With my solo Boxing Day jaunt out of the way, this year's calendar arrangement gave the very rare opportunity for me to go for a ride with both of my brothers.
Being such a momentous occasion, we arranged a pre ride photo-
Being such a momentous occasion, we arranged a pre ride photo-
In spite of what it looks like, we are all related.
We set off at a reasonable pace, with the middle brother spearing himself into the scenery on the first two tracks. I was already aware i was the only one with taste but i was still surprised to find unanimous disapproval of my favourite track, the aptly named Rollercoaster. All the more so when we went down the immaculately groomed Secrets, the eldest brother furiously berating me for not taking us down "the good track" first.
As he was nursing a hangover, and his nephew who came with him was 14 and overtired, they left early leaving myself and the middle brother to carry on. Unfortunately the muesli bar i took with me wasn't enough to avoid a very solid fringale, but that was only an issue on the climbs.
After checking out a new track over the far side (which involved us crawling our way up a downhill track i had predicted would be "not real steep") we headed back to Rollercoaster, as we were both on borrowed, new bikes and i was keen to take advantage of proper suspension.
It started off well, although my brother on a 29" hardtail was going too slowly for my liking and i yelled at him to go faster. Just after that, one of my pedals hit a log (the Norco i was riding having a very low BB) and all hell broke loose.
It was like i had just run over a landmine, the rear end violently launched into the air (the rear wheel actually ripped clean out of the frame, thankfully with no damage) and i was hurled off into the scrub. My helmet got caught on a tree, requiring that i unclip the straps and leave it hanging there before i could get up, but i somehow emerged with only couple of little scratches. As i called out to let my brother know i was ok, i spotted him limping up the track towards me. Seems he overcooked it just a few corners further on and had himself become intimately acquainted with terra firma, resulting some days later in a magnificent bruise on his lower thigh.
At that point we called it a day, and when we got back to the Tinbeerwah Fire Station, our work colleague who had so generously loaned us his valuable bikes (only for us to do our best to scatter pieces of said bikes all over Wooroi State Forest) was waiting with beer, Coke, and delicious home made desserts! Top marks Butch!
Unfortunately, 2015 did not end on that happy note.
Lucky, the little goat who could, somehow managed to break one of her horns (most likely getting caught in a fence while heading somewhere she shouldn't have been). She was in good spirits and the wound had clotted, but to be on the safe side the old man took her to the vet to have it removed and things tidied up. In spite of the operation going perfectly, less than an hour later she had gone to the big trampoline in the sky. I've felt like crying a lot in 2015, but this was one of only a handful of occasions i actually did.
But that was 2015, and now that that absolute arsehole of a year is done with, i am looking forward to bigger and much better things. Full details on those things tomorrow.
Fair Winds,
LDR.