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My New Toy

I bought myself a new toy. So what is it? Wel it is an iBlue-737 Bluetooth GPS receiver.

My GPS

Two shots of the mount I made out of an old Vistalite light mount, a piece of aluminium plate, some velcro and a zip tie (For my own peace of mind).

Some specs:

Antenna

  • Receiver Frequency: 1575.42 MHz (L1 band) C/A code
  • Antenna Type: Built-in Active Antenna

    GPS Receiver
  • Technology: MTK MT3301 + MT3179
  • Satellite Measure Used: 32
  • Tracking Sensitivity: -158 dBm
  • Battery Life: 25 hours with built-in rechargeable battery.

    Bluetooth
  • Standard: Bluetooth V1.2
  • Profile: Serial Port Profile (SPP)
  • Range: Up to 15 meters

    Time to First Fix (TTFF)
  • Reacquisition: 0.1 second typical
  • Warm Start: 36 seconds typical
  • Cold Start: 39 seconds typical

    Accuracy of Position Fix
  • Horizontal: Without aid: 3.0m 2D-RMS; <3m CEP(50%) without SA(horizontal); DGPS (WAAS, EGNOS, MSAS, RTCM):2.5m
  • Velocity: Without aid: 0.1m/s; DGPS (WAAS, EGNOS, MSAS,RTCM): 0.05m/s

    Receiver Configuration
  • Baud Rate: 4800/9600/14400/19200/38400/57600/115200 bps
  • Output Message: NMEA 0183 v3.01(Default: GGA, GSA, GSV, RMC)

    Physical Characteristics
  • Dimension: 72.2 x 46.5 x 20mm
  • Weight: 64.7g

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Newcastle Trails

Tour of Newcastle

Planning process

Newcastle Foreshore (02 Feb 2008)

I rode around Newcastle's foreshore on my Single Speed (SS) mountain bike, today and enjoyed the scenery. Below is the map of the ride.

Motionbased map

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Glenrock on Friday the 26th of October 2007

Glenrock Trail Map. Google Earth files for the Northern, Southern and Dudley sections.

A small Photo Album of a ride I did with Reece Guihot (CORC Advocacy Officer) and Alex Paterson.

Images of a Glenrock ride taken by Rob Parbery.

  • Climbing the steep rollin at Killingworth.
  • Descending the rollin picturea One and Two.
  • Jumping into the Rollin.
  • Taking a break at Australia's biggest plastic shit pipe in Glenrock. Facing away in red is Hilsty, in the grey shirt is Craig Armour, I am in the loud RGV shirt. I don't know the two ladies.

Glenrock 13 April 2008

Went for a biggish ride (39Km's) today on my single speed mountain bike. It was a beautiful morning and I thought I would go for a bit of explore and take some Images for Wikipedia and a Google Earth map, that Leonard 'Lenny' Allen is making. I back track a few times on this ride to sample different bits of trail, that couldn't be linked up any other way.

One of the things I wanted to check out is a trail called BJ's surprise and the work that the trail fairies have done. I like their concept, but the execution has a lot to be desired. I would like to go in there and do some legitimate trail work and fix this before it becomes an environmental disaster.

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Killingworth

Killingworth. A map to the site.

I got an invite last night from Matthew Van Hilst ((Hilsty) a mate of mine) to go riding at Killingworth today. So obviously I skipped road riding to attend this, as it was going to be way more fun! When I got there, I found out that it was a group of 4 work colleagues and including myself, made 5.

Hilsty had nominated me as the ride leader as he was sure I knew the trails better than anyone else in the group (evidently he was correct). There was only one problem with this and that was, that 3 of the riders were way fitter than Hilsty and myself and wanted to go like a bat out of hell from the start.

The guns:
Scotty Weavers (Scotty) on a new GT Force (Very nice looking bike);
Ryan Morgan (Morgs) on a new Scott MC-20 (Very nice looking bike); and
Jarrod Hughes (Hughesy) on a new Norco Fluid (Very nice looking bike).

Then cap guns:
Matthew Van Hilst; and
Myself.

Unfortunately the weather and ignorant MXers have gone in and ruined most of the trails now, so it is not as much fun as it used to be and it was still pretty muddy.

Mud on my bike (post ride)

I'm not sure if everyone had a crash or not, but I know I had a nice front wheel washout, which the rest of the guys thought I was railing a berm, until I went head first into the bush (how embarrassment). Fortunately the only damage was to my pride! But the winner on the day, would have to be Scotty for having two crashes in the same spot. The first time he clipped a tree, just as he was going onto the bridge to cross the creek. He speared into the creek and had a swim and a mouthful of water. Every time from this point forward, when came up to a bridge, Morgs would take the piss out of Scotty about whether he was going to fall off. Scotty was less than impressed when I took the group back over his nemesis for the second time as we were coming back. Scotty clipped the same tree once again, but because the tree was at the edge of the creek, he just fell off the side of the bridge and down the embankment and couldn't move as he was pinned down by his bike :D.

