Day 3 March 23rd.

The last day dawned cool again but clear and sunny,and again we were slow out of bed. Breakfast down, bike gear on and ride down to the shop again for proper coffee and talk about plans for the day. The plan was for us to all ride as a group for an hour or so and warm up on the easier trails we were on the day before. I was feeling much better about riding today after remembering I had come here to have fun and I didn’t need to ride black diamond trails to have fun!! With this improved attitude and thinking about the 1% theory I concentrated on keeping off my front break and looking through the corners (actually that’s 2 things but never mind) I found my mojo and was smiling and keeping up with the front group on really sweet flowy trails.

Last day group photo.

At the trail head we split into our groups again and headed off in different directions, it was at this stage I realised my left peddle felt wrong. I cleaned some mud and rocks out of my cleats and the peddle and rode on for a bit but it still felt wrong. I tipped Rocky upside down for a closer inspection and discovered the peddle on a very wrong angle to the crank!Yesterday morning when we put our peddles back on after the trip from the You Yangs I only finger tightened them, planning to do it up properly at the shop but forgetting to. I remember having a peddle strike the day before on that side so because the peddle wasn’t in properly it must have bent when I hit the rock. We decided to leave it as removing it would strip the thread in the crank and the peddle would fall out. Unfortunately it fell out anyway and after a couple of failed attempts to keep it in I had to admit defeat and figure out what I was going to do. We were quite a few kms from town and I didn’t fancy a one peddle/walking trip back. Su made the decision to ring Jess, luckily she answered and she said ring the shop and get Sandy (bike mechanic and very easy on the eye!) to bring me a bike.

After a 30min wait my Knight in Shining Armour turned up with a Giant Trance oh well beggars can’t be choosers? We took off again and after no more than 5mins Ainslie from Brisbane sung out to stop as her head stem had come loose and the handle bars were floating around. Luckily this was a simple tighten back up job and we were off again. We rode till our stomachs made us head back to the shop for a beautiful roast veg and chicken salad made by Jess that morning. Oh and more coffee!

On the trail repairs.

The Trance (not that keen)

After lunch Su took our little group back up to the last section of Red Carpet for a last little fling down which I nailed and was grinning from ear to ear at the bottom. Unfortunately we didn’t have time for another go as we had to get packed up and back to Melbourne to get home. The rest of the afternoon was a blur of bike dismantling, packing, showering and organised chaos especially as the other group of girls was quite late in getting back. We drove away from the retreat right on time for the 2 hour trip back to the airport.

The bus trip was a hoot especially as we were drinking beer and cider that we couldn’t take on the plane, very classy I know! At the airport I was brought back down to earth when Qantas tried to charge me excess baggage that I had already payed for and after an eternity to sort it out I actually feared missing the plane. I made it to the gate just as boarding started so had to say a hasty goodbye to the other girls travelling back to Hobart. Liz and I had an excellent trip back on the plane especially after the 2 big glasses of free wine, but what happened on the plane stays on the plane!

Overall it was the most brilliant weekend and something I wouldn’t have seen myself doing 12months ago. Col is very keen to go and we will definitely plan a trip so I can show him all the fun. The most surprising and somewhat amazing thing I found on this trip was that out of the 10 women who went all but 1 was over 40 and most of us were well over 40 including a 51yr old! Might explain the amount of Voltaren consumed on the trip though!

http://www.rideforrest.com.au/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XD-vSyottM (not us but you get the idea)