Sunday 11th of November

Lest we forget that today was the day the 1st world war finished.

Tinkerbell, Texas, Dozer and Phatboy met at mine and we headed off up the Crapaki.  Very warm until the end of the flat section and from there we had a breeze.  After the first gate Phatboy took off and the rest of us followed basically.  We all passed other riders on the way up which indicates we were not the  slowest.  Yippee.  Everyone made it in under 30 minutes or 40 minutes from mine.  We then went up and over Vernon and we were amazed how many others actually took the road.  Cleaned this quite nicely before flowing around the traverse track.  Just after the half way point we bumped into Sandals and Helmut. They joined us. We then continued around regrouping at Vic then dropping down Thompsons, negotiating our way past a group of boy scouts on a hike.  At Sign of the Kiwi some stopped for a quick snack and I decided to toodle up to Marleys expecting them to easily catch me.  Sandals and Texas joined me.  Then we lost Texas so we continued.  As we climbed up Marleys acess I saw them beginning the Worsley rd.  Waited a bit then decided to continue on down and start the grind back up.  I enjoyed Marleys getting good air on all the bumps and jumps.  I was back at the top of and had put my warm top on before the others showed up.  In the end there was some chain breakage and a couple of regroups.  We then split into two groups.  Phatboy, Texas and I went one way and the others went the B-Line.  Our group took the deepest, gnarliest rut we could find and followed it down.  Good technical training and tough on the upper body.  We regrouped at the bottom all smiles and then popped into Tinks place for drinks.  Then it was separation time as we went home by differing routes.  I did discover that my tyres will need replacing before any riding is done on them