Here is the motion based map if you are interested in the facts and figures

Everyone had a blast, but Scotty complained about how bad he smelt after going in the drink! Total distance was just shy of 19Km's

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Awaba

Under construction

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Congewai Valley (The Watagans Mountains National Park)

The ride in Congewai Valley had to abbreviated, due to our original route being overgrown. But I am sort of glad that it was. Let me explain:

It started out with 10 riders showing up at the designated start point high up in the Watagan Mountains National Park. There was a broad range of bikes, with one guy (Michael) even sporting a new Cannondale Cyclo-Cross (CX) bike. I feel that Michael was truly out of his league for this particular ride, due to a lack of experience, gearing and sheer steepness of this ride, but I give it to him for determination as he completed the whole ride (albeit, I suspect a lot on foot).

The first part of the ride was undulating Fire Trail (FT) which varied in height about 100m. We stopped at a couple lookout points to check out the views and they were spectacular. The first lookout point had us admiring the views to the North. The countryside fell away steeply from our advantage point, down into the Hunter Valley towards Paxton. Then, just before the second side trip, we had 3 riders catch up with us at the turn off to the Congewai Valley lookout. This group consisted of husband and wife, Grant and Helen, who were former committee members of HMBA and have recently moved back to Newcastle after time in England and Melbourne. The third person in the group was Gianni. They managed to get lost trying to find the start point and were just happy to find us. Fortunately for them, we had to stop and wait for Michael on his CX (he was finding his feet in the new world of off road riding), or they may have never found us. The second scenic stop opened up to the Southern vista into the Congewai Valley. Everyone was impressed with the view some 300m or so below, that was until we informed them that is where we will be soon. It was probably at this stage that the penny dropped for some, as it was a long way down and a long way back up out of the valley (little did we know how hard it would be at the other end).

We then continued traversing along the ridge, slowly ascending to the highest point of the ride which was approximately 510m. It was at this point that we may have left the FT and ended up on the Great North Walk. The descent into the valley became so steep; that at some sections we all had to get off our bikes and walk some sections, but as we got near the bottom it formed some of the nicest Single Track (ST) I have ridden in quite a while. Everyone appeared to enjoy the ST section as they all had a smile on their dial when they finally made it out to the road at Congewai.

We then traversed across the valley, which was relatively flat but unique, as the surrounding cliffs gave the feeling that you were in a lost valley. I pointed out to the people around me the jutting peninsula of land far above that we were standing on the end of not an hour ago. We soon we came up to our first water hazard, which was a causeway. If I remember correctly John, closely followed by Gianni and myself took up the challenge and rode across. It was approximately 500mm deep and had a loose pebbly bottom. I thought the water was nice and refreshing on my feet and legs and I enjoyed the challenge of making it all the way across (about 5 or 6m). The rest of the group had sited a bridge on a farmer’s property, so they may have jumped the fence and used that. The next causeway was even deeper and only John and Gianni (IIRC) rode across this one. I opted to try my balancing act skills along a submerged log, whilst the rest of the group went down stream a bit and started to throw their bikes to the Sean on the other side. He did well catching all the bikes. They then took a run up and jumped the 2m wide stream.

We were soon at the bottom of the climb out of the valley. Brad (BJ) informed us of the issue with our original plan to ascend Rope road was overgrown as he had camped at the starting point over night and had done a bit of exploring (that is how he knew it was overgrown). He suggested an extreme 4wd track, which the 4 wheel drivers called Rope road, but it isn't its correct name. The track started reasonably steep, but then BJ said don't worry it gets worse and he was right. We first encountered lots of big puddles, which we had to find a way around. Some of them, you could ride around, but others you couldn't. This started to affect our psyche and became very tiring, as there were a number of steep climbs between puddles. It was somewhere along here that John disappeared up ahead, but he was soon back saturated from head to toe as he went over the bars into one of the larger puddles.

Then the climbing became steeper and we were off the bikes more often. We eventually dropped down into a crystal clear creek crossing, where we took a long break and washed all the mud off ourselves and our bikes. The water in this creek was a godsend as it was cool and refreshing. John’s bald pate became the landing zone for a dragon fly and the photographers rushed to get a photo. The only downfall of our brief respite was the leaches! After I explained, why I don’t sit down in leach infested areas, a couple people soon envisaged what I was talking about and quickly stood up!

