Thursday Night Old Skool Lights

Choice old skool ride tonight. 

Up through Vic, 19th, Skidder and grunt to top.  Down quick spin around the jumpies and hard right into Worm, onto and across the Traverse.  Good around here, my climbing slower than Nelson's but the downs were fine.  Tired from a bad night's sleep.  

Top of Huntsbury/Fourpause, leaped off down.  Front wheel clanged on one rock leading me to worry about losing pressure, but it held.  Started down the fast flowy section below the jumps but Nelson realised his mistake and we rode back up to the 'proper' curly techier version, down this and over the edge onto the newer sections of AliExpress, down through the cattlestop and over more of the edge.  We dropped down the first tech to the next where we both baulked, it's become such a wheel-eating hole drop now as to be a bit scary, oh, and the wind!  Pushed back up to where AliExpress back-and-forth bits were out to the side, very un-ridden and full of twin lambs and mums ewes-ing the shelter of the tussocks and hill, and a few of them on the track, and poo everywhere.  Bopped and wove over this and then down the usual byways, wind slamming into us and at one point rutting Nelson almost off.  Rocky grinduro down and down then onto the barely cambered back and forth above the pylon, down onto Old Skool.  

Brief stop here at the highpoint before I launched off first and led the way.  Took some weird lines, nearly losing it on the cattlestop midway.  Got my groove on lower down, with a couple more massive pings off rocks.  Sure is bony at the moment.  At the big corner out towards the end we pulled up cos i noticed that the trail beyond had been well used.  Decided to go for a little explore.  Followed it along and found trails, then exploring further found a massive jumps park in the trees, higher up, below the Vineyard property.  Loads of sculpted clay berms and gap jumps, enormous gaps.  Completely invisible and hidden.  Amazing.  I was getting antsy about our bikes alone on the trail so we headed back and finished off the Old Skool and headed up valley.

Long and grinding climb ensued.  Cleaned and rode everything tho, that's a first for a while, especially Hospital K2 steeps (tho I did stop for a breather).  Eventually skidder, over 19th, down Tawhairanui, dogparkcarpark/235 all the way out to the H'Ell, clamber, last of the road home.  

A laudable 13.2 km, 544 m climbed, evening outing.

Wednesday Night Loner

Good hoon out tonight.  Headed up around Belleview and up Major Hornbrook to the end, through the park to the bottom of Britten.  Rode up under the pylons, steep getting the better of me walking a couple of the worst tech or steep.  Riding up across the reserve finding a sheeptrack on a better angle, to the mtb track then climbing up around the front and along to the Cutting exit.  Over the fence and back and forth and up and round up to the aerials at top of Pleasant.  All before needing any lights on.  6.30 or so at the top.

Into the descent, light on - just the headlamp tonight.  Good blitz down the rocky bits then weaving down through the tussocks, not quite as fast as usual, lambs scattering out of the way.  Spotted a horse rider over in the gloom near the gun emplacements, and as I rode down the 4wd bit passed a farmer looking bloke with a couple of dogs.  Around and down to the main drag, bomb bomb bomb.  Pretty good, not as fast as daytime, but still some good paces.  A little bit of slop across the flatter face towards Gloomy, but then all dry in there.  A big slip had crossed just after here, but the track had been repaired, then it was into the droppy rocky pop and weave down over the drop and around into Dave's zigs big corners.  Around into the gully, and the slip that's always been there has expanded, and been repaired.  Dry now.  Fast blast down the last and then a slow back and forth to the road.

Up the road, long drag, but kept a good pace, and peeled into the Sheepshit Alley, climbing, back on road, up to Britten and in.  Fast, around then off the corner across the hill following, just, the line all the way down then onto the main and under the pylon, much faster than on the Troll the other day, suspension doing what it's meant to.  Over the stile and down Kenton track, new, tech, rocky, and nicely edged, with massive exposure off the left, lights picking up rock then black black void.  Definitely want to explore this further as I peeled right and found myself just at top of Major Hornbrook.  So bombed down here, two stretches then into Belleview and round to home base. 

