Around six months ago I suggested to Ash that we should hit the Grampians for one of our Epix rides. With Ash replying “that’s a great idea, I once walked/hiked that area in grade ten, I know some tracks…”. From there, we searched Google earth and some random maps to create a ride that would suit our needs. Mental note- *don’t design a ride from a web site at 20,000 feet and some year ten memory of a boy who walked/hiked/CHASED SKIRT (hey, hey, there was none of that, -Ash) through the Grampians*.
The starts of the ride proved truth to the saying “no pain no gain”. Fortunately at this point, the gain out weighed the pain.
With the first climb major climb out of the way, we headed to the start of the walking track. At that point it all literally went down hill, so to speak. 
This photo sets the tone for the next 5 hours.
One would think after reading this notice board we should have changed our route!??
This was the last photo that I took of Ash before we realized all was not well...
The ride, sorry I meant run, all turned pear shaped after we finally reached Major Mitchell Plateau. The track, it turned out, was designed to be ridden by Andrew Dickey on his trials bike.
We ran,walked,hopped, jumped,climbed and occasionally rode for the next three hours, only to find more and more rocks ahead.
At this point I must admit I started getting a little concerned. No, let me rephrase that, I was shitting myself! The thought of being stuck on a massive rock for a night in Lycra didn't appeal to me in any way. At this point I said to Ash "maybe it's time we call for help", thinking I have ambulance cover and we can get a private helicopter ride to a safe place. Sadly Ash replied "do you think they will send help to us? We have food, water, reasonably fit, have radio contact and no one is hurt . They'll just tell us to find a safe place and sit the night out". After hearing that I wanted to change the 'no one is hurt' part to the story, but decided against it as he is a lot bigger than me. So we continued to run some more.
As the sun started falling from the sky and we could see our breath in the air, we reached yet another cliff to pass our bikes up. We decided if the terrain didn't change soon we would leave our bikes and collect them tomorrow. Fortunately our 'luck' changed and for the next six km's the track (in sections) was rideable.
Happy times all round!!Moral to my story is, plane your adventures carefully, take heaps of food and water and never ever trust the memory of a boy going through puberty, it will only get you in trouble.
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