All too soon, we were on our way again and immediately the route took a turn for the worse. You were lucky to ride ten metres at a time as it became extremely steep. Then believe it or not, it got even worse and became a muddy, slippery, hike-a-bike. Each small flat you made it to, you had to take a break, because of the sheer exertion needed to get yourself and you bike up the side of the mountain. We were soon spread quite a distance along this part of the trail. It was demoralising! I am unsure how far we ascended, but you can pick it out on this Elevation Graph.

Grant started to suffer bad cramps by the time he reached the creek crossing and after we started the final pitch out of this abyss, I did not see him again. I can only imagine what physical torment he went through, trying to extricate himself and his bike. The majority of us waited at the junction of the trails at the top for everyone, but it was a long wait. Eventually Grant’s missus (Helen) made it up and said Michael and Grant were struggling and she was off to get the car to pick her husband up at the top of the climb.

Those that were left, crawled back to the cars strung out along the trail, with each of us going through our own personal hell. Most of us ran out of water halfway up the climb and some riders didn't even bring any food. A couple participants learnt a valuable lesson about adventure rides, like bringing food. Fortunately my water supply lasted to the top of the climb, but it was then a slow ride back to the car. Eventually we all managed to get back to the car in dribs and drabs. As we packed up the cars we all talked about the agony of the climb. Seeing as we were out so long (roughly 6 hrs) we were starving, so most of us headed straight to the closest McDonalds. I started to food bonk on the drive out and became light headed and was shaking a lot. Food couldn't come quick enough, for me.

At some stage on the climb out we learnt that Sam Hill was riding up at the Monkey Track, which was just a few kilometres from our start point, but the mini epic took so long, that by the time we passed the start of the Monkey Track, there was only a few Down Hillers left. I wondered if Sam would turn up tomorrow at Canberra and win the DH, with no practice!

All up, we seemed to enjoy the ride, all the way up until leaving the Congewai Valley. But we all went through our own personal hell dealing with the hike-a-bike out. During the ride, there were only 2 over the bar experiences and they suffered minor scratches, I got stung by something and Jordan punctured in the final 3km's back to the car.

I am / we are shattered! Total ride was 35Km's with 3 hrs of riding time.

Riders on the trip:
Jason Hewitt ((HMBA social ride organiser) on a Jamis XCR)
Brad “BJ” Jefferies ((Chief Navigator) on a cracked Merida)
Matthew Van Hilst (on a Giant Reign)
John from CCMTB (on a Giant Reign)
Anthony from Patterson (On a diamondback Mission)
Rob Murray (On a Giant)
Jordan (Specialized hard tail)
Helen (Specialized duallie)
Grant (Specialized duallie)
Gianni
Michael (Cannondale Cylco-cross)
Sean; and (Giant VT)
Myself; Mark “Macr” McIntosh (Santa Cruz Bullit)

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Caves Beach / Murray Beach Pt 1

Yesterday, whilst trying to extract Jase out of the mud and water at Killingworth, Jase invited me to go on an exploratory down Caves beach, Murray Beach and Catherine Hill Bay area. Tranceup (Steve) and Jase were doing a scouting trip to see firstly if there is anything worth riding and if we can work out a plan to create a loop, for an upcoming HMBA social ride. Late last night I decided that I would go along with them, even if it was potentially an impenetrable mud bog.

Just before 7AM, I knocked on Jase's door, then again, then again and again! Last time was a treat, I could hear him shuffling around, but he could not hear me (symptoms from his cold). Steve was not far behind and we pack the car up for our trip down to Caves beach.
We were all very sceptical about the weather and it was looking pretty foreboding as we got closer.

We pulled up at the most southerly part of Caves beach and unloaded our bikes. Steve said the first part is rideable, but after that it is all unknown territory. We set off, fully expecting not to get very far. We decided to head for the hills as the lower section along the edge of forshore, looked pretty wet and potentially boggy. Heading up, appeared to be the best option and we were soon on the top of the range, traversing away from the ocean. We soon came to a gate and a road, which we crossed to another gate on the other side of the road. We were now all in unknown territory, but Steve said there should be some quarries around this area where the freeriding d00ds hang out. We soon found quarries, but no 3xtr33m freeriding trails. In this area, we just explored down any trail we came across and see where it led. Eventually we found our way on top of a dumping grate, where stone is dumped to be crushed. We were now looking down into another quarry. We found a trail that took us down into this quarry and followed another trail out. Shortly after we were stopped, just off the side of the Pacific Highway.

Steve said there should be a bridge somewhere around here, that crosses the Pacific Highway and takes us down to Murray's Beach. Steve notice a solar panel on top of the hill with a trail leading up to it. We decide to explore this trail as it was heading generally in the direction we wanted to head. This trail, was a bit of a grind, especially for Jase and myself as we were both riding single speeds. We soon found out that the solar panel, powered a water storage tank and a big one at that. We continued on, constantly climbing. It was at this stage, both Jase and I had to get off as our back wheels were slipping, due to mud, fallen branches and gradient.