Supreme 15.43 km and 635 m escalated.

Wednesday night hikes with bikes

Lots of up tonight, much of which was on foot. And down some never before travelled.  Newly regular pick up from Countdown Moorhouse and followed the sheepletraffic east, Ferry Rd, Causeway, to Sumner and up the hill to Evans Pass.  Parked and rode upwards, onto Greenwood and climbing this, meeting only one descender, up round the corners and at approximately the drop-jump we headed through the gate and followed a sidling-climbing sheep trail towards the ridge, then up the track we'd ridden couple weeks back, through the stinky macracarpa and over the fence.  This time we headed down Chalmers Track.  Steep, and once in the bush, greasy as all greasiness, rocks, and wet dirt accumulating on tires, proving sketchy as.  Rode and walked bits and rode, and explored and got to the bottom eventually - talking with a farmer lady cutting fly-blow off her little lamb.  Down the road, a long way, and left into College, climbing steeply up to the left, not really knowing if we'd find an access into the reserve from here.  Hmmm...  We did, but.

Found a wee singletrack at the end of this dead end street and started pushing.  And pushing, and pushing, and pushing.  Altitudinal insanity. Calves burning like crazy walking up this steep shitslope, eventually ending up on the ridge above Urumau Reserve.  Phew.  Down a skinny techy singletrack and onto the main track, into Looper, then Stormer, climbing and finding it a tad greasy.  over the top, steep techy descent then caught up to Nelson waiting and off he led, down the first steep arse drop, rolling down to the next, where I baulked, but then wheeled back and rode, and down over the next roller.  The straight-ahead track here was gonna be carnage, so we took the left hand, and rolled down around, a few greasy techy sections including the very steep section at the bottom which I walked.  Then around to the left, sidling and dropping, greasy corners, front wheel washouts, slipping and sliding.  Nelson dropped one of the log drops, I slid around it.  Then the trail got nice, with big roller dippers, and then it was time to climb again.  A few greasy corners, but pretty much all rideable (until you got to the track we'd gone down).  Next up it was round the sunny side of the hill, sidling across then climbing back up to the main track.  Climbed this, zig and zag and back up onto the ridgeline.  Sun was starting to lower, so we figured we'd find a way up the ridge, or across to Chalmers, rather than descending all the way down to the streets and climbing them.

So, up the ridge, pushing and carrying, a long way up, sketchy wee ridgeline track, with newly cut steps in places, and spectacular views, and carrying the bike.  Mostly pushing it to start, then picking it up sometimes, then near the top it was easier for me to just flip it up onto my shoulders, Mt Oxford style, and carry it, trudging up to the top of the ridge.  Did I say spectacular?  Well earned food rest up top here, watching the sun getting lower and lower to the hills, and then off again, past Chalmers top and up the way we'd gone two weeks ago, walking a bit again, then riding up to the gun emplacements, and across onto Greenwood.

Good blast down Greenwood, rocks slick-ish, but not so bad as to be uncontrollable.  Good pace, all the way down, meeting 2 climbing guys, and then around into Gloomy Gulch and rolling through and down, good pace, but Nelson getting away on me a bit down here.  He dropped the jump, I rolled the sideline of it, and we were off down through Dave's corners and around the way we'd come up.  I was exhausted by the time we made the rocky ups, and bailed for the first.  Then blasted down to the car. 

Bonus extra for me, I headed off down Captain Thomas, while Nelson drove down the road.  I had a pretty good run down here, fast in the top section, fast through to the first of the rocky techs, then cruising around and down to the next rocky techs, cleaning the first, but my front wheel slipped just before the second, so I got off and walked it.  Cleaned down the next bit and into the climb, walked 2 metres of that, then blasted down the rest of the trail and he picked me up in the cul de sac.

Awesome 13 and three quarter kilometres, and just over 700m climbed.