The Journey II

On Saturday we went from Sparrow over to Stromlo, the weather was perfect and the overnight rain had dampened the dust. The Park was busy with bikes ranging from top XC and enduro gun like Mr McAvoy to kids on 20” wheels with their parents. It was my first opportunity to ride some of the trails at a casual pace, rather than in race mode and I had a heap of fun doing it. Connecting Skyline to the Luge for the run down the hill left me wanting to ride to the top and do it all again. Stromlo will be host to the World Solo 24hr Championships later in the year.
From Stromlo we headed over to Majura Pines for a quick lap and fill the remainder of the afternoon. Majura recently played host to the National 24 Solo Championships and remains in fine form. Going against the grain we rode the trail as I did last year at Nat 24 Solo, this year they ran the track in the opposite direction and linked together some sweet trail. The conditions on the day reminded me of last year as it was a little damp and in some spots slippery. After a short loop of Majura we called it a day, three tracks, all different and a ton of fun.
Monday we woke to a crisp morning, possibly the coldest this year. Overnight temperatures had dropped to the single digits and I expected to see just a hint of frost. With the guys fatigued from riding over the last few days and the exceptionally cool start to the morning we headed out to the Hume and Goulburn to start our ride back to Sydney. We could not have got a better day for the return ride, clear sky, cool air, a slight breeze on our tail and we were humming along the tar. It seemed like it was all downhill as we were often just cruising at 40km/h! With a few stops for flats, two of which were mine, a few stops for food and to swap off the road we covered the 130km or so between Goulburn and Campbelltown in quite a tidy time. The main thing of concern was the increase in traffic as we headed into the afternoon and got closer to Sydney. We arrived at the Campbelltown exit with no incidents and were glad to pack up and get off the road.
"You want to ride to where?" This will be the first question I will be asked when I plan the next trip. Sydney to Canberra is a fair ride and although we did not complete the entire distance a valiant effort was made by the whole team in achieving what we did. The next question is where next?
Thanks to the guys who joined me for the ride. My work colleagues for the efforts they made towards making it happen, also, Josh from Active8 for the loan of his Tri bars. Thanks to my personal sponsors Carman’s, Wealth Creation Accountants, Bikes at the Basin, DIY MTB, FRS and the mcrummy.blogspot.com Crew for their ongoing support.