Tuesday McCormacks Greenwood Richmond Britten figure of 8 with tails

Nelson met at mine after work and we got word from Warren that everybody had piked... So. We joined traffic and eventually parked up under the leaning tower of Ferrymead and treadled round into McCormacks Bay and up the grunty singletrack. Nelson was way fitter looking than me, who struggled my way upwards breathing laboriously and dying in the heat. Just after the bridge we explored the right hand track finding its end, and shooting back down along it then on up the rest of the trail. Blew a couple of the switchbacks then died and walked the last couple.

Up the road next, all the way to the top of the road, a brief gudday to a couple of riding guys and off down to Greenwood. Grass a bit drier now, therefore slightly slipperier than last week. Snack above the ruins, and then we were off. Good blast, just taking it pretty cruisy mostly, wafting and roosting. But then, below gloomy gulch, after the steep rocky section and the swoopy bit and come back round to the left and into a few switchbacks, a couple of times i felt hard whacks out the back end, and not long after the back wheel got squirrelly then sure enough, fssssssssss and nothing but tire and rim. Flipped the bike into the long grass and sat me down to fix.
Snake Bite!

Nelson turned up complaining of noisy rotors so he flipped his steed over too and replaced his front pads.
Our "Yard Sale"

Off again, giving Nelson a big gap so he could stop and photograph, i rode down, through the cattlestop, over the yump, round into the valley, then down past him and into the rocky up. Stopped there, got my phone out and photographed the trail just after he'd ridden through. He rode ahead again, i blasted down behind him and realised what he was doing so rode back up a bit then blazed past him again, and again stopped for his photo, this time it worked.

Onto the road and we troddled our way up to the big pines, the nor west wind starting to really blow hard. Fun blast down to the lone pine, windblown grass leaning across the singletrack. Over the stile and another fun blast down to the new bit of track. Good run down here, over the next little stile, then the cool benched track down down down to the rooty stuff and stopped at the next stile. Turned back, and rode up the way we'd just come down. Me, once again, struggling.

At the road again, decided to ride up the 4wd track back up to the Greenwood track, and then back up the top section. This was a horrid little climb. longer than it looks and full of little steps that suck at your progress most insidiously. Gasping, i followed Nelson onto the singletrack, a few wee downs, but mostly up. At one point, over the top, there's a couple of spots where the trail has two short options. On one of these, i decided to take the right hand option, but my front wheel decided it liked the look of the left hand option so the rut lip threw me down. As soon as i landed my right calf cramped. YOWCH. tiny scratch on the knee, my wrists and right shoulder and knees took the brunt of the fall. I'm gonna hurt tomorrow and Thursday. Got straight back on the bike and kept on riding, catching Nelson on the road.

Up to Britten, onto the singletrack, then down down down. At the bottom of this, the sunset and norwest arch were just TOO much, so we stopped and Nelson took a bunch of pics, as it changed and got more and more spectacular, lighting the sides of the ranges to the north, and right round to the Waipara foot hills and it was just stunning, glowing bright bright orange and yellow hues over the rest of the port hills and dust storms lifting from the Rakaia gorge and virga rain falling from the dark arch. spec-fucking-tac-ular.

Next up, light getting pretty dim now, blasted down the road, hung our right into Craigieburn Pl and (quick walk) down the steps, then into switchback after switchback, then flight mode down the lovely singletrack. Near the bottom we explored the left hander into the wee patch of pines. Too steep, too many rocks, too many steps, and no flow... out the bottom of this, and on round back to the car.

Awesome times.

Wednesday Shorty half-Rapaki

Well! I'm so proud. Had talked to O about riding up the hill, and now that Rapaki is open again we agreed to go out. So. Drove to end of road, and we tootled up. It was hillclimb time, and we were passed constantly by the climbers, heading both up and down, but that was cool. Otherwise a quiet-ish night out there. He did really well, when he rode he hooned, but then had to stop pretty regularly. First off i said, there's this tree. We'll get to there and see how you feel.


