Sunday Morning Captain Greenwood Thomas

lift with Pete to Scumner, passing Andy and Wayne in the van, then Steve riding out on the causeway and sitting behind Dallas through Redcliffs, we all assembled outside DotComa, joined by Rex and headed up the Captain. nice climb, refreshing to be back on the newly fork serviced headsetted stemmed and barred Cotic. time for some new forks unfortunately, with bad wear on the insides of the stanchions... i'll just have to make do til money allows.

at evans
we headed up Greenwood, something none of us have done recently nor often. not such a bad wee climb really, only one or two bits of trickiness. managing to clean everything bar the odd off balance dab in places that i shouldnt have. at one break a guy on a yellow speci hardtail coming down went right over the bars right next to me... oops.

yarned at the top a bit and it was off and down. here's Andrew arriving with the lovely Slumner view and the undersides of the clouds at our level.

and obligatory artyfarty shot, Steve's wheel.

off we went then, i led the way, feeling pretty good, Pete sticking to me pretty good most of the way. then round through gloomy gulch and on a bit i heard a yell from waaay back. it was Andy, hollering me down, Pete'd flatted further back, so i turned back and rode back up to the rest of the posse. off again and down down down, catching a guy and then breaking to let him go for a bit. then off again and blazing down catching him up again til finally he let me past and on down down fast and squirrelly. the new 720 wide bars proving pretty good.

off down the Kapitan, pete in the lead, me struggling to stay on his tail. he took the high line i took the low and then he cleaned the bit i never do and got a good lead. i clambered it back then botched the wee climb after the two ex-nemeses and he absolutely blasted away from me not catching him til the first gate - he was on fire! brief regroup and off again, having a great run down the rest of the way. somewhere along after the creekgully Wayne had an off and put a big ding in his top tube and a wee gark between a couple of fingers. i was blooded by blackberry somewhere too. lovin' the last bits of the trail, then out the bottom to Dotcoma, coffee and a lift back home with the family who'd been in Taylors.


PS. Little did we know that 2 days later a big quake would come along and destroy so much, including access to Capt Thomas. The pines at the bottom had some massive rocks through them, one being snapped off like a matchstick.

Tuesday Crocked

quick one tonight. singled over to Pete's and we falcon'd with Alistair, picking up Brandon on the way, to Halswell Quarry Park. the main carpark for some reason. found Wayne, Steve, Steve, Andrew, Tony, Marie and Mark there. headed up the track then cut across and took the steeper of the options up to the road. i walked a bunch. Brandon turned back at the first hill due to an asthma attack.

up the road and Steve says down now. huh, we'd barely climbed? so. Alistair then Mark then Pete then me then Andrew (who i thought was breathing down my neck but i actually held my own okay) then Steve then i'm not sure, all bombed down the track. i had a tough time keeping on Pete's tail and he was having a tough time keeping on the other two's. down down down, lotsa dust, me getting jarred all over the place due to the rigidity, and into the first big corner after that tight rock pinch and Alistair spills, wiping out after going high on the berm and missing overcooking the exit or something. nice dirt marks on his shoulder and side... everyone regrouped and off we went again to the bottom bridge where it was decided we'd turn and head back up the croc to the top (ie, Siberia). Alistair bailed down to hang with Brandon.

so. Steve(abba) headed off first way ahead. and after a bit i laid chase. caught him eventually, but on the one or two corners i walked or dab-scooted he got away from me again. Andrew was up next, then the rest. off up the last (new tasty as it was once known) climb and i managed a lot with only one or two scoots and dabs and one walk. over Siberia, me doing pretty well, and getting out of the rooty line at the bottom. Here, Steve(abba) headed off up Kennedy's for home, while the rest of us headed back up the 4wd track and watched him from the top, a distant red speck up the first climb.

Then it was action stations again. Headed into the single, Mark then Pete then me then Andrew, Steve and so on. Me chasing hard to keep the other two in view, asking Bessie the cow to not walk right in front of me at one stage, and eventually managed to close the gap on the two guys on the last couple straights. Regroup and off down the Croc again for the final run. Felt a bit better this time, tho my braking hands were getting almost chaffed due to the constant rough ride. Quite a few times tho, I thought "meh, suspension, who needs it?" still, knowing deep down that I'm a fuck of a lot faster on the Cotic...

Out the bottom and back to the cars. Fun, tho short, and I don't feel like i did much exercise. However, at the time, gasping for air and workin' that bike up that hill, I definitely was -- paying for Sunday's non ride due to silliness on my Saturday night's behalf.

Thursday bottle lake with the boy.

not a big ride at all, but good to get out. took Otis out to the pond and we spun round it, me on the singlespeed and him on his new big bike, a 24inch wheeled Norco (mini Mountaineer). he was really good. we spun the short internal loop. O was totally rapped with the whole dad and son time, very excited and bubbling happy. very cool. great time.

Sweltering Sunday Singlist rear tire flattery.

scorcher of a day, heading for 34 or 36, was pretty darned warm when I spun over to Pete's on the singlespeed (seen here later on...

and we headed for Marie's. when we hit Dyer's Pass Rd, I struggled on ahead, in the only gear i knew, and waiting at Marie's were Steve, Wayne, Rex and Marie. Off we headed up the road, me getting out in front, on account of my one and only gear. got to Takahe and headed up into Vic Park. had to walk the first bit of the track, then back on the road was okay and pete and me waited in shade with slight breeze for a little bit then off up and onwards and taking in the wee singletrack to reassembling at the skidder site. here's Steve and Rex heading in

most walked up steep, Rex rode up turned around and back down and up, and Marie just grannied on up nice and slow. up through Brake Free and on up to the new(ish) uphill only track another regroup at the top of it.
The view from there


and here's Steve's nomad and the SS gettin' it on...

the antithesis of each other.

off round the traverse. this is where the singlespeed really sings. flew on round here enjoying the crap out of the rigid and one gear. one hairy moment near Scott's Reserve heading down fast and suddenly there's another rider coming up. two wheel lock up controlled slide. nice.

pinchflatted on Vernon on the last of the rocks as you're heading down towards Rapaki. pulled out my spare tube, checked it, found a hole, patched it, put it in, rode down and it was flat by the time i got to Rapaki. pulled it out, patched the other tube, put it in, blew it up, went to ride off and it was flat again. pulled it out, patched it AGAIN, blew it up and it wouldnt stay up. fuck fuck fuck. thankfully, the Singletrack Club had a couple of guys promoting the club up there, and one of them gave me a tube. sweeeet. put it in, pumped it up and i was off again, chasing after the others (minus pete who'd bailed down here). needless to say, I'm now NOT a fan of Muc Off glueless patches. never again.

round the road to top of Castle Rock where I found the other 4. so, off down here, loving it, bouncing about a bit, but finding the rigidity not so bad, then after the second hairpin I took a call from home, and the three boys past me, then I took off again just ahead of Marie. caught the back wheel on a rock and pssssssssssssss. FUCK! walked on up the track to the shelter at top of Bridle Path, where I used my last two patches on the two snakebite holes. pumped up, started riding again and then this high pitched weeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeee followed by a pssssssssssss and I was ropeable. I said my goodbyes turned around and rode down Bridle Path for a while til it got too flat to ride then walked, calling home for a lift. walked all the way down, then down Port Hills Rd (where a kind mtnbiker offered me a tube - thanked profusely, but "cheers, getting a lift") to Martindales before my lift turned up. thankfully a swim at Mary's was on the cards, so I cooled off nicely.

36 degrees. too damned hot for riding.

Thursday Bottled (rigid)Singlist - post 400!

400th post! w00t!

quick spin round bottle lake tonight, first ride on the newly rigidised and frameswapped singlespeed. twas great to ride. 1 hour 15 door to door, spun out into a bit of an easterly, and headed in the main entrance, hung a right and out to the beach, then back in at the small pond and took the longer loop back round. made a point of riding all the least-ridden options, kept things interesting.

got out to Waitikiri Ave and there's a police roadblock... loads of people sifting round and lots of cars stuck, no one knew what was going on, so i rode round the back of all the houses and out the old Landfill exit, to see the road block there too, so a pretty big area. asked the cop what was up and he said "some drama"... spun home and the sky had been looking a bit dodge the whole ride with the odd spot of rain, and a block from home the skies opened. i's quite drenched by the time i got in the door. refreshing!

and then got home to find this on the Spokemag site... niiiice piece.

FROM STEEL: The Making of a Soulcraft from michael evans on Vimeo.

Kaiteri, 31st

Kaiteriteri trails... howling gales in Collingwood, and we were on our way home, so twas over to scorching heat in Kaiteriteri... and now i'm kicking myself for not looking at the maps better... stupidly, i hit up all the completely easy ones. into salivator, sidewinder, swampmonster, gladerunner, then new to me revelation. thought about heading up ziggy, but didnt, on account of needing to keep the ride short, so turned back on the rev. then hit up shady lady, thought, thats too good, so turned back down it, then headed back round gladerunner, one very scary moment where i totally overcooked an offcamber corner leaving a big skid on the trail (and nearly some in my pants). onto swampmonster and sidewinder (gasping for air on the umpteenth switchback) then down halfpipe to the end. nothing very interesting. lovely well built trails, but just not enough challenge for me. Shady Lady was really great, and was the riding i was keenest on. should have looked into some of the other stuff, but unfortunately thought they were all just connectors for the old network of firebreaks. anyway, out and back to T and the boys at the beach, and no swim cos the boys were at each other's throats. a car journey later i had a swim in the Buller at Murchison.

