I Smell A Riot Goin On.

Sometimes, out riding on muddy trails, you look like you ate shit, even when you didn't. Damoh probably wouldn't get so much dirt in his teeth if he wasn't always smiling while riding.

The Woods Point ride HMC had been planning fell through - due in part to me being slightly under the weather - but this meant that I was supposed to ride a road race today. In anticipation of three days on the SSCX bike, however, I'd taken my road bike in for a service. Two strikes. So I figured that a decent blast on the Yarra Trails would do the trick. So the word went out - 8.30 meetup at the Guide Dogs, 4hrs minimum. Rolling over the Chandler Highway bridge I was happy to see that eight men had answered the call. This included four riders on CX bikes. Those four were going to have a hard day.

The extra time up our collective mud-caked sleeves meant that we were able to keep going into Westerfolds, which must be the raddest place I've ever ridden. Twisty tangly singletrack heaven. The four on CX bikes were now three, and those three were having a rough time of it - with the exception of Jeremy, who was totally schooling me up those hills. Dan's excellent advice had me bashing through the puddles with more confidence, however, and I was able to keep up with him most of the time. Huw, on the other hand, was destroying the trails, and as such spent a lot of time waiting for the rest of us muppets to catch up.

For the first time in recent memory I managed to stay upright on the dirt. Of course, this is a technicality - one time, fucking up my line through a puddle, I lost it altogether and fell on Dan. He didn't seem to mind, and I escaped the day crash free. No small part of me coming out of this ride unscathed was the bike I was riding - in anticipation of this next weekend, DC loaned me a sweet Specialized XC, with gears, fat tyres and suspension front and back. It fucking ruled. Sure, dualies have a reputation for being the bike most chosen by fat old dudes, but man, it made those trails so much easier. And, like DC said when I picked it up, if the technology exists, why not use it?