Sunday morning, cold but dry. Gathered at the carpark at Granton for my third of Phil's wonderful Marysville rides, and just my third AMTRA ride.
22 braved the cold, the possible rain and the definite mud.
At 8.45 we set out, got straight into twisty slippery terrain and within 5minutes
were waiting for others to catch up. On again, till a tree blocking a steep
climb, would've taken over half an hour to push, pull and heave all the riders past.
After this it opened up with a lot of nice riding until lunch time.
After lunch minus a few riders, we were back into the thick of it. After a long climb up a rocky slope with a few very slippery bits and a couple of logs to get over we found our way cut by another massive tree. We turned around and negotiated the way we had just come (much easier down, than up).
We started to head back towards the carpark, where Phil took us to a couple of big hills for those game enough to try. The first one not too hard, but the second one really tough. A couple of boys kept launching themselves at it, until finally one got to the top.
A short ride back to the cars, alot of goodbyes and we all set off until next time.
A total of 79km for the day.
A big thanks to Phil, and the 2 who volunteered as tailmen. (sorry guys I forget your names, but a big thanks to you both.)
getting around a tree....
the queue....
regroup....
nasty single trail hill....
more...
lead and tail....
having a go at the hill...
carnage....
Marysville carpark....
and again....
Lunch....
more hills....
regrouping complete with snow....
those bloody hills....