would go for a little blast on my Single Speed and hey why not shoot a small film. I haven't been out on my SS in like ages, this is in part due to me getting my Sandman Fat Bike. I just love the Sandman so much I always get a huge buzz out of riding it.

Anyhoo I got my gear, the GoPro, my new Magic Arm mount, and my compact digital and popped them all in my backpack. Also grabbed a bottle of orange and put that in as boy was it warm today.

I wasn't planning on going far just over some local playing fields on what is know as the Millennium Green. There are a few foot paths that wind there way around various parts of the Green and I thought these would be cool to  just ride about on and get some footage.

Using the magic arm I was able to get a few different angles. It's great fun trying out different positions and a real laugh at times when you come to edit the clips, some angles work whilst others well they don't always make it into the production lol.

 My dad decided he would join me over the Green for a while, so I got a few pics of him having a go on my bike. He said "should I try and bunny hop" and then proceeded to veer slightly of course, so that's why he's got a slightly worried look on his face in the photo below. 

Bit wobbly there like Ern

 Then he decided he would try and hide in a bush!!!!!

Crap Camo Ern

Looking the Part

Me and me Da

Got slightly lost in some woods on todays outing.

Ah so where to go for today's ride. I thought I'd mix it up a little with a bit of urban riding setting out from my house through the council estate at Holly Hill and up past the Pines towards South Moor. It was then a case of taking the "Black Path" (We have called it that since we were kids, it used to lead up to the Charlie brick flats, which have long since gone). Then making our way across the busy new road and along towards Greencroft where we could get on to the C2C.  When we arrived at the Jolly Drovers I decided we would head along towards Dipton as I had a route in mind down a rugged farmers  track called Collierley Lane, then across a couple of his fields and this would bring us into Collierley Woods.

Playing at the top end of the farmers Field

Just messing around

 Now it has been about 4 years since I last ventured down this way. I was a bit wary as on my last visit with a mate of mine we both heard and felt an unusual sensation in the ground. At the time it was like "Oh dear what the hell is that", it only turned out a whole heard of cows had come thundering across the field to the gate we wanted to go through. It was quite scary at the time but my friend and I had a good laugh about it after we successfully got through the gate and across the field. I can remember my mate shooing the cows with his bike in front of him and trying not to let any escape out the field, priceless, it's part of why I enjoy getting out on my bike so many good memories to look back upon.

At the bottom of the farmers field was a small jump wheeeeee!!!

Had a few goes it was such fun

Me the Sandman and my Bartlett Tendon, with socket courtesy of Pace Rehab

  Anyhoo getting back to where we were.....Ahh yes both Kyle and I had managed to get through the swamped fields which was a job in itself and here we were at Collierley Woods. I knew from last time that in theory the woods should lead to somewhere near the Derwent Walk and from there we could head up to Consett. So we started following this trail, threading our way through the woods.

Threading my way down the trail, pulling so sweet skids in the pine needles

Everything was fine, then I don't know what happened but we found ourselves loosing what must have been the proper trail and ending up in dense woodland. So dense we couldn't ride, so it was a case of pushing our bikes and then pushing some more, then oh pushing some more.

Eventually we came to some sort of civilization as we found a sign on a proper trail. The sign was to give people a little bit of history about the area we were in. It was to do with the Mystery of the Pont Stones.

See Link Boundary Stones

We decided to venture down to have a look at the stones, or should I say Stone. I was a little disappointed as blink and we would have missed it lol. Never mind it would be cool to explore the area and find some of the other lost stones at some point.

After seeing the stone we had to head across a small stream, this was quite funny as we tried to get across without getting our feet wet. It's tough trying to hang on to a bike and also jump, especially as a one legged bloke. Didn't do to bad though, well put it this way only one of my feet felt slightly wet afterwards. Once on the other side of the stream it was yet more pushing up the steep embankment and to the top.

