Day 1

Arrive in the early morning morning

Find bike shop after going to the incorrect shop. “It was very nice to meet you both”

Got bike from “Damo” – his kid(?) was eating those tinned spaghetti and some bits of scrambled egg with a large spoon. The brief was just that. I was hiver 4 bus tokens, which would take me to the top trail head.

Took Barnabus (the bike) around the lake a couple of times. There were two dads, taking their ~5 year olds for a spin. I passed them a few times, having taken side quests which put me behind them again and again.

“Hello again, good work little man, g’day”

From the lake I rode to the bottom trail head. A shuttle was waiting and looked half full. I had a couple of free tokens in my back pocket. Happy days and good timing. I loaded up my bike, after a bit of messing about, “big ones towards the back”, it was all sorted and I piled aboard. Up-up-up we went. I’d read the board which had a list of trails. This included the difficulty rating (green, blue, black) and a brief overview what to expect on the ride, plus a visual of elevation/decent over distance. At a glance, I saw a blue with a gentle looking decent with a gradual downhill. Perfect for dusting off the cobwebs, I thought.

Sadly I neglected to see the link that was the ‘Snig Track’. 3kms, technical uphill for 177 meters. By halfway I was checking my phone, wondering what happened to the gentle decline of ‘Kingswall’. Silly me. Good to have a warm up I suppose. The downhill came eventually and was gradual enough. A few good pedal bites on the shins made me think about getting some better gear. I arrived at the bottom close to midday and decided to put the feet up, have a coffee and buy some gloves. Lunch was salad, eggs and hummus. The coffee was from Two Doors Down, and I’d go back the next day as the standard was high.