We were looking forward to a dirt ride in the morning. But I awoke to find it was raining and had quite obviously been raining over night. Snug in my bed, early in the morning, rain falling outside, bike nice and clean – I shot Paul a text expecting we would cancel. But his enthusiasm for the ride overcame all the cosy reasons for not going. And so we headed off to Rocky Ponds.

Paul – he gets so much pleasure from riding his bike he’s not going to let a little bit of rain stand in his way!

Rocky Ponds is a local fire trial ride that can take in twenty to forty kilometres of bushland above the Woy Woy peninsula.

We like this ride cos it’s only 15 minutes drive from home, the fire trail has some rough surface and undulates and curves around enough to make it interesting.

You can befriend the odd black cockatoo, wallaby or fellow bike rider while you knock yourself out fanging along the trail.

At the eleven kilometre mark you reach Rocky Ponds.

Rocky Ponds – this is just one of the still pools. There are some cascades further in.

It’s a most pleasant natural waterway tumbling over the rocks. Most days we do the out and back ride to here, starting at Staples Lookout. This makes for a 22 k ride. Alternatively, you can start at Kariong and take in some rougher trails, extending the journey to 40 kilometres

We were pretty lucky on this day for the rain stopped before we started riding. This track is pretty sandy\rocky so absorbs the water relatively well. That said, there are still plenty of puddles testifying to the overnight rain falls.

Yep, definite proof of a wet track. Gotta tell you though, those Endura shorts are tough as, comfortable ass, and wash up as good as new. [Credit to Paul for being brave enough to take this photo.]

Ibis Ripley – gorgeous under any weather conditions