Sunday, August 23, 2015

Finally a ride, Sunday morning, Jet in the forest

After bad weather and multiple trips away (2 weeks running to Wellington, and then 3 days in Hamiltron) all conspiring with family time to not let me out on the bike, I managed to get out this morning.  Dropped a friend at the airport at 8.30 and proceeded to the top of Worsley's Rd with Jet and bike in tow.  Ending up doing basically the same ride as last with Nelson.

Headed up the main trunk line, oldskool worlseys, chuffing away, mildly asthmatic to start.  9.05 about half way up just before a couple of heinous greasy sections further up which incited walking, and required the cleaning of the shoes and tires before further progress could be made.  Finally made the top of the main network and headed up the way towards Tommy2's.  Stopped to examine a fallen branch across the entry to the new trail Nelson and me found last time we were up there.  Cleared a couple of smaller bits off it but more work needs doing if this track is ever going to be regularly used.  A guy rode past as I was doing this, and so I followed off up after him, seeing him disappear into the forest at the top and therefore couldn't tell which choice he took.  For the first time I sat my ass down whilst pushing the new button on my handlebar and the seat lowered, and off I popped, down Tommy 2's.  Excellent blast down here, expecting it to be slippery but it wasn't and I cleaned it all perfectly, lowered seat really out of the way.  Right down near the bottom was a couple of guys walking up, and the guy I'd seen before chatting with them, I rode past and then avoided a saturated muddy looking section before heading through the bottom and out onto the main exit track.  Push button, seat up, and keep rolling, pedalling onwards upwards around.  Dude I'd seen before caught me up and we chatted a bit towards the top.

Up the guts track I went cleaning all the lower section, albeit with a short rest 2/3rds of the way up.  Rolled through the pylon clearing, gasping for air and onwards up the straight then round the corner where I just had to get off and walk.  Too fat from too much time off the bike and too much beer and too much good food.  Too much!  Out onto the cliff top, "lovely day for it" to the rider here, and onwards up the Original 'B' Line as we called it.  Actually stayed on it this time, and saw that where we came up last time is now signposted called "Basically Simple"  A little further up, between this and Tommy's is one called Wasabi.  Onwards to the top, and on up the Tommy'2's access to the new track.  Rested here for a bit, ate the rest of a onesquare, then dropped in.  Seat not-so-down this time, and into the cool gulch and rocky cobble trail, through a couple different forest types, following the creek for a bit, then into the open section, red rocks, and back into the steep off camber forest and across to Tommy2's and then on down faster than the previous run.  Out the bottom again, seat up and rolling on back up the climbing access track. 

Up the guts again, walking a bit of the first section, and then riding out all the rest of the top bit to the Clifftop again, and a sit-down rest on the rocks admiring the view.  Into the Original trail down then onto lower Waynes World and into  Fight Club, roosting and blazing and popping and floating.  Sticky quagmire just after that fallen-log berm, then smooth runnings the rest of the way down and out.  Seat up again and climbing up the exit trail, phonecall on the way.  Finally out the top and into the last downhill section, baulking on the fucking log again, but blasting out the rest of it.  Down to the upper carpark, and through the broken fence onto the new section we found last time down to the lower main carpark.  Wet and greasy this was, cos of being open to the elements and frost having thawed.  Took it pretty slowly, and then on the rocks right next to the carpark my front wheel slipped then wedged, my weight was too far forward, and so over the bars I went, crashing to the solid rock ground with no aplomb whatsoever.  Cranked my left knee, right shin, right hip, and mildly tweaked wrists and shoulder.  damn.

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