Totaranui dusty roads

Totaranui 21st. Headed out up the road and over to Awaroa inlet. All up only about an hour’s ride, 4km climb, 4km descent and flat ground, turn around 4km back up, 4km descent.

Aorere Goldfields, 28th Jan

Friday 28th Jan. Aorere Goldfields. After my past experience on this trail, i expected a hell of a lot worse. Steve et al’s description of the 4wd track down made me wonder whether i was making the right decision to climb on it, but i figured i needed to see what it was all about and give it a go. Instead of parking at the Devil’s Boots i continued over the bridge and along that road (if you could call it that – meet someone else along here, and be prepared to reverse for a fair way, or hope they do the same), also observing that it had been the riverbed during the recent floods – massive piles of tree trunks and debris piling up the sides of the road.

Parked-up at the shearing sheds/yards, even tho the car would have happily made it to the next place to park (where there was another Subie). Rode up to here instead for the warm-up. Hung a right onto the 4WD track it starts off dropping to a creek, easily crossed without emersing hubs, then straight into the climb, pretty steep pretty much straight away, zig and zag to the first gate that i opened and shut for a ‘Mud Slut’ Surf, receiving a “Thanks, Maaate” in return.

Steepy steepy bodybaggish but not-so-bad, up, up, up through all that scrubby short and tall manuka, lots of sunshine beating down, heat, and the constant deafening soundtrack of cicadas (i reckon needing a warning if they were a chainsaw, 80-odd decibels at least). I think, one downhill section, and i could see a steep looking trail off in the distance to the left. not long later there was a left hander that i decided to skip, for some reason figuring there’d be a left further up i could take.

The trail took me into another steep climb, all rideable, up over more scrubbiness, peaking out, and from my reading of the landscape i could just tell that Druggans Dam was further to the left. I glanced at spectacular views and hit the wideopen smooth-as downhill, taking a left-hand option at the bottom that led me to a far more wicked downhill section, washed-out scrubfilled ruts and drainage-crossings requiring the popping of nice air or perfectly timed bunnyhops. Flying down, tho with the caution of not crashing whilst on my own.

Made a short vid at the dodgy campsite (bbq inclusive)that had even more deafening cicadas, and followed the signpost uptrail. Obviously hardly ever used, tho some tire tracks in evidence, lots of gorse overgrowing leaving track marks on my arms. After much climbing, albeit barely ten minutes, i met the previous trail i’d decided against earlier, and made a right, commencing on more climbing. Steep here, i think getting off and walking even, but eventually finding myself on the receiving end of tracks i’d seen before (last time, in fog and drizzle and a group parting ways with Pete, Nelson and me going the way i was about to go, and the others heading down the way i’d just come up).

Glorious wee descent down to Druggans – railing bermy corners and skipping over any roughness – no nasty grinding paste this time, dry as a bone. Got to the dam and headed along it, riding and then walking all the way to where the sounds of water gushing eminates through the regen below the outlet. Turned back and off down again, this time over the waterrace tunnel and the steep descent that bailed me up last time. Cleaned it this time and had a good look at the tunnel – scary! On now round the waterrace, water leaving it and it weaving in and out of the landscape on its wending way round to the caves.

Ballroom Cave first,

alas, forgot my headtorch so was a shallow cellphone lit explore. Fun we descent down to it, and not such a bad push back up. Then Stafford’s Cave with its chill breeze pushing out.

Then, what i thought of as the final descent.
Expecting a long downhill, the single track is tidy and contained and well drained and fast. Almost dangerously fast. One new out and back fall-line-remover but otherwise just fast and smooth. Couldn’t even tell where pete had his wee off last time. Just rapidly got to Druggan’s Flat and then it was a brief descent to the gate and over to the other parked Subaru before the final roll out to my car.

Sweeeeet. Basically, a 30 minute climb followed by 10 minute downs and ups and downs to the dam, another 10 to the caves and another 15 to the end - except with all the faffing about looking at views and taking the odd pic, you’re looking a couple hours tops. fantastic on a nice day, tho ear plugs could almost be recommended due to the cicadas, i'm seriously thinking longterm hearing damage... :)

Rameka, Jan 16th

16th Jan, 2011. Installed new rear pads at Riwaka Resurgence prior to ascent of the hill, and with sleeping boys in back, T dropped me on Takaka Hill Canaan turn-off, figuring with those few ups and downs on the road i’d bed the new pads in nicely before hitting any serious singletrack.

Reasonably uneventful ride in, passing a worn out cycletourist woman and a little further up her partner before the saddle, and being plagued with a clunk on every pedal rotation in certain conditions, ie, not all the time. Snapped a shot of the bike and the road where i lost a maglite next to our brokendown audi on the way into our campsite G2000.

At Harwoods, figured i’d try out the new Gold Creek circuit, surprised to see it was classed as an Easy... hitting it, first wee climb, realised why. Still, should never let simplicity dampen a ride. Some cool country to see.


















Seemed up and up and up across various paddocks, through various gates, a not particularly pleasant surface, kinda energy sapping grass scattergunned with plenty sheep shit too (which i think cant be great, dissolving down into the karst and on down through the cave networks beneath...), also stinking up a tire now and then.

It all finally started getting interesting, riding wise, once you got to a creek. Some sort of juncture with the outer circuit – twice you cross the creek, nice clear fresh looking water, tidily crossed, rideable or not, then this zany ascent begins, with beautifully constructed, near-wheelchair grade
build trail,

with a zigzag up a hill into almost alpine dracophyllum assemblage rocky wee top and on along for a bit through lovely bush. Bit of a descent across a paddock with some whoopdedoos and back into another clump of forest with more lovingly constructed singletrack, with velocity controlling off(or weird)-cambering, finally spitting you out for a last blat down to the Harwood’s Carpark.

Here, quick chat with the cycletourists who were gonna stay at canaan for a few days, so would explore the trails (i highly recommended they hit down the Rameka), i signed the book and headed up the short climb to the Rameka turnoff.

Scoffed a OneSquare and found i had cell reception so shot out a few txts to the world and treadled in at 16:10 according to one, with very slightly lowered seat. Blissful. Sublime benched native forest singletrack -- my favourite thing. Kept a nice pace, thinking the singlespeed wouldn’t have been so bad, 'cept for its rigidity, riding or not riding the creek crossings, depending – certainly cleaning a lot more of them than any time in the past (reminiscing on the one i crashed at), the track was so dry, tho still had a few surprising wet bits. One photo stop,
cool big fractured rocks the track rides through. Recognised the the area where pete got lynched by the lawyer too. At what turned out to be right near the Abel Tasman National Park boundary i was jetting along, flying over everything, roots, dips, rocks, and rounded a bend and spotted another cyclist, a guy it turned out was riding from Takaka to Mot.

From here the ride is not for much longer. In Dozer’s bit, instead of dozering, i took all the little jungletrack bits off the sides, then into the gorse for some super fast mad loose descending to the cool cut marble techy rock climb out to the ending speedy section to the roadend. Finally onto the road ((not really-) admiring the mad castle), more chip than last time and somewhat scary (but still fast) as a result.

Into the Rameka Project, kinda stupidly F A S T to the pines, spotted a guy grubbing a new track. “I’d like to shake your hand! Congratulations on being part of building such awesome trails!” I prattled. quick yarn and off on down through Great Expectations, loving every metre of this handcrafted goodness.

Onto the road, down, barely in control, into the ford and straight into 2 Clicks.
F a n t a s t i c.
This and 1 Click are damned fine examples of the kinds of trails that need to be thrown into similar areas (alongside roads, alongside rivers) all over the country where there’s connections between other trails (or road-ends etc). Its inspiration for getting something similar in a few places i can think of at home.

Then off down the road a little and into OneClick, taking in the low line first, then walking back to ride the high line (rockgarden said closed) and lower down, the riverbed section (cool!). When the singletrack ended, back onto the gravel road, blatting it down to the seal. From here, a hard 15 minutes into the wind to Pohara where the family was bunked up in a cabin. Lovely swim in the sea to replace one salt on the skin with another.

Thursday night, chasing sunset Mt Grey switchbackage

Awesome ride last night. (pics never did come)...

i guess you could say my ride began with spinning the townie across town to GG's to pick up her jeep, which i had to use cos T had the car in Hanmer, and i had to pick up a lawnmower from some friends in Loburn. I figured, "i'll be in loburn, and i was gonna ride tonight, so why not do Mt Grey?". So, back home, got ready and Chris turned up, and off we set. Got the lawnmower and cruised round through Ashley, Sefton and Balcairn, then on up the heinously corrugated Campton's Bush Rd to Lake Janet.

