even in the midst of this health nightmare we are still very lucky: we have great mountain bike trails nearby and as long as we don’t cross paths with other people we are still allowed to exercise: that’s of course exactly what we do. being out there is good for our health, good for our mental wellbeing and on top of that it’s always great father-daughter bonding.
maybe it’s all down to the exercise but nat has now successfully conquered all the technical bits of the dam. i’d readily admit that some of the other (let’s call them ‘inofficial’) trails here on the northern beaches are a lot less forgiving but 80% of mountain bikers would still struggle with some of the features on the dam. like the one above: this very small but steep climb used to be fairly easy, now it’s rutted and strewn with rocks, a perfect test of traction and line choice.
i also see many people push up this one: a rock step following a steep though not very technical climb. it’s a bit of a sprint, a little tug on the bars, driving the rear wheel into and the bike up the rock … and all of this needs to happen in perfect combination. just like nat does it.
it’s great to see nat enjoy our rides, arguably the uphill bits a little less than the gravity stuff. i can’t argue there.