Family Treasure Hunt

A disappointingly small, but friendly and keen group gathered at Nun's Close car park in Richmond on a glorious sunny day anxious to know why we needed a hammer and 2 x 2" nails. Our leader assured us we had to carry them. A discussion over the exact size of the nails ensued, especially as Liz and Paul had had a row about getting it exactly right!

Teams names were chosen and off we set in groups or pairs ready to meet our fate. First stop: toilet blocks and a good job most of us set off in mixed pairs as I don't think I would have been too popular going in to count the men's cubicles!

We were taken down to the river, where we had to collect a stone. My team (Kev and I) weren't happy about carrying a large stone for the whole route; even if size meant more points, so we were honest and collected a reasonable sized one. That was our BIG MISTAKE! Little did we know points would all rest on the size of the stone we'd collected!

We cycled the back route to Catterick Garrison with our eyes peeled for clues; some were canny. We should have read ahead, as we were caught out with a question about the gradient of the hill we were half way up already! Luckily, the sign at the top gave us our answer as I wasn't going to return down to get it otherwise.

The Garrison provided us with a varied set of questions, running into my local Tesco's where I could be recognised wasn't much fun! (My hair was sticking up!) Luckily, whilst in there Kev realised we would need to return later, so I did it all at once to save time later! (Naughty I know, but so is picking up the stone last!)

Next we went to Hunton, on the long route, whilst I gather many sat in MacDonalds for afternoon tea; not exactly luxurious, but the best the Garrison can offer would have to do!

We ventured up to the moor above Hauxwell, then freewheeled down into Catterick Garrison again. (but no need to go to Tescos this time!) We raced back to the Clubhouse expecting to find the short route teams back already, but it was at least 45 minutes before anyone returned. They were still in MacDonalds! We were disappointed to find we would gain no extra points for being first, but we had enjoyed the challenge and the weather!

During the evening we had a wonderful buffet and played some excellent games! A combination of party games and Yorkshire dialect quizzes and then racing for 3 minutes on a training bike exhausted us all. (This proved difficult for me in a long denim dress, but I was not allowed to be excused. Despite James insisting I would not get into Barbara's shorts, I did. They must have helped me keep Barbara's pace up as I did much better than I expected to do). "Gerritatton" "Lerrus gurrat pixchers" (said Barbara determined to show us some very old slides) "Thamun gerrit lent" Answers for the translations to Lizzie please.

Anyway, all in all it was a very enjoyable day; thanks go to Dave for organising the treasure hunt and for Liz's excellent baking. If Dave ever decides to do another one it would be great to see lots of people there as anyone could enjoy this type of event, regular cyclist or not!

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	Swaledale Outdoor Club

Family Treasure Hunt

Liz Copsey