Shut Up and Ride

3 November 2013 - Manly Dam

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 03 Nov 2013 12:19:00 +0000

A veritable cast of thousands turned up for a ride very early on Sunday morning, all so Toby could get home before wife and child woke up the rest of the neighbourhood... (!)

Simon, Toby and Stephe were joined by Dave and Steve at 6.02am, to head off to the Dam. When we arrived, we collected Waxhead and Bob from Accounts and to complete the set, were joined by Scott (the legend). Making a pretty serious crew.

We did a bit of trackside maintenance (well, we all watched Scott fix everyone's bike...), and then headed off. Given the grumbling heading up the road to the school, it was pretty clear that no world records were under threat.

The weather promised a fearsomely hot day, but it was still pretty much perfect conditions at that time of the morning, so there was no complaining about the weather. After the slowest lap in history, Toby had to get home which also saw the end of Bob, Waxhead and Scott, but Simon, Dave, Steve and Stephe struck out for another lap, and sadly demonstrated they could go no faster... lucky none of us are easily embarrassed!

Not too many injuries, and much fun...

Some snaps - with the full set of photos up here:

Toby and Waxhead being put off by some of the traffic already doing circuits...

Scott looking hot, Dave looking cool...

Everyone having a shot at the rocks (with varying degrees of success, once the camera was away!):

And, for those that can't believe we had that much fun, while travelling that slowly... a strava version of the journey can be found here.

20 October 2013 - Redhill and Oxford Falls

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 11:51:00 +0000

Well, well, well... a return to the domestic equivalent of The Great North Road... that is, the spiritual home of shutupandride when not travelling real far!

Simon, Toby, Waxhead (Andrew?) joined Stephe to cruise around Redhill, over to Oxford Falls, and experiment on new ways out.

Waxhead was on a $99 K-Mart special which was ten years old. And, sadly, managed to demonstrate that skill, fitness and all 'round class care nothing for the nature of your bike. He was a legend. Indeed, the only possible dent in the theory about the bike not being relevant was around 200m from the end of the ride, down a steep, rocky descent, when the V-brakes grabbed the front wheel and kicked Waxhead OTB. Delivering his only injury of the ride...

Toby also demonstrated that general physical skills translate - on his third ever ride, he was jumping / rolling / cruising along with everyone else. Bugger, eh!

Simon and Stephe rode as well as they could in such esteemed company - it was just good to be out.

Some photos, with the full set here:

Simon charging

Toby, Waxhead and Simon, and yes - I did in fact capture Waxhead off his bike at one point:

Some clips:

And, some from Simon (showing that you can still have fun, even with only elementary skills (!)):

And, a Strava route here (naturally, we walked our bikes carefully at all relevant protected areas...).

11 October 2013 - Old Man Valley, Hornsby

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 22:54:00 +0000

Toby's shiny new bike had only once been out, and in the rain...

So, Simon, Dave and Stephe decided to help him out and check out Old Man Valley.

He had a very big smile.

Although, did manage on OTB into a tree, which is always a good thing to do early - the mountain bike gods certainly wanted to make a point about hubris, and he's back to the happy and humble Toby that we all know and love - even while riding like a legend!

Two short, very low res videos taken by Simon:

Dave about to enter the board walk of treachery, and a quick snapshot of the Strava page (the actual page can be found here):

28 April 2013 - Old Man Valley, Hornsby

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 12:34:00 +0000

Ian, Simon and Stephe checked out Old Man Valley in Hornsby.

It's really impressive what the crew have managed to build in such a compact location - heaps of fun, and lots to master... including the scary roll off of death:

For amusement (seeing just how low a standard we are holding ourselves to), here's Stephe failing to adequately finish the entry to the black run just before this:

Strava here.

13 January 2013 - Old North Road

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:28:00 +0000

Cooper, Ethan, NicMcVic and Stephe all went back to check out the Old North Road, and also got to check out a snake and other views...

Turns out, it was tiring!

photos here.

Strava here.

16 December 2012 - Old North Road

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 11:19:00 +0000

After a looooong absence, we finally made it back to the Old North Road, and - here's no surprise - it was fantastic!

Chris and Simon having a hoot:

Stephe also got dirty, but the flowers weren't!

All pics here (including some vids and cute panoramas), and Strava here.

11 December 2012 - Ourimbah

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 11:04:00 +0000

Cooper and Ethan came to Ourimbah to play, with Stephe lucky enough to enjoy their company.

Cooper not deterred by the mountain of death!

But nor was Ethan:

All the photos are here.

9 December 2012 - Ourimbah

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 11:03:00 +0000

An Ourimbah reprise, with Bec, Ian, Simon and Stephe...

Ian and Simon were on fire:

Stephe, not so much:

Strava here and here.

And, all the pics here!

11 November 2012 - Ourimbah

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 10:50:00 +0000

NicMcVic and Stephe managed to get out to Ourimbah for some quick laps.

What is it with the glorious weather?? It was a hoot...

Nic looking strong:

Strava here.

