Nelson and me got riding from Sumnervale at 6.30pm and headed up Captain Thomas. I blew up really quick, lungs gasping and wheezing and me struggling painfully... Got up the switchbacks, meeting a woman with a dog, and a couple of hot girl riders coming down. Then it was a runner, and then we had the track to ourselves, cleaning one or two bits interestingly, but walking up the usuals. At the gate up near the top, a couple guys were holding it open for us, and then we made the top.
Across Evans and a bit too long of a break, then into Godley. Both of us blew up. I felt miserable, with no power in my legs and gasping again. Walked up the usual rocky start, and cleaned out the rest. Run got better from here on, I wasn't toooo bad, but still not great. Once it flattened off a bit I felt better. Nelson seemed decidedly unfazed. Into the descent, bit of wind about, but not bad, and we had a good run down here. I was reeling Nelson in by the time we got to Livingston Col, and then it was climbing again and I was dying my deaths all over again. Better than previous tho... crested the top and around, catching Nelson again and sitting tight on his tail around across above Breeze Col, then round and over the rock and down to the road.
Into Anaconda, Nelson taking the low road, while I took the boardwalk, and he made no gain on me. Tight on his tail again around, finding it difficult due to not being able to see the trail.. Backed off a little heading into the main drag of the snake, and then progressively gained, dropped back gained on him all the way down. We were rocketting, not the fasted ever, but pretty fast. Bit of wind blowing on some sections, but I noticed it less, being in his slipstream the whole way. We met a couple of guys riding up, standing there, mouths agape at our speed. Around into the Snake's Tail and still I was tight on Nelson's tail, til the wee short climb above the houses... then I dropped back a bit and kinda struggled around the rocky bits then decended well to the end, noticing some weird rear end squiggliness near the bottom.
Through the surfer sausage fest (all guys, all in various stages of undress in their wetsuits... bleugh!), and into the climb. Me, crawling. Up the road, round a few corners and then looped back into the singletrack up. Over the fence and climbing again. Lots of sheep around, several big tunnel erosion holes, wheelsized (watch out for them next time anybody comes down!). Nelson took the wrong tack across the hill and we ended up a bit below and further round than we should have. I pointed out where we should have been and then proceeded to walk a bunch, ride a little and then walk the final climb to the road. Somewhere in here too, I looked at my rear axel, noticed it wasn't where it should have been, and found I could tighten it... that explained the squiggliness at the bottom of the hill. Finally rode up the sucky gravel to catch Nelson waiting at the gate. Was 7.50 here and we figured we had time (and light) to head up the 4wd back to the Godley and head along it for Evans. Very strong winds up here, which buffeted us all the way back. Once again, tight on Nelson's tail and watching his line and taking smoother ones myself. I thought, "I could probably go faster" and Nelson was struggling with his balance, and the wind... Maybe being in his slipstream made the wind less for me, cos I had a great run. Smooth and flowy. Down to the road, and back across Evans.
Into the Captain. I stopped to double check my axel (it was fine), and then continued on. Bad ruts just before the gate. Then tight on Nelson's tail (again) all the way down. I walked my usual rock, but cleaned everything else except the wee climb pinch. Then flow flow to the zigzags, that don't flow, then blast across the slope to the valley, and loss of flow again. and out. back to the car, dead on 8.15pm, 1 hour 45 loop. not at all bad. Dunno if it was cos of having the forks so short up north, or what, but these coil 55s felt too long when climbing, kinda washy and flappy. Was fine once pointed down hill, but I'm considering swapping again...
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Sunday Sharland's Valley wiggling.
In Nelson with the family for the weekend... On Sunday, Drove up to the carpark in Sharlands with Jet and we headed up the road. Counting off the kilometers, I was feeling pretty seedy from a fantastic night before, thinking I might go all the way to R&R, but when I got to the top entrance to FlyBuys, decided as I'd never ridden it before I'd give it a go. Nice wee rolly flow down the hill, little whoops and doops, then a couple tight switchbacks and I's back on the road down the hill from BobsFern Rd. Off back up the road, then up this, all the way up to the 506m trig, and into Ground Effect's Slingshot, which was different to what I remember of years back when we did it in the annual trip. This time it went back and forth, loonngg zigs and zags, and looked little used. Across the road and into Scottswood Wiggles. This track went for ages, the odd climb and in dark fir or redwood forest the whole way. Lower down, maybe after it'd become the Lancewood Waggles, the roots would have been insane in the wet. Flowed on all the way down, Jet on my tail the whole way. No stand out moments, just nice long flowy riding. Some blasts of total speed, others very cruisy, stopping now and then for Jet to catch up. All up we probably did about 20km total. Forks felt pretty good, tho twice experienced a weird bottoming out on big G-outs...
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Annual Trip, Day 5. Wakamarina the wrong way (again)
Tuesday, another beautiful day in paradise. Due to the roads accessing the other end of the Wakamarina being private logging roads and shut during the week, we were limited to only riding the Waka the same way as Nelson and me did it last year, ie, the hard way.
The motel-unit crew txtd that they were leaving at 9.30am. We weren't quite ready but got going at maybe 9.45-50, stopping at the 4Square for some supplies then hitting the road. Then Pete had a little issue with the Cozzie, but got going again, and so eventually we got up the Wakamarina Valley and parked up with the TFC and Steal&Pube trucks, contemplating blocking them in, but not.
Got riding up the 4wd section, soon warming up. Then into the nice forest and through the end of the 4wd bit and onto the narrower track proper. Past Doom Creek turn off this time, and down down down to the bridge. Nice flow. Up the rocky switchbacks and then on up the track. I was on my own for most of this, just rode steady and onwards, eventually getting to the Hut not long after the first crew. Chatted while first Nelson then the rest showed up, then the boys headed back down to have an adventure in Doom Creek where Robin nearly went off a cliff, while the mad ones, us, went UP (AGAIN! - I'd vowed I'd never do it again after the last time, but here I was, doing it again! Ugh. Will i never learn?). Needless to say. It was a long walk/push. I got to the rooty wall face at about the 1000m mark and said "that's it for me", sat down and the sun came out and warmed me up (it'd cooled right down up here). Then I threaded my way down, nursing my lack of travel, and being pretty cautious. Meanwhile the others climbed and pushed their ways to the very top, and in the meantime, Marie had been pushing up behind us, unbeknownst to us, and had a fright by some pigs, so turned back, but had pushed up for an hour and a half, so can't have been too shy of us. Anyway, worked my way down, stopping quite a few times to listen for the others. One point I stopped for nearly 10 minutes, nice warm sunny spot about half way down. Then got going again. Stopped again at Mark's jersey for maybe 5 minutes. Rode on down and down, the trail getting straighter, but more greasy, sloppy and rutted as I progressed. Not far from the bottom there was a puddle hole that Nelson had scuffed a drain for and just below this my front wheel lost it and down I went off to the left of the track. My wrist got tweaked enough to snap one of the pins holding my watch strap, but turned out okay. I extracted myself from the ferns and my bike and continued on down, thinking "Phew!, that was close". A little ways further down, just round the corner was the Devil's Hut sign, and I stopped here to wait for the others. Heard voices, then watched as first Alistair hurtled off his bike into the ferns, then Nelson followed him straight over. Spectacular crash! They were both okay but Nelson's helmet had a dent in it from Ali's bash ring.
