Thursday, December 26, 2019

Boxing Day Mounting Grey

Sweet ride today with Nelson and Pete. 8.30 or so pick-up from mine... Jetted up and parked at the usual 'Lake' Janet, and got toodling up the road for a start.  Pete's first blood appeared when his leg caught the warratah at the gate. Turned off into the singletrack, stopping to clear some branches, then hitting the steeeeeeeeeeeep.  Gasping, no asthma remedy so gasping all the way.  Pete had a tumble getting going on one of the stretches, heels over head below the track, blooding his leg good for the second time.  Got to the lookout and some walkers turned up.  Got riding again, up the singletrack, best way to the top.  Up, pretty much in the clouds by this point

Dropped in and the down was magnifique.  Stopped and Pete went ahead and got the drone up, pulling in some footages, and onwards down, meeting some walkers on their way up.  Into the forest and switchback city.  All getting better and betterer the further we descended.  Somewhere along the way Pete blooded his nose on a lawyer too.  I led a lot of the lower stuff, all the way out to the end.  Nice.  Another drone flight over the river and then we were off up the road back to the car. 

Usual couple hours, 665 m climbed, in 13.35 kms...

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Thursday Night Captain Green in the Parlour with the Candlestick.

Tires.  Tires, tires, tired of tires...

In the morning, the back tire was flat, so, thinking it was just a slooow leak (as it had been prior), I pumped it up and chucked it in the car and headed for work.  Parked, rode to C4 to get some beans and on the way there it slowly deflated, becoming too low to ride just as I arrived.  Borrowed a pump from one of the guys there, but that didn't work, so I walked myself and the bike to work.  End of the day, the pump in the bikeshed at work didn't work, so, walked to car.  Drove to Sumnervale.

Nelson arrived just after me and his front tire was flat too.  His was a valve-core issue which he couldn't fix so he left again.  I replaced my tube, and patched the one I took out - 15 or so minutes.  I started riding, and my tire got flatter and flatter...  I stopped up on the grass just off the cul-de-sac (before the stile) and patched this tube.  Another 15 minutes or so.  Then, as I removed the pump the whole fucking valve-core came out.  WHUUSH,  I struggled and got more air back in, got riding even tho the tire was a bit too low, at least it wasn't getting any lower.  Got up round all the switchbacks and sat down on the seat to pump it more, and the valve-core came out again, so I spent another 15 minutes or so messing with it, also discovering a loose spoke, which I tightened by hand.  Found that part of my chain-breaker managed to fit the valve-core, so got it good and tight, re-pumped and finally got riding.  It was getting close to 7 o'clock by this stage!

Good climb, finally, up Captain Thomas.  Cleaned everything I usually clean, and walked all the usual bits. Rested at the annoying gate, letting a couple of girls ride down through.  Headed up the Summit Rd, as far as the Richmond Pines.  Over the stile and up the 4wd farm-track to Greenwood.  Hung a right on this and stopped again, flipped bike, and got the spoke-tool out and tightened up several spokes.  Got riding again, up, around and hung a tight right on Sheepshit Alley, bombed down this, then around 'the Greenline' climbing back up to the start of Greenwood from the 4wd track.

Into it and bombing.  Nice bit of work done on the edges all the way down, a tickle since the Enduro?  Smooth popping through the top rocky sections, cruising and bombing in turn.  Around, pumping okay towards Gloomy, but getting bailed up on the rocks just after.  Then rested the spine before the rocky descent, good flow through this and the airy bits, and off the drop, then slow to start around into Dave's zone, speed ratcheting up as I was bombing and flowing, feeling pretty good.  Wind got stronger as I headed into Evans Pass, gale across the saddle.

Across the road and back up into the Captain, and bombing into the flow again.  Rocked all the goodness on this, having an excellent run, except the usual climby bit just after the last of the rock drops.  Flow and ping the rest of the way down and back to the car...  After a bad start, a good finish, solid solo, 15 and 3/4 kms with 12m shy of 600 altitudes climbed.

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Sunday Slow Short with Hot Dog

Lots of riding during the week, around town.  To TFC meeting, then home from Poms on Tuesday night.  On Thursday, work picnic at Kate Shepherd's house, home, then Moon Under Water and back. 

