Sunday 3 November 2013

3 November 2013 - Manly Dam

A veritable cast of thousands turned up for a ride very early on Sunday morning, all so Toby could get home before wife and child woke up the rest of the neighbourhood... (!)

Simon, Toby and Stephe were joined by Dave and Steve at 6.02am, to head off to the Dam.  When we arrived, we collected Waxhead and Bob from Accounts and to complete the set, were joined by Scott (the legend).  Making a pretty serious crew.

We did a bit of trackside maintenance (well, we all watched Scott fix everyone's bike...), and then headed off.  Given the grumbling heading up the road to the school, it was pretty clear that no world records were under threat.

The weather promised a fearsomely hot day, but it was still pretty much perfect conditions at that time of the morning, so there was no complaining about the weather.  After the slowest lap in history, Toby had to get home which also saw the end of Bob, Waxhead and Scott, but Simon, Dave, Steve and Stephe struck out for another lap, and sadly demonstrated they could go no faster...  lucky none of us are easily embarrassed!

Not too many injuries, and much fun...

Some snaps - with the full set of photos up here:

Toby and Waxhead being put off by some of the traffic already doing circuits...



Scott looking hot, Dave looking cool...



Everyone having a shot at the rocks (with varying degrees of success, once the camera was away!):



And, for those that can't believe we had that much fun, while travelling that slowly...  a strava version of the journey can be found here.

Monday 21 October 2013

20 October 2013 - Redhill and Oxford Falls

Well, well, well...  a return to the domestic equivalent of The Great North Road...  that is, the spiritual home of shutupandride when not travelling real far!

Simon, Toby, Waxhead (Andrew?) joined Stephe to cruise around Redhill, over to Oxford Falls, and experiment on new ways out.

Waxhead was on a $99 K-Mart special which was ten years old.  And, sadly, managed to demonstrate that skill, fitness and all 'round class care nothing for the nature of your bike.  He was a legend.  Indeed, the only possible dent in the theory about the bike not being relevant was around 200m from the end of the ride, down a steep, rocky descent, when the V-brakes grabbed the front wheel and kicked Waxhead OTB.  Delivering his only injury of the ride...

Toby also demonstrated that general physical skills translate - on his third ever ride, he was jumping / rolling / cruising along with everyone else.  Bugger, eh!

Simon and Stephe rode as well as they could in such esteemed company - it was just good to be out.

Some photos, with the full set here:

Simon charging



Toby, Waxhead and Simon, and yes - I did in fact capture Waxhead off his bike at one point:






Some clips:








And, some from Simon (showing that you can still have fun, even with only elementary skills (!)):









And, a Strava route here (naturally, we walked our bikes carefully at all relevant protected areas...).

Friday 11 October 2013

11 October 2013 - Old Man Valley, Hornsby

Toby's shiny new bike had only once been out, and in the rain...

So, Simon, Dave and Stephe decided to help him out and check out Old Man Valley.

He had a very big smile.

Although, did manage on OTB into a tree, which is always a good thing to do early - the mountain bike gods certainly wanted to make a point about hubris, and he's back to the happy and humble Toby that we all know and love - even while riding like a legend!

Two short, very low res videos taken by Simon:






Dave about to enter the board walk of treachery, and a quick snapshot of the Strava page (the actual page can be found here):



Sunday 28 April 2013

28 April 2013 - Old Man Valley, Hornsby

Ian, Simon and Stephe checked out Old Man Valley in Hornsby.

It's really impressive what the crew have managed to build in such a compact location - heaps of fun, and lots to master...  including the scary roll off of death:



For amusement (seeing just how low a standard we are holding ourselves to), here's Stephe failing to adequately finish the entry to the black run just before this:



Strava here.

Wednesday 16 January 2013

13 January 2013 - Old North Road

Cooper, Ethan, NicMcVic and Stephe all went back to check out the Old North Road, and also got to check out a snake and other views...



Turns out, it was tiring!



photos here.

Strava here.

Sunday 16 December 2012

16 December 2012 - Old North Road

After a looooong absence, we finally made it back to the Old North Road, and - here's no surprise - it was fantastic!

Chris and Simon having a hoot:



Stephe also got dirty, but the flowers weren't!



All pics here (including some vids and cute panoramas), and Strava here.



Tuesday 11 December 2012

11 December 2012 - Ourimbah

Cooper and Ethan came to Ourimbah to play, with Stephe lucky enough to enjoy their company.

Cooper not deterred by the mountain of death!



But nor was Ethan:



All the photos are here.

Sunday 9 December 2012

9 December 2012 - Ourimbah

An Ourimbah reprise, with Bec, Ian, Simon and Stephe...

Ian and Simon were on fire:



Stephe, not so much:



Strava here and here.

And, all the pics here!

Sunday 11 November 2012

11 November 2012 - Ourimbah

NicMcVic and Stephe managed to get out to Ourimbah for some quick laps.

What is it with the glorious weather??  It was a hoot...

Nic looking strong:



Strava here.

Sunday 4 November 2012

4 November 2012 - Awaba

Stephe joined Bec & Ian, Dave, and Simon on a great Awaba ride!

Was very cool, heaps of fun, and a glorious day. Turns out Awaba is an excellent track.

Full album here.

Bec, Dave, Simon, Ian just after climbing CamelBack:



The trusty old ute:



Coming down the scary chute (Ian and Bec):



Simon demonstrating that it ain't all plain sailing, and Dave showing it is!



All in all, it was fun:



Strava track here: lap 1, and lap 2.