Sunday afternoon 35 or more keen mountain bikers took off from Dumaresq Dam for a ride up Mt Duval. With new faces on wheels today it was a really impressive turnout.

What spectacular weather for an Armidale winter afternoon, we could do with more of those!

Two groups rode off and made a good start, it wasn’t long until Scotty had a flat and held group one up for a short time. Having given the rest of us a few minutes to catch our breath and compare Stravas with Garmins, wrist watches with heart monitors, and then there was even Paul with his bike- mounted music system playing.

As the climb gets steeper the groups spread apart, some of the more experienced riders take off ahead effortlessly making it look easy. While others take a little longer to reach the summit, we get more time to appreciate stuff like the boulders, tree roots and the lovely view.

Getting to the top is a relief, and it makes you feel good, when you’re finally there. No amount of flats or broken chains could have stopped us today, thanks Sonya, never a dull moment with you. For me, a memorable ride on my 11yr old- 18kg Down Hill Giant now heading off to semi-retirement, I can’t wait to take on that hill on a 650B!

For all those who rode to the summit, be very proud of your selves it’s an impressive hill climb from 1075m to almost 1400m in elevation. And that’s why my legs are tired now.

We all loved coming back down, much easier on the legs, I was surprised the whole loop is just about 14km. It felt longer! The last of the riders came back just under 2hours.

Many happy riders enjoyed a delicious sausage sizzle back at the Dam, big thanks to The Meating Place for sponsoring the meat, thanks to all those who manned the BBQ, and thanks to NEMTB and finally thanks to all the keen riders who make days like this very enjoyable. See you next time.