Diesel: Solo expeditions

When I head off on my solo adventures, I tend to find myself in locations I had never intended - like in the company of this holy old front end loader at the top of some hill somewhere...

I was pretty happy to be on the trails today after a rather unexpected opportunity arose. I parked up the top of Ridge Road at the intersection of Westerling (Watsons Creek), intending to explore a little bit more of the area than I had before.

After conquering Mario's One Hill track without a foot out of the pedals (always good), I headed up Scholtz Road into the bush to explore. The road ran out but I kept climbing and ended up in this junkyard on private property where I kept a good eye out for the farmer. I always remember very clearly the stories of the farmer up near Harietville who used to come out with a shotgun and chase any hanglider pilot who dared to land in his paddocks. For that reason, I always ensured I carried the altitude to get me out of trouble in the Ovens Valley near Harietville!

Once back on roads I had studied, I did a good 1 hour climbing loop before heaading back into the familiar single track. O'sheas Road/Track, Mine Shaft Road and One Tree Hill Road were all part of the hit-out.

So I spent half my ride wondering where I was and the other half wondering at how lucky I was to have such a beautiful place to ride so close to home. I mean look at that photo on the left - it's magic for a mountain biker!

I've had a couple of really crap weeks on the bike, struggling to get rythm, struggling with the man-flu and generally feeling like I didn't deserve to be there (yeah... basically feeling sorry for myself!).

Once I got back onto the Rob Roy loop I was riding well within the zone and with too much confidence for a ride out on my own. Luckily I'd thought to ring my lovely mum on my way out there to inform her of the trails I'd be on... "If I don't ring you by 6, ring my mountain bike mates and they'll know where to look."

127 hours is raw in the memory... I'll never go out without telling anyone again. Need an EPURB.

Two more laps of Mario's track (without a foot out of the pedals - always good) and then up through the Sugarloaf loop had me back at the car with 3.5 hours under the belt.

Sometimes the best way to discover this country is on your own. Love it!