Wednesday, March 23, 2016

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...

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