Regrouped and off down. At one of the creek crossings Pete's derailleur finally exploded and we singlespeeded his bike (not very successfully, tho it kept him moving pretty good). None could be arsed doing Doom Creek, so down to the bridge, and climbed back out and up and then blasted down to the cars... Stopped at The Trout for a couple beers and then back to base for more Mussel dinners all around, final night.
Wednesday, I came home to get the bike fixed, rather than through to Nelson which I'd originally intended.
Bike report, Thurs morning, Josh has sorted me with a different set of forks, same sort, but coil... He's repairing my ones, but I've got the option of keeping these ones. Gonna try them out in Nelson this weekend and see how I like them...
The motel-unit crew txtd that they were leaving at 9.30am. We weren't quite ready but got going at maybe 9.45-50, stopping at the 4Square for some supplies then hitting the road. Then Pete had a little issue with the Cozzie, but got going again, and so eventually we got up the Wakamarina Valley and parked up with the TFC and Steal&Pube trucks, contemplating blocking them in, but not.
Got riding up the 4wd section, soon warming up. Then into the nice forest and through the end of the 4wd bit and onto the narrower track proper. Past Doom Creek turn off this time, and down down down to the bridge. Nice flow. Up the rocky switchbacks and then on up the track. I was on my own for most of this, just rode steady and onwards, eventually getting to the Hut not long after the first crew. Chatted while first Nelson then the rest showed up, then the boys headed back down to have an adventure in Doom Creek where Robin nearly went off a cliff, while the mad ones, us, went UP (AGAIN! - I'd vowed I'd never do it again after the last time, but here I was, doing it again! Ugh. Will i never learn?). Needless to say. It was a long walk/push. I got to the rooty wall face at about the 1000m mark and said "that's it for me", sat down and the sun came out and warmed me up (it'd cooled right down up here). Then I threaded my way down, nursing my lack of travel, and being pretty cautious. Meanwhile the others climbed and pushed their ways to the very top, and in the meantime, Marie had been pushing up behind us, unbeknownst to us, and had a fright by some pigs, so turned back, but had pushed up for an hour and a half, so can't have been too shy of us. Anyway, worked my way down, stopping quite a few times to listen for the others. One point I stopped for nearly 10 minutes, nice warm sunny spot about half way down. Then got going again. Stopped again at Mark's jersey for maybe 5 minutes. Rode on down and down, the trail getting straighter, but more greasy, sloppy and rutted as I progressed. Not far from the bottom there was a puddle hole that Nelson had scuffed a drain for and just below this my front wheel lost it and down I went off to the left of the track. My wrist got tweaked enough to snap one of the pins holding my watch strap, but turned out okay. I extracted myself from the ferns and my bike and continued on down, thinking "Phew!, that was close". A little ways further down, just round the corner was the Devil's Hut sign, and I stopped here to wait for the others. Heard voices, then watched as first Alistair hurtled off his bike into the ferns, then Nelson followed him straight over. Spectacular crash! They were both okay but Nelson's helmet had a dent in it from Ali's bash ring.
Regrouped and off down. At one of the creek crossings Pete's derailleur finally exploded and we singlespeeded his bike (not very successfully, tho it kept him moving pretty good). None could be arsed doing Doom Creek, so down to the bridge, and climbed back out and up and then blasted down to the cars... Stopped at The Trout for a couple beers and then back to base for more Mussel dinners all around, final night.
Wednesday, I came home to get the bike fixed, rather than through to Nelson which I'd originally intended.
Bike report, Thurs morning, Josh has sorted me with a different set of forks, same sort, but coil... He's repairing my ones, but I've got the option of keeping these ones. Gonna try them out in Nelson this weekend and see how I like them...
Annual Trip, Day 4. Charlotte the Queen.
Monday dawned very nice, and so, sans Alistair (rest day for him) at 9ish we met the others at the bottom of our street in cars and Nelson and me led the way around QC drive, through Linkwater, to Anakiwa. Parked up, saddled up and got riding, seeing a german dude with a good beard head off ahead of us. Marie had gotten a good start on us all, and Nelson and me put on the chase. Passed the bearded German (also saw him several more times over the day), then it was a long time before we caught Marie, her speed having increased over the course of the days of riding, but catch her we did, before Davies Bay. From here the real climb started. Nothing technical, but admittedly a lot more interesting than I'd expected. Eventually a high lookout point was reached where Nelson, Pete and me rested a bit, and Marie arrived very shortly thereafter and continued on through. Rested a little longer then hit the trail again, catching Marie at some stage not too far after, where a few little downs were interspersed with the odd up section. Here we were sidling across a face around 200m above Onalau Bay, crossing across the top of some farm(ish) land and in and out of regen manuka bush. Eventually a sweeping downhill was given us, including Waima Way, blasting us down to the Mistletoe Bay Road, which we followed up to the Te Mahia Saddle.
Small regroup, then blazed down the road, around into Te Mahia bay, through the roadworks and down to the resort. Early enough to grab a coffee (Pete, Nelson, Marie and me). While we were enjoying these, the others arrived, and then the boats hove into view and so we all raced down to the wharf. The boats saw us and came in and the usual went on the big boat and the rest of us went on the fun boat. Lovely day on the water, and in no time we were in Portage examining the ridiculous prices for some fries or wedges... Muggingsly we paid it and ate, said goodbyes and thankses to Trev and Steve and wound our way up the few hundred metres of road to the Torea Saddle.
Hot sun, steep track, we ground our way up it, riding a bunch then walking when riding was no longer feasible for lungs or legs or both depending on which was pushed hardest. Zig and zag, up and up, met the bearded German near the top about to enjoy the downhill. Eventually what seemed to be the top, wasnt, brief respites and eventually what was the top was reached, 407m. From here it switchbacked steeply down then rocket propelled us across the 180 ridge, then grassy climb began again. Lots of speed and fun on the way down, not so much on the way up. Back up to, eventually, nearly 400 again, and the final descent to Te Mahia Saddle, more steep ass switchbacks, which we were sure Alistair would have overcooked off of several. The bearded German arrived from the road from Portage, and got ahead of us. We swapped leads with him a few more times over the next couple of kms.
