Sunday 15th July 2012
Finally, a mountain biking post for the BCS girls!!
Roz took a bunch of five mountain biking ladies out through the bush around Maiden Gully, on the outskirts of Bendigo.  These ladies are definately not new to cycling, but they are quite new to the world of mountain biking. 
The idea for the ride was for Roz to guide the ladies on a loop that they can then rediscover another day and to also offer up hints and tips for bettering their technical skills and overall confidence whilst riding on the dirt.
The ride was a resounding success!

Initially, we all rode as a group along some bitumen roads to access the bush, which gave us time to warm up and enjoy some early morning banter.  Our first challenging section came at about 20minutes into the ride and to describe this, one could say the valley looks like a big dipper...........and VERY rocky!  Roz gave an example of how to descend and then came back to help and coach each of the girls to get down.......... These chicks are impressive!  So we had an 80% success, (only one lady decided it wasn't for her); at the novice stage in my mountain biking career, I doubt I would have attempted what these girls achieved.  We regrouped at the top of the big dipper after walking up the (rocky!) incline.  Then there was the lovely meandering of singletrack, a few more rocks, some quartz rocks and of course the trees........ onwards towards Stumpy Gully.  Some open fire trail arriving at the big dam which is the start and finish of the fun loop that we call the Stumpy Gully Loop! The loop is mostly single track with rocks!  And puddles.  And rocks.  Not too much climbing - a good track to cruise on and also a good track to rip it up if you want to push yourself.
Everyone was having a ripper time.  The ride ended up being a little over two hours with numerous stops to regroup and share "zen" mantras for getting through tricky sections.
Things like...........Breathe!  Let it roll.  Pedal.  Feather the brakes. Push, Push,Push, Pedal, Pedal, Pedal.

 The only way to finish up is to say that if we measured this ride by smiles it would rate 10 out of 10.......

P.S.  Stay tuned for another ride in late August or early September...........Date to be announced.