Gear Up Girl MTB Weekend Canberra May '11

Monday 16 May 2011

Just back from a weekend in Canberra, who says it's too cold to ride down there in May and June!? I must admit that it was a brisk 2C when we came home from the pub on Saturday night but ALL 6 riders were up at 6:30 ready to ride on Sunday morning, this is the FIRST time ever that we have all ALL riders up for the cobweb cleaner ride!

It is always hard to sum up a weekend in such a short space. In short, it could not have been a better weekend! The riders were amazing, so excited to be out riding, hungry to learn, full of stories and laughs and fearless!!

I know that you should never have 'favourites' but I will just say that this group was one of the best. From the first ride out at Sparrow it seemed like they were already best friends. Many new skills were learned during the session, an hours worth of MTB skills and then we were out on trail to ride that amazing single track. Once again, Paul Cole and co continue to keep those 12k of trails in amazing condition. A few kangaroos kept us company on the trails but other than that we had the whole place to ourselves.

Coming back to the bus and having lunch in the sun was just a perfect way to end session one. After saying good bye to Peter Dowse, our MTB skills session leader out at Sparrow, we were off to Dickson to stop for a coffee and grab some extra gloves at Mal Adjusted.

Check in at the AIS and the girls only needed 15 minutes to turn around and be back out on their bikes, dare I say a new record!? Then it was off to check out the trails of Bruce Ridge, now legalised and a HEAP of fun! The trail fairies were out recently and have done some altering of some sections, all to make it that much better of a MTB ride site!

We rode until sundown, thanks to Hiran from Radical Lightsfor the demo lights. Again they worked better than anything else we have ever tried. Lighting the way for us all to make it home safe and sound.

Massages on offer, all you can eat dinner, rooms with the heaters on and a trip the pub round out our regular Saturday evening.

Come Sunday, as mentioned above, all riders were front and centre for the early ride. Back over to Bruce Ridge to check out some of the other trails that are out there. After and hour of flowing single track it was time to head back for a delicious hot breakfast.

Time to head off to the amazing trails of Mt Stromlo. The car park was pretty full for a brisk Sunday morning, true testament to the toughness of MTB'ers! Some time to work on our skills around the base of the mountain saw the ladies pick up some more skills. Before you know it we were off on trail again. There is a loop that we take in before heading up that has some good examples of what you'll see around Mt S. One being a see-saw. I had pulled up near the run into the see-saw to let the riders know that it was approaching. Next thing you know one rider is giving it a go!! Like a walk in the park, she was calm and composed, got to the top of the see and sawed down to the bottom! IMPRESSED is one word that comes to mind. To prove it not a fluke she did it again as did some of the other ladies, impressed once again.

Time to take off some of the layers we had all applied and the to the top! The ladies ALL made it to the top of Stromlo and with one big hurrah we celebrated reaching the top. The trip down the mountain/hill saw many smiles and times where the ladies put into practice what they had learned.

Another lunch in the glorious sun and then back to the AIS for a shower and back to Sydney. Phew - what a weekend, thank you to all those who came along for so many great memories. This truly was a great weekend and I'm already looking forward to our next GUG trip in September. Before that trip we have a few more on the cards, especially out Australian Mountain Bike Magazine trip. For more details check out our home page.