Back up Waima Way, and moseyed our way back along the sidling face enjoying the downs, and not so much the ups. Finally, the big descent arrived and I sat right on Nelson's tail and we shredded it. Careful round each corner for walkers, but ripping the straights, we met none. Some features of this track were awesome. Eventually, Davies Bay Umangata arrived and there were a few more climbs and descents before the last kilometre descent. Into the water, legs soaked in nice cold sea, then a quick swim back. Only Nelson, Marie and me went in the water.
Home to base, and eventually to mussel dinner at the Havelock Pub.
Small regroup, then blazed down the road, around into Te Mahia bay, through the roadworks and down to the resort. Early enough to grab a coffee (Pete, Nelson, Marie and me). While we were enjoying these, the others arrived, and then the boats hove into view and so we all raced down to the wharf. The boats saw us and came in and the usual went on the big boat and the rest of us went on the fun boat. Lovely day on the water, and in no time we were in Portage examining the ridiculous prices for some fries or wedges... Muggingsly we paid it and ate, said goodbyes and thankses to Trev and Steve and wound our way up the few hundred metres of road to the Torea Saddle.
Hot sun, steep track, we ground our way up it, riding a bunch then walking when riding was no longer feasible for lungs or legs or both depending on which was pushed hardest. Zig and zag, up and up, met the bearded German near the top about to enjoy the downhill. Eventually what seemed to be the top, wasnt, brief respites and eventually what was the top was reached, 407m. From here it switchbacked steeply down then rocket propelled us across the 180 ridge, then grassy climb began again. Lots of speed and fun on the way down, not so much on the way up. Back up to, eventually, nearly 400 again, and the final descent to Te Mahia Saddle, more steep ass switchbacks, which we were sure Alistair would have overcooked off of several. The bearded German arrived from the road from Portage, and got ahead of us. We swapped leads with him a few more times over the next couple of kms.
Back up Waima Way, and moseyed our way back along the sidling face enjoying the downs, and not so much the ups. Finally, the big descent arrived and I sat right on Nelson's tail and we shredded it. Careful round each corner for walkers, but ripping the straights, we met none. Some features of this track were awesome. Eventually, Davies Bay Umangata arrived and there were a few more climbs and descents before the last kilometre descent. Into the water, legs soaked in nice cold sea, then a quick swim back. Only Nelson, Marie and me went in the water.
Home to base, and eventually to mussel dinner at the Havelock Pub.
Annual Trip, Day 3, Sunday, Nydia Part 2.
Day dawned very nice indeed, and we boated on lovely water to where we'd been picked up the day before. This time, around flat smooth trail past On The Track Lodge around the headland to a rapid descent to a ford of a reasonable size, wet feet, then across the mouth of the valley and then up it, crossing smaller versions of the same creek twice more before climbing up a paddock to the manuka scrubline. Here the track started it's benched and grinding climb, just pestering away at the altitude and sapping the already tired musculature of the riders. We climbed and climbed eventually striking a nice gulch of a creek, that Alistair just about cleaned. Onwards and eventually hitting Kaiuma Saddle, with seemingly less pomp and ceremony than yesterday's peak, but in fact more altitude.
Wicked descent down here, with Alistair, Nelson, Mark and Pete motoring off ahead of me, but Pete quickly stopping with a flat. Rest of us rode on, descending quickly and only regrouping when walking was possibly required, or when Alistair had crashed maybe. Round a hairpin and into fir forest, then down and around over a bridge where we regrouped for a while. Pete at this stage, having a mare with his flat tires and spokes, and Marie coming to the rescue eventually with spare tube. A wee bit more descending after that first bridge through plantation forest, then the climb once again began. Steep, but cleaned by most with minimal walking. Eventually out of the plantation and into regen across a nice long slope to a small ridge for another regroup before the final descent. No sign of Pete... but some stayed to wait, while the rest took off down this last descent, total blast, even with no travel. What a trail, so much fun, smooth and roly. Alistair, Nelson, me, then Mark all blasting downwards, finally rolling down through grass to Kaiuma Bay Rd for the 4 km slog round to Shag Point Landing. This road was a lot more up than down, seemingly, even tho it was 'just' above the road. pah. Once everyone but Pete was assembled, Nelson 'volunteered' to head back to find him... Steve Abba turned up and took a few bikes and 4 drivers. Thankfully Nelson and Pete both showed and then Steve came back and loaded the next lot on, more bikes than people this time, still somehow leaving more bikes than people behind for the final load. Anyway. Loaded all our gear out of Trev's boat and into cars and off to the accommodation. Two carloads at the Motels down town, the rest of us sequestered away in a nice cottage and sleepout affair up on the hill down the road a bit, in the 'burbs. Worked out alright, tho did split the group, which was a bit of a shame.
Did our own things this night for dinner, but the downtowners came up for a bit of a party visit. The usual hilarity ensued.
Wicked descent down here, with Alistair, Nelson, Mark and Pete motoring off ahead of me, but Pete quickly stopping with a flat. Rest of us rode on, descending quickly and only regrouping when walking was possibly required, or when Alistair had crashed maybe. Round a hairpin and into fir forest, then down and around over a bridge where we regrouped for a while. Pete at this stage, having a mare with his flat tires and spokes, and Marie coming to the rescue eventually with spare tube. A wee bit more descending after that first bridge through plantation forest, then the climb once again began. Steep, but cleaned by most with minimal walking. Eventually out of the plantation and into regen across a nice long slope to a small ridge for another regroup before the final descent. No sign of Pete... but some stayed to wait, while the rest took off down this last descent, total blast, even with no travel. What a trail, so much fun, smooth and roly. Alistair, Nelson, me, then Mark all blasting downwards, finally rolling down through grass to Kaiuma Bay Rd for the 4 km slog round to Shag Point Landing. This road was a lot more up than down, seemingly, even tho it was 'just' above the road. pah. Once everyone but Pete was assembled, Nelson 'volunteered' to head back to find him... Steve Abba turned up and took a few bikes and 4 drivers. Thankfully Nelson and Pete both showed and then Steve came back and loaded the next lot on, more bikes than people this time, still somehow leaving more bikes than people behind for the final load. Anyway. Loaded all our gear out of Trev's boat and into cars and off to the accommodation. Two carloads at the Motels down town, the rest of us sequestered away in a nice cottage and sleepout affair up on the hill down the road a bit, in the 'burbs. Worked out alright, tho did split the group, which was a bit of a shame.