4 November 2012 - Awaba

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 10:48:00 +0000

Stephe joined Bec & Ian, Dave, and Simon on a great Awaba ride!

Was very cool, heaps of fun, and a glorious day. Turns out Awaba is an excellent track.

Full album here.

Bec, Dave, Simon, Ian just after climbing CamelBack:

The trusty old ute:

Coming down the scary chute (Ian and Bec):

Simon demonstrating that it ain't all plain sailing, and Dave showing it is!

All in all, it was fun:

Strava track here: lap 1, and lap 2.

28 October 2012 - Perimeter Track and Long Trail

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 20:15:00 +0000

Stephe was fortunate enough to be invited to join Simon, Ian and David (?) on a late start quick Terry Hills dash.

The weather was perfect, the late start meant that everyone had had enough sleep, and the track was in excellent condition (although somewhat sandy in places, which meant that none of us made the steep climb at the end of Long Trail - awkward!).

The Strava plot of the ride here:

Was fun.

21 October 2011 - Garrigal (Castle Cove etc)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:19:00 +0000

Chris and Stephe ducked out early on a Friday afternoon for a short ride...

Not early enough, as it turns out - we abandoned the car halfway to Castle Cove and did a semi-urban ride.

Was fun, albeit nothing to write home about...

Track is here.

25 September 2011 - Old Great North Road - Whisperer's farewell ride

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 22:53:00 +0000

Whisperer's farewell ride was going to be huge, but the weather had other ideas...

It was cold, sad and miserable.

We almost pulled the pin before we got started (having adjourned to a local coffee spot following the abandonment of the initial start), but some quick Doug pep-talking managed to get the crew into a better state of mind, and we returned to kick off.

Whisperer, Stephe, [Pete?], Dylan, Brian and Donal (not in photo) and Doug (not in photo) headed off.

Got very wet.

Retired halfway (with at least the partial excuse that we broke Brian's bike)...

At least we had fun!

Full set of photos here. And track (such as it was) here.

18 September 2011 - Yarramundi

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 22:44:00 +0000

NicMcVic and Stephe managed to get a couple of laps in at Yarramundi, which was - of course - excellent.

Unfortunately, this post prepared some time after the event, and recollections now hazy!

But, did capture Nic in action:

Track here...

10 September 2011 - Mooney

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 05:27:00 +0000

Mooney is unreal.

A truly pleasurable experience dropping by - both on those days when the Gods are with you, but also even when things do not go like clockwork.

The smells, the sounds, the sights - all add up to a really enjoyable time on the bike, with lots of challenges thrown in for good measure.

Doug and Stephe were up early for a return trip, 'testing the water' to see if Mooney was still as it used to be... turns out, it was even better!

Some work had been done on the lower reaches of the track, for example, this is what smartarse creek now looks like (not much scope for being caught out trying to be a bit cheeky here now...):

But, pretty much all the other challenges remain, for example, Stephe getting the crossing wrong:

The dam was full and nice to see the water flowing, and the track remained quite wet further up - but still great. Some quick shots:

We also shot some Contour footage, which will get up on YouTube and post here shortly.

A few photos here... and our .kmz track here.

4 September 2011 - Appin (again!)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 05:08:00 +0000

Cooper decided it would be a very nice thing indeed to take Stephe out to Appin for Father's Day, and we were fortunate enough to be joined by Bob.

It was great - perfect conditions, and much fun.

Cooper continues to improve his skills, and is a 'natural' on the bike...

No photos, but two tracks (of each of the laps that we finished, before running out of time and heading home) are here: Lap One, and Lap Two.

2 September 2011 - Appin

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 05:47:00 +0000

Donal, Doug and Stephe nipped out for a quick couple of Appin laps.

Much fun had by all - although with time constraints Stephe was only able to get two laps in, leaving Donal and Doug to contemplate just how long they could keep meandering about!

Written too long after the event to recall just how Doug injured himself, and became cautious for a little while - but I do recall we were very sympathetic indeed... (!)

A few photos here... and our .kmz track here.

Here is a quick video of Doug proving that he can be cautious and sure footed on a bike when he wants to be:

28 August 2011 - Redhill and Oxford Falls

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 05:42:00 +0000

Chris, Little Guy and Stephe saw that the sun was going to shine and figured a cheeky little Redhill run would be good for us. So, bright and early Sunday morning we set off for Redhill...

Turns out the place was quite wet from recent rains, even though the day itself was entirely fine. So, lots of claggy mud, and we had to be particularly careful to avoid creating any further erosion damage.

In any case, was fun and a healthy little blast (being careful, of course, to walk the bikes through any restricted access areas along the way).

Quick view of Little Guy during and after...

A few photos here... and our .kmz track here.

15 May 2011 - Yarramundi

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 15 May 2011 09:29:00 +0000

Matt, John and Stephe meandered out to Yarramundi for a quick lap or two, before a Sydney shop held their new bike day...

Was fun, but demonstrated an ongoing lack of fitness from at least one of the crew (who shall remain nameless!).

Matt and John at the halfway point:

A few photos here... and our .kmz track here.