Well, as you can see the tree was no problem. (not that he looks very happy)... Cool thing was we met some other smalls out there, a girl aged 10, and a slightly older boy who flew past us.

We made it all the way up to the flat area, rode under the pylons to the top of that, then turned back down. Coming down he was pretty tentative to start with, really riding the brakes, but by the time the gate by the trees was in sight he was really starting to let go of them for longer and longer periods, getting quicker and quicker, and between the gates he was flying! Awesome.

Quick Tuesday Greenwood

Car load of Pete and myself with three yoof (Alistair, Nico and Brandon), met up with Steve, Marie and Tony, Robin, Wayne, and Warren (who'd ridden up, good on him), at top of Mt Pleasant Rd. We tootled off down onto Greenwood, the yoof ahead. Pretty quickly over took Brandon and Nico, and caught Alistair before a regroup at the downhill start before the ruins and again the yoof headed off ahead. This time we gave them a much bigger gap.

Greenwood has been mown. This isnt necessarily a good thing as now instead of finding your way through long grass, you're wondering where the hell all the rocks are under the straw cushioning all over them... Quite a concentrating experience, having to stay fully focussed as to where you're pointing your front wheel, balance caught off guard regularly by hidden lips and bites of rocky teeth. Personally, i didnt think it was slippery at all, just hard to find the good lines.

Still, managed to get a good flow on and catch up and pass first Brandon then Nico and eventually caught up with Alistair on the side of the track, his bike parked upside down. "You got a flat?" "Nah, thats how it ended up." LOLz. I led off with Alistair chasing and somehow managed to drop him, and had a great run the rest of the way down, except for both rocky ups where i juuuuust wrong geared it and couldnt quite momentumise myself over them requiring a single foot dab to push off again. Got to the bottom and (surprised to see) Pete, then Alistair, then the rest of them, rolled in.

Once again, the yoof headed off first while us oldies stood around and chatted. then we headed up, Pete and me riding quite hard, which was killing me, still worn out from Sunday. At the Richmond Pines we the boys had stopped, and we talked a bit more there then headed on up the road still, for a blat of the Britten Reserve singletrack. I ran out of steam on the first climb, but was okay after that. pretty tight singletrack and i dont remember ever doing it in that direction more than once or twice in a distant past. Was quite good. Regroup at the end, then we headed back, with a splinter group of Warren, Alistair, myself and the other two yoof heading down through Britten Reserve, a fast and wicked descent with a few surprise rock drops and near misses, then i led them down Major Hornbrook, through the park to Cannon Hill then down an alley way that spat us onto Te Awakura Tce and St Andrews Hill Rd, then we headed across the Ferrymead bridge to await our magic carpet that is the Falcon. Took us WAAAY less time to get down the hill than the cars, and eventually Wayne drove past and pointed back saying Pete was back before the bridge, then Robin, then Steve all saying the same thing... Txts were sent and Pete came loaded us up.

found

and this!

Sunday Coopers Wharf soaking wet dale

Forecast looked none too hot with a couple of southerly blasts expected, but figured we should just ride anyway, so got me out to Nelsons just after 8.30 and we headed round to Mountain Rd in Coopers Creek to ride to the Wharfdale track.

Drizzle was pretty well set in when we headed out and we were pretty much drenched within a few minutes. Along the river for a little with a couple of weird ups and downs, then lots of up. Largely rideable for starters except where it was too steep. Further in there was lots of gnarly rooty sections and the odd mudpug. Quite a cool track, every now and then there's little marker label things telling you what species of tree its next to. Kinda weird considering if you were walking the first one would be like an hour in...

We jokingly estimated the percentage rideable on the way in was maybe 72.6%. Anyway, eventually, after much trudging and climbing and a couple of descents (one quite steep but all rideable) we made the end of the 'link' track, which is the Wharfdale Track. Total altitude climbed around 360 m.