Did our own things this night for dinner, but the downtowners came up for a bit of a party visit. The usual hilarity ensued.
Annual Trip, Day 2, Nydia Part 1.
Day 2 dawned a tad damp, quite a bit of rain overnight, but we all gamely jumped in the boats and headed out round Tawero Point and along the length of Tawhitinui Reach, right up Tennyson Inlet to Duncan Bay. Steve's Stabicraft having only two speeds, stopped or flat-out, another fun trip. Rub-downs and oilings ensued on all the bikes and we headed around towards the climb out up Tennyson Inlet Rd to the Opouri Saddle. Mark and Marie headed up the track instead of up the road. We all spaced out into dribs and drabs on the climb up the road, with Nelson disappearing from my view and me disappearing from the other's view in short time. About a km from the top Pete caught me up, and we rode together(ish) for the rest of the way to the waiting Nelson. In no time at all the rest of the dribs and drabbers showed up, all except Alistair, and doubt was had whether he'd ridden with Mark & Marie or not. Pete was gonna stay behind with Wayne to wait, but possibly just before the others all left Alistair strove into view.
Meanwhile, Nelson and me had headed off down this track, with, I thought at the time, Andrew or Warren on our tails. Wowser. Nice. But crikey it was greasy and techy up top. Lots of steepness off the side too with no room for error. Challenging as fuck on no-travel-forks and fucked-up-geometry, but still a good ride down. A few bits needing to be got off, logs, or rocks. Somewhere probably just above the 400m contour we met Mark and Marie having made damned good progress uphill considering, and they carried on up for a while while we carried on down. Riding got better and better as we got lower, then through some gorse and onto a weird intersection. Waited here and Pete was the first to show up, followed by the rest for the regroup. Onwards down, steep clay single through manuka scrub then into an extension (Booth's?) 'link' track that had some climbs in it, but was nice, ending up at the road. When Alistair arrived he tailwhip-gapped the road and landed with a spectacular lowside slide.
Regrouped we rode back round the road to Duncan bay and into the Nydia proper. First section was bits of slippery clay and roots. Next section was beech leaf litter and roots. Later, there was rocks and roots. All mixed with varying degrees of slipperiness and we were all in for some steeeeep climbing too... Everybody was challenged to pretty much their limits of ability and stamina, and that was just in the first 5 minutes! Awesome ride. Took ages, was spectacular forest to be in, and was hard work. But well worth it. Eventually we made the top, I don't know how. We could see it for ages, and every time you rounded a corner it seemed to be about the same distance and height away as the last one, even tho you'd just carried, schlepped, pedalled, pushed yourself and bike up more and more altitude. Good regroup at the saddle and a feed and then off we went. I picked my way cautiously with my limited machinery, while Nelson, Pete, Mark and Alistair all just bombed. Alistair was spectacular to follow. Regularly catching him up as he hauled himself and bike out of the bushes on the side of the track. Pete had a pretty epic spill. I came round a corner to find a several foot drop with angled slickly green rocks as a lip and him picking himself up from beyond it. He'd smacked his shin pretty good, and (we think) damaged his derailleur a bit... Later he was plagued with derailleur and spoke and puncture issues...
The track certainly improved the lower we got, with the upper half riddled with sections that had to be walked by most, and some bits that were just plain unpleasant (but rideable) for those with no shock travel. Whereas lower down there was still the odd clusterfuck of roots or rocks, but less and less the lower we got. Then, where the campsite turn off is, the whole nature of the track changed to that of the Abel Tasman. Benched, easy, smooth, clay under manuka or the odd pine. And quite flat too. Rolled this smoothly round to Nydia Bay wharf and awaited our taxis. Back to Wilsons Bay on some beautiful water and dinner at Te Rawa 'resort'...
Meanwhile, Nelson and me had headed off down this track, with, I thought at the time, Andrew or Warren on our tails. Wowser. Nice. But crikey it was greasy and techy up top. Lots of steepness off the side too with no room for error. Challenging as fuck on no-travel-forks and fucked-up-geometry, but still a good ride down. A few bits needing to be got off, logs, or rocks. Somewhere probably just above the 400m contour we met Mark and Marie having made damned good progress uphill considering, and they carried on up for a while while we carried on down. Riding got better and better as we got lower, then through some gorse and onto a weird intersection. Waited here and Pete was the first to show up, followed by the rest for the regroup. Onwards down, steep clay single through manuka scrub then into an extension (Booth's?) 'link' track that had some climbs in it, but was nice, ending up at the road. When Alistair arrived he tailwhip-gapped the road and landed with a spectacular lowside slide.
Regrouped we rode back round the road to Duncan bay and into the Nydia proper. First section was bits of slippery clay and roots. Next section was beech leaf litter and roots. Later, there was rocks and roots. All mixed with varying degrees of slipperiness and we were all in for some steeeeep climbing too... Everybody was challenged to pretty much their limits of ability and stamina, and that was just in the first 5 minutes! Awesome ride. Took ages, was spectacular forest to be in, and was hard work. But well worth it. Eventually we made the top, I don't know how. We could see it for ages, and every time you rounded a corner it seemed to be about the same distance and height away as the last one, even tho you'd just carried, schlepped, pedalled, pushed yourself and bike up more and more altitude. Good regroup at the saddle and a feed and then off we went. I picked my way cautiously with my limited machinery, while Nelson, Pete, Mark and Alistair all just bombed. Alistair was spectacular to follow. Regularly catching him up as he hauled himself and bike out of the bushes on the side of the track. Pete had a pretty epic spill. I came round a corner to find a several foot drop with angled slickly green rocks as a lip and him picking himself up from beyond it. He'd smacked his shin pretty good, and (we think) damaged his derailleur a bit... Later he was plagued with derailleur and spoke and puncture issues...
The track certainly improved the lower we got, with the upper half riddled with sections that had to be walked by most, and some bits that were just plain unpleasant (but rideable) for those with no shock travel. Whereas lower down there was still the odd clusterfuck of roots or rocks, but less and less the lower we got. Then, where the campsite turn off is, the whole nature of the track changed to that of the Abel Tasman. Benched, easy, smooth, clay under manuka or the odd pine. And quite flat too. Rolled this smoothly round to Nydia Bay wharf and awaited our taxis. Back to Wilsons Bay on some beautiful water and dinner at Te Rawa 'resort'...
Annual Trip, Day 1, (Fri 17th Oct) the Road and...
