Lead Rider - John
Group - Eddie (The Pie) & Andy Mac
Date - Sunday 15th July 2007 (Map Marking Exercise)

Meeting at 10 am at Marple Bridge, we started marking up Andy's map with the route we would be taking. The weather was dry when we started out, but it was only a matter of time before it started raining (you know that fine rain that gets you wet). Andy took the lead, remembering the route we had taken on previous runs. To make things a little easier, we took the time to pause at the start of a lane and try to identify a focal point that might jog the memory when finding the route again.

About an hour and a half into the ride, the heavens opened so we took shelter under the trees next to the stream at Taxel. We studied the map to see which way to continue and once the rain had calmed down we set off again going over the top of Combs and down into Buxton.

We arrived at the cafe in Buxton where there were a few other trail riders already tucking into their lunch. We checked out the map again and decided which route we would take next.  On leaving the cafe, Eddie now took the lead having a good knowledge of the lanes around Buxton, a long rocky trail took us up to the cat and fiddle on the Buxton to Macclesfield road, we then started the loop around three shires head, stopping to take a few snaps half way round.

There were a couple of tricky down hills that were made harder than usual due to the wet conditions, I almost ended up losing the gasser down a twenty foot ravine at one point (well I have been looking to change it recently). The rain started to come down heavy again so we decided to start making our way back to Marple. Andy took the lead again and we retraced the lanes which we had come on, as we neared New Mills, we decided to call into the fox inn for a swift half and to mark up the rest of the lanes on Andy's map.

Both Andy and Eddie said they would be confident to lead any future ride outs using the lanes that we had done earlier on in the day, and if unsure they could now refer to their maps.

Despite the lovely weather it had been an enjoyable and interesting day and hopefully we can do this sort of thing on a more regular basis with other group members. Any members who are interested, please let Phil know at the next club meeting!