Doirty!

I went for a quick blem up to Wicklow courtesy of the Waggers' mobile to try out the Scar trail with him. We arrived in Laragh and it was dry, but overcast. We got changed and started out. I was told that it might be a bit muddy on the way up, but we could always push up if it got too bad. The first bit was grand with a rocky firetrack and then onto a forestry ridge. Then the cycling proper started, through some ruts that had been washed out by the heavy rain. It was fun to go through the puddles not knowing if they were sandy or muddy on the bottom, or how deep they were.

We kept going up for about 30 to 40 minutes and then my bike decided that it had had enough. The chain came off first and dumped me on my head and then the gears started slipping so I walked on for about 5 minutes. By this time the rain had come in and we were traipsing through mud and puddles. So we decided to turn around and WHEEEEEEEE all the way to the bottom. I took the lead at one stage and thought I was going great until I decided I wanted to go from where I was on the edge of the track on to the track itself. Whump! Over I went and ended up facing backwards. I had hit a 15cm high vertical ridge and just smeared it.

Then later still as we were coming to the Wicklow Way, we met some scouts that were very enthusiastic about meeting someone else out in the rain. A final section with lots of speed and one more of some narrow rocky bit and we were back at the road. After some coffee, we headed off back to civilization and dinner.

Overall a very enjoyable hour and a half and much better than sitting around the house all day.