Thursday Locked Down Up and Back Rigid Single Quickster

Quick blast up to top of Vic on the BFe SS. 

Good climbing, standing and chuffing, getting the rhythm going nicely, finally taking a seat around the dog park car park, and riding with a guy on a Marin Pine Mountain (new 29r steel hardtail) who I'd been slowly winding in.  I peeled off to head up to Skidder and up the guts.  Got a wee way up then off to walk.  Just for the fun of it I decided to take the diagonal path to the right, crossing Sesame St and taking me up into the middle of the Gums where I found a way up (that could be marginally rideable?) climbing above where I hatchetted the tree and up that dh bit in the pines out the top.  Through the cattlestop to rabbitsville, climbing up this, finding it not as wet as when I got sideways on the fatty the other day.  A lot of people about, how many live local? I wondered...  

Into the pines (nice late afternoon lighting) 

and across the Worm, then turning back, across and down, over the See Saw, pumped through first BrakeFrees and out, down the soggy Rabbit paddock, rock garden and across back and funtimes down the gummies.  On down the trail below here, greasy, then out 19th, coasting down the road, into the 235/UpperDogParkNewby, good to start then mucky suck hole down below.  Last climb out and tire-clearing down the road, home.

Four and three quarter kilometres, with 166 m climbed. 

Super short Local on Fatty with Shorty and Dog

Very short local loop - nearly our shortest 'block'.  We'd walked the day before and H wanted to do on bikes...  

I was on the fatty.  We rode up Amherst and through, past the fencing, across the empty section, up the back-of-the-houses track, then over the fence into the Microwave Tower park, across to the trees and down the fun wee trail to Harry Ell Drive.  Jet was with us, enjoying his 2nd or 3rd walk of the day, then down H'Ell Drive and back around Longhurst home.  I left on MMR and went and dug up some of my garlic, as well as wandering around inside a bit...

Finally, a ride. Vic Park Quick test.

Finally got out last night, to test the back with some climbing and descending.  We'd taken a bunch of bikes up the hill (to our new house!) last week to clear ours for open homes and so I went up and helped Nelson with the doors in the new room, then rode off out the driveway into what will be my new playground.  Up, climbing feeling pretty good, not bad at all, no back twinges or pain.  Rode up the dirt track next to the road for a start, then up the road past the 19th and into the skidder site, then straight up the guts K2 next to Sesame St, grunting and climbing and actually cleaning it all.  Sweet, still no pain.  Up past Brake Free, and up the Worm and around up to the very top, short and sweet.  

Into the down, around, bailed at the last minute that first gap, then bypassed the seesaw.  Straight down the Rabbit paddock and into the rock garden, around into the gummies, fun, and took the new line which shortcuts the old (favourite) traverse there and back.  Probably wont ride that line much, will favour my favourirte in future, down and through to the 19th again, then back up around a trail taking me to the top of the 19th, above it, a way we've ridden with the Thursday Night Gheybois a few times, but then cut back towards the ranger station and down a line I'd spotted on my way up.  Spits you out by their gate.  Around the road, then past the picnic shelters, past the no bikes sign and around the back of that slide, down past the dog park, then into the descender next to the big microwave tower, spotting a dark, tight, bush track which was not really rideable (but there's promise in that area, just needs work - along with the other side of the road, from the dog park car park pylon zone down to the Harry Ell..., scope for a descending trail in there no one uses that area at all).

Totale Grande, 5.2 kms, with 175m climbed... good first effort