Wednesday Night Adventure Climb Worse Nun Traverse Lava OldsKool

Pick up from work and across town to park on Ashgrove Tce next to the bridge into Ernle Reserve.  Over this and a mellow cruise up the Heathcote River past Cracroft and then up the gravel into the Park.  Straight into the Uphill climb, ziggy zaggy, jiggy jaggy...  we caught up to some other guys and sat behind them for a while, got past one and were happy enough having a rest behind the next guy, til it opened up and we plodded on ahead, up and over and down and through the midpoint and then on upwards the old way we used to climb out of Fightclub etc.  around and through the gate and up the techknuckle grovel little bitty shitty rut-city.  Cleaned our ways up this and then had a bit of a social rest outside the gate of the park, chatting with others, snacking and resting before heading off up the Bodybag.  Cleaned it a long way up.  Nelson got it all the way, but I blew out pretty near the top, rested, breathed and then got going again, cleaning up the rest.  Nice - best effort for a long time.

Over and into the Nun climb, quick piss stop and off down.  Nelson on fire, me chasing and struggling a little, flying down the Flying Nun, popping and grooving.  Big fuck up on the trail just after the big corner closest to the park - the Pioneer Race had been through on the weekend and all the muppets had fucked up the entrance to that rock you used to jump over...  On down through the rocky sections feeling pretty good, keeping Nelson in sight, but struggling a little to keep up.  Past the carpark and bombing through the lower section, no wuckers, Nelson still getting away but not too far ahead.  Strangely we met some dude riding up, near the bottom, and we finished it off. 

Across Dyers Pass and up the road, Nelson taking the lower Thompson, me staying on the road.  Up here were some dipshit boy racers with a lowered ute, mashed up front and tires off the scuffed up rims.  Dumb-arses had lost it into the barrier.  "Ohh, That doesn't look good.  Whoops" from me, and "Looks like you're gonna need a wheel alignment" from Nelson, to which they slung him some abuse, little shits.  Lucky no one had been riding or driving up cos they'd crossed the centre line to hit the barrier, obviously at some speed, the skid marks were lonnnng - hope the little fuckers get done for dangerous driving.  Into the upper Thomson for us, dropping down the recent wood-chip entrance, laughing at their misfortune all the way.  At the top there was a couple with electric plus-size bikes with kid trailers hitched up.  They'd come up Bowenvale Valley and the K2s!!!

Into the Traverse and a good blat round here, meeting quite a few other riders.  Legs were getting tired on the last few climbs, ending up at the top of Lava Flow.  Guy and a dog were here getting ready to go down, so we headed in and Nelson rode everything...  I walked one or two bits, but rode a heap I'd never had thought of in the past.  Was fun. It's a cool track (7 years since I'd last attempted it).  At the bottom we headed up the steps next to the 3rd bridge (we'd come down them one night back with the Thursday Night Crew).  Bit of a hike, but once you're up it's a cool singletrack across to the Hidden Valley Link Track - avoiding losing altitude on boring track, the creek crossing and the first two hairpins.  Into this and climbing climbing up to Old Skool. Great blast down this, seems to have been cleaned up a bit in the middle traversing section and looks to be seeing quite a bit of traffic.  Fast down the bottom and then out and down the road and round the river and back through Ernle to the car.

All up, 634 m climbed, in 22.1 kms over an hour and three-quarters riding.