Sweet ride tonight. Nelson was still at work at 5.20, and therefore bailed, so I was out on my own. Fog was rolling over Huntsbury as I was getting ready and had ploughed into our place as I left home, making me think it was cooler than it was. Rode up the trail (not road) and it was wafting overhead, and then I got above it just after the Dog Park. Peeled off onto my over 19th route, down through skidder, and hit the climb, getting super super warm climbing, and so at Thomsons entrance I stopped, sat, and peeled down a bit. That let me settle down a bit too.
Got going again, feeling fresher, around the Traverse, pushing ever pushing, the city a pool of fog and me riding towards the sunshine. Rather nice up here. Met one or two oncomers, giving me short rests, and got to Huntsbury-top no problem. DH mode on, dropped in, bombing with an audience of riders up the maindrag, jumps performed nicely, then down and out the landing strip section, rolling up to the edge of the fog, a wall, seemingly full of voices (wafting up from the maindrag just over the ridge). I turned and rode back up towards the sunshine, staying ahead of the talking group and catching another dude by the top.
At the road I turned right, and headed up onto Scotts Knob, over the "no-bikes" stile, and up into the forest, nice section of trail this. Amazing sunset shining through the trees, just before the trail got interesting for the bomb down to the next saddle. Very brief jaunt on the road then up onto the next climb, steeper and a few unrideable (upwards) steps or rocks (but eminently more rideable than it used to be). Once up in the trees tho there's only one rock corner I couldn't manage. Then the descent was awesome, rocks, roots, tech good bombo down down. Another very brief spell on the road (near the pond) and up onto the next section, and into fog! Getting darker too. Good climb on this trail, lovely surface, one mega-tech rock, then over, lost in fog, took a left without realising it and into Mitchells Track, not realising it was what it was. Some fun techy, and greasy rocks and dirt, lovely bush, good smells. I could barely see anything so lights on and fog made for tricky vision. Got to a fence/gap, and I knew this trail gets super techy beyond this, and it wasn't going in the direction I wanted (I'd initially thought I was on the upper trail, and would skirt round the front of Sugarloaf), so I turned back, less rideable in this direction, and popped out at the carpark.
Across the road for the last section of Traverse, nice cruise, then before the trees, dropped down through the fence and into the entry of Pedalfine/Cowabunga and Old(?)Nats DH (or upper fenceline if you stay hard right). Looked down Cowabunga but decided on Pedalfine, finding sweet steep tech. bomb and drop, drop and bomb, then whoooah!, wtf is that!? Super steep rocky section straight down with a dropover at the bottom. Obviously a good run out, so couldn't be too bad. Backed up a bit, rolled in again and baulked, again. Decided to walk it, which proved difficult. Then I heard someone behind me, so dropped into the next section and found a rather intimidating looking drop over, stopped and he rolled through below me.
"Good to see someone who knows this trail - It's my first time down here," I said.
"Yes, this line is somewhat easier," he replied.
I sidled over onto that line and proceeded to roll over a super tech rooty drop, with him watching, proving myself perfectly capable. We stopped below here (on a sort of 4wdish track) and chatted a little, me quizzing him on where we actually were, and these gnarly lines, a couple of which dropped off down below us. In the end he headed off down the '4wdish' track we were on, over a jump, and I followed a moment or three after, finding myself popping out at the entrance to Rad^Sick where Raceline crosses! Huh, here!
Up the steep grunt 4wd, catching him near the steepest corner, then I decided to peel off down that bonus track (before Dazza's) I rode a couple weeks back. Cleaned it all perfectly this time, nice! Crossed the Rad^ bit and dropped over down through a section I'd never seen before, which ended up spitting me into Brent's zone, back and forth a couple times out here and I was somehow riding up into the valley, then down a non-track, sconing my helmetlight something wicked, and out to the top entrance of Bridges. Turned upwards and grunted my way back up steep bastard 4wd trails ughhhh through Rad^zone and out to Skidder, sweating and breathing heavily.
Over onto my usual downhill (lower gummies?) and then below 19th onto trails below road, up onto Tawhairanui and through dog carpark into 235, peeling left on the new line, but finding it changed and weird, and through to unfinished bottom of it, then dragged bike through branches and folliage out to the soggy oaks, then through and all the way down the new line to Harry Ell and down it, down the last steps, Dyers Pass, past Takahe and up home.
Long post for 12 3/4rs kms, with 540m climbed.
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