Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Wednesday Night Ashley Trails

Parked up on Forestry Rd Barron Ave corner (after finding Barron Ave to be a 'private' road and 'tenants cars only'). Rode up Forestry, steeper than you'd think, and through the gate into Purple Heights where we entered last time. Climbed this up, longer than memory served, to Mt Grey Rd at the 2km marker, and then, just like last time headed just over and onto the open jumpy connector track. Hung a right at the end of this and went back up Mt Grey Rd for a second lap. 

At the bottom we turned left (unlike last time) and were faced with a choice.  Figured taking all the trails we found from left to right would be the best bet, so headed left and it took us down a really fun steep twisty descending trail. This ended at a couple of jumps and a skidder site (which I ascertained (as per my map-in-the-headedness) to be approximately somewhere we'd passed by last time we were in here, and next to Thomsons Rd. Figured, how far can it be, so we headed left up this and found out it could actuallly be quite a long way, pretty much mostly climbing up eventually to the Mt Grey Rd, this time at the 3km marker. Nice roll (but waste of altitude) down this, all the time looking for trails off to the left.  One short detour to a skidder site and some beehives to see if there were any hidden trails, but no, so back onto Mt Grey to the 2km marker. 

Down the jumpy, third time lucky, and left to try the other option.  This time wee found an xc style descent that seemed to go for ages, eventually meeting the first descender at the first jump and the skidder site again. Decided it was probably designed to be a climber, so we climbed back up it, (took me a while, but Nelson loved it!) and then across back to Mt Grey Rd again. 

Left down this and into the zone we rode with the locals last time.  This time we checked out the trail that had logs all over it, finding them cleared, so bombed down it.  It was fun and flowy, but then it took a turn upwards, and in no time at all got us back onto the trail we'd ridden last time.  We fanged down this flowy, mostly down, but sidling slighty, trail, always on the look out for other tracks.  Missed one turn off (on what I think we must have taken last time), then ended up at an intersection (of the cross-forest track we'd ridden from the jumps skidder site first time), and it was a bit mucky here, so we took a right and knew pretty quick it was probably the wrong way.  Through a barrier fence, and we ended up at the top of Courtney Drive. Headed down this onto Barron (which didn't look familiar at all!) and back to the cars.  Considered a 2nd lap, but it was nearly 8pm, and we were both feeling a bit hungry. 

Bailed down to Rangoon for some Thai.  Nom nom.

14kms on the dot, and just a smidge under 300m climbed...  felt like more to me.

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