There’s an old saying about best laid plans which means that inevitably, the half baked ideas of the Muddymoles rarely stand a chance of working out the way we hope.

So it is that this weekend’s trip to Wales has been reluctantly postponed by all involved for a variety of reasons, a move greeted with varying degrees of disappointment amongst the Moles.

I’ll admit I was pretty gutted but there is an element of serendipity even so. I’m now suffering from a bit of a cold so probably the Welsh foray would have been less than enjoyable anyway. Instead, we’ve resurrected another of our plans for this year and have decided to make the trip to Bedgebury which we originally planned for early May, so expect a review on the venue some time next week.

Unfortunately, in yet another example of the law of Sod, the patron saint of Mountain Biking, I won’t be riding my new Orange Five anywhere within or beyond the Surrey Hills this weekend. Cycleworks have just been in touch to say that although they have all the requisite parts to complete the build of my bike, there’s just one problem. Removing the bubble wrap on the frame has revealed that instead of the requested Electric Blue, Orange have delivered an 18 inch frame in Diva blue.

It’s a fetching colour, but just a touch feminine for my taste – I feel the vibrant colours like the blue I chose suits the spirit of the no-nonsense Five better and I’ve written before how the opportunity to choose my own colour was a big plus for me. Even classy paintjobs like this Clockwork Orange Five are less effective than the nice solid colour I was anticipating. Well, that’s how I feel anyway.

So, I’m back to waiting. And learning that nothing is as you expect in the world of Mountain Biking.

And shifting sands? – I’ll leave Dave to update you on that one…

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.