Time for a new adventure!
I have always been an avid bike rider. At the end of last year I re-discovered the joys of off-road cycling and bought a new mountain bike. The road bike hasn't had much use since and is gathering dust in the garage. The new machine is getting all the attention, because it's much more fun to ride. There are no cars on a mountain bike trail, so arguably it's also alot safer. Even so, it requires a lot more concentration, a lot more brain power than riding a road bike. The new bike has an aluminium frame, dual suspension, disk brakes, and chunky tyres. It can chew up some gnarly terrain, though if you’re not careful sometimes the terrain can chew you. I first owned a mountain bike many years ago. As a testament to improvements in technology, the new bike probably weighs half of what the old one did.
I ride my bike around the fire trails and single tracks near home. I'm slowly perfecting my attack position, and can almost hold a wheelie for more than a few pedal strokes. I'm still working on my bike balance though, and need more practice climbing over ledges and jumping. I also ride at the nearby Hornsby Mountain Bike Trail. This is an awesome endeavour, and those responsible deserve a pat on the back. It's built on the fringes of the old Hornsby Quarry in Old Man’s Valley. The bike trails run through shady forest between the abandoned open pit and the new swimming pool. Trails are graded from green (easy) to black (difficult); the black sections include some challenging drops, rock gardens and obstacles (eg planks and logs – see the photo). After some practise and a few falls I can now get the bike through the black sections. If you decide to join me and go for a ride, don't forget your mountain bike, your helmet, some padding might also be useful, a drink bottle and perhaps a pen, just in case the one in the cache goes missing.
Part of the fun on the upper black line at the Hornsby Mountain Bike Trail
Check out this video to see what you might be in for!
Checker confirms WPT1, not the final and contains some useful info that Henrik Djernis would understand.
Prizes for 1st through to fifth - see the prize bag inside.
And first to beat the death cookies, avoid a digger or an endo and collect first prize is: DIGBY23
And first to push a belated powerslide through the checker: Equipe des fous
BIG cheer for the first to actually ride a MTB on the course ... and perform an endo .... and live to tell the tale.... crash2079🚵 Well done!