Sunday Mucky Fatty Jetty Slowy, lotsy off Pistey

Beautiful morning to be out early. Parked up Evans Pass and on the fat bike with Jet poached in on the (closed) Godley track. One or 2 mucky spots but the fat tires do no damage and leave little trace of having been through.  And I walked on several of the mucky bits (as well as some of the techy bits) anyway.  A good run down to Livingstone, only a bit splecky on the Teddington Schipt bit, with smooth fun sailing, no puddles or muck the rest of the way down.  Jet struggled with the cattlestop, and a runner helped me out with the little doggy gate, and then we headed up and over to Breeze - again, no mucky bits, tho I was cautious on that last paddock ruttsville zone before the final cattlestop, not to mention the cattlestop itself.

Next, it was across to the stile and onto the Breeze Bay walking track.  Jet seemed to know we were going that way and led the way to the stile, over it, and off up the track, without any direction from me.  Nice to ride in this way, mostly climbing, and the gravel is starting to be grown into by the surrounding grass, so the trail is getting a better feel.  Still way less tech than it used to be, ie, none now.  Over the stile at the end, and I stopped to take a couple of pics.

(in the glare behind the Kaikoura Mountains were in their full glory...)

From here, treadled across to the bunker on the hill, then headed up towards the trig, zigging and zagging a couple times. Over the fence, across to the higher bunker and up to the trig where I was tempted to take more pics.  View up Lyttelton Harbour and over Chch to the mountains and out to see spectacular all around.  A runner grunted up here and past, stopping to take in the view but completely not engaging with me...  I headed off down the fenceline for a start, then had a second thought and went back over the fence and back up the hill, then over down, where sheepshit flew off my tires and onto my face.  Nice and fresh it was, all over my lips, nose and mustache, nearly in my mouth - eeewwwcchhhh..  Took a bit of wiping to make me not smell it any more.  Continued down and met with our usual wee tight narrow singletrack above the road back towards Breeze Col.  This was fun. And tricky. And quite slow.

Through Breeze Col and off up the road, then decided to ride a sheep trail below the road (above the Anaconda), and along this to the first corner which when I rounded, decided too many sheep to not freak them out with Jet, so climbed back up to the road.   Stayed on this, around past Livingstone, up past the Para's launching spit, and around above Scarborough to the usual gate (now moved) to head back up to the Godley Track.

Climbed up and crossed over this and continued up the 'landing strip', all the way to the top, nice long climb, and joined the 360 trail up here, ready for the descent to Evans.  Excellent downhill this - couple of rocky tech sections that were too much for me on the fatty, but fun bits in between and in no time I was back on the rock part of the trail, then I continued with the walking track section above the entrance, and dropped down to the final stile (dog gate for Jet) and back to the car.

Very happy dog, and me well satisfied with my micro-adventure.  A 13kms round trip, climbing around 520m.

Wedkneesday Night, XC beat up

Pick up on Moorhouse by Nelson and as per usual we trafficjammed it, tonight to the top of Huntsbury.  I headed off up the jumpsy track, gasping away on the clunk that's still in the bottom of my lungs.  Part way up I looked back expecting to see him catching me up but he wasn't there.  Hmmm, that's strange.  Figured I'd keep going and check further up.  Again, not there.  Over the brow of the hill now and up to the gate, wondering what was keeping him.  So, from the gate I rang him, and then saw him right down at the bottom, so killed the call and settled in to wait.  Eventually he turned up across the fenceline, having come up the main track - it being faster.  Then we set off up the singletrack, me in the lead and pushing hard, getting the air into the lungs and burning up the legs...  Over the fence and up the landingstrip onto the gravel, where another, older, rider was powering off ahead of us.  Nelson overtook him up past the cattlestop, and I didn't catch him til the top.

Off over Vernon, for a start, blasting down the older line and then peeling off down across the road into the top of Farm Track.  Been a while, that's for sure (all the last few times have been upwards).  We avoided the main track, choosing the tussocks and sheep trails instead, meandering down finding a really good line, albeit slightly rutted in places, to the pond above the gate.  Dropped to the gate, over this, and on down the main track for a while, until I chose a sheeptrail off to the right, around through tussocks to the pylon track.  Ignored the (obviously out of date) No Bikes sign on the gate, and headed up and over, into the steeper and steeperer descent into the Rapaki Valley, stopping to admire the view of all the wee bods cruising up and down Rapaki, then dropping in, down down down to the bottom, some fun techy steep shit near the end.

Over the gate and up the valley, reminiscing on the old singletrack up here, cleaning lots of the fun tech, before eventually cutting across onto Rapaki at the bottom of the last climb.  Headed back down Crapaki, on the singletrack above, down to the new sheep/cattlestops and into the new Montgomery Spur (Taramea) Loop the boys explored the day before.  Good zig zaggy climb then swoopy, some off camber weaving down.  I took the 'Harder' line and Nelson took the 'Easier' line and I ended up miles ahead of him.  Enjoyed the vista across here, and the carved in bits were quite cool.  Thought the trail was a lot further than it looked too.  Finally, lots of climb back up to the start, and off down back to the singletrack above Crapaki until the drudging climb continued.  My right calf feeling knotted and sore all the way up, puffing and chuffing, to the top where the views were spectacular and the breeze nice and cool.