The tradition that stems from the distant past, pre- this blog, that I've been an attending member to since the 2nd ever, was continued in good measure this year, with the crew assembling at Woodend, outside Owen Stalker's Park. Pete and Alistair picked me up and shoe-horned me into the Cosworth for the journey to the meeting spot, with my bike having been dropped at Warren's the night before cos Pete's rack only fits 2 bikes... At Stalker Park were: Steve, Robin, Tony, Andrew, Wazza, Wayno, Nelson and Mark and Marie. I transferred my shit into Nelson's car, bike inclusive, and we all convoyed north.
Rain was ominous the closer to our destination, but after a longer than desired stop in Blenheim we moseyed to Rarangi, saddled up in a brief showerless period and headed up the road. Within 50 metres I knew something was wrong with my newly fitted fork. Fuck, I thought. It'd sat down in it's travel and was not returning, and ended up, if I was lucky, giving me 2 inches of what should have been 6. This altered the geometry somewhat and made it rather uncomfortable to ride, and gave it shitty handling, and this I was stuck with riding for the duration of the trip. My mistake, and obviously I've learned from it, dont make major changes to bikes just before trips. Anyway. we rode up the road, stringing out like a strung out thing, down into Whites, then up the gravel which was longer than rememberd, as usual. Eventually got to the start of the Loop track, fireroad up the hill, and regrouped in a big downpour. At this stage, Marie and Mark were no where to be seen, and due to the rain, the time limit we were under (4 o'clock at Havelock), and time it was going to take all these riders to attempt the >600m climb from this point, we made the call to bail. Most returned via the road, but Pete, Alistair and me made the excellent choice of riding the walking track back. What fun. Sweet benched singletrack, with horrendously slippery clay/rock in places, and lots of switchbacks. Nice we descent, thankfully not meeting any walkers, and then through Whites Bay, finding Marie here, and so the 4 of us now climbed out. Lovely dry (under the pines at least) climb, switchbacking up to the road, then along the road a bit, me alone now out front, where I met Robin, and I took the next walking track down, while Robin headed down the road. Great spin down the walking track, totally different to what I remembered from when Nelson and me rode it years ago, but fun and switchbacky to the bottom. Reassembled, waited for Mark who'd 'apparently' gone up where we should have come down, had we done the full loop... Then headed and met Steve Abba at Havelock.
Loaded (SO MUCH!) gear into Trev's boat and Nelson, Pete, Mark and me in Steve's boat, and had a great ride out, 45mins or so, way out Pelorus Sound to Wilson's Bay where we were staying for 3 nights.
Rain was ominous the closer to our destination, but after a longer than desired stop in Blenheim we moseyed to Rarangi, saddled up in a brief showerless period and headed up the road. Within 50 metres I knew something was wrong with my newly fitted fork. Fuck, I thought. It'd sat down in it's travel and was not returning, and ended up, if I was lucky, giving me 2 inches of what should have been 6. This altered the geometry somewhat and made it rather uncomfortable to ride, and gave it shitty handling, and this I was stuck with riding for the duration of the trip. My mistake, and obviously I've learned from it, dont make major changes to bikes just before trips. Anyway. we rode up the road, stringing out like a strung out thing, down into Whites, then up the gravel which was longer than rememberd, as usual. Eventually got to the start of the Loop track, fireroad up the hill, and regrouped in a big downpour. At this stage, Marie and Mark were no where to be seen, and due to the rain, the time limit we were under (4 o'clock at Havelock), and time it was going to take all these riders to attempt the >600m climb from this point, we made the call to bail. Most returned via the road, but Pete, Alistair and me made the excellent choice of riding the walking track back. What fun. Sweet benched singletrack, with horrendously slippery clay/rock in places, and lots of switchbacks. Nice we descent, thankfully not meeting any walkers, and then through Whites Bay, finding Marie here, and so the 4 of us now climbed out. Lovely dry (under the pines at least) climb, switchbacking up to the road, then along the road a bit, me alone now out front, where I met Robin, and I took the next walking track down, while Robin headed down the road. Great spin down the walking track, totally different to what I remembered from when Nelson and me rode it years ago, but fun and switchbacky to the bottom. Reassembled, waited for Mark who'd 'apparently' gone up where we should have come down, had we done the full loop... Then headed and met Steve Abba at Havelock.
Loaded (SO MUCH!) gear into Trev's boat and Nelson, Pete, Mark and me in Steve's boat, and had a great ride out, 45mins or so, way out Pelorus Sound to Wilson's Bay where we were staying for 3 nights.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
early Sunday morning along the tops.
Solo for me this morning. The crew were all meeting at Steve's at 9, but cos my boys had been away all week, SWMBO thought I should do some family time, plus we put a bit of effort into the garden this weekend, so she had me lined up for that too... So, left home at about 7.40 and ripped across town, beautiful day, and up Ramahana, Aotea and on up, making the top of the tarseal about 8. Then up the gravel, kept a close eye on the magpies hanging out up near the pylons. They didn't buzz me, thankfully. And on up good pace rolling along and up. Mostly runners around, not that many other bikers at all. Onto Vernon and a nice wee blast down here. With the perfect weather and no wind (the Opawa Gib factory steam plume was totally vertical - a rare sight), the roll down here was sweet, sound of tires scratching gravel chip. Took the old line with the couple switchbacks, and bombed down the lower half, to the audience of a few riders assembled at the top of Rapaki - where I didn't stop and just rolled straight into Witch Hill and cleaned it all up, catching a runner half way round and then bombing onwards.
Up the road to Castle Rock and stopped here for a wee rest, then spotted a rider coming up, just on the first hairpin, so figured I'd wait for him. In the mean time eating a soft-dried banana and sorting out my sounds. He rolled past and I rolled in. Awesome blaze down here, the Spot soaking it all up nicely, and it's been cleaned up a little, just tidied in places, which makes it flow really nicely. It's still pretty boney, but not as bad as the recent past. Down, round and up and over, then down again to the Bridle Path roughly 9 oclock here. No stopping, straight across the 'car'park (no cars up here for a while now!) and straight into the trail for the Gondola building. I noticed there's a "Mtnbikers Give Way to Walkers" sign at the start now, which makes it all nicely official. Walked the first couple of rocks, then rode heaps i've stepped over before. Walked a bit in that kinda switchback bit, then rode a bunch, then walked the long steps upwards.
