One step beyond

Emilio and I went looking for a new xc mountain biking route in Glenlyon today. I've run some parts of it before, biked one part, but never made a circuit. I hadn't expected the snow and at the best of times this is a route that would test the fittest of bikers, I think its fair to say that we were found wanting.

I was found wanting tougher thighs, bigger gears, bigger lungs, winter chains and warmer shoes.

We biked in and when we got to the snow line (which we hadn't expected) we were more or less pushing our bikes. When we got to the top (and this is where I've not linked things up before) we took a bearing to the forest in Glen Rannoch where we'd pick up a forest track. As we pushed on it became clear that we were at risk of getting engulfed in a blizzard at fairly high altitude without a well defined path: we turned back. We stopped in a bothy for a warm drink just in time for a squall to whip up. We waited for a bit of lull and headed out. It was pretty cold and the descent was snowy but great fun. I had to stop and chip some ice off my pedals only to realise that my rear disk was either smoking or steaming.

I think that in better conditions there's a bikable route there, maybe we'll be back, round about May.