Sunday 18 February 2007 - Mooney (Oranges)

As a wise man once said "Oh, Mooney, how we love ya!".

Another Mooney ride, another series of learning experiences. It's just fantastic, even when it's treating us mean (no doubt, with the intention of keeping us keen...).

A good little turnout, with Doug, Stephe, Whisperer, Rob, Rees (obscured), and Brian visible from Doug's camera. Or, in the alternative shot from Rob: Doug, Stephe, Whisperer, Rees, Brian and Rob...



Brian was on form on the day, taking on a couple of challenges in a way not matched by his peers, but also - true to form - spending some time off the bike. With Rees, of course, being treated badly by Mooney *again*, this time breaking a chain, not once, but twice!



The climb was a challenge, as ever, and - despite some valiant attempts - no-one managed a zero touch run. But Whisperer did manage to look good along the way, both on the initial climb, and then the run up to The Oranges:



Rock Brian had its usual challenges, perhaps enhanced with the greatly washed away surface, but still the troops took it on:



The track was a beautiful as ever, and it's unfortunate that we missed getting some shots of the Wedge Tailed Eagles, they too were pretty spectacular as we watched for a while).



There was a degree of caution on the descent, given that the recent rains had again removed a large quantity of top soil, leaving just dangerous, loose rock - but that didn't stop it being fun. And the creek crossing allowed plenty of time for (ineffective!) challenges to Brian's crossing supremacy:



Check out the profile (below), and the rest of the photos, track, profile, and some short movie clips are to be found here. Of the clips, this one is ok (the top of the climb, on the way up), this and this are disappointing (Stephe failing, Brian succeding on the creek crossing), and this one is excellent!