Wednesday Night Solo Jet Forest

Worsley's loops with Jet, windy!  Forecast was looking shite right up until I was riding home from work and it was raining, but that rain passed and Jet and me headed up to park at the top of Worsleys.  Witnessed a mtnbiker having a quiet word with a dickhead with a motorbike here, about fire risk, and that they'd be banned from the forest soon anyway, what with the private ownership, and the millions being pumped into the place for the Park, and the trailbiker seemed oblivious.

6pm we got going, through the carpark gate and up the paddock into the new(ish) climbing trail on the right hand side forest.  I seemed to have plenty of juice in my legs and lungs and kept a good gear all the way, surprising myself by not using granny on the first of the steepest bits.  The pylons were screaming with wind noise, and could hear them from miles away in the forest, trees buffetting a lot but not so much on this side of the hill.  Lots of cracks and groans too tho, from the damaged tree tops making me question the wisdom of being in the forest.  Climbed up through Braillesville, checking out and climbing up a wee trail I found which eventually joined back to Braille, then on up over the top and up to the top of the B-Line zone.  No stopping, just rolling on through and up up up to the top, seeing evidence of some motorbike cunt having been up here!  Straight into ThrowTheGoat, bombing down and through, down down down.  Stopped at about a third of the way down and had to wait ages for Jet.  Then he caught up and the wind was blowing a gale through the trees at the cliff tops, down over the jumps then bypassing the one just before Yoda, as usual...  Then into the steeps, dropping down and down, and seeing more evidence down here of the fucking motorbike.  Most likely the dick in the carpark...  Into the bottom, 35 minutes since I left the car. Climbing again, straight up around and up, then into the Guts climb, keeping a good crank on up, under the wailing pylons, and all the way up and out to the cliff top, cooling wind much thanked.

From here it was up the old original, spotting more trail bike sign, and then up to the top for my first real sit-down rest.  I tightened the cleats in my new shoes here too.  Then, off up the upper climb again, past Alice's Restaurant, and then into my newby fave, down through the cool U shaped gut between the dikes, and then into the dark forest and across the off camber slopes, so much faster than ever before, and especially faster than that time with Steve et al.  Into where it joins Tommy2's, and I could see where the fucker on the trailbike had rarked up corners and off the side of the trail etc...  Down into the lower reaches, and jumpy jumpy near the end, and out onto the climbing road again. Around about 7.05 here.

Up the Guts for a 2nd time, the wind seemingly stronger, and the racket from the pylons singing.  As I got to them, around 5 riders came down past me, WITH LIGHTS ON!  it's like 7.15 or 20, and NOT dark...  I said to the first guy, "Little early for the lights, isnt it?" and he just smiled and nodded...  oh well.  On up the guts and out to the cliff top meeting a couple of guys here.  Chatted about the wind and the noisy trees, then they headed off down, and after a time I followed.  Original Line, where I had a wee off...  I decided at the last second to make a tighter turn than I was gonna and my front wheel just stopped, folding me over on top of the bike.  Garked my left knee a little and right calf.  Got going again and down round and through into Fight Club which I loved, swooping and floating and whooping all the way down.  Passed the guys at the bottom, saying "i love that track", and rode on up, light diminishing, maybe 7.40 odd by the time I's back at the top and riding down under the howling pines and across onto Epitaph for the final flail to the car...

12 kms with 629m of climb...

Sunday Solo Forest and Jet

Jet and me got away from home about 10.40 and to the top of Worsley's Rd to park with all the other cars parked up there in the car park.  Buncha XC whippets entered the trail ahead of me and, about 11.10, I started my hot plod up the trail through gate, through the paddock and into the trees, climbing ever climbing, catching a walking dude on the steep bit then chatting with him as I slowly left him behind.  Climbed on up through the Braille region, then across the main drag and on up into the B-Line zone.  Chatted briefly to some young'uns here then headed on up to the very top. 

Into Throw The Goat and dusty bombing down down down, back and forth down and over and through and dropping and weaving.  Nice descent, but I still baulked on the 2nd log jump.  Passed some walkers not far below this, then wove on down to the bottom.  Climby climb around in the hot sunshine and then up the guts track, cleaning it all to the Clifftop where we stopped for a nice breather and there was a spot I found with breeze and shadow, and Jet puffed and panted, hot tired doggy, while I had a bit of OSM and drank my fill. Got going again, into the old-school lead in towards Fight Club then had second thoughts and turned around and hit down Listerine Sandwich.  What a funking waste of altitude.  Straight down the hill, dropping dropping dropping, missing all the best bits of Fight Club and then entering it on the log-wall-corner thing, before the final drop down to the bottom.  Pointless, like a listerine sandwich would be, I guess.  Back into the climb up and around and then finished off the usual down past the tank and across into Epitaph back to the car. 

