Tuesday night, Happy Blog-iversary, and Worsley Playtime

Ten years today since this blog's first post. Ten years ago I started this voyage of documentation.  Happy blog-iversary, blog.

Tonight, Nelson picked me up outside work, in hideous levels of traffic, it being just after 5, and the neighbourhood utterly full of road works, closed lanes etc, not to mention a fuckload of fucking idiots all driving everywhere...  Nearly 6, maybe quarter to, by the time we made the top of Worsley's Rd.  A bit of faffing and changing and just before 6 we headed up the track that starts through the gate directly off the carpark.  Mellow start then straight into the steepness.  Granny gear selected and lung and heart rate increasing markedly to the point of nearly exploding.  Up up up, nice scenery, what we could see.  Up past all the trails I explored with Jet, and the length of the Braille track seemed to go on forever.  Then, finally, the last whoopdedo and onto the Worsley main drag.  "Forest Closed" signs greeted us at the entrance to the climb, which we duly ignored, it being after hours, and ventured ourselves forth to explore what wreckage has ensued at the mercy of the foresters.

Followed caterpillar tracks up that entry, they continued straight up the fenceline, we took the singletrack climb, all the way up, meeting the tracks again near the very top.  Into the entrance to Hangloose (or Goat) and within metres had met the machine responsible for the tracks.  Massive it is, with maneuverability and the cutting handle head thing on it's end, with it's path a swathe of destruction, cleared trees placed to the side and many more all the way down Hangloose, with X's on them ready to go - demarking the boundary of the next area to be logged.  Good bye Hangloose with your groovy swoops and pops, good bye Yoda, not that we ever rode you...  Down we flowed, bypassing the second log jump, and enjoying the steepnesses.  I had an off, where I entered a steep-ass corner I've bailed on before and decided mid way through that I didn't want to go where the bike was going so stepped off the back, but it being so steep I fell backwards, one foot still attached to the pedal, striking my calf on the hot hot brake disk (not realising til later), and landing ungraciously on my ass.  Nelson was stopped metres away at a tree across the track.  Under this an on down the last few steep corners to the bottom where climbing began - easy to start, but getting increasingly steeperer.

Gasped up the internal guts track, walking some before the pylon-gap, then managed to ride, albeit with a gasping break, the rest of the way to the clifftop.  From here, up the original trail, one section where the caterpillar machine had been through, rarking up the place, then Nelson quite surprisingly managing to clean that rocky outcropping near the top that nobody's ever cleaned before, and then we proceeded out to the top, where we found Pete, Andy and Robin.  They'd not long gotten up there on their first climb (having met at the carpark at 6.15), and had lost Tony to a broken derailleur (via loose stick) on the way up.  They headed down Original and FightClub and Nelson and me headed on up to the entrance to Debbie Does Dallas.  Nelson took Nick's new one, while I took the original.  Fast run down here through the dark douglas fir bit then into the bigger open pine section below the cliff face, and around into Alice's Restaurant.  Good for the first couple of corners but then the steep stuff gave me the heebeegeebees and I walked a couple of bits.  Got riding again, and then the last steep bit just before a wee bridge, Nelson crashed - hitting the deck pretty hard (even broke the end off his brake lever), and burst open his zip on his bag.  Fixed up off down again, into the final couple whoopdee's and then through and caught up with the other guys down as they'd just finished Fight Club.

With them headed on up to the Junction where Robin said good bye and the 4 remaining rode up the guts track and into the lower entrance of Fight Club.  Here, Nelson discovered his rear brake was dodgy, not applying any real pressure to the disk, so, unable to fix it on the spot, he headed off down the way we'd come up, and the remaining 3 of us headed for an excellent blast down Fight Club.  I really hope the logging doesn't kill this track.  Climbed out to the Junction and then down the finale and back to the cars.  Andy headed down the road to home (via Fluffy Sheep where we saw his light and stopped to say See Ya)

Number 3 Noodle Canteen and a Garage Project Pan Pacific for tea.  Nelson had Nasi Goreng, and the same beer.