Roughly 7.30 when we set off up the forestry road for the top. Chris soon leaving me behind, but both of us maintaining big (36t) rings up front all the way. relishing the smells of the sections of beech forest on the way up, the sharp honey dew coupled with the dampish mossy must, between sections of pine. couple stops with Chris getting photos of the spectacular views, sun getting low in the sky and the shadow-play on the landscape highlighting features not normally seen. once above the lookout the road levels off a bit and the vegetation becomes sub-alpine, and the views to the west are all layered shades of grey and blue ranges of hills towards the Puketerakis. approaching the massive telecomms tower i spotted a hare the size of a sheepdog. it was huge, loping off into the tussock-spaniard-celmisia shrubland. also, watched a bellbird flitting from solitary flax flowers, stalk to stalk, all bathed in a lowering yellow-orange sunlit glow.

peaked the trig-peak, after a nice little steepish singletrack descent from the telecomms-towers-peak and loose climb, about 8.20 or so and, figuring we had time for the Mt Grey, but not the Red Beech, track. Seats down a bit, we skedaddled down round the traversing singletrack. funtimes begun. couple of boggy sections, a few switchbacks later and then rounding over a small col, we entered the bush, embraced by the bittersweet smell of the black-fungus/scale-insect symbiosis tapping the inner juices of the Nothofagus, and the drone of wasps and bees collecting the stuff.

a series of short switchbacks followed, some rideable, some not, and then near the start of the first nice longish section of trail there is a wee rock stepdrop, followed by a corner with a rock wall next to it. i popped the step, felt the wheels sketchiness on landing but made it round nicely and jetted on down the flowing sweetness of the trail to the next switchback, where i stopped and waited for Chris. hmmm...no sign. waited some more. still no sign. so, put the bike on the trail above the corner, changed down and ground my way back up, to find Chris sitting next to the rockface following the stepdrop, rubbing his knee and elbow, his bike off down the bank below the track. he'd overcooked and lost it on landing the step and smacked into the rockface and tumbled, garking the forks and his knee and . i got his bike up from below and he straightened the bars, and off we set again.

from here the trail varied from switchback closely followed by switchback, or switchback followed by sweet flowing section of trail on down and down and down. one section it was easier to just walk the quick sequence of multiple switchbacks as altitude was scrubbed off quickly. there were some beautiful big trees the lower we got, birdsong, that honeydew smell, and at one point even a morepork starting up. the depths of the forest were getting a bit darker now, but as we traversed up to the Lake Janet track turn off the sun was shining horizontally through the forest in a spectacular light.

the track surface is of superlative quality, chipped greywacke, well drained. the width is much tighter than most benched native trails we're used to, and so the sensation of speed is greatly enhanced. Numerous long sections of sublime flowing fast singletrack ensued as we dropped lower into the valley at a similar rate to the sun dropping towards the horizon. Sunset was at 9.12pm, and we made the end of the trail in the bottom of the valley about 9.15.

From here, the climb back to the car at lake janet is disproportionately long and painful (for me anyway) with a couple of granny sections thrown in for good punishment. it was 9.40 as we drove off down the road, a pinky-red glowing sunset seeing us off down the hill.

Sunday Thomas's God Snaking

lift with Pete out to Dotcom, meeting Andy, Wayne, Wazza and Dallas there. off up the Thomas we trundled. all going pretty good, i was feeling quite good, fresh legs recovered from Wednesday's semi-epic, tho the summer cold still pestering me a little. cleaned all the cleanables and didnt clean the usuals. topped out and into the shade of the embankment at Evans.

Then it was off out Godley. blew out the usual first bit, but got pretty much everything else quite nicely thanks. the others all did good. regrouped in the usual couple spots, interspersing these with great blasts down the great blasty bits. at Breeze we took the high(ish) line, ie, above the road, the two little grunts puzzling me cos they werent as bad as i remembered (been a while since i took that line). pete and me flew down to the end and took shade under the macracarpas by the loo block. the others followed in, and then we took off round the below-road track. awesome jaunt round here, best i've had in ages. all my control and balance and power just seemed to pull together perfectly.

then the Anaconda. again, everything came together and it was an awesome descent. railed all the berms and hoisted the yumpies and blazed on down. then into the tail, following another dude who looked to be struggling a little, but was keeping an okay pace. then the climb out of taylors was one of the best i've had in a while, i just seemed to have plenty of power to get up the hill.

down Nicholson, excellent blaze down here, then when i got to the bottom looked back and couldnt see any of the others... turned out Pete's derailleur had appeared to eat itself, tho once he got it untangled it was fine.

coffee at dot come and home round 12.30.

Fog Ridden, return to Chch.

So. New year and all that. today we packed up all our belongings out of the bach and into the car and squeezed it all in (one extra adult having arrived from Scotland to stay, making our little Fiat a bit of a squash. luckily it was only from Little Ak to Pettigrews Rd, where they dropped me off, and off into the fog i set at 11.30am. maximum of about 20-30 metres visibility the WHOLE ride. it was fucking wet too. madness. but good. tootled across the tops, managing to find my way by memory the whole way, and surprised at the speed i made Mt Fitzgerald and the Port Levy Saddle in. then from there towards Herbert, getting to a couple bits quicker than i'd expected but the plod with the bike on the shoulders was long and painful - still, rode lots i maybe wouldnt have expected to.

i've never been so happy to get to the top of somewhere, but i was very relieved when the summit of Herbert rolled under my tires. zero visibility still, i txtd T and let her know i was still alive. the whole ride i was in this world of cotton wool, with occasional dark shapes looming up, whether they were trees, hillsides, or cows...

2.30 and off down the front face of Herbert, with visibility slowly increasing and once i'd gotten to that bit where it veers right onto the singletrack i could even see down into Purau, but once i'd got a little lower (into where all that gorse used to be) the fog descended again and i was in my cotton wool world til the very bottom. a few minutes to 3pm as i clambered my weary bones over the bottom stile, with still the last section of track to get to the main Diamond Harbour Rd ahead of me. bombed that, up road and then down past the broken Godley House and minding out on the corners (wet road) bombing down to the ferry which was juuuust about to leave, but i made it... phew. 3.5 hours all up, Pettigrews to Diamond Harbour, in less than clement conditions. a worthy trip, methinks.

didnt see one single other person the whole trip until Diamond Harbour.

and mega bonus, got home to the new issue of Spoke Magazine! w00t!

Post Christmas Ride number two - View Hill, Banks Pen.

Well. blog post counts aside, only got one more ride within the old year. spent 10 glorious days in perfect weather at the bach in Little Akaloa. built a tree platform (house would be a misnomer) for the boys. swung heaps on our swing, and rode around the section a bit. swam in the warm(ish) sea many many times, but largely just hung out not doing a helluva lot except playing the the boys. so. one day, not even sure which now, i got out about 10.30 am and headed up the road to Chorlton, then on up View Hill Rd, stepping aside for a couple of bulls who were being taken down off the hill by the farmers, then continuing up to the top of the road, checking in on the cellphone messages up top there, taking the trails right to the very top of the hill, then turning round and bombing back down, exploring out the top of the bush and finding a few off piste animal trails then wending my way down across the slope eventually getting back to the main track. bombing down this, chasing a sheep for a while, then on down the fucking steep gravel and on down the seal to the bay. all up a good wee ride to break the holiday up.

Post Christmas Ride number one - Christmas Day.

Well. first "post xmas ride" was actually this morning, christmas day. did all the fun family present opening etc then got something for lunch ready, then took off on my bike to get to Joy's for Xmas lunch. T took the boys in the car. Left home 10ish, got to hers 11.15ish. bloody headset is dodgy.

sped across town, up rapaki at a good clip, over witch hill, road up to Castle and a good fang down there. then onwards round under the gondola, up round and onto John Britten, then off piste down the paddock, under the pylons and down Major Hornbrook, through the park to Cannon Hill Cres then bombage down there to lunch.

Tuesday PFMTBC DVD Release

Cruiser'd over to Petes and met up with all the crew. Andrew, Wayne, Warren, Hubb, Pete (who'd been at Pom's all afternoon), Steve and Tony. We ventured forth into the hot blasting Nor'waster, made it to the Belgian Beer Cafe where we squatted on the outskirts of a bunch of suits and supped our ales (a Blonde and a Brunette for me). then to Pomeroys where we met up with the three M's - Matt, Mark and Marie. Mark had a Tallboy in tow, and we all carparked it trying it out and liking it except for (mark's) floppy seat - (a Hopwired and a Smokin' Bishop for me here).

Then a tail wind blast to Pete's for the unveiling of Warren's video construction. we drank a little more and laughed and laughed and laughed.

Sketchy getting home, with i think a crash on Pete's drive. i've got unexplained chain muck right up my leg...


Only 4 more posts to fulfill my annual quota... These will be pre-loaded because i'm going to Little Ak from Boxing day and we aint got internet over there. I'll definitely get that many rides in prior to Jan 1st.

Sunday Hunting Traversing Victorian Old Skools.

Smaller posse assembled at Steve's this morning, with Wayne, Warren, Andrew, Mark, Steve and myself cruising round Hansen's and up the Huntsbury into the cloud. clammy moist and humid it was. up up up we went til we broke out above the clouds (or they burned off) and Mark took the old steep line up top instead of through gate and up to beginning of Traverse.

hit the Traverse and put on the pace. i nearly lost my back wheel over the edge after one stop, then a dazed and confused large lamb tried to get in everybody's way cos it didnt know what to do with itself alongside the pond, then Wayne got a flat at the usual signpost-Sugarloaf stop. otherwise a pretty event free jaunt.

