Sunday, September 26, 2010

Sunnyday east end blat

Nice wee ride this morn. gorgeous day, hot, norwest. Rode over to Steves. Tony, Marie there, then up rolled Andrew, Warren and Wayne. and off we all went down river, round behind ferrymead, causeway, and up Mulgans, nasty little piece of work that it is. cleaned a couple corners i'd not before, but still dabbed out most. climb climb climb, then up Panorama, and up the nice rooty singletrack, on up to road, and cruised to top of Greenwood...

where i led off and had one of my best descents down there for a lonnng time. every corner smooth, flowing over rocks not being pinged from one to another, great times, high speed, roosting.

was quarter after 11 when we got to Evans, and we talked about Godley, but it was decided coffee at the bottom of Capt Thomas was more appealing. shame, but as i found out later, a bit of a blessing. So, the Captain. was good. my on-form-ness was still with me, and roosted nicely down all but the one nemesis. not too many other trailusers, which is always good on the lower slopes.

after coffee, the headwind. norwest, fucking strong, and relentless. took me probably twice as long to get down Linwood Ave than usual, horrible it were, and i was starting to bonk near my usual place. so, it was just as well we hadnt done Godley, cos that would have left me dead before i'd even got to Ferrymead...

8 comments:

Clifton Resident said...

Mulgans Track is a residential public footpath, not a mountain-biking track. If you meet any pedestrians, you'd better get off your bike, because you're breaking the law.

swtchbckr said...

i think you'll find we rode UP it. and indeed did walk some bits. cyclists riding at 1/4th a kilometre an hour are hardly a threat to pedestrians. we've ridden it many times and have never been a problem to walkers we've met on it.

Clifton Resident said...

Yes, and 5 minutes after you get off the track there's another mountain-biker, and another, and another...

Of course, the ones screaming down-hill are worse than the ones riding up.

Some cyclists are courteous, some are not, but the fact is, they're all breaking the law.

If cyclists, pedestrians and motorists all obeyed the law, life would be a lot better for everyone.

swtchbckr said...

I disagree. I know of very few riders who use Mulgan's Track at all, let alone one every 5 minutes, and I have never known anybody at all to ride down it. We certainly wouldn't bother.

I suppose now that Capt Thomas is closed there might be a few more tempted to use Mulgan's, but it is generally so unknown, I doubt it.

I agree with you, if everybody obeyed the law, life would indeed be better. Too bad nobody is perfect.

Clifton Resident said...

I appreciate you replying to my comments. The fact that you have done so, indicates to me, that you may be a reasonable person and a considerate cyclist.

You are totally wrong, though. My family have lived on Mulgans Track for half a century, and I've walked up and down the track - literally - thousands of times. We live at Number 1 (grey metal gate, half way up). If you don't believe me, come in and ask for Steven.

I don't understand how you could possibly know everyone who mountain-bikes on Mulgans Track. Thousands of people own mountain-bikes! If you do know them all, tell me who slammed into my elderly neighbour and cycled away as fast as he could. We'd all love to meet that guy!

swtchbckr said...

yes, i don't know everybody who cycles. but i do know quite a few, and of those i do know, practically none of them have ever indicated that they ride Mulgans.

I'm sorry about your elderly neighbour. That's a terrible thing to happen and i hope that cyclist gets whats coming to him.

swtchbckr said...

yes, i don't know everybody who cycles. but i do know quite a few, and of those i do know, practically none of them have ever indicated that they ride Mulgans.

I'm sorry about your elderly neighbour. That's a terrible thing to happen and i hope that cyclist gets whats coming to him.

Clifton Resident said...

Fair enough - I don't hold you responsible, anyway.

And, to be fair, some of the worst offenders live further up the hill and are riding to or from work or school. They just happen to be on mountain-bikes.

My initial comment was a bit rude, so, apologies for that.