05/06/2016 Mapleton Community Ride Summary
Following the wet and miserable Saturday; Sunday brought with it the westerly winds at a brisk 20km/h which on a cold winters day will bore into your bones. Four of us (Michael, Jens, Steve and myself) were keen enough to venture out on the shortened route at 7:30a on the dot thankful for the little extra warmth granted by the winter starting time.
The Fat Bike Ninja
The usual route out to the Oaky Creek lookout and back would have been quite muddy and the winds would have caused a lot of debris to be strewn across the tracks so the route was shortened to just include the dirt road and the magic mile (Turpentine track). The tracks weren’t that bad but there was a few largish sticks laying around, one of which I caught with my ankle and dragged it for a few meters before it decided to let go – that tickled.
After finishing the magic mile and making our way back along Mapleton Forest Road we came across a Nick and then Graham on their MTBs, then Murray, Chris and Gavin on gravel/CX bikes. Funny who you bump into out in the sticks. They had started their ride at Yandina and were probably aiming for long ride fraught with climbs.
As this stage I was nursing a rear tyre losing pressure and coffee was in mind so we went straight back to Mapleton and to Renata’s cafe for a coffee and a chat. By this time the skies had cleared up a bit so the views out to the coast where rather pleasant.
A short 1hr ride consisting of 13km and 225m climbing was just enough to get get warmed up and loosen the joints. Hardly any mud along the route so I’ll call it a success and much better than cancelling the ride outright.