Off down through coffeebreak with Mark then me rolling the see-saw and the first coupla brakefrees, then off down the rockgarden into the gummies and peeled left down that sweet little track Marie had shown us. Andrew said Steve looked like he was gonna shoulder barge a tree near that steepy corner.

regrouped and off up to for Mark to show us a piece of Raadi Garden. nice wee rideable steep with optional droppage, then he showed us this play area before the top entrance to Rad^Sick which we did a couple of loops of, then off down the valley, taking in some bits that followed Rad briefly before hooking onto the lower reaches of Cool Runnings. then off down Flow, Bridges and rolling the new bit without pedalling at all, making for a fun lower section.

blatted down the valley and hit up Hidden, cleaning it up nicely, rain starting to fall a bit more concertedly. into the Old Skool and a good blast until the wet rubber matting which sent me screaming towards the rocks in a straight line gaining speed. managed to survive and got down the rest okay.

it being only 11am when we got to the bottom so coffee was had.

Wednesday Sandpit singlespeeders

Chris came to mine and we singlespun across to the forest. in the main entrance, hung a right and drafted to the gazebo, ate a biscuit or two, then onwards. along the beach we hit the worst sand, and headed down onto the beach, where chris wheelied and i cruised to the next entrance, back onto the singletrack and on round, quite a few stops, a swapsie for a section, his forks are well plush, mine are basically rigid. i was surprised by some of the freshly cleared forest, open in places i've never seen open before... played round on the wooden stuff at the end and then rode back towards mine, detouring at the last minute to Pomeroy's for a pint...

All Mtn Trials 1

These two posts, vimeos, are awesome. found them via Spoke Mag
Czech them out...

Nicolai All Mountain Trial from Whyex Productions on Vimeo.

Also, these are a desperate attempt at boosting my blog post numbers for the year.

All Mtn Trials 2

Nicolai All Mountain Trial 2 from Whyex Productions on Vimeo.

Sunday Morning Rich Green God-Snake

got myself to Pete's and we drove to Slumner to meet up with the others. good sized posse, with a Force (to be reckoned with), one in a Trance, three Jami (the plural of Jamis), one Stinky one, one abominable snowman, a feminine Merida, and myself, the psy-Cotic one... (ie, Dallas, Wazza, Andy, Tony(new Yeti shock servicing, hence the Shame-us) and Wayney, Mark, Pete, Marie and me).

We entered Richmond Hill Rd with abandon, and flaunted ourselves up the steep grunter to the farmtrack which was most enjoyable up through yards and sheep and farmers to the pines of Greenwood/Richmond corner. on up road and into the single-ator which was most enjoyable. nice bomb down Greenwood Park with much rockiness and side winds. just after what is normally a creek in winter i flatted, and then had tubular issues finally resolving it with a freshy from Tony. the regroup and rest proved healthy and the rest of the bomb was the bomb.

At Evans the Warren and Dallas bailed down the Captain, and i have it on good authority that they had a all round good ride down, altho Dallas came off over his bars (we didnt see that from where we watched them before we hit up Godley). we hit up Godley, Mark making his mark up the first bit, with much hopping and popping - quite spectacular. i got further up it than other recent feeble attempts, but not quite cleaned. not a bad wee haul out with a couple of regroups and a couple of alterior lines had by one or two. nice wee blasts down and good climbing all round.

from Breezey col, off down The Snake we galloped, with berms railed and dust stirred. excellent runs by all and a good blast down the tail too. in Taylor's carpark, passing by the massive posse that was the Chch Mtnbiking Club. the racer-y members (2) of this group passed us on the way up the road, and after regrouping we got off down Nicholson ahead of them all and to Dot Com not long after 12, home by 1...

great ride, nice day, refreshing wind.

Thursday solo there and back again.

what a ride tonight. no word from Chris, so i got out on my own, drove over and parked up Bowenvale Ave about 7.20 and headed up the Old Skool, steepness getting the better of my unfit bod once or twice, but enjoying the cleanliness of the climb on the single up into the sunshine, then really enjoying the smoothed out clay surface under the pylons, its really taken the lurch out of that section. then on up the nasties, spinning out once or twice, not on my game. at one stop, watched some dh'ers on the lavaflow, walking and checking out sections, and a couple of guys bombing, looking spectacular taking mean lines and raarking up the dust in some of the last sunshine as they blitzed it - their woots echoing across the valley. i continued on my way up to the summit.

fiddled with fork tune as i crossed the road and hit up vernon realising the goodness of the fork change, getting my groove on down over the rocks around into the Rapaki catchment, flowing on down and down to the carpark, rolling through and onto witch hill trail where that one rock early on got the better of me, but cleaning up the rest and enjoying some of the new smoothness.

then onto the road and the schluff to Castle Rock. inspiring descent into the darkening valley, managing to dodge most little piles of fresh sheepshit, but managing to get splecked by one lot... smelly. made the top of the bridle and turned back admiring the carnage of the boulders and rockslide off the top of Castle Rock proper. then endured the good climb back up, big ring the whole way (36t (2x9)) and cleaning the last bit that often gets the better of me.

amazing the rocks piled up on the roadside, and the damage (now patched) where they'd fallen from the Tors etc.

getting cooler now on the descent. looked down at the walkway below the road and dreamed sweet singletrack memory dreams, but was a good boy and continued round, over the witch. got dimmer and dimmer as i climbed back up vernon. then crossed the road again and on round a bit of the traverse before dropping back down into the Old Skool, down the shortcuts, taking a bad line on the worst rocky section and bailing before crashing.

on down and into the sweet sweet singletrack, visibility getting pretty dim now, dusk really setting in, kinda fuzzing the bumps out of the trail almost. blitzed on down and out the bottom back to the car dead on 2 hours after i'd left.

Sweeeet

Sunday family mcleans

kinda almost doesnt count, but i did get a ride in today, even tho T's galavanting off in Sydney leaving me to nurture our sons...

took them out to Mcleans Island, O on his bike and Go on the tagalong behind the singly. pretty mellow cruise in lovely hot day, bailing off cos O was tired. he was sick yesterday so i shouldnt have expected too much from him today. anyway... its one more post to boost the tally for the year.

Tuesday crocodiled quarry

got a lift with Pete (and Alister and Brandon, his son and nephew respectively, in tow), off out to bottom of Halswell-that-ends-well Quarry. we were early, so he dropped us three at the top of the road and we jettisoned ourselves down the crock. nice wee blast down there with me tight on Alister's tail all the way. then he flatted on those rocks at the very bottom as we were about to make our way down to the car. made our way back to the road and the boys, Steve, Tony and Wayne had arrived, pete took off up with puncture repairs to Al who was walking.

tire fixed and off up the Rim Track to check out the earthquake damage on the quarry-face. wicked amount of damage. over and up to road, then on up to top of Siberia, nice wee climb up all the way and fun descent popping the roots. up 4wd track to gate and i chased Alister in, pushing him til he let me past and the blast was on. great run down newtasty with a couple of the corners really nearly getting the better of me, especially the last one that shoots you back towards the top of the crock, nasty big rut-trench on it.

into the croc for the final blast, absolutely fanging it. awesome trip down, raising the dust. group of cows in the way near the bottom, then railing the highsides of the berms, very nice work in there. up the grunt, regroup and off down again, and noticed a jumps area across in the trees that really need a trail in them.

said good-bye to the boys, then the young'uns, pete and me ventured forth to find the yumps zone... rode and walked up to check them out. well beyond any of our skills, so we went to the top and rode and rolled avoiding the gappage then back out the bottom.

home nice and early

Sunday untsbury averse lying un ictoria

nice wee ride this morning. trundled a tired ass over to Stevo's and Andro Wayno Mari-o and Tono were there to ride. Tono was on a new bike, another Abominable Snowman has joined the posse... Stevo and Pedro were off to Ruahoono to watch fuel being guzzled and rubber being converted into little pieces scattered across tarmac.

off up Huntsbury we cruised, a pretty good go made by all. up into cloudy tops, feeling good about pushing my unridden body up the hill. through the gates and over the fence and up to the top. off round the summit trail enjoying this track again after more than a month off. passed the same joggers a few times, each time them friendlily leaping out of the way, off down Thomsons to kiwi, blasting it.

up road, with a little discussion of the Gov'no's track, which Andro still has never done(!), as we passed, continuing to top of Marlo's. off down the Nun, having a great, tho cruisy, waft down there, coasting to slow speeds on corners, then powering out, all in all a good blast. Tono claiming the Kendo SmallBlock8s to be pretty good in most of these conditions, and him finding himself thinking there was little difference in ride between the old Shamus and his new Bigfoot, but actually going a darned sight faster.

regrouped at kiwi and off up to top of Vic Park, me receiving a 'get the fuck home now, you're late' call (even tho it was only 11), so off down into vic, over seesquaw, a few brakefro's and into the gummos down the recently enjoyed track and regrouping at the skidder site where i said my good byes and blasted off down Dazzo's, Brento's and Flow, passing a huge group of riders, into Bridgos, nuBridgos and down and out and home across town via a Dairy for milk and cream for a pav(!) by 11.40.

niiic-oh.