Nice bit of riding in almost exactly one hour.  450 m altitude climbed, in 7.7kms...

Saturday shorty short woofy short

O and Jet and me headed up and parked up top of Worsley's for about 11am and headed up the main drag.  Always over estimating his skill level, or under estimating how tech a trail is, and so we climbed and it showed me how tech the main drag actually is.  He managed heaps, but quite a few bits caught him out.  We just took our time and had a nice easy cruise on up.  It also showed me how long it actually is, how normally I just jet on through it, but at his pace, each section seemed really long.  Finally made the bottom of the body bag and up the climb to the forest.  MMR told me at this point we'd actually only been riding 20mins, but it had been nearly an hour since we left the car! 

I led off down into Tommy's.  We bombed, jumped, stopped, bombed, jumped, wove and stopped.  At one point we stopped and checked out a massive jump sequence off to the left.  Got rolling again, debated doing Fight Club, but decided against it and headed off down through the Pylon gap and on down the trails on the left of the Guts track.  then, out the bottom, and across to Epitaph and back to the car...

4.4kms and 230m of alt.

Thursday Hunts Vern Witch Castle there and back again.

Nelson picked me up from work and we headed for the top of Huntsbury.  Traffic reasonably manageable for a change.  Parked up and an easterly was blowing through, making me cold, but I stayed at 1 layer and suffered til we got riding.  Headed up, over the fence, and up the jumpy singletrack, checking out each jump as we passed, getting warmer as we climbed.  Up over the gate and on up then over and up the airstrip onto the gravel grind to the top.  Feeling alright, but not great either.

Onto Vernon and around a bit, stopping for a snack and air application for Nelson's tired tires.  Breeze very pleasant across here.  A few guys rolled through on their ways ups, and Nelson toyed with them by being super friendly.  Off down, taking the old line, and then bombing down around the hill, my front wheel sketchy from too much air in the tire.  Half way down the face above Rapaki we pulled up to let a bunch of climbers through, and there was one we recognised - Andy Pandy, out for a sneaky solo before having his 3rd knee drained on Friday and not riding for a while after that...  No wind at all here, warm.  Chatted for a bit then on our respective ways down (and up for him), railing down the trail to Rapaki Top, blazing through the masses here.

Straight into Witch Hill on the tails of a couple of guys who immediately struggled with the first tech.  They let us past and we showed them how it was done.  Cleaned it all round and up and over and down, then up the road, good pace to Castle Rock where there were a couple of older dudes chatting.  Again, nicer here than at the car. We jumped in before them and proceeded to braaap down the trail, me struggling to see corners through Nelson's dust, but I kept tight on his tail the whole way.  He would go into corners faster than me, but somehow I'd exit them quicker and be back on his tail immediately.  After the first Hairpin he got a bit of a gap and then after the next one he stopped to apply a smidge more air pressure to his burped out tire.  The oldie slowbos rolled past and we waited for some time before making our departure into the climb up and over and out to the road.

Up the road, to save time, and at the top we pushed the bikes up the ridge above the road to the walking track. I checked a text here, then we were off down towards the Tors, second time down here, nice wee trail, and some super tech at the bottom, which we rode more of this time.  Down onto the road and then up onto the new walking track above it, cruising around this with its ups and downs.  Rounded the final knoll and there was a massive posse of riders all over the road.  We rolled through them, commenting, and into the Witch, clambering and climbing up and around over.  Through Rapaki top and straight into the climb up Vernon, around.  I stayed on Nels's tail til the climby bit above that wee pondy thing, and then he gapped me.  I did catch sight of him a few times from then on tho.  Eventually we got to the end, crossed the road, through another pile of bikers, and onto the Traverse. Bombed it around here and down through the rocks and tussocks out to the landing strip, rolling fast down through the smooth ground here.

Over the fence and onto the single track.  Nelson dropped the big jump, and I bypassed it, and we rooosted won through the tussocks over the gate, and then jumped all the jumps (except the wooden one for me) down to the bottom, enjoying this so much we headed back up the main track all the way up through the cattle stops to above that pond and up the side track towards the watertank.  then pushed up to the single track for round 2.  This time I rolled into the drop jump, stopped.  Eyed it. Nelson came back and I followed him in again, but stopped. Eyed it.  Then he came back again and I followed him in and DROPPED it.  Sweet.  Done.  No problems, will trade again.  On down, tussock speedsville, over the gate, jump, jump, (bypass wooden), jump, berm - jump, jump, jump, ruts, rock drop, rutty corners, jump, double, and out to the stile.  Done and dusted.

Not bad 17kms travailed and 700m climbed...All in all, a very pleasant evening.