Into Witch, both cleaning everything, and powering through it all pretty good.  Onto the road and Nelson chose the walking track above, while I took the easy option of riding along the road below.  I ended up at the top of CastleRock track first, Nelson having cruised up on the verge-side of the road to save his tires.  Whilst here the sun finally disappeared behind the clouds in the west and it suddenly got really cold.  I layered on, and we decided light was gonna be pushing it to loop Castle Rock, so up above the road and up onto the Tors track.  I found this more technical than usual, but cleaned nearly all of it, then rolled down across the road and onto the walking track Nelson had climbed.  Nice blast down this and through onto Witch for to climb hard, cleaning it all to where Nelson was waiting at the high point.  Then off down, popping and grooving all the knobbly rocky bits, making for a much smoother roll than usual stalling on the rocks.

Across Crapaki Top, no one around now, and into Vernon, me starting to get pretty tired, climbing climbing up and around and over.  Then across the road, where there was an Enduro-as-fuck group of guys, who took off down Huntsbury and then into Old Skool.  We took the traverse across then dropped down through the tussocks and blasted down the gravel (on account of slowly losing light) and across the landing strip, over the fence and onto the singletrack, sweet blast down this, Nelson messing up the big jump.  Then over the gate and down, jumping all the jumps (except the wooden one for me), and flying down to the car.  Awesome.

20.4 kms, and over 700 climbed.  All good.  I was really feeling it, the beat up by the rocky sections, and the overall size of the ride, having not done much lately.

Friday night meanderations

Came out of work to find a flat rear tire, so got started on it while I waited on Selwyn St for Nelson to pick me up.  Tube out and he showed up so while we drove I patched the snakebite that was in my spare.  Top of Huntsbury I sorted out the tube, tire and air, changed, and we hit it.  5.50pm or so by the time we'd passed the pylons, on up making good time to the top, we crossed the road and headed right, over the walking track, from which someone has very courteously removed the red strip from the bicycle on the sign, leaving it fair game in our eyes.  Neat wee trail, tight as to start with, all overgrown with conifers, but further over some rocky rooty stuff then some steps just to keep it interesting.  Into the next section, still above the road, too mucky and steep to ride for a start, much better further up.  Some real technicalities and dabulations on the descent, a few bits that got me out pretty good.  Finally, the last bump, in the open towards Sugarloaf, over a stile, couple steps, across the road and we were where we used to often stop for a break.

A guy rode past as we were climbing the fence, so we let him have a really good head start (well past the pond) then we chased.  Good pace back round towards Vernon, closing the gap slowly but surely on the guy til he was less than 50m ahead by the time we reached the end of the line.  He turned back towards Cashmere while we continued our merry way over Vernon for a very fast, at times loose and sketchy, blast down towards Rapaki.  Nelson misjudged corners a couple of times and ended up taking ridiculous lines back on track, no dabs.  Cattle all over the trail after the cattlestop, getting out of our ways pretty heftily.

Into Witch Hill, great trail this, rocky, interesting, keeps you on your toes, clambered round, my back just starting to give me gyp.  Road climb past the rock piles below the Tors and on up to Castle Rock where i had a good stretch and received a txt, 6.50 it was here, and then led off into the trail.  Minty fresh, mucky in places, but all good.  Not far down the first stretch I hauled on the anchors to pass a boulder in the middle of the trail.  Nelson carefully manipulated it off the trail, not letting it go far, so's it wouldn't hurtle down and kill a sheep or something.  Onwards again, my balance was off camber a few times.  After the second switchback the wetspots got a bit stupid, so we added our version of drainage to a couple, using rocks or tires, then continued on up and across to the Bridle Path top.  Back up the road from here, through the barrier, and a wee ways up before spotting the singletrack below, climbing down, over the fence, and down, to ride onwards back up the way we'd come earlier.  Both lost forward momentum on the last pinchy top bit, but rode the final corner.

Rest, change, eats, and off down the road, dodging boulders, then round to the Witch again me slowing down a bit now in the climbing department.  Couple of sketchy moments, and weird chain droppage, but a great finale back to the road.  Past the cattle, and back onto the track climbing climbing climbing round Vernon along and down to the road.  Across, back on Summit Traverse, blasting along, then down, dodging tussocks, following and not following sheep trails.  Onto the landing strip, to the end, over a fence, and more tussocks, lots more, and sheep trails, over the top and down, through a gate then followed the jumpy trail down beside the main Huntsbury all the way down past the gate and along the fence line til finally over the fence and back to the car.  Done.  Home by about 8.30.