It looked like there’d be 5 of us going for what I’d describe as an exploratory spin. Some good trails, some known terrain, but in an area we don’t often visit, so it was always going to double up as both a trail ride, and an opportunity to discover some new tracks.
The bad stuff : A couple of guys cancelled out, so it looked like there’d only be 3 of us going. Then one more cancelled out at the last minute, but it’s not the end of the world. Two is still a good number. Then, yea, the last man standing snapped off the valve in his tube. If we’d a spare tube the day would’ve been saved, but we didn’t. So yeah. Kinda shit.
The good stuff : It was over an hour of a drive to get there, so I could drive the van back and unload the bike… or I could go for the spin anyway. The second purpose of this trail-ride was to discover the trails so I figured if I could keep the pace under control it should be reasonably safe. Reasonably.
The terrain was brilliant. There’s a section of the route that skirts an army artillery range so there are warning signs there, but as long as you stay on a trail there won’t be any unexploded shells to ruin your day. There were rocks and routes and ruts and it was a real good mix of hard terrain.