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

Slowtober

 Well well well...  Still no riding.  Back is much better thanks.  Have ridden the Troll around the block a few times, and even cycled from Carlton Mill Rd across the park to work last week, and am thinking I'll ride into town this afternoon to work too.  Middle of selling the house.  Getting antsy, and wanna go for a ride ride, which I'm going to sooooon. 

Hocktober, Post Hoc Post Op

Well.  Visited with the Surgeon yesterday, he gave me the go ahead with life.  Still sore, but getting back to it all.  
Last night we rode to dinner, possibly I wasn't supposed to, but the Surgeon said take it as you feel it and I felt great on the bike.  After dinner I took the dog for a bit of a meander, and this proved slightly more difficult. It's left me a bit sore.  My core, and back muscles are obviously not up for this yet.  (Plus dinner gave be a bit of a guts ache...  blah).  
So, more taking it easy...

Phase-Shift

Entering a new phase of my riding life, I sense. I've only sat on a bicycle once since the days before the surgery. It felt amazing. I took it for a tiny spin out onto the footpath, looping back to the driveway effortlessly. So, so good. 

I can't physically imagine how much damage a longer ride could do. I don't know the complexities of the viscera and whether tears- or undoings of healing tissue. I'm assuming that I'm not riding because the damage I could do would put me back to square one. 

So. That brings us to the Phase Shift I so endearingly capitalised. My riding is going to have to be something new. Slower, more gentle. Exploratory; for interests sake. For example, I could make it my mission to ride every street in the city. Take notes, rate them for rideable enjoyment. Or, do the same for "beginner," and on up the grades, mountain bike tracks, as my body returns to a greater level of robustness and healed-ness.  And suddenly (or not so suddenly) I find I'm not averse to the idea of electric assist.  Have it handy for less fit friends and fam, or take it out on solo (or not) 'leckie' rides. (Another benefit of that would be a reconnection with my biking peeps).

Just a few thoughts...

Post Op

Resting. How many days? Healing. 

"The path is always shorter if you know the destination." 

Applies nicely to new singletrack: every turn, every berm, rail, pop. Takes more time-sense making it so that next time you ride the trail it seems so much shorter. Leave the riding of a less well known trail for long enough and it's always fresh. 

Some trails tho, your 'home' ones, you know so well you ride them in your sleep. However, these do change over time - dynamic, trails are: changes and evolutions as the land beneath erodes; rocks or roots exposed

Wednesday Couple Laps of Old Skool

So, after munting my pedal last ride on the Rocky, I'd forgotten all about it, til I'm about to rush out and grab a last minute ride about 4ish this afternoon.  "Oh, that's right, damn!"  Slight change of plan, drive to hills via Torp7 where I'd spotted my pedals for $70.  Bike in car, gear, forgotten anything, nah.  Drive.  Cross Glandovey Rd, "whooah, HELMET!"  4.15, Turn back, 5 minutes later, back on the road again.  GRah.  traffffffic...  Make it to Torpedo about 4.30, grab pedals, in and out in 2 minutes. On the road again.  Traffffffic.  Finally get up Bowenvale Valley, and have to install the new pedals.  3 minute job.  done.  Check adjustment, none needed, yay!  Get riding, 5pm.

Up the valley, puffing and chuffing getting more and more laboured the steeper it gets, ie, under the kowhais in full bloom (petals everywhere!) just before the gully.  Then steeper still up through the trees.  A lecky overtakes me at the turn off to Hidden Valley (bonus) track.  Turn up, clean first, clean second, nicely tidied track along here, slightly wider, less tech than the past.  Around into the pines, and really climbing now, bah, blew the first of the hairpins up here.  Cleaned the 2nd and on up to the gate, feeling pretty okay.

Suspension onto middle setting, around under the pylons, then stop and full open mode for the rest.  Bombing.  Slow start but warmed into and no squirrels.  New 'features' most of the way down.  Pretty slow on the pumpy bit back the other way, and not very pumpy in the bits below that.  Then there was pressure, in a couple of riders (miles back) behind me, thinking, "I hope I'm not so slow they catch me up."  So, speed up a bit, bomb bomb bomb, swoop swoop, and out the bottom straight into the climb again.  No sign of the other fellas. 

