Saturday Lush Sinclair, Fitzgerald, Sinclair

Good ride from Pettigrews... I'd popped to the bach to collect a "rabbit-control device" and some walnuts, and went for a ride on what I thought was going to be the way home.  Parked and rode, up the steep farm track between prolific onga-onga.  Quite tough going the whole ride because the grass was so lush following the wettest summer in decades.  Climb climb climb, a lot of granny or second gear, just plodding away.  Over the stiles and across the ridge, up through the nice bush reserve, stile, farm track, climbing ever climbing.  Next stile I met a large group of walkers just as we all got there.  I lifted the bike over the fence (surprising the woman who'd just asked "do you have to lift the bike over every stile?").  I was puffing like crazy from the hard climb prior, so took this moment to catch my breath and the walkers all walked through over the stile.  Once they'd cleared over I went and got riding again.  Steeper and steeper, little bit of walking on the steepest bit, then riding further up .  around the top of Sinclair, skirting the north side, nice bush which I ducked into to see what it's like inside.  Very nice totara cloud forest, surprisingly tall in places.  Somewhere up here I realised I'd forgotten to get the "rabbit-control device."  Damn...

Fun roll down, some steep techy fun, then onto the weaving singletrack across the ridgeline.  One or two features of difficulty, but very rideable in this direction.  Past where I turned back in May last year. Over to and up the final long sidling climb, walking the gnarliest steep bit, to the ridgeline flank of Fitzgerald, and up this in long grass to the highest point on the track.  Short stroll out onto the rocks where I sat and ate a muesli bar and listened to the bellbirds in the bush below the cliffs to the west.  Back to the bike and ready for the descent -  very similar to the time before last on the fat bike.  

Fun blast down the stuff I'd just climbed, weaving down the ridge, then around into the tech-in-places steeps walked on the way up, now fun techy bombing - little slippery streams, and erosion lips and steps, with aplomb.  Across the ridgeline between the peaks was tougher going this way, then the climb up through the totara forest too steep to ride now I was tired, walking a bit, then riding again up Sinclair around the north side.  Down to the gate and into the descending again, bomb bomb bomb steeeeep, fun around over stile, fast farm track, stile, Whatarangi Bush reserve, fast, stile, ridgeline, final climb, stile, and bomb to car, stopping to check out the big mushrooms (which were past it) before the final blast through the onga-onga to the car.  

I then had to drive back to the bach, get the air-rifle rabbit control device, and then drive home...

Grand total of 13.7 kms with 656 m climbed, somehow more altitude and less distance than the fat 2nd to last ride up here... weird.