And, proving an ongoing lack of skill with a camera, Stephe's attempt at two still shots of Matt and John::

17 April 2011 - Old Great North Road

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 06:55:00 +0000

Ah, we went back to the spiritual home of mountain bike riding, and the weather gods were good to us (as always). No rain, but there was lots of water about.

Doug, Matt, Brian, Joe and Stephe started off around 7.40am at Mangrove Mountain, and then kicked off. Some of the 'older' folk were assuming Joe would find the going tough at some point, and planned around having a break sooner rather than later. Turns out that Joe was the only one that was fresh as a daisy at the end... with Stephe definitely bringing up the rear, with a sad and slow ride up the last 500m hill...

In any case, limited photos until we got to Devine's Hill for a break:

Doug's bike during ride, and at the end (ooops, wasn't supposed to get any dirt on it(!)):

Some riding snaps:

And, Joe in particular:

Full set of photos here... and our .kmz track here.

Doug also took some great video, but it's huuuuge, so not yet entirely certain how to put it all up, but one excerpt of our final leg home loaded on to YouTube here:

10 April 2011 - Tathra

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 13:44:00 +0000

Ben, CJ, Cooper, Imo and Stephe at various points had a chance to play around on the fantastic single track created at Tathra.

It was so enjoyable, that we collected no photos, other than two of the younger folk when we got back to the accommodation.

There are some excellent links on the web to the Tathra single track, and our .kmz tracks are here (the first little explore), the second one (where we got lost) and the third (where we just did the intro downhill and return).

A quick snapshot of Cooper and Imo:

And a bit of footage of Cooper rolling down the driveway for amusement (click on the image for the movie, it's a biggish file, so wait a while!):

Need to get back down there again, and do a few circuits of the full track!

temporary hiatus

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 22:01:00 +0000

mountain bike riding off the agenda for stephe for a brief while (6 - 12 weeks).

Foolishly entertaining other forms of go fast activity, stephe crashed a go kart into a tire wall, with fractures to lumbar verterbrae 1 and 3. Out of hospital, all stable, prognosis good, but not much activity for some weeks...

12 December 2010 - Coba Point and Smuggler's Ridge

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 21:58:00 +0000

After a couple of alternative ideas were floated, Bob and Stephe finally settled on a relatively short local ride out to Coba Point.

Eschewing the more usual out and back to the view first, we headed off straight for Smugglers Ridge. Was excellent, as ever. Great flowers out, we were a bit wussy on anything with a slightly technical bent, but that just leaves plenty of improvement for the next visit, eh!

Some quick snaps (the whole, limited, set is here):

Great ride down the ridge, loooong ride back up the hills. But fun.

The track (which is embarrassingly short!) is here.

4 December 2010 - Ingar Creek

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 02:28:00 +0000

After a bit of a debacle on the camping front (the weather was less than fully kind to us), Brian, Joe, Gus, Hugo and Stephe, Cooper and Ethan thought we should try to at least check out the proposed camping ground at Ingar Creek.

So, we parked the cars at the top of the fire trail, and rode down the 10kms to the bottom (pedaling maybe twice along the way!).

It proved to be a very cool camping ground, and quite possibly worth a future visit.

It was not at all clear how to get to the nearby fire trail that connected with Andersons, although the NPWS summary was hopeful "This camping ground is set among scribbly gums. The dam on Ingar Creek is suitable for paddling and swimming, and you can also walk or ride your mountain bike to Bedford Creek, via Murphy's Fire Trail."

In any case, given the fact that we had to ride back out in the cold and wet, up an entirely vertical climb, we decided to give exploration a miss to another day...

At least we had plenty of food to amuse us when we made it back to the top:

All in all, was good, but might be more fun in good weather and starting from the bottom!

My .kmz of the downhill track is here, and some more photos here.

28 November 2010 - Old Great North Road

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 01:27:00 +0000

It continues to amaze, how you can turn up to an Old North Road ride and re-discover what an excellent place it is each time. Surely, eventually, the message will stick, and we'll simply ride here every weekend!

Paul R joined Akis (yes, he's back!), Mark S, John S, Whisperer, Peter and Stephe at the Mangrove Mountain entrance to the ride at 7.45am.

Group photo of the gang - from left to right - Mark S, John S, Stephe, Peter, Akis, Paul R (Whisperer taking the photo):

Weather was perfect - slightly overcast, but spots of blue sky, and just the right amount of spitting rain occasionally along the ride when we needed to be cooled down.

Much amusement along the way, some reasonable pace at points (Paul R did get 'out of the gate' aggressively, and was probably regretting that on the way home, although did his best not to show it). Fair to say that the slog up the bitumen road to the cars at the end seemed a long one to a few of us...

We also tried our skills at climbing up a *massive* rock wall - about 5-25m in vertical climb, honest injun - although, peculiarly, in this video it looks somewhat more tame... (and, yes, we really did make that many lame attempts... ah well!):

And, while I'm on an embedding roll... here is Whisperer's garmin page of the ride:

A couple of additional photos here.

All in all, a fantastic day out, may there be very many more in the future!