Back on the bike and up the trail round the back of the building and then over and down the switchbacks to the saddle and straight into the climb up. Over stile and grunting up the steep, then cruising round and catching a woman runner up near where I crashed due to a spaniard once, all the while in here listening to Trinity Roots song Home Land and Sea, the chorus of which was epicly playing as I crested the top and there was my Home, the Land and the Sea, sun reflecting off it's calm surface. All very moving... On up to the top of Mt Pleasant and another wee rest, now Lou Reed came on singing what a Perfect Day it was, which it was, and I thought I was glad I was spending it with my bike, and how my bike kept "me hanging on, you just keep me hanging on" as I rode down the rocky section to the stile and over and downwards. This trail, I think, is best at this time of day, with the light perfectly picking up the trail and the bends and tussocks. Awesome blast down here, smooth as, then round and down towards Greenwood, nearly losing it from checking over my shoulder for some reason... Onto the upper section of Greenwood for a bit of a climb and round and up and down and down to the road.
Steady pace up here, with no sign of the others as I was looking across at the top of Britten, expecting them anytime due to the timing. Onto the singletrack and down down down, good speed and flow, arriving at the gate and spotting a few riders below. Recognised, one, then more, and figured time for a break and a snack and a chat... So, they all rolled on up in 2 groups of 3: Wazza, Mark and Marie, Wayno, Andy, and Tony, then tailenders Steve and Pete. Brief chat and off I went downwards leaving them about 9.55, down the wee valley connecting to the road, then blaaast down the road and into MacCormacks. Rather overgrown, but trail in mostly good nick. Awesome float down this trail too, cleaning it all except the top steps, and brake-free down the final straight, flying, then onto the road and up for the slog home. At Ferrymead I ducked into Charlesworth Reserve behind Mitre10 and rode the trail through here then along next to the Humphrey's Drive canal, then Linwood the rest of the way. Home well before 10.30.
All in all a good ride, rode well, lots of good trails, and a fair bit of distance for the old fitness.
Up the road to Castle Rock and stopped here for a wee rest, then spotted a rider coming up, just on the first hairpin, so figured I'd wait for him. In the mean time eating a soft-dried banana and sorting out my sounds. He rolled past and I rolled in. Awesome blaze down here, the Spot soaking it all up nicely, and it's been cleaned up a little, just tidied in places, which makes it flow really nicely. It's still pretty boney, but not as bad as the recent past. Down, round and up and over, then down again to the Bridle Path roughly 9 oclock here. No stopping, straight across the 'car'park (no cars up here for a while now!) and straight into the trail for the Gondola building. I noticed there's a "Mtnbikers Give Way to Walkers" sign at the start now, which makes it all nicely official. Walked the first couple of rocks, then rode heaps i've stepped over before. Walked a bit in that kinda switchback bit, then rode a bunch, then walked the long steps upwards.
Back on the bike and up the trail round the back of the building and then over and down the switchbacks to the saddle and straight into the climb up. Over stile and grunting up the steep, then cruising round and catching a woman runner up near where I crashed due to a spaniard once, all the while in here listening to Trinity Roots song Home Land and Sea, the chorus of which was epicly playing as I crested the top and there was my Home, the Land and the Sea, sun reflecting off it's calm surface. All very moving... On up to the top of Mt Pleasant and another wee rest, now Lou Reed came on singing what a Perfect Day it was, which it was, and I thought I was glad I was spending it with my bike, and how my bike kept "me hanging on, you just keep me hanging on" as I rode down the rocky section to the stile and over and downwards. This trail, I think, is best at this time of day, with the light perfectly picking up the trail and the bends and tussocks. Awesome blast down here, smooth as, then round and down towards Greenwood, nearly losing it from checking over my shoulder for some reason... Onto the upper section of Greenwood for a bit of a climb and round and up and down and down to the road.
Steady pace up here, with no sign of the others as I was looking across at the top of Britten, expecting them anytime due to the timing. Onto the singletrack and down down down, good speed and flow, arriving at the gate and spotting a few riders below. Recognised, one, then more, and figured time for a break and a snack and a chat... So, they all rolled on up in 2 groups of 3: Wazza, Mark and Marie, Wayno, Andy, and Tony, then tailenders Steve and Pete. Brief chat and off I went downwards leaving them about 9.55, down the wee valley connecting to the road, then blaaast down the road and into MacCormacks. Rather overgrown, but trail in mostly good nick. Awesome float down this trail too, cleaning it all except the top steps, and brake-free down the final straight, flying, then onto the road and up for the slog home. At Ferrymead I ducked into Charlesworth Reserve behind Mitre10 and rode the trail through here then along next to the Humphrey's Drive canal, then Linwood the rest of the way. Home well before 10.30.
All in all a good ride, rode well, lots of good trails, and a fair bit of distance for the old fitness.
Wednesday, October 08, 2014
Wednesday evening, Jet in the Worsley repeatish
Afterwork, left home 5.30ish, drove in car with Jet to top of hill, parking with lots of other vehicles, and a dude with a fluoro orange cactus pack had headed off just ahead of me, and a big group of guys were leaving just behind me. I didn't see the group again til a bit later, but kept the fluoro orange backpack dude in my sights, gaining on him once or twice and him gaining away from me once or twice too... Just before the top, I peeled off to the right to check out a new (to me) area of trails. Moseyed down and had a wee poke. Someone's put in some rolly fast stuff, which would kill altitude too quick, and there's a jumpy trail in there too, with big gaps between ramps and landings. According to the maps, there's a tonne of country in here that is just ripe for the trail-pickings. Only rode a little ways down then turned and rode back up an old 4wd trail back to top of forest and headed back for the main drag and on up. The group of dudes crossed past out of the forest access track and up the Bodybag at this stage. Rode on up the extra top track all the way up to top of Tommy2's. and beyond actually, following a section Nelson and me checked out a while back over the top. It didn't lead anywhere, so I cut across and found Hangloose, or Goat Track as i discovered tonight that it's called, and walked back up it and headed off down Tommy2's. Excellent roll down here, tho probably holding the brakes too much. Jet was awesome, as usual, staying exactly where he was needed to be. Steeper and steeper, a couple of stops, but rode it all, and rolled out the bottom. How many different lines are there in here?? Rolled out the bottom and up the exit track.