Climbing again, once it gets steeper I'm starting to feel it now.  Feeling more drained, and up the Hidden, 2nd hairpin makes me dab (cut corner too steep) but then cleaned the upper hairpins this time, but I'd had to stop just before them (in the pines) cos I was just about to puke.  Calmed that and then cleaned them, but the sick feeling didn't go til after the stile.

Under the pylons, photos taken (timestamped 5.37pm) and got the bomb on.  Nice fang this time, faster through all the bits that were slower earlier.  Bomb bomb bomb.  Sweet.

Out to the car and it was still not 5.45.  Which was perfect cos I had to pick up O and Soph at 6 at the Rink.

Not a bad little 6 kms, with 279 m climbed. 

Almost certain that's my last ride before Surgery on Saturday.

Sunday Crotchal Planting in the Groyne

First off, have put the Surly Sunrise bars off the fatty onto the Troll (and will either buy another set or retrieve the ones off the Little Ak bike to get some back on the fatty), and I must say, they've really buttied up my Troll.  It feels like a giant BMX commuter now.  Firm, surefooted and strong.

Left home after 9 and met Steve and Pete at Northcote Rd / rail-trail juncture, to head for the planting at the Groynes.  I left home earlier than necessary, and thought they'd probably come via the Trafalgar St, Rutland, Northlands, Sawyers Arms route, so after a few laps of the bmx/pump track I waited facing Sawyers Arms direction.  Ring-a-ling from behind me, and they had indeed traversed Northcote Rd.  Got trundling along at the fancy pace of Steve's leckie and we cruised Tuckers round up Cavendish to the Cosy Cafe.  Coffee, and onwards upwards through Regent Spark and across to Northwood, through here, Englefield Park and up Connemara to Johns and around into the Groynal region wheretoforeto plant the Trees for the Canterbury.

Easy digging, lots of mulch and I seemed to be able to put my back into it..,  Anyway, couple and a half thousand plants and we were done by midday, so pretty good going - largely thanks to the Phillipino Brotherhood bros.  Troopers, they are.

Scoffed some sossies and hit the road home, same way, dissecting at Northcote again, and I skipped home via St James Park.

8.9 kms there, 8.5 kms back again.  With (a pointless even recording) 12 and 14 m of altitude gained respectively.

Tuesday Night Pleasant and Unpleasance; Malfeasant Peasant

Dinner at Joy's so we got going from home early and the fam dropped me up on Parkridge... Rode around and up, chuffing along quite well, to the bath (which is gone!), over the fence, and across and up onto the trail now known as V-Twin (meh).  Climbed this, horrendous easterly wind blasting across the slopes, tho, around to the first hairpin it was sheltered and quite nice, then tail wind to the next hairpin then nasty headwind climbing up and blasting across as I climbed.  Around the front, with the tail wind pushing me nicely around onto the other side of the trees, to find all the sheep sheltering there.  Lovely clean run through the rocks up to the cattle grate and onto the road.

Straight up over the fence, climbing up and around and up, cleaning all of it surprisingly nicely, and feeling pretty good.  I think that so much time off the bike has left my muscles packed with glycogen, whereas previously, riding every day to and from work plus the mtnbiking, my legs have always been a tad depleted.  So, after all this rest, seem to have some power.  And stamina - to a point.  Plus, my back wasn't bad at all and again I'm asking myself if I really need surgery (until I do something else, or bend over too often or forget to take my pills... - so, there is that).

Rode around the building and up to the top, where surprisingly the summit was super calm.  All the sheep were hanging out up here because of it.  I negotiated with them my route over the rocks towards the trig, then I hit the down.  First the gate, then shortcut down and across, flowing beautifully across the rocks, and up to the stile.  Wind howling through here, and yeehaa, down I blasted, swoop swoop, battling the wind, float, squirrel, blast.  Down on the last long grassy straights, I noticed, too late, a jump off to the left.  So I stopped, turned back up the hill a ways, then back down into the line, jump, around a big berm, around another, jump, maybe 2, with nice landing faces if you had the speed, then g-out and into the first jump of the Greenwood.  Swooped over that landing it nicely, and down through the first few corners.

Cut off under the trees and rode back up to get into -  what Trailforks calls  - The Green Line/Greensticks/Swoopy.  Got into this but after the 2nd left-hander, my right pedal smacked a rock so hard it pinged me a metre and a half to the left, nearly toppling me off the bike.  Ouch!  Kept riding and immediately could feel my pedal axle was bent, foot wobbling as it rotated.  Got some crazy speed on, pumping through the (usually) swampy section and kept on cruising after that.