Thursday evening Worsle Nunnage Vix 2 OldSkool

finally out for a ride. 3 weeks off the bike for many and varied reasons - a party at our place, a death of a friend, a trip to the bach and a week in Fiordland. with family time required around all of these.

drove over to Chris's and we headed across town, parking up in B.vale Ave. round the foot of the hills and up Worsley's we rode, me weak in the legs and struggling while Chris was pushing a cold. uneventful, dab filled struggle up the dirt with me walking more of the Body Bag than i've ever done, peaking out gasping.

the nun however was bliss. Chris led in but in the first of the big sweepy uppy corners he pulled off cos the scab-shield on his elbow was vibrating too sore, so he followed me at a nice flowy cruisy pace the rest of the way down to the kiwi, both of us really enjoying it.

up the road to Vic straight down to seesaw and brakefree and sesame st and dazza's and pono's and onwards, then cleaned up Hidden Valley (me stopping for a gasp of air between top switchbacks after nearly steering over the bank) and into the Old Skool. excellent blast down there, taking in an older new line half way down that neither of us had ridden for ages.

stopped for a couple of well earned pints, including a particularly hoppy Tall Poppy, at Pomeroys on the way home.

Quick Tuesday nighter

only three of us tonight, Marie, Warren and me. met at Steve's and headed up Rapaki. Marie headed towards Vic from there, while Warren and me headed into the easterly, Witch Hill, up road to Castle Rock. allowed Laurence Mote, Ventana-beltdrive-Oli, and some other guy on a Reign in ahead of us, and i did my darnedest to keep on their tails, closing the gap on the descent, then them losing me on the climb. good run. on round the top to John Britten. off piste meandering down there then down the road and into McCormacks bay for a sweeeet run down through there. then finished with a good tail wind run round the back of ferrymead Warren peeling off and me cruising it to Steve's to the car.

Sunday Wurst Nunchuck Dying Victim

Pete and steve were out, but a good buncha ring-ins showed at Tony's for today's spin. nice tailwind got me over there in dead on 20mins. Andrew, Warren, Wayne, Tony and Marie, off up Worsley's, me taking the dirt instead of tarmac, feeling good.

Hit the dirt and all had good climbs, i think all cleaning the body bag too? i got up first and struck up a conversation with the tailender of the Canty MtnBike Club group ride, who turned out to be someone quite well known. then we were onto the Nun. AWESOME blast down here, cold easterly blustering the odd jump, but not as bad as all that, brief regroup at half way, then onwards and downwards then off down Old Dyers too. excellent blaze down the bumpy bumpy bumpy to a sheltered sunny spot for a snackup.

then onwards up to road, over, and up into vic park, taking in the wee singletrack leading into the skidder site. nice wee off by Andrew, who ended up having to untangle himself from a friendly bush. Off down Dazzas, then Brents, with everyone going different directions in there, Wayne and me taking in some of the bit we rode the other week. discovered race tape before leaving the forest, with dh groms blasting past on the fast lines as we flowed flow and nubridges. we regrouped below double drop (which was the dh finishline), and waited for Wayne, who'd had quite a good off, nasty scrapes on his arms and knee.

Off up Hidden, managinng to clean it all this time, and off up and over into a glorious descent of the Old Skool. i said good by as the others turned for tony's, and me to a quick blast into the wind home

Tuesday Scarbro conda Godley Thomas

treadled over to pete's and we falconed out to Sumner to meet Andrew and then Steve and Tony. off into the brisk wind for a reversal of the usual around the waterfront and off up at a nice leisurely pace up Scarborough. blatted down into Taylors and off up the 'tail. nice climb and on up the rest of the snake, big(middle) ringing the whole way.

At Breeze col, it surely was breezy, and a split was decided. Pete and me were feeling chipper enough to contemplate the blast out and back, while the others tootled off towards Evans. We made good time, taking the low road, then making like Buffalo Girls and going 'round the outside', then the chase was on. not a bad up, and a good descent to Livingston Col where we could see the other guys topping out on the mucky summit. rough as guts descent to Evans where the boys were waiting.

Time for the Captain, Pete chasing me and passing me when i baulked on the highline taken due to walkers, leaving the rest of us for dead. good blat the rest of the way, absolutely flying. couple brief stops swapping the lead at each gate, with me finishing off the lower half. back to the cars and home before 8.30 just as dark was dropping.

the trip - Dunners

so far so good. final night, sittin in a puter room and loading this down. for a far more indepth analysis, see steve's pfmtbc write up.

Friday, roadtripped to Dunners, arrived, settled in, loaded up with food and beer then hit the local Redwoods. rode up steeeeeep roads (Rockside and Tanner) to get to it, up McGouns to top, down a single, through mudtroughs to the top of the 'loop'. off down switchback after curve after curve after switchback, loving it all, slightly loose in places but fun fun fun, and 5 minutes later you're at the bottom and head up for the climb which switchies its way up the hill caning it to the top. how many loops? i think 3 or 4, but on Pete's third, he crashed real good skinning the knee.

day two
massive day, heaped upon a hangover from celebratory arrivals. Multiple hours of riding exhausting all involved, slowed even further by a certain dreaded one's constant flats. took Nichol's Creek Switchback track all the way up to Swampy, hung a left at the top and on over to a speedy descent to the 'bull pen'. tried to find the entrance to a shortcut down to snakes and ladders (alas, took road round instead). No one particularly enjoying the Snakes'n'ladders, so half the party bailing out, while the other half continued through it only to be stopped by Mike's flatting. back up to the bull pen in killer heat with worn out climbs back up to top of the way we'd come down, and time to hit the switchbacks again. Everyone loving the descent, with footage captured. over all, everybody loved the beginning and ends of the day, but not a lot in the middle.

day 3.
signals mixed. up up up up up up road after road to Signal Hill Monument and g-stringed tourist asses to meeting a friendly Brent (from Bike Otago) who led us down descents we'd enjoy to bottom, nice rocky technical but reasonably fast descents, thinking rain would kill the rest of the day.

back base then some lunch, and rain gone, so drove up for a post lunch Redwoods play, multiple laps, then across to Buffoons and an argumentative start prior to blazing around some of the sweetest singletrack yet. starting from the carpark we headed into the Forrester forest into the day before's racetrack, loving it down then getting back to the carpark. quick lap of the bmx track, then off up the hill, into Bethunes Gully, up a singletrack which zigged us down again into the picnic area, over a bridge, up Mt Cargill Walkway, which seemed to get steeper and steeper, us spotting the singletrack below us, eventually up left to a wee play on some wooden things and down to race tape, hard left into Haggis basher or hunter, for a wicked descent popping stuff on the way. back over the bridge and up the xc climb, zigging and zagging through fantastic plantation forest to a top. the speedier ones raced off and took the 'Expert' line, while the slightly slower for some reason took the 'Sport', and so the 'experts' all ended up down the bottom again, waiting indefinitely for the others who never showed. cel contact was made and we all headed on up the way we'd arrived into the clearing originally, then took a zig zag track up left and over to find the others on the road. then we circled out round Forresters park on all of its singletrack back to the carpark.

day 4.
Government Track, out near Waipori Falls. very niiiice. bit of a drive out of town, into fucking nasty looking weather, me in the falcon thinking oooop, steve'll be cross, but arriving up the valley as the sun shone and the bush beckoned. up the first couple switchbacks thinking what are we in for?, then onto glorious benched singletrack gliding through spectacular forest, fuchsia-broadleaf-podocarp in the lower and wetter areas, with dryer beech forests on the ridges, then into manuka scrub getting shorter and nearly subalpine up top. brief time in some farm land with wind trying to blow us over. over an hour to the top, with a bit of hail thrown in on the way up for good measure, otherwise mostly sunshine including at top. black weather coming so off we headed back down, first through the manuka then into the good beech forest and then the podocarp. when the black weather hit, snow started falling, spectacularly. the roots were skittery and all of it was fantastic. to me, this track is everything i love about riding in new zealand.

day 5.
forecast nasty, so didnt expect to ride, but day turned out to be sweet, so we got up the switchbacks again, great ride up and great ride down. arrived back to base as the skies opened, perfect timing. lunched in town then 5 of us partook of a tour with Richard Emerson of his brewery. a great experience, with 'quality control' being a very important part of the tour.

day 6,
packed up, left Dunedin. Pete, Marie, Mark and me in the Falcoon, off up to Waimate. Excellent Peas, Pie and Pud at The Savoy, the best tearooms in South Canterbury, then off up to end of Point Bush Rd to ride the White Horse. Steep ass little switchback trail up through regenerating native bush and macracarpa and pines up top, even seeing a Wallaby mosying through, and on up to the PD gang working around the Horse. Photos, then down, popping most of the jumps on down in no time flat. back in car, off we went. 20 odd kms later Mark realised he didnt have his camera! so, back to Waimate, and on round the road to the top of the track. Retreived the camera and the Mark and me rode down again, meeting the others on the road below, great ride the second time round too.

Home for dinner.

Finally, Sunday Mid Hills Blast.