From the junction, headed up the bastard guts track, grinding away, up up to the clifftop and on up the B-line all the way to the top. Bit of a rest up here, a snack, bit of a chat to a young fella, and after he'd left a dude on a fluoro-green Banshee Rune rolled up. He headed up the climb towards Tommy2's and I followed but took Debbs's access. Blitzed on down this, actually hitting the couple of wee jumps in there, then through the clearing and into the forest again, past the ruins, then into the darkness of the Douglas fir and on down down the old Debbie then round and where it crosses the bridge becomes Alice's Restaurant - according to the sign - "an 'All Country' track, strictly not Enduro. ideal wheel size, 27.5, or if you prefer, 650B..." Seems to roll pretty good on 26 too! Anyway. Rode more of it than the first time with Nelson, but still walked two sections I just wasn't game to fall off on. Lower half was sweet, with some really techy shit goin' on. As I met the bottom of Goat and T2 a large group (including the fluoro backpack and the fluoro Rune dude - as well as local semi-celebrities Rich and Mel) were finishing off Yoda and lower Goat. I watched them roll through then caught them up down on the exit climb track. Chatting away from the back as we rode up the hill.
At the junction, most of them headed for the other side of the road jumps track (where Nick was digging) and I followed the Rune dude up the guts track as far as the clifftop. We chatted a little up here about the moon (which is going OFF right this second as I write this, lunar eclipse, or "Blood Moon") then I headed down Wayne's and FightClub while he headed on up. Awesome run down these two and talked to Matt (on Pete's phone) as I climbed out arranging to meet at Poms later. Was about 7.50 when I got down the final trail to the end, saying Hi to Nick parked near the bottom, before finishing off to the car.
From the junction, headed up the bastard guts track, grinding away, up up to the clifftop and on up the B-line all the way to the top. Bit of a rest up here, a snack, bit of a chat to a young fella, and after he'd left a dude on a fluoro-green Banshee Rune rolled up. He headed up the climb towards Tommy2's and I followed but took Debbs's access. Blitzed on down this, actually hitting the couple of wee jumps in there, then through the clearing and into the forest again, past the ruins, then into the darkness of the Douglas fir and on down down the old Debbie then round and where it crosses the bridge becomes Alice's Restaurant - according to the sign - "an 'All Country' track, strictly not Enduro. ideal wheel size, 27.5, or if you prefer, 650B..." Seems to roll pretty good on 26 too! Anyway. Rode more of it than the first time with Nelson, but still walked two sections I just wasn't game to fall off on. Lower half was sweet, with some really techy shit goin' on. As I met the bottom of Goat and T2 a large group (including the fluoro backpack and the fluoro Rune dude - as well as local semi-celebrities Rich and Mel) were finishing off Yoda and lower Goat. I watched them roll through then caught them up down on the exit climb track. Chatting away from the back as we rode up the hill.
At the junction, most of them headed for the other side of the road jumps track (where Nick was digging) and I followed the Rune dude up the guts track as far as the clifftop. We chatted a little up here about the moon (which is going OFF right this second as I write this, lunar eclipse, or "Blood Moon") then I headed down Wayne's and FightClub while he headed on up. Awesome run down these two and talked to Matt (on Pete's phone) as I climbed out arranging to meet at Poms later. Was about 7.50 when I got down the final trail to the end, saying Hi to Nick parked near the bottom, before finishing off to the car.
Sunday, October 05, 2014
Sunday Bottlo
O, Jet and me went to Bottle Lake where the boys rode this morning. I had the Spot for a change. We went in and to the left, then right, and through the middle to the pond, then on through past the rubble and then across 'muddy' road, and back towards base, all through all the bumpy new stuff... the Spot sure soaked that up, compared to what i'm used to in there usually, but O sure felt the bumps... Nice short cruise with him and Jet. Jet was happpppy. and is tired now, after yesterday's hill ride and today.
Saturday, October 04, 2014
Saturday afternoon Worsle Jet Lappages
Jet and me left home about 2, with a few errands on the way, and got up top of Worsley Rd some time before 3. Was 3 oclock and I was half way up the first steep section of the guts internal forest track, grovelling a bit, and decided to try out the old favourite off to the left here to see what's up with it now. Well, it rolls down like it did, swoop swoop, then over that droppy whoop, then where it used to head over a few jumps through a wee dip and then peel left steep? No more... instead, it just rockets down and rolls out onto the climbing track above the tank and just before the last corner before the junction... back up here and on up the guts track again, this time catching some dudes on flash bikes walking, riding right on by cos there was no way i could stop now. Jet cruising up and back as usual. On up all the way, grinding away, up up up to the cliff top then on up the original, all the way to the very top, then on up the further up track, slightly greasy in here from yesterday's rain, and at the top of Debbie i stopped, breathed, then got going down on her. corner corner corner jumpy jumpy drop down avoid the wetspots round past the clearing and back into the forest and under the douglas firs it was slick as and pitch dark... stopped and got the sunnies off here, then took the climb out track off here and back up onto the original B-line then down to the clifftop and into Waynes World, peeling round this and part way down spotted a trail off to the right, followed it, spotted another really steep down one and took this, what a ride... down down down, where the hell am i? yikes, cant jump that. step over it and keep rolling and ahh, here, right, entering fight club at the wallridey treeroot boll and on down this to the end. loving the bits i knew well.
Climb out, back up the guts, this time maybe actually it was this time i passed the riders?? onwards up to the cliff top this time and this time into the original to the right of Waynesworld, down here then onto lower Wayne World and into top of Fight club and bombing it, but feeling slight off balance and trying to tip off the trail all the time. got the better of that and kept flying down past where i'd come in before then on about the 3rd to last corner near the bottom there's a new fall line track off to the left straight line down to the road. took it, and it reminded me of sections of lower Dave's track, but then the last drop to the road just looked tooooo steep, so i stepped off, and pushed back up to the Fight and finished if off. Watching some young'uns do Nick's jump, one, two, three, four... nice. Climbed up past these guys and then up the guts again, but this time to the higher off the two trails off to the left, just before the pylon gap, and again, this time on the way up was catching up to a walking couple. off to the left. swoopy swoopy as before, had ridden this a while back, but it's exit is different now on account of the treefalls. so, it get steeper and then there's this massively steep bit with some rocks at the top and i just wasnt game, so walked down it, then rode the rest out and came in behind the young'un jumpers, following them up to the Junction, where i peeled right and out, flowing down through the lower road while Jet took the higher road and we met above the watertank and bombed it out back to the car. Nice hour and a half in the forest again...
