Macs Bay Mistakes

Thursday evening ride.  This time on my own.  After battling traffic I managed to get out to McCormacks Bay and park up next to the football field.  I cruised off up Glenstrae Road and onto the trail making sure I didn't push to hard early as the incline ramps up as you go meaning you need to keep the legs fresh for the really steep sections.  As seemed to be the order of the day I was riding nicely on most of the track but complete shagged up bits I normally clear easily.  So the switchback corners up the top were a real mixed bag.  On reflection I am thinking the rear tire needs to be swapped as it is rounding off on the edges making traction a problem on the hard pack.  I felt good still after the grunt up to the road and criused up the road and into the new subdivision where I got out of the seat to push up the steep section.  Then I took the 4wd trail now formed beyond the lower section of road to where it meets the next subdivision and then onto Britten.  Nice climb up here enjoying the warmer than expected temperature and lack of wind.  Near the top I took the right hand, struggling to see for grass though, and carried on along below the road right to the end of the original John Britten track.  At the road I flicked left and went back to Broadleaf lane.  I chased a bunch of roadies up Broadleaf who turned back and headed down again at the first gateway and begrudgingly said 'hi' as they passed by.  Typical angry roadies, I guess they are punishing their depressed selves by riding skinny tyred bone shakers all the time.  Past the first gate the road has been worked on, 100m of river run gravel and then graded flat from there.  Not to bad to ride. but a bit soft still.  Got to the top and climbed up to the very top of the hill for a look over to the harbour.  Great view on a perfect evening.

I headed down towards Greenwood, with the usual issues with not being able to see the trail due to grass growth but got better towards the bottom.  Grip was excellent so I was really railing the corners. I hooked onto Greenwood and immediately ran off the track on the first jump.  Had to go back and do it again properly, then a minute later as I ran past the ruins into the rocks I lost balance off the big rock in the track and crashed off into more rocks.  Not to much harm done but I was not well pleased with my riding.  Again I back-tracked and hit it again properly.  I seemed to ride better from there, great run through the rocky sections and cornering well until just before gloomy gulch I picked up a snakebite.  Stopped and decided to remove what I suspected was the offending rock from the track, which required the use of a large boulder to smash down onto it.  This took about 10 minutes, then another 10 mins to fix the flat.  A group of 7 or 8 riders passed going up as I moved off.  This was about the only people I saw from then on.  From here down the run went well apart from going too fast into the first rock climb and missing the easy line causing me to stall out on the rough ground.

Headed into Godley without stopping and felt much better on the first climb due to having a good heart rate to start with.  Cleaned the first section but just slipped up on the second tricky bit.  Went well from there and had good pace, not in granny gear for a change.  3/4 of the way up on one of the tricky rocky bits I managed to get up over a high spot going faster than normal, then dropped both wheels into holes which stopped my momentum instantly.  This threw me into the bars and picked up the back wheel.  It happened so fast I didn't even stop pedaling, doing 2 complete cranks with the wheel in the air, going nowhere.  Luckily I didn't go OTB and just dropped back down with no damage done.  Got moving again making the top and decent down to the water tank without any further drama.  Hit the next climb without stopping for a rest and had a clean run through the technical rock sections and headed down to the top of Anaconda.  Big group of cars with bike racks parked in the way at the top which made me wonder if there might be some traffic coming up but in the end didn't see anyone (must have been the group I saw heading up Greenwood).  I took off down the hill and about 30 seconds in decided I was feeling a bit buggered so stopped for a feed.  Was a nice spot sitting on the side of the hill with a great view and no wind.  Got moving again after 5 and had a pretty good run down the gully and out the tail, managing to hold good pace through the rock sections to Taylors Mistake. 

Not many surfers about today.  I headed straight up the road to Scarborough.  The 1 square I ate taking affect with plenty of energy being burned all the way up but no blowout, in fact each time I flicked up a gear going over the top it seem nice and easy to accelerate away to the next gear.  I dropped down into the park at the top of the hill and followed the route Rich and I found a month or 2 back which was quite cool with some hairy bits to negotiate in the middle.    From the bottom I cruised along the Sumner beach front and then gound my way below the cliffs to Redcliffs and through to the start of the causeway and back to the car.  About 2 1/2 hours ride time all up.