It's now a few years since Keith introduced himself to us and since then has become a key member of the Club, although work now forces him away quite a bit.

Keith is super-keen and currently a Santa Cruz Nomad MTB owner. Like the rest of us, he treasures it above (almost) all else!

He lives in Forest Hall, conveniently close to our local ride start point, but emigrated here from South Tyneside a few years ago. He's very well versed on local routes and has intimate knowledge of suitable rides in the Newcastle area. Keith kindly offered to be our "intro" person, so if you want to find out the truth about us, completely unbiassed (still, I think!), get in touch with him NOW! snowsurfer2000@blueyonder.co.uk

We've got another Ian in the ranks now. He's 22 and from Durham, although he lives in York! Ian is the nutter who gets the train up to Newcastle with his bike just to ride with us strange folk. Pretty keen, don't you think? Really, you have to be that way, because sooner or later you're gonna have a really miserable ride and wonder just why you're doing it!

Thursday 23rd August saw another Paul join us for his first ride. And what does he ride? You guessed it! Another Spesh. Crumbs, they have a lot of sponsored riders! Paul hails from Ryton and will be looking forward to getting us over to his neck of the woods, and we'll be doing exactly that with a visit to Chopwell Woods very soon.He brings our number of Pauls to 2, with 2 Ians and 2 Jasons. Just looking for a couple of Ronnies now!

Thursday 6th September - guess what? Yes, ANOTHER Specialized rider joined us for his first outing. This was Craig from Hadrian Park, Wallsend. Like Keith, Craig is a rider with plenty of off-road experience and also a past adventurer in and around Alwinton and Ingram, our Derek's favourite stamping grounds.

We had another first timer out this time aswell - Daniel's dad, who is no stranger to cycling but used to be one of the Lycra Brigade of Roadies! We really put him through his paces first time out on the rough, and in the pitch black, but he weathered the storm and didn't fall off, unlike his son and Craig who both bit the dust at Dinnington!

Why don't YOU join us? E-mail, text or phone any of the contacts shown here.

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New Members in 2011: Quite a few, and in fact too many to mention individually as we used to. It's been a busy year as our membership numbers blasted through the 500 barrier, although many of those have drifted in and out or moved away since their first rides.

And Ladies: Oh dear, Ill be in trouble from our female gaffer Amelia, who since joining in Spring 2011 has become Pack leader, but prefers "girls" to "women". They've had a couple of girls-only rides but of course also ride with the lads aswell.

So GIRLS! Why not give us a try?