We managed to find a trail so followed this thinking it would lead us in the general direction of the Derwent Walk. Well things didn't go to plan and even though there was a public footpath  sign and a style into a field I couldn't see a trail. We decided to go in the field anyway and head in the general direction I thought was best to get us on to the cycle route. The field ended in a dead end of hedges, brambles and nettles. Oh crap. We didn't fancy back tracking so went right into the corner of the field which  ran parallel to the woods we had just escaped from. Nightmare a barbed wire fence, ahh  well nothing else for it but to try and get over it. My first attempt was an epic fail managing to get stuck in a precarious position and ripping my shorts. My second attempt was a lot better. Kyle got over no probs, well apart from being nettled. It was then a case of yomping  for around a mile and a half through woodland with absolutely no trail what so ever. This was real tough what with bog holes, fallen trees and branches that kept snagging us. Never mind in the end we found a forestry track and I recognised this as the one I had rode before. Wow I thought how come last time I didn't have to walk miles through all the trees. As we followd the trail down it led to an old gatehouse which is at the side of the B3610. From there it was just a case of a short ride up the bank and then turn off onto the Derwent Walk. We then followed this up to Consett and popped into McDonald's where I had a coffee and a Belgian Brownie. Wor Kyle didn't want anything, which I found strange because usually he would eat the hind leg off a scabby donkey. Whilst at McDonald's I told these young kids off for chucking tomato ketchup all over the ground outside McDonald's. What did they go and do?  go in 2 or 3 times more and come out with more containers filled with sauce and do it again. So me being the good citizen I am and knowing I would get into bother if I gave them a clip round the lug hole (hey it would have happened to me and more in my day) went in and asked for the manager where I informed him of these young delinquents. A couple of the staff came out and chased the kids away and thanked me for bringing it to their attention. I don't know kids today huh!

 Getting home was easy, just a case of back onto the C2C, off at Greencroft, then head along to Anfield Plain, back along the new road and into Stanley. A quick ride down the front Street, of course jumping the steps at the Blue Boar and down our bank and home. A quick hose down of the bikes and that's today's adventure done.

Oh Ps I have just checked Google maps and it appears we also rode/pushed through Bonners Wood,Scot's Bog Wood and Old Mill Wood, wow I really need to get myself a gps lol.

Ern unable to glide

Had a ickle ride out in the car with Ern,Kyle and Mr Hinks yesterday, ended up at Chopwell woods to take Mr H for a walk. Anyhoo we passed the Northumbrian Gliding school on our travels and Ern thought he would give it a go. I mean the sign does say

 "Try Gliding here"

 Have to say Ern wasn't very successful, not enough breeze maybe :)

Nope never going to happen

Flap a bit harder Ern

A dad n lad adventure in Cong Burn Woods

Kyle (my son) and I set off around 10'ish this morning on my bikes.
I'm still loaning my Ibis Mojo to Kyle until he can afford to get himself his own ride (of course would help if he could get a job to start saving towards one)

We headed over to, then through Craghead and continued down to Black House and up towards Edmondsley bank. At the top of Edmondsley bank we turned left and went down towards Waldridge and the fells.

I had intended to ride in some woodland at the back of the fell, but noticed various No horse riding and No cyclists signs. These signs have been put up when Durham County Council took over all the district councils so I have heard. It's a real shame as there are some really nice trails to ride and to be fair the majority of mountain bikers who use trails such as these actually take a pride in the area and look after the place.

 Ah well never mind, so it was a case of a small detour and we found ourselves at the start to a trail leading into Cong Burn Woods which we could ride.

Dad n Lad, WoW that Tree was slippy nearly set me neck lol

I've walked through Cong Burn Woods a few times with Mr Hinks and I have ridden through on my bike, but from the opposite direction, but have never actually been on some of the trails we found today. The woods are pretty big so it was real fun exploring different routes.

I shot more footage of our outing today and if you watch it you will see what a great time we were both having. I haven't laughed so much in ages, especially when Kyle went in a really deep water filled hole and then afterwards which you can't really see on video, (you will hear me laughing on camera) he tumbled off his bike coming down a gulley which the recent floods had made down a steep hill (excuse my language as it was pretty hairy as the ground was muddy, uneven and it was hard riding in the water made channel)





After we finished off at Cong Burn, we headed back over towards Chester -Le- Street and up towards Stellar Gill Industrial estate, where we cut through and joined the C2C route. A quick ride up to the Kings Head Statue or sculpture or whatever it is and we broke out the Cornbeef and Jam sandwiches, Ooh and a banana a piece. Then it was a steady ride home. Covered just under 20 miles, but what a fun filled 20 miles.