Good ride Sunday Morning. Usual suspects, plus as a bonus me oldest bestest friend Matt, who was visiting from Melbs. Normally a roadie, his grins definitely showed he liked the dirt - maybe we'll convert him yet. He borrowed my ancient (socalled)"Schwinn". I'd spent an hour or so the night before cleaning it up a bit and swapping bars, stem and pedals to make it more accommodating for him. We treadled across town to Steve's where turned up Pete, Warren, Wayne, Tony, Andrew and Marie. then we all headed round and up Rapaki. Matt's road fitness got him up nearly effortlessly with Pete and me, and he enjoyed the views to be had from there on round. We singletracked Vernon - Traverse - Thomsons then kiwi road to Marley's and the excellent blast down the Nun, all with numerous regroupings and millions of other riders to contend with, more crowded than i've seen it in ages. A southerly was due late morning (didnt show til much much later) so maybe everyone was trying to get around before that... From bottom of Nun, up the Thomsons to top of Vic and down, me being the only one to do the see-saw (as usual). through the rocks, into the gums and most of us tried out a new track Marie pointed out to us. great little twist and shout through the gums spitting us out at the lefthander so many usually miss, over the wee jump and then down round out to the Skidder site... race tapes up, so we got in and blazed down Dazza's, into Brents staying between the tapes down to a turn and section i'd never done before, whistles blowing our approach, like we were DH racers :). Onto Flow, me missing the new highline, rutting instead, and then into nu bridges, down to Hidden Valley and its wee granny grunt up, blowing some of the hairpins. then into Old Skool, first time since April! yay. great blast down there, with a couple of regroups, and then out to coffee at St Martins, then the headwind home. Friday, PFMTBC trip. hopefully i'll be able to slide a ride in between now and then...

Tuesday repeat of sunday again.

Pete n me treadled the length of Linwood Ave and round to Warren's, finding him, Tony and Marie ready to ride. Steve was off being wined and dined somewhere fancy. We headed round the ferrymead singletrack, then off up Mt Pleasant Rd, spreading out pretty good but regrouping a couple times and then layering up up top before hitting the Greenwood goodness.

once again, I was on fire! felt really good once again, possibly better than Sunday. fanged it, railed, popped, roosted, relishing the dry singletrack. quick reqroup midway, til Marie rounded into view, then off again, cutting through the lower section even smoother and faster than before. cleaning both little rocky ups and floating from there on down. whole ride was totally on form, felt great.

Marie took off down the road, due to light issues, and the rest of us headed into Capt Thomas, once again, feeling very good. usual baulk, then great cleaning of all the rest. quick regroup in the middle and into the rest of it, great times. first night ride without lights (cept for Tony and Wazza in last bits of Thomas).

then the slog home, head winds, once again, but not quite as strong as sunday.

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...

Tuesday repeater

Rode to Pete's for a lift over to Tony's where we found Warren, Wayne and Tony. Off up Worsley's we chuffed, everybody doing well. the dirt was a tad drier than Sunday, but the ruts and ridges were just as challenging and enjoyable, the odd bit dabbing us all. three cleaned the body bag, one with a blow out part way up.

on up to the Nun. i led off, blazed away, weed-eaten grass strewn all over the whole track now. felt a little more on form than sunday, tho the grass and lights made it a bit trickier. got through all the midlevel rocks and below the old 4wd bit and waited for a bit for the other's lights to appear. Pete had had issues, his handlebar mounted lights had been flopping forward on every bump. continued on down, pete sorted his lights at the carpark and on down to the kiwi we flew.

up the road, ignoring the Thomsons, into Vic, flowed down the first bit, i took the see-saw, then into Brakefree. i peeled off, but then Pete yumped and swooped round it, so i got back in and we hit Sesame St, the landing off the Wall nearly wiping me out, then into Dazza's, and Flow and once again New Bridges, and out the bottom.

pretty much one year on, Camelback Mule is still a good wee pack, however, the bladder has fucked out. leaks if left on wrong angle, and has taken on a nasty freezer smell (if not so much taste).

Sunday Worsley Nun Victory, ah.

quick earlyish blat this morning. left home bout 8.30 (after unseizing one of my derailleur jockey wheels), cruised across town and up Worsleys. hard work but just kept at it. ridges and ruts provided a nice challenge while grey warblers provided the soundtrack. managed to clean the body bag, but not without a breather near the top.

onto nun, and off i flew. perfect condition, great blat, popping all the airs and railing all the berms. not much sketch. bit of freshly mown grass on the lower reaches.

up road, upper Thomsons, Coffee Break, over the see-saw, brakefree, sesame, dazzas brents, flow, little bit of the upper new bit, then into nu-bridges, and out the bottom. great blast, home about 10.30.

meanwhile, the rest of the usual crew will have started at Steves and gone somewhere...

Thursday muddy hell

Chris showed at mine, no other takers, so we Fiat'd out to Slumner to haul ourselves up the Captain. prior to Chris's arrival i'd rubbered up my wheels, 2.35 Muddy Mary up front, and 2.3 Stout on the rear, turned out they were a pretty good choice for tonights ride. Captain Thomas had more mucky places on it than i've ever seen before, in places i've never seen muck. quite astounding, tho, still eminently rideable, albeit with copious dabs. bailed on the top section knowing its messiness, and rounded the final hairpin of the road to be greeted by the Evans to Lyttelton Road Closed sign, which i'd forgotten about, and explained the extreme lack of traffic.

on up the summit road passed by only 2 cars, and hit Greenwood. not too bad to start, quite good in fact, round the top and down to the ruins. then on down. round the first left hander into rocksville i lost it, catching a rut or something, off balance, really thought i was a goner over the edge, but juuust managed to keep it together, including in my moment of distress, missing altogether a hedgehog in my firing line. adrenalin burst (something i'm used to of late, what with all these aftershocks), and on downwards. rode a bit better after that and caught Chris up after a couple more bends. mucky middle section, then good for a bit again, down, down, then into the bit that'd been worked on the other week, and it was a mess. all the soft dirt that was flattened so nicely was a big rut. we walked around the worst bits. stream crossing and onwards all good.

crossed Evans and slugged up Godley. rocks getting rockier by the day, troublesome climbing for both of us. nice in the windy dried bits, still a bit of wet in places, until you get round onto the grassy slope in the Taylors catchment. Ugh. what a mess. diabolical. and, for the first time, i'll admit, Teddington shit is the shit. once you hit it, it was the only flowy bit of trail there, after it, rutsville again, til the lower descent to Livingston. on over to breeze was a breeze, except the last 100 metres or so by the fence, wet mucky mud under grass.

anaconda top was puddled in places, a few ruts, and one or two flows. onto anaconda itself, the whole top section was sweet, over the three jumps into the berms, nice, but then in the valley, rut city, mostly avoidable but no speed carried. finally, the tail was sweeeet, until you got onto the bottom paddock, yuck.

clambered back up out of taylors, down through nicholson and along the waterfront. home around 9.30.

and a quake hit just as i finished this. 10.30ish

De-stressing Earthquakes.

7.1, felt at 0436 Little Akaloa 4th Sept 2010 (where a ride had been intended), munted the weekend and days following cleaning up bricks and mortar. untold destruction, general freaked-outedness prevailing. So, finally today, i skived off the first day back at work on what could only be described as stress-leave, and unwound by getting out on the bike. Chris was at a loose end not being allowed into the cordon to work, met at mine and we StanNurseWilsEastmorerysonerned to the foot of the hill, spotting the odd chimney down as we spun. werent really sure where we'd climb, but ended up choosing Holliss. one i'd not been up for a while, and not having been on the bike for a while either, thought would be some good punishment. Chris's first time too. good wee climb, across the lot that is still vacant, onto Longhurst, and on up Harry Ell past Warnin's place, through a gate and up a well trod wee singletrack through "Private Land", skirting the bottom of Dog Park and onto vic park rd, to drop down to cross Dyers and under and up. lots of water in the first half, good technical grunt up to kiwi and on to the misty cloud topped Marleys.

Nun was good. not as greasy as that other recent time, but with one or two slickish spots and rocks seemed to have grease on them cos of the dirty tires resulting in some careful picking and a scare or two.

Back on the road up to top of vic, round through the trees, and down over the DH fence, chris leading me into Tits. a corner i'd never turned before, and slick as pig shit with me running and skipping over lots of stuff i'd only just manage (on the edge) in the dry. arrived at 4wd track and decided against the remainder, so headed for top of Cool Runnings, chris choosing to go further along and hit yet another DH'y dropper. rode more of that, but again, have managed it no worries in the dry but there was too much grease around. Onto Flow nicely and nubridges wafting sweetly even off the end, and down out the valley bottom, muchly improved by lack of bovine slop.

back across town under the railwaytracks, bumping into Pete, checking on Pomeroy's for openness, parting ways, cleaning up, grabbing some Indian, scoffing, then the boys turning up for an exploration of the local urban carnage. meandering around the river downstream a few kms from here observing the utter destruction a megatonne of energy unleashed over 39seconds, 10kms deep and 40kms distant, can inflict on the crust human settlement lays over a flexible land. Liquifactionville - how long is this shit gonna take to clean up? and yet, as observed (and heard of) elsewhere, barely a chimney cracked for some. mother fuckin' nature, eh?

touch-wood, the rumblings seemed to have slowed down a litte... one can but hope.

Re-opened Singletrack goodness

so good to finally get out today. was a shame i'd been so wrecked Saturday night, cos i felt like absolute shit all morning, except for the actual riding.

so. got my ass over to Steves, overtaken by Pete in the Cosworth on Opawa Rd, and greeted by Tony, Wayne, Warren and Andrew out front of Steve's, who had an excuse of family bother to get him out of riding... not pisscrookedness at all, right?

anyway, off up Rapaki we lugged our sorry states, meeting Mark and Marie and truck at end of road. Marie joined us, while Mark drove off to see us up top. climbed like climbing things, surprising ourselves i think, Pete and me, with our ability to actually succeed. cold southerly wind in our faces all the way up, and into the clouds up top, with some spitty drizzliness going for it dampening everything. decided on heading towards Sumner, but not thinking we'd make it.

