joining the club

I had been invited on the madness of these early morning rides for months. I could have been a honorary member of the club, but was lacking one vital ingredient, a child. Now that I have been lucky enough to be gifted with a fantastic bundle of joy I now join my fellow fathers for early morning madness.
Today I joined fellow fathers Jase & Matt for one of there regular rides. The only issue was a 6am start time, which meant lights and a bit of night riding (I don't really dig riding in the dark, previous night rides have educated me in pain well) and being prepared for some hurt time as these boys ain't slow.
The ride was a 65km jaunt around the hills behind Warrandyte, Christmas Hills and Yarra Glen on the mtbs. Basically it was a big loop around Sugarloaf Dam on dirt roads with lots of punchy hills. A cross bike would have been perfect for the occasion, maybe next time I will drop on the cross tires I have. Lots of climbing was involved and I constantly felt like I was fighting the bike. I am having issues with gears as I am so use to muscling up hills on the SS, but on the Karate Monkey I just want to grind up in the granny, go figure.
On this early morning loop many animals especially roos were to be seen. However one animal we did not expect to see was a herd of 5 Samba Deer in all their glory. I had heard that they were in the area but I had never spotted them on any of the rides out there that I have done. They are big units and I wouldnt want to run into one in a car or a bicycle. They do look pretty cool with those massive antlers, better alive than stuck on a board over a fire anyday.



The deer were quick to disappear, as they saw us as a threat I guess as most meetings with humans probably result in them being shot by hunters.
Around this same area we had a run in with a mob of Kangaroo's, we at least the pied piper of kangaroos, Jase did. As we were motoring down the road a few Kangaroos jumped across the road, one of the young roos borked and fell on the road in front of Jase and as it hit the deck Jase bunny hopped the roo. We think there was a little contact with the rear tyre but the roo got up and hopped off.
On the way home I hit the wall in a big way and was completely shattered and rolled home a destroyed unit. We did spot a car that had left the road and the police were in attendance checking it out. Looked to be a stolen car crashed by joy riders.
I was glad to get home and hoe down some oats and coffee. I spent the rest of the day recovering, went out for a little lunch with the family and rounded it off on the couch asleep with the kid. Great day!
A big thanks to the boys for smashing me!
Happy trails!