I met up with Eric the Red and we headed out on our 29’ers to ride the Browns Gully section of the Great Dividing Trail. The return of cold Winter weather dampened our enthusiasm initially, but it turned out to be a great day for riding.

The section of the Great Dividing Trail between Mount Franklin and Castlemaine is a hoot on a 29″ wheel, with a fun mix of descents and climbs along ridges, dropping down into single track filled gullies.

Quite a few UPD’s today including the biggest arse plant I’ve had in a long time, falling backwards off the uni. I’ve really got to work on my skills of jumping over stuff on the trail, especially on the 29’er. I did however clear a sections I had no chance on when I rode the trail on my 29’er in October last year, so all good!

I picked up a cheap Garmin Heart Rate Monitor belt on eBay a couple of weeks ago. Today was the first full ride wearing it. Heart rate data is much more interesting (and less hassle) IMO than cadence. Not a bad workout for the old ticker with the bulk of the ride over 140 bpm.

The only hassle during the ride were the bugs. Every now and then you’d ride into swarms of tiny flying insects, not good for eyes. Note to remember – on damp still Winter day rides wear clear sunglasses.

With commitments at home calling and short winter days we rode as far as time permitted before returning back along the trail to the car. Nice one!