An interesting thing happened at Lidsdale today:

Liam, Lee, Rob, Shane, Steve and Bruce turn up for the ride with everyone in good spirits, despite the 0 degree temps at 9:00 a.m. Lee was up and at 'em at 4:30 am to make the ride. Rob was similar?

Plenty of frost on the ground in Lithgow. Ice has formed over all of the puddles in the ground, making crunching noises as you ride over them. Serious mist condenses with each exhale. My knees have turned purple. The 5 other guys look like they are on a Himalayan expedition with all the layers of long clothes they are wearing. See photo:

We wait for Bruce to get ready.

A quick lap of the XC loop to get us started. Now with some decent speed and the blood pumping, we are starting to warm up. Bruce realises he has little in the way of rear shock pressure. We wait again for Bruce. 15 minutes in and Lee has a tumble, bruising a knee and wounding his pride. As a good trooper, he battles on with a sore knee and hand.

We stop to play on some of the jumps. Most get involved and partake in some air action. Rob takes some cool snaps. Posted these yet Rob?? [Ed. yup - they are here] Some good air on these jumps too. Steve shows us how it is done - nice job on some of those ramps Steve, as we shall see. We finish with the XC loop, with temps inching up into high single figures. These boys in the winter thermal clothes look like they are going to expire from heat exhaustion soon. Steve peels off a middle layer "wetsuit" with a snap. What is this? A rider with a wetsuit? Well, literally, it seems like it was. Hard to explain - but you just had to be there.

We commence an "explore" of the pine forest on the opposite side of the Great Western Highway. New trails!!! Just to look for some nice sniggle or whatever. Also to get in some extra kays before Coffs next weekend. It is quite wet and muddy in places, but that's alright. We were able to get in some large hills to really test the legs. From what I noticed, there were more hills than straight sections. Possibly this was what was needed. Still only about 11:00 am and there remains plenty of frost on the ground. Was the ground actually frozen??

We come across a fire trail down-hill with lots of grooves and ruts. Before setting off at the top of the hill, Rob says "I'll ride down there to the water bars and get some photos!" Nice idea. Steve, Liam and Bruce wait for the crowd (Rob, Shane, Lee) to get set up at the water bars. Shane has an innocuous stack at one of the water bars. Howls of laughter at that. Top work Shane!

"Okay, lookout for the ruts past the water bars!" yells Rob and gang. We look at each other thinking they can't be that bad. Steve, Liam and Bruce all have their go, plying some good air over the water bars. Nothing special, but we look around at the ruts and other dangerous parts and think this is pretty cool. Rob wants his go, and passes the camera over so he can have his moment in the spotlight. Just like showbusiness, the spotlight can be harsh, and Rob was no exception. But he was to turn into the star of the day.

Rob barrels down the hill, with 5 captive onlookers, flying some nice air from the largest water bar until the front tips down a little too much and too high in the rear. It surely must be an Endo coming up!! Doing about 25kph, Rob pulls off a sick endo down the fire trail, washing out with a front end lose to boot, with the rear still in the air. But somehow mid-motion he rights himself with both wheels back on the ground and corrects this oh-so-close mega stack in front of the disbelieving onlookers. The 5 of us hoot and clap this amazing save. Rob, meanwhile, had run off into the bushes to make an underwear change. It must be close to the best save I have seen, ever. That was close to serious laceration material. Rob was not wearing any guards.

But despite outward appearances, young Robin is not all skill and guile. We soon come across a frozen water stream in the pine forest which is a few inches deep. Not that hard to traverse? Ummm, possibly, but how about the mud factor? Rob gets his balance crossed up in the mud, and takes a tumble into some zero degree water, chistening his new pristine Shimano riding shoes with mud and slosh, clogging the clips. That was some seriously cold water folks. Thank goodness for warm water proof clothes. The group liked that one!

Continuing the ride around the fire trails, we exit the trails, noticing a large pile of dirt in a paddock. It has a nice angled ramp on the approach side, and a 3 foot vertical drop on the far side. Air time! We all have a jump or a roll off. Nice. Stack of the day goes to Lee for getting some plush front side boost over the drop, landing heavily on the rear, then rebounding the rear supsension, sending him OTB. A classic stack in front of all attending. The photo taken while still "in the air" looked sensational:

Lee, 8.0 for the photo but a 3.0 for the dismount.

A good day, to be repeated again for sure. Thanks guys, I enjoyed these tracks immensely. Something old and new. But to get back out there, it will have to preferably be in summer!