Wednesday night there and back again

Pick up from work and through the fucktard traffics and up Huntsbury (grabbing some water from a workmate of Nelson's at the bottom of the hill).  Over the stile and off up the jumpy track to the right of the main drag, my wheeze factor kicking in and leaving me well behind Nelson.  Shit city up here, with craploads of sheep and lambs crapping craploads of crap everywhere.  Tires were well filthy by the time we made the first gate.  Up the next section through the tussocks and then over the fence and up the landing strip, up the gravel grovel then Nelson decides to head up the steep singletrack.  I follow and cleanly mostly cleaned it.  Cleaned the bit he dabbed anyway, but blew a bit he didn't.  Got round the steep corner, then up to the Traverse and back towards Vernon.  Chunderbird 2 was parked up here, full of boozing student blokes (wearing boat shoes !yech!).  Off up round Vernon, taking the old switchback line then onwards and down.  Sketchy gravel on a few corners, then across Rapaki-top and straight into Witch Hill.  Good clamber up round here and then onto the road and up the hill.

Bit of a breather at top of Castlerock.  Dropped in and found it very fast and wider.  Plus really noticed the smoothing out by my Vibracore bars.  Been a bit of work down here, widening, but not smoothing too much.  I slowly wound in Nelson a bit before the first hairpin then he got the jump on me on the climb.  Out to Bridle top and decided to head back up the track.  Climby climby climb, Nelson quite quickly losing me, but I cleaned it all the way up except for a teetering topple of balance in the last gutsy rocks.  Back on the road, we decided to explore a little up around the tors.  Headed up the ridge above the road, and hung a left along the walk track.  Somewhat rideable around here with some dodgy steps under a wee bluff and noisy loose rocks.  Down the hill a bit and found the old trail to the right that heads around the back of the whole bluffy top - a trail that I'd ridden years ago (turns out was within blogdom).  Rather overgrown now, with broom plants and tussocks, and rocks all conspiring to stall progress.  Up the first bit and lo there was a whole basin I'd forgotten existed.  Off around this, a few bits of walking.  Actually, mostly walking.  Out to the next bluff and a bit of a walk about, including climbing up onto the top for some awesomeness of viewage. Back on the bikes and back around this trail, riding some more, and walking some more too.  Back up to the ridge above Castlerock and onwards down above the road on the new walking track towards the Tors.  MINT AS.  Pretty much 98% rideable, with only two dodgy rocky bits near the end that needed caution due to the consequences of not making them (biiiig drop to rocks then road below).  Sweet roll down onto the road, then onto the walking track above the road heading back to Witch Hill.  Nice techy wee pedally track this one.  Fun back to Witch, and then the climb, gasp!, then down round and blazed through Rapaki-top again and got knuckled into the climbing again - right calf muscle feeling like it had a braid in it again.  Nelson left me way behind.  He wound in and overtook a rider ahead .  Met him again at the end of the trail, after I'd waited for a whole bunch of riders climbing up, chatting to a dude (on a nice steel hardtail (cheap! Fire-eye from CRC)).  He hadn't ridden the trail to Huntsbury before, so he joined us and followed us.  Around the Traverse for a bit, then dropped down to the gravel and bombed down the landing strip. Over the fence and around the singletrack, then over the gate and into Shitsville.  Jumpy jumpy down here and back over the stile to the car.  Good spin.  17kms and 670m climbed.  Stinky bikes.