Witch hill was like a pinball machine, little bit of grease on the rocks pinging my slightly over inflated tires all over the place. few dabs, lurches and lost moments. but all over quite good. Marie and Warren took the road, Marie due to a bad wrist. regrouped and headed on up summit road towards the Castle.

Castle Rock started out a bit mucky but not bad. a few damp spots down the way, but mostly pretty good, had a nice flow on down round the hill, first hairpin nicely negotiated, on down and after the second hairpin nasty rutsville just before the bridge. pete stepped off to film everybody, and Tony had a nice tumble off down the hill, i think caught on film, nice couple garks on his legs. Marie took the road. Mark showed up and we chatted and then got our ways on round, in the clouds, tailwind, to Britten

John Britten trail: led off and could someone on my tail for a while, til the nasty rock-up, which i dabbed but kept going, under the very wet (rainmaking) shelterbelt on round to the road where i waited. and waited. and waited, and thought, hmmm, and was just about to ride on back to see what'd happened, when Marie and Warren and Tony appeared out of the gloom saying Pete had had an off but they were on their way. he'd been straddling his bike, walking up that rock when one of his feet gave way and off he tumbled down the hill, garking himself nicely i think. Mark rolled up and Marie changed bikes here.

hit Greenwood, for the first time in a lonnnnnng time. started off with a greasy rut which threw me a bit, but dried out nicely on further up, with even some dust appearing at one stage... had a good cruise down really enjoying the freedom of this trail, and pleasantly surprised at how little damage the winter had inflicted, maybe a few more rocks showing a bit more of their teeth after dirt's been washed away. mucky wetspot after rockgap, but all good round into gloomy gulch. still in the clouds at this point, pulled up just down from usual stopping place, and regrouped again, looking down on the willing workers we were intending on joining. got rolling again and cruised down to the workers, stopping to chat with Ranger Nick Singletrack, who basically said no need to worry about helping out and to enjoy the ride!!! gotta make it to the next workday. bolled down the rest of the trail, seeing Mark again, and then hit Captain Thomas.

First corner, more workers (and a "NICE BIKE" comment on the Soul), chatted to Graham a bit then continued on down. bad slip mud eating my wheels before the first of my nemeses. i stopped, walked quickly down, then turned round to see Pete dropping his bike and scuttling down and juuust stopping on his hands... enjoying the rest of the trail, cleaning my other two old nemeses. one or two other wet bits, nothing too major, quite fun dodging and popping the various holes and rutty bits, on out to the bottom. up pulls Mark, informing us Marie was behind. once she arrived we all tootled down to DotCom and coffeed up before the slog home.

meeting of singletrack minds

townie, with Pete to STeve's, meeting Wazza, Mark and Marie (tandemised) there. all rode round river on paths and roads eventually to Tony's where we were joined by rex wayne andy and plans for October's trip were hatched... Dunners here we come.

View Hill Quickster

Bad weather, then 10 days in Fiordland chasing robins and moreporks, has kept me off the bike it seems all this month so far! shocking. anyway, went to the bach for a slightly extended weekend and finally today i got out.

Treadled my way up to Chorlton, standing singlespeed style most of the way up, relishing the fresh air, then on up View Hill Rd (grovelling the steepest in granny). Took the left fork for a change, and laboured my way up to the end gate. weather was packing in a bit, with some rain spitting up there, so turned back down, occasionally off-pisting it for the ovine-singletrack goodness.

At the big pines i hung a left up the usual fork, but the further i got the stronger the southerly blew in my face and the more the rain was getting me, so decided i'd had enough, and turned back. tailwind pushing me downslope. again, occasional off-piste singletrackage, and then a final blast down to the seal, then round into the rain and wind again for the road descent into the bay. 10 minutes after i got indoors it hosed down...

nice warm up ride for a first after so long.

Thursday hill chuff, Rapaki Witch Traverse Nun Vic

Nelson and Chris assembled at mine and we headed across to Milton St in Nels's car some time near 7 (he had something to do at the old flat). rode through town to Rapaki and on up, starting with a hiss and a bang, and then having to layer off at the 2nd gate. Chris took off ahead, after a guy that'd passed us as we layered off. i didnt have anything left in my legs after Tuesday's ride, and a long townie to dinner on Wednesday, so i struggled horribly all the way up, and Nelson had ridden once in 10 weeks, so was pretty off form (still quicker than no-power me). eventually made the top, i oiled my chain, and we hit up Witch Hill, Chris bailing on a rocky section and ending up down the bank. there and back, Nelson had a good chat to a lamb. wheels pinging and slipping off slippery rocks.

up Vernon, Teddington Sog sapping power on first climb, the other two leaving me for dead, tho i took the shortcut between hairpins and nearly got up to them again.

Traverse, Chris leading off, me next, good blast all the way round, the ups slowing me, but the flats and down i was in pretty good form. then i led down Thomsons, lovely wee blast through the trees. nelson pointed out that it'd be cool if there was a track just like it that went on for a few kms, tight and flowy... (McVicars sometime?). Second half of Thomsons was drier at the bottom than last time.

heaved our ways up the road from Kiwi to Marley's. me lagging seriously on the last steeps, and frost on the lead-in chilling down the feet a lot. munched and layered up at top, then i led off down the Nun. pretty good blast down here, tho i was getting a bit tired, and my hands never seemed to be holding the bars tight enough. some of the improvements done down here have certainly evened up the plan. sweet as. regrouped below middle carpark, and Chris led off down the lower half. i had a couple of really close calls near the bottom, barely staying in control.

up road to Vic, all of us feeling the cold and tiredness now. took off down the first path, steep and rocky, then down all three over the seesaw, first coupla Brakefree jumps then across the mucky flat to the rocks into the gums. great run down here, nelson leading, taking it all the way down and onto the singletrack that takes ya down to the gate. bit messy in there, few ruts at the start.

back up road to Skidder, nelson aghast at the waste of money on the new picnic area, and off into Dazza's, me leading. nice blitz. Brents, highline this time, just moseying, out to flow, where i lost it at the top of rut-city, frontwheel sliding out from under me, and taking a nice lowspeed stack onto a tussock or two. the other two got past me here, and i struggled my way down the actual ruts, then took the lead into the new bits, guiding the way down, less mucky than Tuesday, tho still bad at the bottom.

then, out the bottom, through the disgusting cowshit muckfest and a blast down the final to the road and back to the car around 10.30.

Tuesday opened trail muckiness

treadled across to Steve's with Pete who was on grandad. there, were RacerRex, Tones, Andy, followed shortly after us by Wazzah and Wahayno. Steve emerged from his house with Cruiser, and it was decided they'd all do a townride, and Rex and me'd head up cRapaki.

i gasped my way up the track with Rex barely breaking a sweat. millions of runners coming down the hill towards us, seemingly the whole way up... past a whole bunch of riders at middle gate, i raised my seat and felt a tonne better the rest of the way up, pushing it good (again, i think Rex was just being nice sitting with me...).

Rex led off up Vernon, the first Teddington'd section being pretty soggy. he baulked a bit on the rocks, but kept the lead, powering nicely on the smoother bits. Rocky section up top got him and he let me take over the lead. couple dabs here and there, but mostly pretty good.

onto the Traverse. all good except for the nasty wet bit before the first cattlestop, blazed our ways round there. trail all good. usual damp bits below Sugarloaf, then on round to Vic.

...into the trees, squirrelling through bits of soft dirt, past the seesaw, then down towards the gums across an extremely soggy flat. into the rocks which were okay, but once under the trees, i dont think i've ever seen the ground so wet in there. not for years anyway. bypassed a couple of nasty ruts in same spot as last time next to Sesame St, on round sidling over jump and back to Skidder, then met up with a random orange-lighted-halogen guy, who didnt really know his way around, so followed us down Dazza's, which was all good, then Brents which too was all good, tho has some bad braking holes, and cross the swiftly flowing creek onto a slightly messy Flow, which got pretty bad towards the end with its own Rut-City, and then onto the 'new' exit from bridges...

sorta follows the Hi-line, but a cool switchback chucks you back across Bridges then below with more corners, risers and good flow, and even some ups (which'll put off the DHers). Bottom of this was unfinished and extremely MUCKY. then down the 4wd to usuals, squirrelly and mucky mucky mucky, and the Cows were really trashing the private bit (my bike smells of shit now), before a good blast out the bottom

Rex headed back to his car at Steve's. i txtd the boys, and met them at Pomeroys for a couple nice beers.

Sunday sloppy Wharfdale goodness

Got word on Saturday that a couple guys i know were gonna do Wharfdale on Sunday. i's keen as mustard, so did a little prep on the bike, regreased headset and nicely oiled up the chain. Also, chucked on a new tire i'd got. Ritchey ZM Premonition i'd picked up from Torp7 a couple days before.

