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The Wharfedale has always proved to be a popular outing for the CMBC, and this Sundays ride was no exception - with 14 turning up.
It was hot; the heat wave that had ravaged Victoria was baking the Canterbury Plains. However, riding in the hills under the shade of the native bush was ultimately the place to be on a day like this – up and out of the lowland heat, under the shade of native beech trees. Getting to the Wharfedale by car usually requires the negotiation of a couple of deepish streams - via fords. But today they'd been reduced to a trickle – exposing an assortment of stones for low slung cars to negotiate.  Tackling one of the numerous stream crossings Now, I've ridden the track a couple of times and this was the driest I'd ever seen it – it's not a track to ride in winter, as it holds the water and the mud. As a result, there's lots of drainage channels strewn across the track – built using half rounds and constructed in the worst fashion for mountain bikes. We had a couple of new faces for the ride, both keen road cyclists with lots of power and stamina. Luckily, those Wharfedale tree roots held them back from the front of the pack.  Getting to grips with the chain breaker There were a few technical problems on this ride: Clark snapped a chain on the first wee rise up from the Car park; there was a severe pedal malfunction soon after; Steve had at least a couple of pinch flats from those awful half rounds (I think his single speed will be converted to tubeless fairly soon); and yet again I bent bent the rails on my seat, leaving me with the feeling that I've got to lose more weight or get a full-sus... (ED: it'll be easier to get a full-sus) This year no-one ran over those Waratahs that are nailed into the ground half way along the track. I think enough riders remembered the exploding tire incident from last year and they were all pointed out in due course for the tailing riders.  The goal is to ride stream then attempt the tricky switcback. Lunch was a quite affair under the shade of the trees at the Saddle. The original ride plan was to ride from the Saddle to the hut. But after a brief talk with another group of riders, it was deemed too far to ride for the amount of time left in the day. Everyone enjoyed the ride back, and piled into Oxford for coffee and snacks Notes
In order to ride to the hut – set off from the Belfast pub before 8:30. Riders
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