Day 2 and into some more Perth MTB goodness… After yesterday’s session and high stoke factor, Mix Master Dok decided to shake it up today and change the tune to head to a different area and style of riding for the DN Perth sequel.

Adding to the experience, we hooked up with the local crew to show us the ways in the John Forrest National Park. The boys were amping to get rolling:

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Dok about to see if he can rip open the new Cannasia Jersey as he unloads the steeds

Whilst yesterday’s ride was more of an MTB Park and groomed trails scenario, today was more of an old school set up, natural trails and minimal man made intervention. I therefore had an interesting challenge: Keep up with the locals, on natural trails and focus on where I am going! Usually its pretty obvious, but in today’s wilderness set up I had to stay sharp:

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You asked for extra DRY sir?

It was also a full 90’s flash back as after the warm up loop, it was mainly grunt work to get to the good stuff, which is always the best way to do it… Front load the climbing, then sit on the beach earning 20% on the way home. It was also a chance to meet the local lads, a great crew of guys and what I would call ‘Real Mountain Bikers’. Good bikes, knew how to ride properly and no c*nts, which was gold. Oh, they also loved mountain biking. Along the way we saw some rocks, so I was super stoked when the Dok got out his ‘explaining hand’ to tell us how these rocks worked:

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“Cutting this trail would have been an absolute cock”

Yes, today there was a lot of rock on the menu… Does make for some cool views mind you, this perhaps the tamest rock experience today:

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Detroit ROCK city

Finally after a good work out we were into DH territory and I had to engage the brain to keep up with the boys on their local loop… I am fortunate to be doing so through some more very unique terrain that’s unlike anything I have seen before:

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Its a forest Jimmy, but not as we know it…

Unfortunately, we had our first incident of the day not soon after… Clive taking a low speed tumble and landing awkwardly, ripping open his arm on a dead tree that got a whole lot more dead after Clive directed his wrath on it. Given it was stitches material, a conference was called:

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“How much can we get for an Alu Yeti any way?”

Whilst everyone stood around playing paper/rock/scissors as to who got to amputate Clive’s arm, I decided that I would do what DN does best… yes, move away from the bloodshed, set up my bike on the most rugged looking natural feature and take photos:

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Ignore the MASH unit, focus on the sweet clean lines of the Nomadness

With Clive bugging out with an escort fighter back to base, the remainder of us pushed on… Stink for Clive, but rad for us as the best part of the loop was still to come… Not to mention the blue sky was excellent and riding choice as BRO:

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Just needs a Koala suit

Dok was so pumped he got over excited and decided that he needed to make sweet love to his Jekyll, Todd looked on for tips:

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“yeah, you just rip the back wheel out and get in amongst it, get an iron grip on the saddle though”

I can appreciate a man that loves his machine, the rest of us tried to make small talk and give him some alone time… Worth noting its rather hot when you stop for mechanicals on a Perth ridgeline in summer.

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Nomad appreciation: “its fucking cool…”…. “Yeah, fuck its cool”

Don’t let the beautiful views fool you, this is angry countryside… Rocky, hot and loaded with brush/scrub things that don’t want you there and are very focused on ripping your legs to shreds. They are also backed up with a solid army of Ants and Flies that make a b-line for wounds… Basically an Anti-Human environment unless you’re head to shred the place. I was loving it, especially when it took on a slight Trans Provence feel in places:

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Plenty of scope for fucking a rear D around these parts

We then commenced a series of stop start blow outs… First we had a puncture. No worries, fixed. 300m later, another puncture… And almost at the same time, a 3rd puncture. With more epic blow outs than a Dok singlet, it was about avoiding ant and fly assimilation, which they attempted in earnest. I was then lucky to not add to the list of stops/accidents, with this moment, it may be hard to see, but I misheard the instructions and turns out you couldn’t roll this, thank fuck for Fox 36 forks, this was the moment of realisation:

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Oh… can’t roll it after all… BANG

There was more to come though… The Dok does indeed love ROCK and there was plenty on the menu for the final course of the day. I had to think back to Whistler in July on how to manage this lot:

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If I can’t see the landing point, is that an issue?

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SEND IT!!! No, actually, rolling it in reality…

Awesome loop, great riding crew and another day of LOVING being back on the mountain bike for a change… I did have a few ass puckering moments today, but that’s all part of the MTB Mojo reinvigorating process. As a bonus, we got to hear about Dok’s days as an amateur midwife and his approach to the art of midwifery:

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“Sure, big hands were a downside, but I just reached in like this and ripped it out, whilst whistling”

Thanks to Alex, Nathan (the non-Wolf version), Aaron, Todd and Clive for the cool ride today, heal up fast Clive!

I’m a bit shagged and bandwidth limited, so no video yet, but I can’t wait to get some rolling as the new Go PRO Hero 3+ is absolutely epic. A reminder, you have 2 more days to MAKE Santa get you one… Clock is ticking people, get up on it.

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