Most people now know that the "Christmas Party" was a cover for a super-secret-Deano's-40th-Birthday-party.
Deano's sister had been gathering as many of his non-yacf friends together as possible, lots of VC167 in that too. I'd been charged with gathering as many yacfers as possible. Deano's sis had arranged for the barn to be decorated as it was big enough for everyone to gather, eat and drink. The space was beautiful with a 20' Christmas Tree, fairy lights everywhere and there were pictures of Deano from his childhood pinned up around the walls. A sustrans style cake was baked with BMXs stuck to the top. It was brilliant. Deano's sis had also arranged for live music entertainment.
Cycling to Tan Hill Inn in winter is crazy. Who wouldn't want to give it a go?!? I planned to cycle from Northallerton via Reeth, Muker, Keld etc. With two weeks to go I was beginning to suffer from arthritis in my ankle. It was getting worse. Cycling was okay - but walking was awful. However with two days to go I realised I couldn't head out into the Pennines in winter with an arthritic ankle - so I arranged for a lift with Deano's sister.
I caught a train with separate tickets from Hull to York, to Northallerton, and then to Darlo. I walked across Darlo stopping at an excellent Vegetarian and Vegan cafe called The Health Warehouse. The salad was delicious and filling... then onward to Deano's Mam's (translation: Mum's) house. Deano your Mum is so lovely! Coffee and chat and loads of photos of you and your sisters when you were kids. So cute!
Then into the campervan for the journey to Tan Hill. We arrived just before Deano and sat in the warmth to watch a couple of cyclists trying to set up tents in the cold and wind.
Any chance of a surprise was undermined when Deano rolled up and saw his Mam. Then Lynn and Aidan tried valiantly to pretend they'd come to the pub on a whim. As did Rob. Deano wasn't falling for it. Over the course of the evening more and more cyclists turned up, each to a cheer because it was dark and cold outside. Only one had to be rescued having sought shelter from the cold, and sadly fboab and ChrisS were lost to us.
The food and drink and company was just brilliant. I loved renewing friendships and meeting others for the first time. Lovely to listen to iddu describe the 6 day wild camping journey he'd taken to get there. I also realised that the last time I'd met Phanta was on a Scottish audax from Linlithgow in September 2014... and the last time I met Kim was probably at a camping barn in Teesside goodness knows how long ago. sojournermike and I once did an Easter Arrow together and meeting up again was like meeting an old friend.
Unfortunately the impact of walking through Darlo was getting worse. My ankle felt bad and at about 7pm I headed to my room to see what was happening - I took my shoe off and my foot swelled up like a balloon, throbbing with pain. It was not pleasant and meant my evening was over. However I was able to listen to the band and hear the fun going on downstairs - it wasn't as 'saddo' as it sounds. I was pleased I'd made it, pleased I'd chatted to most people and resigned to ICE my ankle. I'd rather wisely booked a private room so I wasn't camping, I wasn't in a campervan, and I wasn't in a bunk room. I actually had a really comfortable bed but I needed two duvet to stop the shivering (which might have been from the discomfort rather than the cold) and I had several pillows under my foot.
I think the music, singing/bellowing ended about 2am.
I was very glad to be travelling back in the campervan. That weather looked utterly miserable. Cyclists are a crazy breed to want to ride in those conditions.
Thank you everyone who came along and to everyone who wanted to come but couldn't. Happy Birthday to Deano and a big thank you to his sister for putting on a fantastic evening.
---
One of the many conversations I had last night was about having another Tan Hill gathering in the summer when it might be nice for more people to camp, when the conditions are less likely to kill us, when more people might be able to come. Tan Hill Inn is really brilliant at the moment - the food is rather good, the beer selection is excellent and the location is jaw-droppingly stunning.
So what date should we go for in Summer? Another Friday/Saturday? July?
