by Colin on Sat 6/Aug/11 10:25pm
by TheMantis on Sun 7/Aug/11 3:25pm
by thelongwalk on Sun 7/Aug/11 4:53pm
by znomit on Sun 7/Aug/11 6:59pm
by znomit on Tue 16/Aug/11 9:32pm
by sifter on Tue 16/Aug/11 9:43pm
znomit wrote:Reasonably epic ride on saturday.
Headed out at 3:30 for a late afternoon ride up K-loop. Nice run over greens road and up the back track to the forest.
Been two years since I've been up there and the top is being logged so not really any idea where to go, so I just followed the bike tracks. Found a familiar looking fence line and followed a track along that( there were a few bike tyre marks). It was going down which was the right direction, and plenty of tape on trees marking the trail. The track slowly dwindled and turned into a narrow steep tramping track, which abruptly ended about 2m from the stream. Whoops. It was a trapping track that went nowhere. Was getting dark, and my front light runs off the dynamo so heading back up the dense track wasn't an option so I pushed through the bush and dropped down into the water, figuring I would be pretty close to the start of the track.
Hmm, didn't look too familiar. No sign of the tramping track on the other side of the either. Was now around 6 and getting dark so I headed downstream as fast as I could. Clambering over boulders and wading through knee deep water, made good progress. Suddenly found myself in a pool deeper than me. Dived under to grab the rear light off the bike, when I came up I found the bike wasn't sinking so swam with it for a few kicks and then found I could touch the bottom again. Parked the bike at the next bank and marked the location on my garmin. Checked my seat bag and cursed not having a small flashlight in there.
Took off again using my rear light to show the way (barely). After a few more swims the cold was getting to me so I decided to stay out of the deep water. I found a grassy spot and wrung out my clothes, ate something put on my jacket, and started to shiver. Wondered how long before the Mrs started to miss me, and how long would search and rescue take to find me. Too long.![]()
Suddenly realized I could save my track on the garmin 500 and then pull it back up as a course, which would give me a map. This took a while with my hands violently shaking, but eventually found I was only about 800m from the carpark, and I knew there was a picnic area closer. The moon was just rising over the hill so I could make my way over the rocks easily and there were no deep pools. Before long I saw the picnic table, and soon I was back at the carpark. 2 min up the road I was picked up by a couple of guys driving up for a night ride and they took me home. Champs!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106056277
The Mrs thought I was having a sneaky long ride and avoiding the bed/bath chaos with the kids
Went back on sunday to scope out the bike recovery, saw I had gone past 3 or 4 easy entry spots to the track, and one picnic table. Unfortunately I had parked the bike a long way from anywhere so would require a few swims to get it out.
Felt up to the job today so went out armed with a wetsuit, lots of polypro, a thermos of coffee and a keen sense of adventure.
Got in about 200m upstream and managed to avoid getting in more than waist deep. Pretty bloody cold with the snow melt. Bike was just as I left it!. Took out the spare tube, inflated and cable tied it to the frame. Amazed my pump still worked.
Decided to haul it back upstream and found a nearby bank I could clamber up. Wheels were easy but the frame was a bit tricky to climb with.
Big ring a bit bashed up and my headlight is a little damp (still running) but otherwise bike in good nick.
by VERT on Tue 16/Aug/11 9:58pm
by properzel on Sun 21/Aug/11 6:30pm
by Colin on Sun 21/Aug/11 7:42pm
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