Thursday Night Night Ride, Right?

Had been talking about doing Living Springs, til I remembered Dyers Pass Rd is shut at nights, which would have stymied our return...  So Nelson came up to my place anyway, and we headed up through Vic for 'the Usual'.  Climby climb, through my 19th Memorial route, into Skidder and up the shitfuckcrapgasp climb, refill water at Brakefree and on up round Worm onto the Traverse.  Good roll across here tho I was struggling entirely too much.  Annoying we both gave way to a descending E-biker, to whom I muttered under my breath but audibly, "Hmmm, e-bike, should give way to others."  Around we went and discovered the dumb-ification of the trail from the top of Lavaflow, basically Teddington Shit compacted to concrete-like surface, for the Ebikers I guess!?  

Also a re-route and new entry to what was Four Pause(forever now to be called HuntsburyDH).  Stopped for a look before heading down.  I then proceeded to eat dust.  And visibility was awkward due to said dust too.  Oh well, blast blast pop pop...  Good ride then across the lower to the cattle grate and I led into the Rocky Ridge trail, 'Rock Up', and we negotiated this with some skill and some unbalance (from me).  Bomb down, jumpity jump, avoiding the usual, and all the way to the bottom.  Then, back up the main drag of HUnts, tho, going through the gate and across onto sheep trails and back up the DH.  Stopped on the landing strip to watch for the Space Station (thought it was meant to appear at 7.27 (had that wrong - was 7.42!)).  It didn't so we climbed the road, hit the Traverse and headed around.  At the Sugarloaf place we often stop, I looked up and spotted it (7.44pm), just as it was fading...  On around, feeling a bit better, but still struggling with the dust (my eyes are red and sore today).  

Into Vic and across, just catching the gap jump (kinda almost from below), and when I landed "CRACK", feck!, my back end was locked out!  D'Oh.  Reached down and unlocked it and then from the rabbit paddock I led into the rockgarden and the gums cos Nelson was getting tired.  Bomb bomb, nice run, swooping around and through, all the way down, then onto trail below 19th, skimming through (meeting two climbing riders) then up onto walk track, and down the Tawhairanui Track, fair game at night, and across Dog Carpark into the fun twisty pylon descender, through, up, back up road briefly and down behind the houses at full noise to home.

A cracking 13.75 kms, with 491 m gained.