I'm gonna start right off the bat and apologise for my lack of camera battery management skills, so today's photos come from my iPhone and clearly I'm just learning the timing for action pics on that! I came home and found the charged battery sitting on the side- oops!
Luckily I was bailed out by newcomer Christine from San Francisco who took loads of pics and even got me on video doing intrepid stuff- read on for that. So keep watching this space as I'll add her pics/vids later.
Lots of new faces today with an international flavour and not so many regulars. 13 of us headed out (and all 13 came back together!). I'll take a stab at some names but as usual you know I missed some... Sasha over from NZ for an extended holiday met Melanie (from Vancouver) and Christine (US) on the train and decided to join us to find the "best stuff"- good decision. Now we all know Vancouver is home of the North Shore and Marin in SF is the reputed birthplace of mountain biking so we had some terrain to live up to.
As we headed up the first climb I was admiring Ronan's mud guard from THE industries- it looked robust but after "selling" me on it, it promptly fell off at the first sign of mud and he wore it as an aerofoil on his backpack for the rest of the ride. In fact it has worn away at the bolt so I'll still consider it as a possibility for my fat seatpost!
Chris' bike had suffered months of neglect at the back of the garage and was creeking from every corner in pain but incredibly survived the whole ride despite the most amazingly worn jockey wheels, a sticky freewheel and chainsuck meaning he had to keep pedaling even downhill! (Some TLC please before my next ride!) Tim was the lucky rider on the demo Lapierre and he rode off everything we threw at him and stormed past me on the stony descent off high ashes throwing me into a wheel eating rut! Well I can't blame him- you gotta ride that bike hard.
Our first taste of the fun trails to come was rollercoaster on Leith- with a few bombholes to roll down and up and enjoy the g-force. Then we headed up past the tower but no tea stop yet....
Rollercoaster & Agony Aunt (click to enlarge):
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Steve got a swift lesson in jumping after hitting Agony Aunt (noisily as usual) and pretty much pogoing from his front wheel to back and almost over the bars. Simon gave some good advice and demos of how to compress into the transition and then throw your bike forward through your legs to land so his weight was not so far over the front wheel as he landed. The tip here is to practice your manuals on the flat in a similar way kicking the pedals away and extending your arms.
So we headed towards the quarry to practice the technique. On the way Simon took us to "A Jab in the Eye" a steep drop off that you could just about roll down but is better to throw your bike off and clear the 'HUGE' root to land on a nice verticalish tranny. Calvin watched him do it and to prove he had his Mojo with him he rode up to it nice and slow, threw his bike forward and landed sooo smoothly- text book! At that point I announced that "you made it look so easy I might do it." (Did I say that out loud in front of a dozen people?)
So there I was riding up to it..... push the bike thru.... I'm airborne.... wow I've landed... a wobble.... no I'm still upright- yeehaaa that feels great. By now my knees were wobbling with that adrenalin hit. And what a great gang- all cheering me on!
Melanie proved that Canadian girls have gumption and she rolled over the steep drop in on the left as if she does it everyday (although that's not what her face said!)
Sessioning the quarry everyone tried at least the small jump, with Steve practicing his new technique, and Simon had Calvin and I going off the big one. I did it but I have a way to go before I clear smoothly to the tranny.
A rapid descent down High Ashes heading for the Peaslake tea stop via a great run down Golden Birdies (as usual) by all although the exit onto the road proved an over the bar experience for one who shall remain nameless. Then we pretty much headed back the lowland way via Friday Street to the shop taking in some steep descents and rollovers and one steep leafy climb to keep it interesting.
Always great to see our local trails through the eyes of newcomers and see them acheive new skills. So Thanks for joining us.
Oh yeah and did I mention how dry the trails were and how sunny and warm it is? (That's for all you poor regulars who couldn't make it this week- sorry!)
Riders: - Simon, Calvin, Melanie, Christine, Sasha, Ronan, Chris, Tim, Mark, Steve, John, Claire, OK I know there's one name that eludes me- who is it?- please leave a comment!
Stats: - 31km, 4.5hrs
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