Page 48 - The Wish Stream Year of 2021

As soon as as we we hit the the the the the plateau of the the the the the mountain the the the the the the weather closed in in in in the the the the the the wind was a a a a a a a a a a new and challenging experience that the the the the entire expedi- tion tion tion took to to battling with determination Hav- ing ing ing summited Skiddaw the the the expedition decided to to to get get into the the the the descent wasting no time at the the the the summit with the the the the wind chill getting to to to to us all The scree covering the the ground under our tyres took some getting used to to to however special mention should go to to to to OCdt OCdt Wisbey and OCdt OCdt Woodyear for for taking to to to the new terrain like a a a a a a a a a a a duck to to to water Unfortunately we had a a a a a a a a a a a tyre damaged which could not be fixed in situ due to a a a a a a a a a failed pump so so expedition leader OCdt Sheppard offered his bike to another member of of the the the the Exped so so that they could enjoy the the the the the experience experience The descent was an an amazing experience experience with much of the the the valleys below lying right in in in our view view and what a a a a a a a a a beautiful view!
Our guide and instructor Miles led us down the hill with with whoops of joy at every opportunity with with the the Exped following close behind After an an hour or two descending we hit the the the woodland trails that led to the car park On the the the final day of the the the expedition expedition expedition expedition Ex Ex MUDDY and Ex Ex MUDDIER CADET spent the the the the the the day on on the the the the the trails together To begin we did the the the the the Quercus Trail including the the the the longer loop – this was approximately 7 5km of ground covered This
trail is graded a a a a a a a a blue for difficulty and and contains gentle berms rolling jumps and and wide gradual climbs The Quercus Trail is suitable for interme- diate mountain bikers with basic off-road skills and and reasonable fitness This
gave everyone in in the the group a a a a a a a a a a a a good chance to warm up up and and work on on technical aspects of their riding that had been highlighted as as as areas needing improvement on on the the the difficult trails trails the the the day before The Whinlat- ter purpose-built trails trails offer a a a a a a a a much smoother and easier riding riding experience compared with the the the riding riding off the the the edge of of Skiddaw Once we we had warmed up on on the the the the Quercus Trail we we moved onto the the the the the more challenging South loop of of the the the the the Altura Altura Trail Trail 200m from the the the the the end of of the the the the the Quercus Trail Trail we picked up up the the the the Altura Altura South loop loop which was another 7km of of trail This
loop loop ended up up up being a a a a a a a favourite of of the the group The slightly more challenging riding paired with with one extremely fun downhill section with with some jumps and techni- cal berms meant it it offered an an an an all-round brilliant mountain biking experience After completing the the South loop we returned to the the the car park for a a a a a a bite of of lunch Once everyone had finished their food we we went straight off back around the the the Altura South loop loop We flew round round the the the the loop loop on on this iteration which was familiar to us and with it it it being the the the final trail of the the the adven- ture training week everyone wanted to to bring together everything they had learnt 46 SANDHURST