Gain and loss

frosty misty start today but things soon warmed up to the point where we thought we were over dressed. despite the picture most of the trails were quite dry, largely due to the high winds we've had in the last few days. An mechanical meant we stopped for tea very early but also meant we avoided cake. once filled with tea and bike sorted we went for a bit of an explore. There used to be a trail at the back of the rednal social club, alas it seems to have fallen into disuse, but we (ok I) am a bit pig headed and convinced there was a trail somewhere i dragged Dan of a walk and stumble through the bilberry bushes. after a couple of false trails and slips on wet roots we literally burst through an ivy bush onto a very interesting bermed trail. so, we followed it upwards and it kept going and going, ever upwards over some quite technical terrain. eventually we got to the top, made a mental note of where it started and headed back down. it was classic NWAlps singletrack, very steep in places, a few drops, very twisty, rooty and finishing with a stream crossing. It was here at the other side of the stream that Dan realised his clear lens sunglasses were missing. He'd wedged then in his helmet when climbing the trail to avoid steaming them up. the only thing to do was walk slowly back upthe trail in the hope we'd spot them.Sadly we came up empty.
Dan had to head back soon after so i decided to go a bit further and dropped down to the Navigation end of the canal and ride back up. This did give me a KOM on strave, more to do with the fact they have reset the totals this year and nobody has ridden the route yet that my athletic prowess, especially as i stopped to chat to an old guy fishing!
so we gined a new trail with lots of potential but lost the only thing stopping Dan from getting his eyes full ofspray and mud
ride 5
22 miles
total 72 miles
commute 18 miles