Tom and Matt picked me up at 8 and we headed out the Tram Rd. Left Chch's dreary grey and headed into blue skies and sunshine. First car in the carpark, tho some walkers (and dog) arrived while we were getting ready. Somewhere on the road there, something must have been flicked up by the back wheel of the car, slashing Tom's front tire, totally slicing through tire and tube. no spare tires on board, so we cut up the old tube, folded it several times, inserted between new tube and tire, and pumped her up. kinda bulged a bit, but wasnt too bad, but just to be safe, we put a random ziptie (that i just happened to have in my bag) around the tire, which held it quite nicely.

hit the trail. pretty good knick. excellent muckiness, lovely slippery roots. hit first pile of snow at about the 3rd bridge. counted somewhere between 6 to 10 tree falls. wonderful flowy section half way in, love that groove. fair bit of snow and extreme muckiness up towards the switchbacks, and the saddle. Tom figured his tire was gonna blow out, by the saddle the ziptie had gone, so he turned back, while Matt and i headed down for the hut. first 50m or so was messy snow, but beyond that was good, mostly. lots of snowloaded branches down, all of which we cleared off the track, and quite a lot of ice down this side. very cold, and cool eerie mists kinda hanging around.

made the river, got across without too much bother, and then this heinous climb kicked in. i didnt remember this from last time (years ago!) i'd been to the hut... anyway, got to the hut, signed in, had a One Square. brrrr, got moving again, back up and over, then the long slog back to the saddle. one off at a creek when my front wheel dropped and i leaped over the bars and stayed on my feet. at Midday, Matt replaced his front pads.

made the saddle, and the down began. for a bit anyway. not bad, bit splecky. on the climbs my legs were really starting to burn. the second to last descent (the one with the bridges in it), i think would have to be one of my favourites. its when everything comes together, all your skills honed to perfection, cept for feeling utterly shattered having not had a good long inclement ride like this for a lonnnng time.

the climb to the gate nearly killed me. but the final descent made everything better, getting faster and faster, briefly slowing for that metal pipe and following little creek, then on down to car park. sweeeeeet!!

Tom had made it back just as the bulge eminating from his tire was starting to rub the fork arch. he'd been waiting a fair while for us... Lots of cars in car park now too. We'd seen a couple of couples runners en route.

Meanwhile, my new tire worked very nicely thanks. was predictable. a nice size, good and big for a 2.25. didnt hook up as much as some mud specific tires would, but never gave me any issues of spinning out. should be a good tire to go on with. expecting another newby soon too, a Schwalbe Muddy Mary. chuck that on the front for a while methinks.

home 3ish.

Frosty Sunday hill jaunt

COLD start, hard frost, Chris showed at mine and we got our frozen extremities across to Steve's. Up showed Tony, then Andrew, Wayne, Pete and Mark (on a wacky rearbrakeonly 69r carbon 3speed..). so. the 8 of us tootled round and up Rapaki. pretty standard cruise up here, warming up nicely by the first gate.

Took the road round the top towards Vic. with a short jaunt on a frozen solid Traverse trail... Icey patches in the shade. At Vic we hooked onto Thomsons, which was good and the second half of it was bad at the lowest point.

Down more ice to the kiwi, and on up to top of Worsleys. usual boyracers doing their dipshit stuff at the top, and we all kitted back up for the descent. interesting to say the least. first (bodybag) section was a bit hairy, not a lot of traction, if you hit your brakes too hard either one would lock up. at the gate was a big sloppy hole with some broken ice, and beyond that was in the shade, which was nice and icey, frozen ruts, frozen churned up earth. FUN down through here. minty fresh fun. lots of washed-outness, couldnt believe the holes that've formed since last i's up there. met a few hardy souls on their ways up.

Just before the gate, kitted up even more, then blasted down the seal. just before the last descent, we got offroad onto a new side track. nice wee fall-line track parallelling the road, waaay more interesting than the road. at the bottom took the cracroft track round then on round river saying goodbye to Tones and then on to St Martins cafe, coffee, and off home.

All up, quite a fun ride, even with the noticeable lack of real Singletrack.

Tuesday into the drizzly technicality

bit of a mucky one tonight. Nelson picked me up in his new car and we cruised across parking up on Centaurus. both huffed up Hunts, Ramahana, Aotea to the top. Drizzle kicked in now and then and dirt was a bit slick in places. Hit Mt Vernon, and it splecked and splooged about the place, but no worse than Marley's was on Sunday. difficult to control places, so easy it was taken. the Teddingtonshit before Rapaki was very very bad. naughty us, maybe.

Witch hill was much better, rocks slick tho, so slippy-slidey'd our way round there, me chasing a possum for a hundred or more metres on the descent. then on up the road, the drizzle worsening the close we got to the Castle.

I led off down the Castle. damp in places, mud not too bad, but rocks all slick-as, pinging your wheels independently, keeping it well interesting and technical goodness. fair few dabs for safety. very bad spot just after the second switchback, but the climb out was good.

all the singletracking had been interesting, technical, fun, but quite slow, and kinda dirty, splecky mud around the place, so we rode the road back to Rapaki and blazed down there. deliberately gettting into the deepest of the untracked gravel on the top section, just to keep it interesting. then pretty quick down the bottom half and half blinded in the pines at the bottom. back round to the car by about 8.30, and home via a chinese takeaway. yummo.

Sunday, the Return of the Singletrack

Sweeeeet ride today. weather's been fine enough for the singletracks (west of the bridle path) to have finally dried out enough to be reopened.
fantastic day, frosty start, chilly riding across to Steve's, meeting Tony there, then up showed Warren and Wayno. the 5 of us headed round, and up Rapaki. took it pretty easy, cruised on up, one or two of us pushing a bit harder than the struggling lurgy'd one.

at the top, hit Witch Hill, first time on here for ages, really enjoyed popping and hopping up the rocks, cleaning them all and blasting round to the end. Tony got a leak in his rear and we met him on our way back up coming at the highest point. blasted down to rapaki-top and up Vernon. ages since i'd been up here too. was still soft in places, the spongey teddingtonshit being quite power sapping. but mostly good, got up and round and cleaned up all the rocks, feeling a fellow steelrider breathing down my neck, then wondering where the hell he was when i got out the end.

onto the Traverse, quick chat with (the fellow steelrider) a singlespeeding voodoo rider, and then we hit the trail. all good, round to vic, surprisingly not that many other riders out and about. trails all firm and dry, very few puddles, and drier than i'd seen on Thursday night.

big chat with some non-snobs at the top of vic, then off down the bit of frost at top of Thomsons, into the trees, sweet flowing, onto the road, back into it, flying down, some walkers i didnt see at all having leapt behind a tree to let us by. steve losing his chain in here baulking him before the wee up.

kiwi breather then up road. worsley, annnd, the nun... veeerrry sticky on the approach, a harbinger of things to come... into the first corner, nicely dropping down the rocky berm (which caught steve out after he'd just been boasting how easy it was...), then flowing round through the plantings, and into the second corner, both wheels scootching all over the place, drifting totally out of control, bloody surprising i stayed on, but got round and onwards. sections of this were just nasty, no control whatsoever. i think, if one trail should have stayed shut,'s probably this one... not much damage done, but diabolical - numerous places of nasty slickness, and then some nice flow in between. steve had dropped it in the top rock corner and had a rather sore pinky finger... second half of nun all good, cept for one puddle that splecked my eye nearly crashing me.
kiwi to top of Vic again, i took the second half of Thomsons while the rest took the road. all chose different lines down, i did the seesaw then it was off down across to the Gummies. nice rip through here, cept for lower down, nasty rut made me dab, then peeled round, jump, berm back out to skidder site. then off down Dazzas, all good, and then out down K2, figuring Brents, Flow and bridges'd probably be a bit dodge.

home across town in the sun by one.

all up a nice spin. bloody good to be on singletrack again.

Turdsdy night solo hill single

belly full of fish and chips and no one willing to brave the chilly evening, i dragged the singlespeed across town on the back of the car, realising as i approached the hills that i'd left my helmet (and light) behind, so, turned back, considered leaving the car at home and spinning blottle ache, but thankfully decided against that and continued on my merry way back to said hills.

getting ready to ride who should jog up but abbasteve. bit of a yarn with him and off i chuffed, making good grind up rapaki road, then onto the dirt feeling surprisingly good. unzipped, vest off, and on up. a few stops for breath to settle down, but no walking. was catching someone ahead on last bit, but had to stop several times and a guy with gears passed me one of those times. bloody hard yakka workin' that beast up that hill in that gear. anyway, made the top and tootled off round the slummit road towards vic park. cursing the Traverse for not being open when i could see it the whole way round being utterly fine. come on Nick, it could at least be 'Avoid', so that munters like me can make up our own minds, instead of feeling too guilty to get down on it.

got to top of Vic and considered my options, one of which was Worsleys, but the thought of the seal from kiwi to top put me off, so, spun the cranks back round the top and blasted down rapaki again, tears streaming from my eyes either in lament of the eminently more interesting track that the crapaki once was, or maybe from the cold air blasting into them. my front end took on a horrible trait of the steering kinda locking up when braking hard. something to do with the fork being compressed and the headset seizing due to the pressure... very dodgy.

good to get out, great work out on the old single, awesome night and very warm and pleasant up on the hills, as usual.


Oh, and last night, installed the new cranks and bb on the Cotic. Chris came round with his tools, and we had a beer. looking forward to trying it out.