1. Having a full suspension bike at last (2012 Stumpy FSR) is awesome, even if it is just the base model.

2. Dropper seatposts are good to have.

3. Hadleigh Park is a great place to visit. I like the course, I like the cafe, the shop’s nice and the views on some of the hills are ace. Even my wife enjoyed the trip there, despite not biking and spending the whole morning reading a book in the van. The nice weather may have helped with that.

4. As I’ve got older, I’ve got more scared of things.

I remember, back in the old days, I would have just bombed down some of the more adventurous bits of the course without a second though. Not today. No.

Ok, walking the steeper bits first may have helped (or maybe not), but I bottled it on a couple of sections and took the chicken routes. I still managed the north shore section and all, ok, most, of the red stuff, but none of the black obstacles.

All together though, I enjoyed it and want to go back. I’m also very surprised that it has taken since now to get it open to the public. Three years? Very disappointing. It’s worth it though, I actually think it is a worthy legacy of the games.