Whew we thought, now it'll be a bit easier. And it was! The Wharfdale's like a highway in comparison. Not far in, after the bridges, Nelson got a flat tire, so he replaced the tube with a 'race' tube (thin, light). I was getting really cold, so changed out the longsleeve lycra for a fleece. Some walkers cruised past just as we were heading off and said, "You're insane riding this". We said "you should have seen the trail we just rode up!"

Not much further on we stopped at that clay-ey corner and had a snack, and while we sat there we could hear a sssssssssssing. Yep, his back tire again. So he put in my tube, and we were off again.

Met another walking couple just before the switchbacks and not far later hit the saddle. Rain was infintessimally lighter here, sky too. Ate more OSM, and a couple of germanic runners passed by while we sat there, and we met another just after we'd set off down the way we'd come. Half way down my front brake started sounding like the spring on rotor, so we stopped at that rocky drop (after the unrideable climb from a creek) and i swapped in my new ones. My rear brake was dodgey-as too.

Nelson had a few wee moments, when his shoes wouldn't unclip, crashing a few times. Didnt stop him flying off on the main descent away from me. I was experiencing physical wreckedness most of the ride, my neck really sore from lugging hay bales on Saturday maybe, pretty uncomfortable, so was taking it easy, and i wasnt enjoying water and grit induced blindness when at speed. Eventually caught him at a treefall just at the start of the final climb, and we headed back up to the gate and track junction.

Hung our left down our track which starts off rooty and mucky, but largley, rideable, followed by a really nice section which seemed to go for a while. There are a few awesome blasts down through this track, a reasonable climb (ie, steep enough to have to walk) in the middle, and more really nice sections, all interspersed with nasty bits, heinous bog holes and unrideable slippery roots. In the dry you might clean some of them, but many were just too big and poorly spaced. Some hail, and thunder, and more rain kept us in check.

I came a cropper on one such section when my front wheel just went out from under me and threw me off to the bank side of the track. My handlebars spun too, leaving, for some reason, my rear brake with no action, ie, lever went right to the grip with no effect. So, hung the bike on a tree, removed the rear wheel and swapped out the worn out pads for some spare used ones that still had half left i had in my bag. the wee spacer spring had worn out too, so i had to run them sans spring. They still worked much better from here on out giving me a little more confidence, tho i was still struggling with the eyespleck.

After my brake change we were on pretty much the main final long descent, towards the end of which you leave DOC land and there's an open bit after some young macrocarpas with some rock outcropage, where i caught up to Nelson, just picking himself up after bouncing down the steps and off the track.

Some final steep down from here, couple tight switchbacks, over a couple of stiles, more steep down, then back onto the flat, passing a couple of walkers on the weird uppy-downy bits, and back to the car just as my hands were starting to get shooting nerve pain on the grips, frozen solid and wet through. i was SO glad to be back and into dry clothes and warm(ish) car. Pies consumed by both from Oxford dairy... Back to Nelsons to warm up some more.

Total kilometreage, roughly 14 kms each way. I'd ridden this route once before... i think i now remember why at the time i chose not to go back down the Coopers Creek track... Tho, under nice conditions, it really wouldnt be that bad but still a fair bit of getting off and pushing... We estimated about as much total effort as doing the usual View Hill Carpark right through to the Townsend and back.

Thursday night scorching ramble

At a loose-end so took my Soul in the car to work. Left work in a slight kerfuffle and as i accelerated out of the Sockburn Roundabout i noticed a shadow fall in my rearview mirror (thinking to myself, "big low flying bird?") then double-took and saw MY SHOES! ON the ROAD! FUCK!!! Managed to pull over just before the Sockburn Overbridge, on the bikelane, hazard lights on and ran back, in the howling nor'west wind, watching cars and full truck and trailer units running them over... my socks, which had been stuffed inside one shoe had blown backwards, thanks to the nor'wester one was in the gutter the other on the berm. I rescued them then grabbed my chance to get the shoes just before more trucks ran them over... pure luck on my side, neither was scathed, requiring just the heels to be sort of unfolded... far. out.