Kyle posing on the makeshift tripod I constructed

The tripod I engineered, even stood up lol

Did some canny jumps off this bit of the trail

Had a bit mess about with CS6

Nice and Vibrant

Kyle coming down the trail

Ooh bright T-shirt Kyle

One of Kyle's pedals bit him : (

A little review of the Magic Arm + Super Clamp

I decided to go out and shoot a small video today so thought it was the ideal opportunity to try out the Magic Arm and Super Clamp I've just purchased off eBay.

 Ok so as stated in an earlier post I opted for the 11"inch Magic Arm, there is also a 7" available. I know women always say the extra few inches don't matter, but I just felt the extra reach would help enable me to get some better shots and angles.

I'll start with the clamp... I'm not sure if there are slightly bigger clamps available (as in jaw size), the one I got opens to 5.5cm's, this is just a fraction to small to fit around the downtube of my bike. Never mind you could always do what I do and just use your GoPro helmet strap for this area. The clamp seems to fit all other places I tried it (well apart from my fork legs which are quite wide). I found the clamp nips up really well and is solid. Down side it is a little bulky I would hate to see anyone have a spill and the clamp dent their frame. I mean this is a solid piece of metal not your usual plastic GoPro type clamp. The jaws of the clamp come with rubber protectors, so this helps with not scratching your frame.

The Magic Arm. I really love how the Arm adjusts. It has 2 swivel heads, one either end of each arm. One arm you pop your GoPro or Contour or whatever camera you use on to. I bought a GoPro camera mount, the type you can fit to say a tripod or GoPro pole. The other end fits into the clamp. In the middle of the 2 arms is a knob that you can turn and hears the really clever bit, you adjust the arm from that one knob. So say the knob is slack the arms move around easily for adjustment. Tightening the knob tightens both arms and both swivel heads. The angles you can get are infinite, really it's just a case of experimenting. You can even do as i did today and fasten the arm to other stuff so you can get a ride by at an unusual angle. I secured it to a tree branch for an overhead shot.

Top tip.....make sure you tighten your Magic Arm into the clamp securely, you can use a small spanner to do this, also make sure you do likewise with your camera mount at the other end, though this can be done by hand using the knurled threaded washer. On today's testing my Magic Arm was keep dropping, nothing to do with the design, it was my own fault I hadn't tightened the clamp to the arm before setting out.

Overall I think this is a great bit of kit.....

Positives +     get some great angles, sturdy design, ease of use.

Negatives -   Watch you don't have this on your bike and take a spill, it could damage your frame depending on where you have it.

If there's anything else you would like to know just drop me a line, like I say I got my Magic Arm off eBay. It arrived in like 2 or 3 days.

Sunrise Secret

Checked the weather forecast last night and it said today should be a nice day, well in the morning at least. So I got my gear ready as I had a plan to shoot a bit of video at an area your not really supposed to ride the following morning. I asked wor Kyle and my dad if they fancied a look out with me to help take some shots, explaining I would be getting up at around 5:00am so as I could be at the undisclosed location at 5:49 for the sunrise. They both said they would come along. I think it's mainly to try catching me falling off my bike so they can have a good laugh about it lol.

The sunrise was very pretty,well worth getting up for....

A Beautiful Sunrise

Really enjoyed playing about on my Sandman, it's fantastic when you can find a nice bit of trail to ride, it's just a shame this area your not supposed to use a bike on.

Check out further on for more pic's and a movie I made of today's adventure
 

GoPro Backpack Pole Mount

Whilst checking out Youtube for new and interesting stuff I came across this....

I've seen various short video's on the making of these backpack mounts, and think they are an excellent way of getting some really neat camera angles.

Rodger Dean has decided to take the idea one step further and try and manufacture and  sell his VuVantage Backpack mount as a complete unit. Rodger is using top end materials and like he says

 "You could buy parts of this product And still, no third person perspective"

I spoke to Rodger via email and he informed me his "Kickstarter project" wasn't going as quick as he planned but he does have a back up plan which is good to hear.

I for one would like to get my hands on one of his designs and go out and make a  movie you would hopefully find interesting, with some unusual camera angles.

Checkout the link below for more info

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vuvantage/backpack-pole-mount-for-action-cameras-gopro-or-co