Sunday, took Jet across to Bowenvale Ave and we headed down then up Major Aitken Drive. He was a happy boy, bounding and trotting along beside and ahead. Higher up, once on gravel, he met Stella, a cute young black lab, who thankfully he didn't try to hump too much.  We left them to go up the singletrack usual, then up the landing-strip, and met them again on the gravel.  I plodded on ahead, thinking he'd catch up, but when I got to the bit I was going to walk up onto the Traverse, Stella and owner rode past but Jet was still way down the bottom of the gravel straight looking for me.  I whistled, he heard, and started running up, but went out of view behind a knoll and never reappeared.  I walked down, and he was nowhere! I stood there and whistled and yelled, and then saw him finally, waaay down in the tussocks.  He heard me and came puffing up, looking hot and exhausted...  We made our way to the Traverse and settled in for a little break. 

I took off down Fourpause, and bombed down doing the first 3 jumps then stopping and waiting...  and waiting...  and waiting...  He showed up, just trotting along.  It was hot.  I was worried about killing him with heat exhaustion.  All the way down.  Popped the jumps with expertise, then down the landingstrip zone, ride, stop, wait, ride, stop wait...  Down to the stile, then on down, stopping regularly to let him catch up...  He was hot!  Panting majorly.  Popped all the fun bits, the steepest big one with an audience of 2 women and a guy, who I saw walk it after I'd gone through.  Lower down I met a guy who'd lost his mate...  then found his mate lower still.  Jet was slow.  The nasty grass from last time has mostly cleared, so not as slippery on the off-camber bits now.

Old Skool.  Jet found water in the first gully, under the gorse.  I'd say it was pretty dirty...  A few more breaks and further down he rested.  I really thought I was gonna kill him from heat exhaustion!  Panting, lying down on the track...  When we got to the bottom of the valley, he went looking for the creek, but it was bone dry... Down Bowenvale a bit, and I parked him in some shade, tied him up, and bombed on down to get the car... 

Up at lunch at mum and dad's he drank and drank and I hosed him off.  Very happy he was.

A short, 9.33kms that took a long time.  409 m climbed.

Sunday, December 08, 2019

Sunday Short and Hot, HuntsBowenSkool

Quick one this afternoon after a couple nights in Kaikoura.

Got over to Nelson's about 3pm, and we headed up the hill.  Grindy grind.  There was a dude ahead of us on Huntsbury Ave and I just could not catch him.  Nelson jetted off ahead, passed him, then eventually rode back to me.  Then did that again, meanwhile, I'm just grinding away at the same speed as the guy...  Stopped for a rest on our (now) usual spot (grassy track, just above the cattlestop above the pylons), and I stretched my sore arthritic back.  This helped me a lot, and my it didn't get as sore for the rest of the ride.

Up the singletrack, over the fence, up the landing strip, then UP Fourpause...  For a bit, then across to the top cattlestop and on up the Huntsbury gravel.  Into the Traverse, headwind across here, and then another rest at the top of the descent. 

I led in, and man got pushed sideways on the jumps.  Nelson didn't even do the bottom jump for that reason.  The landing strip descent is now mowed, but the dead grass is dry and slippery, making for some serious sketch, especially as you hit the first rocky descend-over before heading for the stile on the 4wd.  On down, dry grass proving sketchy, but thankfully missing from all the steepest rocky bits.  Super tricky down in the off-camber corners at the bottom tho.

Into Old Skool, all non-stop, passing a dude scrub-cutting-mowing the track and then bombing the rest of it.  Lovely tail wind across legs heading up-valley.  Finishing off down the road and around back to my car, and popped up to his for a quick beer.

A moderate 10.8 kilomenators and 408 altitudes altituded.

Thursday, December 05, 2019

Thursday HunTraverse ThompsoNun Draino'd

Sweet wee spin tonight.  Left Nelson's just before 6 and headed straight up the road.  I'd had a massage earlier in the day and so my legs, glutes and lower back had had all the juice squeezed out of them.  By the time we made the top I was dissolving into jelly, and it was a struggle around the Traverse.  A little better on the descent on Thomson's, then onto the second half where the girl died last week, burned hole in the scrub right there...

Up the road, struggling again, and all the way up to the Nun...  Checked out the view from the very top of Marley's above here, then hit the descent.  Nice blaze, bomb bomb bomb, fuck it's bony.  Into the Park zone and madness ensued. Buncha buncha passing through and past.  STopped at the top of the end of Gnarley and watched a young dipshit lose it over rocks.  All balls no skill.

Followed, and overtook them down and then dropped into Drainpipe ahead of them.  Awesomesauce blast down this, catching a couple of guys, them pulling over then catching some more.  then getting stuck behind an ignoramous down the last remnants of 3rd base finisher..

A rather good 21 kms, with 628 m climbed.