At the pines, headed up Sheepshit Alley, climbing away, overtaken by a couple of fucking fast electric bikers (wankers) who I'd seen coming, and thought how much fun the climbing must be on them, but also jealously thought they were dicks for having all the fun while I was suffering old-skool stylez.

Onto the road, and climbed around under the cafe-house and up into Britten for the final blast.  And what a blast.  So flowy, so much fun blazing down the hill, tail wind across the main face, veering off on the first hairpin and continuing across the hillside, all the way, blasting down and then finally under the pylons.

Then, last bits, down the track next to the houses, ooh, a jump off to the right, next time, and speeeed down Major Hornbrook and right into Madeleys, left and blitzing down to Joy's.  I was tempted to drop into the zig zags and pop down that, then up to Drayton, but I was done with climbing.

Hoo, long post for a short ride...  9.2 kms, with 300 m climbed and 90 extra metres descended (albeit, on the road).

Saturday Planting South Shore, Nearshore to the Foreshore, for sure

A year or so since my last planting...

Drove in the frosty morning to Steve's and from there the two of us biked to the South Shore Planting. 

Stayed on the true-left of the river all the way there (except for McBratneys Rd to cut a long loop shorter).  Was good, kept a good pace with him on his Electric Moustache.  The trail continues through what were once houses now all the way along the estuary side.  A mint 12.8 kms. 

Dug lots of holes, Steve and me both, given neither of us can get down to plant.  Ate a few sossies and hit the trail back.  Crossed the river at Bridge St and took that side of the river all the way up til the Avondale Bridge.  A whole km longer than the way there, because we detoured around a squiggly bit before and near Andy's old 'hood.  A bit bumpier in bits, 13.8 kms.


Saturday night, T and I went to friends for dinner and one or five drinks.  Left H there (with Roddy), and got an Uber home.  So, Sunday afternoon, I biked across and picked up the car.  Quite a good zig-zaggy backstreet way - 7.8 kms.

Thursday Lunch "Hour" Bottle Ache with Go-go

Higgs and me skedoodled out to Blotto-ed Lake with the bikes on the back.  A couple laps around the pumpy jump tracks firstly and then headed into the lake.  The right hand turn is closed right now, but we wanted to go the left route anyway, so headed on in.  Great being on the fatty, it really is like a giant bmx (with gears).  And I can't believe how much the trees have grown.  That first section, Go-go had referred to as "the Open Section" which is certainly not open anymore.  Bomb bomb bomb, I started catching up to a guy so stopped and H and me got our asthmas under control and took off again.  I caught the guy up in the next section, a bit before the pond in there.  Stopped here and waited for H.  Good stop here then back into it. 

Good flowing and fun riding from here onwards.  I stopped and gave the tip to Hugie wherein you power on the downs and ease up the ups.  Good fun.  Got caught up by some dudes at the Spenser Park turn off.  They'd left the cars a little before us, but must have gone out the beach way, somehow.  Anyhoo, they headed towards Spencer, and we took 'Muddy Rd' along the way, and on into the forest. 

Everything has grown so much.  It's crazy.  It is basically 2 years since I last did a proper Bottle Lake loop... 'course, I've skimmed the beach edge a couple times more recently but the seedlings of not that long ago are now towering over the trail with lush foliage.  Those guys passed us again in the dark of what was one time called 'Andrew's Favourite Bit.'  After this, they've resurrected a section that had been blown out for a few years from logging, the replacement trees are all quite tall already, and you don't have to go into the 'temporary' dark tall forest with a terrible surface anymore (you still can tho - we just chose the 'new'/old way).  It flowed into a section I remembered from days long passed, and then back into the recent sections to finish. 

A whopping 9.3 kms, and 70 m climbed!

Now, the question is, are we going back into Lockdown?

Augmented Augustness

Well, welcome to August.  No riding to speak of, although I did ride home from Cuzzie Matt's place on Saturday night, and MMR'd it just for a laugh.

Finally a date for my surgery, the 29th of August, which leaves me this month to attempt a few more rides than of late and see what I'm like.  Wont be much happening for quite a few weeks afterwards, but finger's crossed I'll be riding again with aplomb.

