The team are; Chris B; CRF250X, Dave A; BetaX, Dave V; CRF250X, Ian H; WR450 and guest appearance by Nico; HuskyTE300; who packed particularly lightly...
Those of you who've done my Shepton Mallet pub run will maybe recognise a few of he lanes via Crosscombe & Pilton. The lane vegetation was wet but the weather was otherwise fine and dry.
By the 48m fuel stop at Lydford on Fosse the sun was out.
There followed a few long grassy lanes and some minor roads past Yeovilton airbase and the abandoned medieval settlement of Nether Adber
There are a few lovely suncken UCRs in the hamlet of Nether Compton to the east of Yeovil where we played hide n seek, even finding a cave..
A pub baguette (in DV's case; cheesy chips) and a pint (in Nico's case; 2) at Bradford Abbas and a few more cracking lanes, even passing some local Hunt. drag or fox we were in doubt as to which, and then to the petrol station at Maiden Newton another 50miles.
The clouds came over at this time and it started raining. Wet but more like heavy cloud reducing visibility & some enjoyment as it was now about 5pm and we were about 2/3 of the way through the day!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CfMexkTXfpNQ2Yp8A
The pub in Dorchester (The Old Ship) on the high street was the only place i could find that could do 3 twin rooms. Most places have doubles and it is hard to find a reasonably priced place. The other option was the Premiere Inn but that is out of town and has an open carpark. This pub claimed to have a gated back yard.
When we arrived, the rather intimidating Bok landlady (South Africa) said the gate at the back must remain fully open as it was their fire escape and that this is also the local nightclub so would be rowdy and noisy til 2am when she would close the gate (still unlocked!)
With some trepidation we locked all the bikes together, put a tarpaulin over the outer bike and opened the bin store gate to block off any view of the bikes from the back alley.
Actually the south African landlady was probably the best security - everyone was probably scared to death of messing on her turf - it would be like messing with the Angels!
A few beers in the bar and a fantastic curry house up the road and as Nico was feeling a bit under the weather and crashed out along with Ian H just after the curry. Chris, Dave, Dave & Julian had a couple of nightcaps in the neaby 'Spoons had us done by midnight. Sure enough the Old Ship was in full swing as we arrived but being all over the threshold of youthful exhuberance we crashed into our respective rooms.
Julian said he hadnt slept well worrying about the bike security. What a rebel!
Sunday was a beautufully sunny calm day after a night of heavy rain. We headed off route a little to do a track over Lulworth Cove and the view accross to Portland Bill. Beautiful. There wasnt time to do the long high trails to Corfe this time as we had 130m to get through.
North then Moreton where TE Laurence (of Arabia) is buried and through the long shallow (mudguard level) ford.
Several hours and 5o miles later we refuelled back at Maiden Abbas (5miles from Dorchester!)
The lanes just kept coming and the weather was beautiful all day as the mesmerising variety of lanes, roads & achingly gorgeous villages. We found a little ford to photograph and a 6ft marker to judge Nico's height against.
Near Bruton (Shepton Montague) we at 4pm we decided it was time for a pint but Ian, who had been angling for some time about what time we were getting home, decided to abandon his mates and head home alone.
We 4 did another few hours of lanes to another great pub this time nearer to home at Holecome where we had a nice pint of Butcombe & Swordfish. This is beginning to sound like a pub crawl!
However such alcohol tainted judgement led to my falling off on the immediate lane trying to keep just ahead of the Italian Pony. Its not big or clever to mix beer and trail riding. I know Ive tried it!
So the last hour through Timsbury to KEynsham , Uplands and Stoney Lane in the pitch darkness was an awsome end to 290 miles in 2 days of gentle trail riding.
No mechanical issues. No objectionable meetings with landowners and mostly legal.
