Pirate Troll Scrambling

I've decided to officially designate the Troll now as a 'Scrambler'... reminiscing back to my childhood days of going out 'Scrambling' it is a brilliant bike and having done the ride I did today on it, it's more than capable of more.  Upgrades of bottom bracket (/cranks), brakes, eventually 2.5 inch Extra-terrestrials and it would be ready for anything I threw at it...

Up from 'home' around Belleview and dropped down Major Hornbrook, into the park finding a nice singletrack down through this.  Met some likeminded people pushing bikepacky-type rigs (with Moloko or Jones bars on them) up the most tech bit, which I ended up riding, then down onto Cannon Hill for a helluva blast down.  

Around into Ferrymead and past the Golf to the towpath cruise, under the motorway, staying on this (true right) side of the Heathcote River proper all the way around on an off-road Cumnor Tce to Chapmans Rd.  At this point I wasn't fully decided where I was going, with a couple of possibilities in play.  Looking at the sunny hills I decided: Up, steeply. And so off I headed, up Chapmans Rd and crossed into Duncan Park where I proceeded to lose traction but somehow keep moving, mostly, riding and then walking when it was no longer feasible to spin, up to the forest.  The push began.  

Up through the forest past the newly sculpted jumpzones, out the top and through the gate, over the next gate an up under the pylons.  Steep. As. Fuck.  After the pylon, I put the bike on the shoulders and walked, slowly, until it was no longer as steep as it is.  Started pushing again, up through the steep techy rock zones, re-discovering the act of wheelying the bike along on the back wheel working well.  Then, onto the sidling part (that we tend to bypass in favour or the ridgeline), it flattened out enough to ride below the rocky knob, and then part way up the ridge from there, until it was too steep, whereupon I got to wheelying again.  

Onto the ridge and over the fence, riding and avoiding as much as possible disturbing sheep and lambs (and poo), eventually bombing and a restrained full-noise down to the Summit Rd and over the gate.  Left onto the Summit Rd and ended up behind a roadie couple, possibly annoyingly for them, tailing them all the way up to Castle Rock.  Fast bomb, tucked, to Bridle Path saddle, and onwards around catching them up again under the gondola, then climbing up through to the cutting and cruising round to Mt Pleasant Rd for a sweeet tucked speed down to Upper Major, the Ridge/Clear/Long/view combo, onto the path to Hornbrook booking back down to Belleview and around 'home.'  A couple hours all told.

Carries well and wheelies up the hill wheelie wheelie well.  17 kms with 685 m climbed.