Scorching Wednesday Night mechanicals

Nelson picked me up from work and we waded across the city's traffic flows to Worsley's Rd.  Parked on the flat by the poplar trees.  Still about 30 degrees, so energy sappingly hot.  Up the road, slowly does it, then into Fluffy Sheep for the climb.  Nelson gapped me and I struggled.  Should have checked, but I was having a few niggles with my shifting... (had been on the way to work as well).  On up the road and then through the gate and up the sort-of-singletrack in the long-grass then into the trees, where the shade was helpful, but the heat was so overbearing and was making me really struggle.  All the way up I had to hold back so's not to puke.  Nelson wasn't waiting for me until the top of the B-Line tracks.  I felt like shit.

On up the further climb, past Debby/Alice's, and on up to top of Tommy2's and Throw The Goat.  Another nice rest here chatting to a young(ish) dude on a nomad.  Nelson was trying out his chest mounted Go Pro so followed me in.  After the first couple of pedal strokes I went to change gears and they dropped straight down to top gear, with no response from the shifter.  Hmmmm...  Continued all the way down, fanging and weaving, dust plume choking back Nelson from my tail.  Good run all the way down, altho the pedalling was a bit slow...  We got to the bottom, arms pumped with braking, and quads burning with the non-stop descent, and proceeded to work out what to do with my gears...  ended up with this fix:

 pulled the cable through and out, and then attached it and wrapped it around the chainstay to hold it in 2nd gear (for the climbing).

Got rolling and it was super low for those bits of climbing, but got me up eventually to the junction (where there were heaps of peeps).  It slipped into 3rd as we entered the Guts track, so I rode as far as I could and then had to walk.  Rode again at the pylon gap and kept on up for a while past Fight Club and then walked again up to the clifftop.  There were some others walking ahead of me so I didn't feel too bad about it.  Nelson was waiting at the cliff top, (where some dickhead 4wders had recently had a fucking fire! dumbshits).  On up the Original B-Line catching the guys that'd been walking, me managing to ride all the way to the rocks that always get me.  Onwards and all the way to top.  Then on further up again (walking this time) and we hooked into the newby with the canyon.  Good run down the top bit then Nelson had a flail on the log, breaking yet another of his flash blade spokes!  Onwards down, through, under, around and back into lower Tommy2's and the dust storm blast down here.  Final climb out, slow for me, then across the main drag and into the jumpy trail in the trees.  Normally quite pedally this one so I was slow down it, but got a couple of good jumpies near the bottom.  then around, Nelson peeled off up to do Epitaph, while I just rolled down the grassy 'single' track.

Onto the road, and rolling rolling rolling down, taking the new grass 'singletrack' on the left of the road where it flattens off and heads around the corners, then down and into the Farside trails.  I chose Utopia, and it was good.  Swoopy swoopy, not too much pedalling (not that I could) to do, kept speed through corners and it was a blast.  Finally, out onto the road and down back to the car, the last hundred metres or so rolling very slow.

693m altitude, 15.43 kms...