Paul Petch

The Wharfedale Track – wet n’ wild

After recruiting a small group of crazies from the Derailed forum we headed out to the infamous Wharfedale Track near Oxford yesterday. After getting lost on route (again :)) Spence and I were on course for lateness as usual but made it in time. We all checked over our gear- threw on knee pads and hit the trail. For the first few KM’s I was all over the place and not feeling the love at all- but once I let out some air out of the Eskars and PIKES- the magic started to happen. After slipping and sliding on everything, the Wolf then turned into a bike on a mission and it was phenomenal ride out there. I rode more sections than I’ve ever ridden before and in wet conditions that would make baby cheeses cry.  In fact, I was pretty chuffed with myself as I carved up the track as I’ve not ridden at the Wharfedale with so much slop and wet before- and it was brilliant fun! Yes, there were many a ‘choco star fish moment’ but having to concentrate so much with fear of some major suffering seemed to provide a really good buzz and really pushed my riding skills and stamina to their limits for more than 3 hrs (and often exceeded them lol). Nice.

Following Tony’s son Kieran was a great experience too, as he is a seriously fast and skilled rider who set a blistering pace all day. What is even more astonishing is that Kieran’s bike of choice for the wet, muddy, greasy and saturated conditions was a Giant Anthem, small block eights at about 45PSI & a set of Rockshox Tora forks. Like I’ve said time and time again- you can buy all the gear and bling, but it always comes down to skills and fitness at the end of the day and this young bloke had fu%*ing bags of it :) I thought Ben riding wet tracks on Crossmarks was the shizza……but 2.1 small block eights? Far out!

After arriving at the hut the sand flies were literally eating us alive and we soon got back on the bikes for the return leg. It was on the way back that I really found my groove and seemed to pull some energy from my reserves to climb and ride out like a goat. You know when you have one of those rides where everything just works…..well that is what the 1.5hr ride back to the carpark was like. I had ridden out bloody well, but this time it was totally off the hook. Yes, I had a moment where a line led me off the track and took me a few minutes to drag myself and bike uo a 6+ metre bank- but hey- that’s Wharfedale for you…shit happens. What happens at Wharfedale- stays at Wharfedale right? :D

I just seemed to climb the technical stuff so well that by the time I reached the Saddle- I had made a fair gap. After rugging up to keep warm, I used to time to have a good feed and a stretch. I also fixed up my right side SPD cleat- as it was moving about a fair bit after a recent revision. Hmmmm. The highlight of the return journey (and there were many…) has to be the downward section from the saddle. There was literally water running down this section of track and it was rutted, greasy, rooty and down right NASTY. I basically rode it brake free and had one of those special moments where time seems to come to a stand still- with trees and nature just blurring past me with mud and water splashing up into my face – I rode it so so fast that I had goose bumps on goose bumps at the bottom. Spencer tried to follow my lines and even he commented on how fast that I rode it  which means alot as he is fast going down (ooo-er). It was a special moment for sure.

I was still really focused and my mind was alert that I found myself launching off stuff and landing onto off camber and wet roots…which is a first for me!! I so over cooked so many parts of the track yesterday that I was lucky to get away with alot of the riding I was doing- but the Wolf just loves to over cook stuff….so beit :) Arriving back at the car, Kieran was waiting and like me, feeling rather rooted but buzzing! 20mins or so later, Spencer and co. rocked up with grins all around. Phew……. what a day!

The Wharfedale track has its own magic and a special place in my heart as it was the first track that I rode in NZ that truly pushed every part of my fitness and technical skills back in June 08 where I met Both Zane and Brent- it then provided one of the most memorable days with Spencer and Craig I’ve had with mates on a bike ride. I also met Ben & Roury on the Wharfedale Track too…….so as you can see this track is very special. Lets hope the crew I rode with yesterday can have a few more rides as the season kicks in!

Cheers fellas! Now I’m off for some bloody EPIC bike washing…..and hobbling about the place like I’m 79.

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates.

Related posts:

1. Return to the Wharfedale Track
2. Wharfedale track meets the Wolf
3. Mountain biking at the Wharfedale Track
4. Return to the Wharfedale Track
5. Man down! at the Wharfedale Track

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 20th, 2009 at 9:06 am and is filed under Bike Rides, Featured and tagged with epic trails, spencer, trails & riding, wharfedale. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.