Still hadn't fixed the Stooge flat; still waiting for the suspension part from Cotic; so resigned to take the Troll (didn't even occur to me to take the fatty or the BFe...) out for a nice blast out and back. Rode some nuts single-track and a bunch of road.
Up through all the usual, over 19th, Skidder, short walk up the grunter and then riding the rest to the top of Vic. Popped up to my stone shelter to see if there were any blackberries (they were all scody), then back onto the road and stuck to the road all the way to Huntsbury-top, hitting Vernon singletrack from here. Nice flowy slowy bomb down, keeping it sketch, then through Rapaki and stayed on the road from here to top of Castle. A youngish couple arrived and I said, "You heading down?" "Yep, but we'll be slow" I said I wasn't sure what I was doing but then I decided on the spot to head down too. Dropped in and proceeded to flow where it was flowy and slow where it was slowy. Went pretty well, including only one dab due to traction loss on the climb. Onto the road and climbed back up, seeing the couple riding slower than I had down the trail... Up the road and down, fast coasting roll through towards Witch, decided to take the Witch Hill trail and proceeded to climb up it no problem at all, bar that one rocky section. Breather at the high point then dropping around cleaning all the tech carefully to the end, and up the road below Vernon. Annoying head wind up overlooking Dry Bush valley.
Into the Traverse and hoofed it around here pretty nicely. Love the standing-in-the-pedals-cranking mode on the rigid machines. It's a very lithe bike. All the way around the Traverse I was slowly winding in a rider ahead. Caught her and a few others right at the end. Into the trees, dropped down through, onto Brake Free then peeled left into the Pines, and dropped down through the Gums, exiting at the Skidder (figuring the trail below to still be blocked). Up towards 19th and passed a guy on an interesting looking rig. "Is that an Evil Sovereign?" "Nah, it's a Marino" which I misheard as Merida and was surprised, until I realised what he'd said. It was one of the Sick bikes of the recent past. Slack and low, sweet steel. I realise now I've seen it out there before. Anyway, we chatted for ages. Then I headed off down and through, into the DogParkCarPark, overgrown to start, and a little damp. Peeled onto my new line, and appalled to find the water in the woods emerging even higher up. Bloody Council slack-arses.
Lithely provocateured, 20 odd km, and up 710 m
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