Old Great North Road-50km

With the end of daylight savings and much cooler conditions I decided to revisit this wonderful trail through the Dharug and Yengo National Parks.
I ran this trail with the Terrigal Trotters in July last year and wrote up a course description/race report here:
http://spudrunning.blogspot.com/2006/07/old-great-north-road-fatass-run.html

This morning I wanted an out and back 50km starting from Wiseman's Ferry. I arrived at the trailhead at about 6.15am, it was drizzling rain and cool, perfect!
I carried my trusty 2ltr Lobo and an additional handheld that I would drop 10km in.
There was only one other person there when I arrived, a mountain biker just about to set off up Devine's hill as I hit the stopwatch. The first 2.2km is a long switchbacking hill rising some 200mtrs. I stayed right behind the mountain biker which made for an interesting climb, managing to keep him in sight until the ascent levelled off and he disappeared into the distance.

With rain overnight there was plenty water on the trail with large puddles covering the track, weaving around them and skipping over the smaller ones keeping me alert.
I was trying out my new 2120 trail shoes, on their maiden voyage. All up I was pleased with them, plenty of good traction with a fairly aggressive thread pattern.
They are extremely light only 10g heavier than the 2120 roadies. The upper has some tougher material added around the heel and toe areas but they didn't change the mesh, instead leaving it the same as the road shoes, obviously skimping and wanting to keep it light. I did find the ride was a tad dodgy over more technical trail where I didn't feel too stable in them, maybe a tad high, I'll need to run in them more to get a better feel for them.Apart from that they performed well. Enough about the shoes, the run itself was wonderful, the cooler temps making me a happy chappy, as everyone knows the weather in Sydney of late has been aweful.
I love the history of this trail with its convict built bridges and cobblestone strewn path. Some wonderful bush too and views off either side of the ridgeline to die for. I turned around at 25km and after a museli bar headed for home. Some good long downhills and a long climb out after Clare's Bridge making it good all round training for Western States. Just looked at my splits for both out and back, uncannily even.
25km-2.32:48
50km-2.32:45
Total-5.05:33

Very happy with this weeks training with 142kms running and a bike too, getting there.