Had a great day in the bush, working on a short alternative section of trail. I’d only planned to spend an hour or so out there but couldn’t resist — beautiful Spring day, bush packed with flowers, and if I could get the first pass as the section done the rain forecast in the next few days should settle it down nicely… perfect! Fast forward 5-6 hours, wiped out, job done!

The run in question is a great fun but up until now there’s been one short section part way down that sort of interrupts the flow. Not necessarily a bad thing, but the plan was to create an alternative fast flowing route for those that want to keep the hammer down and carry more speed into the bottom half of the trail.

With the OK from the local guy who originally made the trail (thanks K!), some tools and the Mojo HD nothing to do but get into it. I’d cleared the route just enough to test it out over the last while so it came down to progressively working on the trail, riding it, adjusting the line, riding it, working on it some more etc. Really good fun to see it come together. When the trail settles down and a line wears in I’ll shape it some more.

With my clumsy, heavy riding at The Butts the other day I managed to cut the sidewall of the Captain Control rear tire in a few places – all within a short distance and a few minutes. With some fiddling around the Stans goop held it together just enough to make it back to the van, but back at home the sidewall gave way when pumped up to normal riding pressure. The sharp rocky terrain around here requires robust sidewalls, I’ve enjoyed the Captain as a rear tire so have ordered a Captain Armadillo Elite – should’ve gone with the Armadillo versions from the getgo. All this means I’ve put the old bald Crossmark back on the rear until the new tire arrives, the lack of grip immediately noticeable but lots of fun on the dry trails… skidmarks!

Fresh trail. Hours to make, seconds to ride. Worth it? Hell yeah! 😛

Wattles in flower
Wattles in flower
General mischief on the way home
General mischief on the way home
Bridge Crossing
Bridge Crossing
Fresh section of trail... Wahoo!
Fresh section of trail… Wahoo!

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