The trail started to become single trail and we thought, that was pretty cool until, it started to degrade, due to many fallen trees (I'm guessing, during the last lot of storms that knocked the trees over in Glenrock in June). We had to start carrying our bikes over these fallen trees. This trail ran along the edge of a cliff into another quarry. Steve found a gully, that he wanted to use to escape the infernal trees, but I was keen to climb up again to the top rim of the quarry and this is what I saw.

So Steve and Jase decided to come up as well and we stopped for a break and a photo or two.

We realised that the trail below, was one we had already ridden on, so we continued on. Soon we came to a dead end, which was a bit unusual as this appeared to be once a serious bit or trail. We ended up hike-a-bike down the side of the quarry, to the base. Which was very exciting in my BMX style shoes. We then headed back along the original trail, that we came down in the first place and followed it out to a road. We started riding up it, when Steve surmised that we were on the old highway. We soon came to another gate. Here we were thinking it was a still functional road and we all kept to the left.

This gate crossed another road to another gate. This one was marked though, with the NPWS trail signs. Just through the gate was a trail dropping steeply down into the valley, but luckily Steve suggested, we follow the road for a bit. We were once again on the old highway, but now knowing, no cars would be on this road, we took the whole road. I soon spotted the bridge over the new Pacific Highway. We knew now we were heading the right direction. So over the bridge we went and onto a NPWS trail. We once again followed it for a bit, but the signs pointed to the right, but instead of following the trail, as we knew where it ended, we decided to continue on.

We started to find some single trail in this area, which was quite fun. We were all in agreement, that they would be excellent fun to ride in dry conditions as they were not to steep to climb, but fun to descend. Then we came across our first big creek crossing. Steve went first and found out it was a little bit above hub height. I then followed , with Jase not too far behind me. Carrying on we came to a T intersection. To the left, we guessed took us back to the bridge somehow, but to the right, who knows. So right it was! This trail was very muddy, but it wasn't sucking mud, so although we were a few inches deep in mud, it didn't impede us in any way. This part was heaps of fun. I was in the lead at this stage and I came across a gravel trail. We went left and we were soon onto a road that takes you down to Murray beach / Chain bay.

We turned and followed the gravel trail, to its end, which led us onto a firetrail. We crossed the creek crossing again.

We guessed right took us back to the bridge. We went left and soon appeared out the back of Rafferty's Resort. I think it was here that Steve found a marker for an orienteering or similar event. We then went into Rafferty's looking for a way to the foreshore of the lake and hopefully more trails. I was a bit surprised when we went passed the reception to see a number of cars with MTB's on the roof or rack. Steve thought there was or will be an adventure race in the area. Riding down to the beach we had no luck finding trails. So we turned around and lo and behold, more cars were turning up with MTB's and Kayaks. Back into the bush and I found another orienteering marker.

Following a firetrail, we ended up crossing the trail we entered this area from, so we quickly turned left on a ST, that I spotted and headed down it to see where it went. No where, well the back of Rafferty's again. But I completely missed another ST about 10 paces from where I stopped, so we went down this one and it came out at Murray's Beach Estate. We bummed around here for a little bit, but decided it was time to head home, so we started the climb up the road and out. Steve found an information sign which showed us enough information, to tell us, that if we continued up this road, we could find an entrance to the Murray's beach trail, we came in on.

Finding the start of the trail was easy. We soon realised that the sign we first passed after coming across the bridge is where we came out. Over the bridge and Steve found a great way to bypass the anti motor bike gates. It looked pretty good from where Jase and I were, but we weren't brave enough to take it on the single speeds.

Following the old highway again and out the gate onto the road. This time we turned right and found another NPWS trail entrance. We had to get off the bikes due to the gates, with stairs, just behind it and a large boulder to dissuade people from riding down them. This trail, was a lot of fun and descended rather rapidly, with some nice bermed corners. Steve found a big deep puddle off one of the berms and nearly went A over T. He of course was looking back to see if we would go A over T, but we bith managed to avoid it. Then it was back onto familiar trails back to the beginning.

Caves Beach / Murray Beach Pt 2

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Coffs Harbour Trails

Coffs Harbour over Christmas 2007

I have a couple of Images and a map of one of my rides in Coffs harbour over the Christmas period 2007.


View Larger Map

Here is a good ride to do in the Eastern boundary rd area.

 

The first lot of Images is from a little tree trunk turned into a Northshore obstacle. When I say little, I mean the trunk is nearly 2 metres in diameter.

The next few Images are from my exploratory ride on the 29th of December.

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Kiwarrak State Forest

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