Weekend Mooning

Steve's birthday at Moon Under, so took the Troll on the back of the car and pedaled home, 8.6 kms or whatever, relatively late into the night.  Sunday, rode back to get it...  seeing Pete at his new workshop on the way, stopping for a chat, then bumping into Mike and Pia on Strickland and stopping for a chat there. 

Bike back on back and headed up the hill to plant the garlic in what I hope will be my garden at the end of the year.

SingleSpeed glamming at the Bay

Over at the bay for the weekend with teenagers.  Took with me a couple tires and some new Surly Sunrise bars which I chucked onto the Switchback.  Glammed it up quite nicely:

Rides nicer, and looks the bomb with those tires, tho, their grip left a bit to be desired on the soggy driveway climbing home.  Being 'Urban' tires, possibly it's the wrong application, but given most rides in the bay are road, or gravel, they should be okay. 

Ride consisted of, out to wharf, back up Decanter Bay Rd to hairpin (visible across valley there), and then up to this bench.  Weather didn't really allow for much more than that, nor my back and lack of strength and fitness.

3.1 kms, with a whopping 60 m of gain.

Hanmering the Anvil

Started out with the fam (T, Joyful, Anth (on O's bike) and Lynn (on H's Instigator)) and happy Jet the dog, down the path from just along the street, to the Dog Stream walk track, heading up river on our side, then across the road and over the bridge, up something that kinda becomes Easy Rider below the road, up through the main park entrance and ranger station etc, noticing a cool wee skills ("this is what the different grades of mtb trail mean").  Turned into Western Link and cruised through here.  A first time doing any real hill work for most of these folks.

I led them into Swamp, all the way amazed at how happy Tra'y was with the riding.  Lynne is an ex-regular, so she had skills and a bit of pep, and Anth was a total natural, even if not all that fit.  Joy struggled on the hill work and anything techical.  I dont think it helps that her tires are, like, 1.9s and her forks are sunken.

At the top, a bit of a relax and then I dived into Swoop.  I bombed off, then thought to stop and see how they were coming.  Tra'y arrived first, saying "That's waaay too hard for mum!" but the others progressed through and Joy was fine, had walked a couple of little things (and had a crash I think).  I followed Anth for a sec, then we caught up to Lynned and I rocketted through chasing T, thinking I'd see her soon, but no.  Miles down I caught Jet, who veered aside for me and then down at that big treestump jump I landed and slammed on the brakes behind her.  Followed her down the hairpins but the second was sticky as and she doesn't 'get' them yet, so that was the only bit she bailed on.  They all rolled in after in their appropriate order, covered in splecks of mud.

Across Western again (I spotted an exit from Meeny I've never seen before, so will explore that in future).  At the Dog Stream, I bailed from them and headed up stream on my lonesome.  Climbed steadily but 3/4ths of the way up I was thinking, hmmm, a bit hungry...  Overtaken by a skinny friendly guy on a nice big brown Surly Ogre, made me jealous of his speed, then crossed the bridge and headed across the road and up the Fir Trail, having forgotten how fucking steep it is in places...  ugh.  Feeling a bit tired at this stage, and still insisting to myself to do Bigfoot.

Into the Bigfoot climb and reeaally not feeling up to it.  Struggled a way, grunting and chuffing, climbing climbing, eventually I just had to get off and walk...  Several corners, walking, riding a bit, walking...  to the top.  Obligatory photo taken,

hit the down.  Wetness, frost, frost thaw, sticky, splecky, muckfest.  Fun control on the greasy roots, popping, diving, loving every second of the zen state concentration, completely feeling the trail and the grip and contact patch of both tires, and the balance.  Joyous!  Into the trees, weaving past their trunks, around across, then out, and fuuucckkk it was greasy, and that sticky clay schit that sticks to the tires and flies off in globs...  Ugh.  Popped out the bottom and rolled past some other riders (also just finished ahead of me - hadn't seen them)) and down the road.

Contemplated Detox, but really couldn't face that climb so over into Mach 1, nearly colliding with an e-biker, but after that, no one.  Not bad roll down this, tho it's climbs were nastier than I've felt before, and the grease was appalling - passenger styles - lower down.

Finished off across Camp (again, couldn't be arsed with Basecamp, just wanted to get home), and then hit up the skills/grade 'demo' trails.  They're a really good representation of what the various tracks are like.  Over the road, and down Easy, then across the bridge, climbed up the walk-track hill with an audience of walkers, and was super relieved to be back.

