Traffic is busy and Christopher is being cautious with the AT, which normal has wide panniers on either side, but not today! Once he realises that he's off, filtering as expected and we make better progress.
At Denton we head up towards the moor, which starts with a gravel path, then leads to grass.
We open and close a few gates. Christopher struggles for traction on the grass after one gate and then take a wrong turn. We have to turn around but try to do so without leaving the track, easier said than done, and I get the front wheel stuck in a dip. I then struggle to manoeuvre the heavy bike. The clutch starts to complain with a howl, a sign that I need to stop slipping it and get moving. Eventually I'm free and back on the trail.
But now we're on the moor, which is muddy and marshy. It's single track now and in places I'm paddling for stability while riding more slowly.
Occasionally I catch a foot and feel my soft luggage pushing on my calves. Hard panniers are not recommended for off-road riding as they can break your leg in such situations. But my left leg is starting to ache with all the paddling and dabbing only four and a half months after surgery, which is mentally compromising my riding.
We cross a few small dips filled with water and mud that need to be taken with care and the going is tough.
We stop and I walk ahead to see how much more of this terrain there is - it goes on for another 800m or so before reaching a wooded area that is probably firmer ground. We make a decision to head back the way we can and head for Steve's.
At the gate off the moor we meet Bernie, a local, with her dogs, in a 4x4. She asks where we've been and we tell her we've turned back as it's too boggy and that we've been sticking to the marked trail. She seems content with our answers and says that they've been reintroducing beavers in the area and have actually dammed some of the water run-offs to make it more boggy. She's concerned that some riders have been antisocial, riding off the trails and damaging the marsh.
Back down on the grass track taking care not to slip on the grass. Off the trail and we again take a wrong turn towards the Denton Hall gates, but turn around before reaching them. A van driver beckons Christopher and they get chatting. Seems Bernie has phoned down to the driver, who saw us riding up, and reported that we were polite and had been keeping to the trails, we get points for that. Trail riding in the UK, as everywhere, is a constant battle between interest groups to preserve access rights. Many bikers don't help themselves but especially trail riders as a whole but breaking the carefully negotiated rules that risks banning all bikes from the trails.
Back on the tarmac and we reach Steve's, where Snads arrives just after us and greets us with her usual tirade of jovial insults! The rest of the group join us later, Mick and Ray, Hugo, Alan Alan, and Phil.
Dinner is chilli and garlic bread which is consumed while the lads watch the women's rugby: Canada triumphs over poor NZ.
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