Climb out, back up the guts, this time maybe actually it was this time i passed the riders?? onwards up to the cliff top this time and this time into the original to the right of Waynesworld, down here then onto lower Wayne World and into top of Fight club and bombing it, but feeling slight off balance and trying to tip off the trail all the time. got the better of that and kept flying down past where i'd come in before then on about the 3rd to last corner near the bottom there's a new fall line track off to the left straight line down to the road. took it, and it reminded me of sections of lower Dave's track, but then the last drop to the road just looked tooooo steep, so i stepped off, and pushed back up to the Fight and finished if off. Watching some young'uns do Nick's jump, one, two, three, four... nice. Climbed up past these guys and then up the guts again, but this time to the higher off the two trails off to the left, just before the pylon gap, and again, this time on the way up was catching up to a walking couple. off to the left. swoopy swoopy as before, had ridden this a while back, but it's exit is different now on account of the treefalls. so, it get steeper and then there's this massively steep bit with some rocks at the top and i just wasnt game, so walked down it, then rode the rest out and came in behind the young'un jumpers, following them up to the Junction, where i peeled right and out, flowing down through the lower road while Jet took the higher road and we met above the watertank and bombed it out back to the car. Nice hour and a half in the forest again...
Thursday, October 02, 2014
Thursday evening steeeep Worsley Laps
Chucked the Spot on the back of the Fiat and Jet in the car and we headed for top of Worsleys Rd, parking up dead on 6pm. Carpark was full, and people were even parking further down the road. Figured it was gonna be busy in there. Ahead of me were a couple of guys, and beyond them a couple more. As we got up to the 'guts' track the closest two ahead went in there, while I continued up the main Worsley track. Rough as guts as usual, precariously perching the way up on the ridges. Had to get off in the washed out rocky bit above the 'rest corner', then rode for a while, meeting an XC 29er dude on his way down. Then cleaned pretty much everything else except maybe a couple of wee gulchy spots.
Couple of women talking at the top and I rolled on through and up to the top of B-Line... Arriving at the same time was the two dudes that had gone into the forest ahead of me earlier... One was on a Turner Burner "Nice bike..." Chatted with them for a minute then they headed down and I headed up. All the way up to the top and into the right hand that we called "Hang Loose" in the past. Awesome roll and flow down this, warming up and getting the hang of it again - been a while (since Jan, in fact). Changed a bit since then, cos of the trees blown out. Half way down there's a sign post "Yoda -->". I stopped and walked down it to check out. Nick had told me about this one, and I could see it was not something for us... Near vertical rocks just over the crest, down down down it went... Walked back up to my bike and headed on down Hangloose. Great run, steeeep but manageable. Finally out the bottom and I spotted the gap jump that Nick had told me about at work. NUTS.
Up the access exit track, passing some young folk fixing a chain half way up, and spotted that our old favourite that exited onto this track is no more- trees all over it, but there's others that come out of there... Then headed up the guts track. Grinding away in low, sweating up a storm, huffing and chuffing away... Jet just loping along ahead, happy as anything, sniffing his way around. Spotted a couple of new trail entrances off to the left (leading to the exits I'd spotted below) but continued on up all the way up the guts to the clifftop, where three guys set off ahead of me, then on upwards all the way to the top, meeting another group on the way, the three guys again, and then three more coming down from the top. Headed on up the trail towards Tommys2 and Hangloose, but this time stopped at the top of Debbie's lead in, and had a wee rest, txt exchange with Pete, then headed in.
Debbie's lead in, swoopy swoopy, wend wend back and forth then dropping through and over and avoid that mucky bit then through the clearing and over the tree root and down across the off camber and through the rock ruins, and into the dark dark fir forest that was the original Debbie Does Dallas. Hung a left onto the groms climbing trail and rode this up, zig and zag, then through the rocky clearing and then descending down over the fence, then climbing gently across to my earlier climbing track. Swooped down this a bit, then cut across to Tommy's track and BOMBED down this. Swooping and railing berms and catching air and riding better than for ages. Finished this off and headed across to Fight Club. Had an absolute blast down this, pumping and squirrelling and amping. Finally out the bottom and climbed quite happily up the exit track, feeling better than I had on my first two climbs of the night.
At the Junction I headed across the Worsley main drag and through the fence across to the jumpy track in the trees here. Jumped one or two of the jumps, avoided the bigger ones, and rolled on down to the bottom, then onto the exit roll, faster and faster and faster through the open, broom whipping my hands on the way, finally getting back to the car park at 7.30. Very happy Jet in accompaniment.
Couple of women talking at the top and I rolled on through and up to the top of B-Line... Arriving at the same time was the two dudes that had gone into the forest ahead of me earlier... One was on a Turner Burner "Nice bike..." Chatted with them for a minute then they headed down and I headed up. All the way up to the top and into the right hand that we called "Hang Loose" in the past. Awesome roll and flow down this, warming up and getting the hang of it again - been a while (since Jan, in fact). Changed a bit since then, cos of the trees blown out. Half way down there's a sign post "Yoda -->". I stopped and walked down it to check out. Nick had told me about this one, and I could see it was not something for us... Near vertical rocks just over the crest, down down down it went... Walked back up to my bike and headed on down Hangloose. Great run, steeeep but manageable. Finally out the bottom and I spotted the gap jump that Nick had told me about at work. NUTS.
Up the access exit track, passing some young folk fixing a chain half way up, and spotted that our old favourite that exited onto this track is no more- trees all over it, but there's others that come out of there... Then headed up the guts track. Grinding away in low, sweating up a storm, huffing and chuffing away... Jet just loping along ahead, happy as anything, sniffing his way around. Spotted a couple of new trail entrances off to the left (leading to the exits I'd spotted below) but continued on up all the way up the guts to the clifftop, where three guys set off ahead of me, then on upwards all the way to the top, meeting another group on the way, the three guys again, and then three more coming down from the top. Headed on up the trail towards Tommys2 and Hangloose, but this time stopped at the top of Debbie's lead in, and had a wee rest, txt exchange with Pete, then headed in.
Debbie's lead in, swoopy swoopy, wend wend back and forth then dropping through and over and avoid that mucky bit then through the clearing and over the tree root and down across the off camber and through the rock ruins, and into the dark dark fir forest that was the original Debbie Does Dallas. Hung a left onto the groms climbing trail and rode this up, zig and zag, then through the rocky clearing and then descending down over the fence, then climbing gently across to my earlier climbing track. Swooped down this a bit, then cut across to Tommy's track and BOMBED down this. Swooping and railing berms and catching air and riding better than for ages. Finished this off and headed across to Fight Club. Had an absolute blast down this, pumping and squirrelling and amping. Finally out the bottom and climbed quite happily up the exit track, feeling better than I had on my first two climbs of the night.
At the Junction I headed across the Worsley main drag and through the fence across to the jumpy track in the trees here. Jumped one or two of the jumps, avoided the bigger ones, and rolled on down to the bottom, then onto the exit roll, faster and faster and faster through the open, broom whipping my hands on the way, finally getting back to the car park at 7.30. Very happy Jet in accompaniment.
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