Sunday 29 May – Old North Road

An absolute blast, no question. Photos here, although curiously out of order…

A small bunch (Doug, Clive, Brian, Steve, Steve and Stephe (Steve’s missing from the photo)) started with high hopes, and were more than adequately rewarded…

Spent quite a bit of time mucking about before starting at the pumping station (had to sort out Steve Hep’s pedals, early on “the Whisperer” had to ‘lay hands on’ Brian’s bike, etc, etc). Got going, and then had a really pleasant grind up the big hill (check out the profile from a previous ride, the GPS carked it today). We were all in the groove by the time we got to the ridge for the traverse to Wiseman’s Ferry, and had a hoot for the first section. Clive came down with the first (and least spectacular) flat of the day, and we spent the next long while having a shot at two bits of rock that were challenging to most, but not to Brian “the new legend” Whelan…. Unfortunately, the weaker riders amongst us (i.e. Stephe) failed miserably, and then had to continue the ride in an entirely shattered state (and, because Brian lacks the basic goodness of his colleagues, we were (I was) subjected to even more humiliation on each occasion that a sprint presented itself).

We passed a stunning number of riders on the track (quite possibly 25 in all?), but it was a beautiful day and the bush was fantastic. Great ride along the traverse with Whisperer and Clive showing moments of individual brilliance to try to catch up with Brian’s early achievements (almost, but not quite), and even Doug was spotted with an occasional smile. Given his experience last week, Steve Hep was unsurprisingly cautious (or was that because he completed a three hour charity walk *before* our start at 6am?), but still managed to climb everything in his way on the way back…

Doug gets points for the most spectacular blow-out on the way back down the big drop, which kinda took the gloss off trying to catch Whisperer and Brian (who had both gone truly mad by that point). Steve “the Bike Whisperer” White was heard to say at the bottom “my best downhill drop, anywhere, ever”….

Ah mountain biking… it’s a hoot!

Some samples from the day: