Friday night was D’Andy’s leaving do at the Penny Black, where some 20-odd of us turned up to make sure he went!

It was a great night and I think everyone enjoyed themselves – hopefully there weren’t too many sore heads the next day. We got him a tankard and a dubious medallion with the legend ‘If found take to A&E – answers to the name of D’andy’, a trophy and a picture book titled ‘Eat Sleep Slack Repeat’ thanks to Jem and Tony.

Of course, where one door closes, another opens and D’Andy’s departure does rather leave a vacancy for a senior slacker amongst the Moles.

You might think we have plenty of candidates already. The GrandMole clearly has the advantage having retired during the course of 2016, and Jem and Tony certainly like to keep their lives suitably balanced between work and everything else. Karl is another who likes to put the flexible into working and even Muddy Dave is one to take advantage wherever possible of low employer expectations.

All that said, if you are Welsh, prone to idiosyncratic clothing choices, highly sociable and have a leaning toward the wildly optimistic (with a side order of over-ambition) then there’s a place for you among the Moles.

Bonne chance D’Andy, hopefully catch up with you in May.

About the author

Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.

Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.

An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.

If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.