Tuesday Night Pleasant quick GreenBrittenwood.

Nelson picked me up out front of work a bit early and we stopped by on a job of his at Falsgrave St, then onwards to the top of Major Hornbrook well before 5.30pm.  Waited for Craig who rang a couple of times lost on the way up the hill, so I got going just after 5.30 and Nelson and him followed behind once he'd turned up.  I had a nice easy going run up Britten, stopping a couple of times to see if they were coming, and finally saw them so kept moving on and awaited their imminent arrival in the trees on the ridge, but moved off before they got to me then had Nelson tight on my tail by the time I reached the road.  Hello to Craig here.

Across the road and over the fence to the new climber, zigged then zagged across the slope til we met the trail up here and on up that towards the top.  I stayed on their tails for a while but eventually had to renege and they slowly moved off ahead.  Up top of Mt Pleasant, first Craig, then Nelson allowed me the lead, Craig on account of him being on his rigid 1988 Yeti, and Nelson due to his cat bite puncture wounds on his hand.  So, I had a nice run, mellow and easy round to the stile, then also here, Nelson noticed his seat wasn't lowering, leaving him stuck in the old skool (but not quite as old skool as Craig!).  Off down below here, through the rocks I got a bit of a groove on and enjoyed it, tho at times my balance was a bit wonky.  Nice swoopy blast down through the tussocks, scattering more sheep the lower we got.

Paused while Nelson checked out his seatpost on the farmtrack above Greenwood, to no avail, and then got going, down, past the ruins, and into the ruination of rocks.  Periods of high speed, periods of just rolling, coasting, cruising, then blazing.  Stinky last big corner, then down, and the yumpy before the narrow big rocks, my foot propelled itself out of my pedal, causing some concern.  Rest of the way was good but I could feel Nelson gaining on me.  Just out of Gloomy Gulch the trail had had some work done, and we pulled up here in my usual stopping place for Craig to catch up.  Off again, taking a bit on the rocks to get my feet in, then it was Nelson chasing the whole way down.  I'd gain, getting away a little then he'd be gaining on me, pushing me harder.  Coming into the wee creek valley it sounded like his hand was pretty painful.  The blast from here down to the rocky-ups was supreme, and I selected the right gear for the first rocky, tho, still had to just push off the rock with my foot to keep moving on, then swooped on down through to the end.  Bit of a rest here, saying gudday to a Surly couple riding up the road, and being ignored by an assortment of roadies passing us by.  6.30ish it was as we sat there, and decided to move on back up the trail.

Climbing Greenwood is not nearly as bad as you might think.  Actually, was pretty good.  Gnarly rocky sections to get through, but mostly it's pretty good.  I was certainly surprised at how not unenjoyable it was.  Near the top, the few rocky sections made me wonder how the hell I was continuing to continue, but once at the ruins, everything was good again.  The other thing that surprised me was that Nelson and Craig really didn't get that far ahead of me.  And, I rode more than Craig, altho, rigidity is harder on techy rocks than is cushy suspension...

So.  Onto the road again, climbing, then blasting down through Britten, and back to the car, the time being about 7.10, allowing us plenty of time to get to the Histed Twop for our PFMTBC Trip Meeting by 7.30.  Beer, food, company.  All good.  Alas, my MapMyRide has thrown a wobbly and not seemed to have synced this ride, so no altitude, speed or distance stats to be relished...

tho, calculated altitude off the Topo maps, we did 420odd metres, which isnt that bad for a short ride...