A reasonably respectable 14 kms with a very steep (but always surprisingly little) 293 m climbed.

Thursday Mucky Spleckie "I can actually ride!!"

Out on my own with just Jet for company.  Rode up the road to Jollies Pass Rd, crossed over before bridge and explored a trail to the left and upwards.  Walked cos was steep, and ended up (eventually) at the top end of Torquay Terrace (where we stayed last year).  Dropped over to the big field (that was the event village when i did the 12 hour) and cruised over to and up Swamp, time to test these leg things.  Hmm, not bad.  Made the top in reasonable time, feeling pretty good.

A Wiemerana (dog) turned up and made friends with Jet (tho, they tend to be a bit arrogant), and I let it and it's rider head off ahead, giving them plenty of space.  Into Swoop for a greasy mucky fun filled spleckfest.  Nice bomb down, catching the Weimerana in the lower reaches, Jet bolted ahead and ran with her to the finish. 

Across for the Timberlands climb.  Yes, managed that.  Still feeling pretty okay.  Then into Red Rocks, cleaned all the climbs but was definitely feeling it at the highest point.  Into the down and funtimes.  Really good handling, zen state of bike handling, tire engagement, feeling everything, at one again, niiice, yay!  I love it!!!  and then into Eeny (as opposed to Meeny), wafting and squirrelling through this.  Then out onto Western, hung a right, and around the big field the way I'd come in, trying out the Torquay to Jollies trail downwards...  short, but FUN.  Then down Easy, across river and up to the house.

Not a bad, nearly 8 kms, but only 201 m climbed.

A very dirty dog...

Tuesday Choosing the Family loop again

Very similar to yesterday's ride except this time we had Joy, Anth and Lynn join us.  And we left the dog behind because he'd had a big walk already. 

Headed across and into Easy Rider and just did a nice lap of that, taking in Snakes and Ladders again, then across into Basecamp, and home down Alligator Alley, and (seemingly the wrong way - given all the traffic we met) on Easy Rider (met SO many families coming our way), dropped down and climbed back up to the house.

An easy nearly-9 kms, with a whole 100 m climbed.

Monday Hanmer Easy Riding Body Testing

Trying out this mountain biking lark again having not ridden properly off road since the 7th of MARCH. Tra'y, Jet and me took a 9.5 km jaunt around the forest tracks.

Easy Rider climbing away slowly to Snakes'n'ladders, then across the Heritage trail to Basecamp, blat round this and then down Alligator Alley, going all the way down a long fast descent to Perserverence, then back along this back up to the house.

Longest ride for Jet and me for a LONG time.  Body did pretty good coping with 9.5 km and 101 m climbed.  Try it out harder tomorrow.

Another week of Non-Eventualities

Around the traps a few times with Jetty-puss for late-lunch breaks.  Nothing to speak of, but blogged instead:

Three and third kms of clearing out his pee-mailbox.

A couple of very local kms, dank and dogolated.

And, yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.  Returning a couple books, nice wide open cruise of 3.2 kms.

Downpour showers coming and going today, so sadly no outing for either of us.

Weakening Weekly

Usual few little cruises around the hood.  But otherwise nothin' doin'.

First off, a nice cruise showing Tra'y around the new alleys...

Then, some superer-local, mixing it down...

Followed by what is extreme in it's localness, slort and show, with Jet's dog years catching up on him...

And, last but not least, a Dweet and soggy spin yesterday.

The Weekly Weakly...

Meh.  Nigel No-Rides.

One or two dog runs, not as many as I should.  Was a relaxing weekend, and as such, was feeling yesterday almost like I could have handled a 'proper' ride...  albeit, gently gently.  Wish I'd gone out.  Maybe I should try today, during the day, while no body's watching?

Anyway.  Rode into work on Monday?, and was good til I aimed for home, realised I'd forgotten my prescription, so detoured across to the chemist, and from there the ride home dragged on me and made quite wiped. 

Otherwise, only a typical dog spin to show, mapped, for the week.  Though, I'm certain I did a couple of others.

And, Saturday saw me ride to Steve's for his party.  Via Nelson's, there to Stanmore New World, back to Nelsie's, cos I'd left my phone behind, then to Steves, and later, home.  Zigs and zags about town, not mapped.  Bloody freezing at 12.30 am, through a frosty, and surprisingly quiet, city night