Drove from there, without event, to Halswell Quarry Park carpark on Cashmere Rd, parked as near to the shade as possible and got myself ready. Took off, up the road towards Westmorland and beyond, and before i'd reached the top of the first rise realised i'd left a banana on the top of the car this time. What the fuck is it with me and leaving shit on the top of the car today!? turned back, grabbed it and finally my ride could begin. Back on the road and round the foots of the hills, mostly with the NW'er pushing me. Following much the same pattern as this ride with Chris, into Happy Home Rd, round and up, down through the park, left down to Cashmere Stream, right, along briefly to cross poncy Penruddock, and onwards down Stream on tight singletrack sneaking along til it widens out and you're in the backyards of Holbrook Way. Then up that and through a reserve, crossing Hadleigh and up into the main reserve with the valley,and cool wee track up. the heat was really getting to me once i started climbing, walking all the steepest bastards. Once up on the zigzags that lead to Worsleys i was warming up and managed all of it. Over the stile, and up the road, another rider in close pursuit.

Hit the dirt and headed straight into the singletrack, figuring it might be nicer in the shade. found some of the tight pinches a bit painful so bailed back onto the main drag at the corner with the gate. Climbed slowly and blew it numerous times in the rutzones, the heat really brain-fading and befuddling me. And as for the body bag? Barely made it to the steepest bit near the top before i got off and walked. Just. Too. Hot.

Gasping, i managed the climb to top of the Nun where i sat down and ate my banana, cooling off and resting goooooood. Hit the trail and had a sweeeeeeeeeeeet run. Trail fresh in my head from Tuesday, everything just pieced together really nicely, and i flew down the hill, all the way to the bottom, jumping everything and flowing beautifully. Turned up the road and treadled my way round and up and over to Kennedys, taking a sneaky detour before reaching it.

Kennedys top blew me away. Its overgrown so much, what used to be a wide 4wd/farm track at the start is now a tight ribbon of singletrack wending through overgrown broom and the odd gorse plant. Kinda better. It widens up before the first stile, and is as i remembered from there on. The steep top section is as rocky and rutty as i remember, and i flew down this towards the first gate and two girls walking up nearly losing it right next to them in a rocky rut whilst avoiding them and the abundant belted galloways. On down it smoothes up a little, tho is still pretty bumpy, but fast!

As i crested one of the rises half way down i stopped to look at a fire raging out Prebbleton way (turns out it was the mushroom factory there). I'd spotted the smoke earlier, from top of Worsley, but now i could actually see the flames. Massive fire. On down, blasting down the last straight towards the Siberia gate, having to change ruts due to some dumb-arse rider coming up.

Rode over Siberia singletrack and hit the fun swoopy down hill, yielding to a couple of uphillers, and blazed on down, singletrack tight and awesome, grass just the right height. Into the Crocodile and the music in my ears was perfect, railing berms, pumping each riser, flow, flow, flow. Blew out the climb, but continued my merry way down the squiggles and out into the open. Towards the bottom i peeled a quick right and up to another little singletrack that took me to the car.

Another Tuesday, similar to the last

Massive posse assembled itself at the whim of Steve at the 19th Battalion Memorial in Vic Park, with... Pete (and two not-so-smalls - who proceeded without us), Nelson and Me, Marie, Matt and Lance, Wayne, Andy, Steve and Tony and Robin in attendance. We tootled off up the singletrack to the skidder then huffed and chuffed our ways up the Latters Spur (or main drag) then up past the see saw and up the coffee break climb and round to top of Vic / Thomsons. Big regroup here with lance (and Nelson) lining up Hauraki Radio on their dials...

Then a nice blast down Thomson and Thompson to the Kiwi and another bit of a regroup while people filled and emptied water and on up road to top of Worsley's where Lance was chatting with a crew and a van telling them where the riding was. the rest of us chuffed up to top of nun where there were already one or two (including Mel(? who Mark and Marie know)) on her homebuilt internally geared machine followed shortly by Rich(? connected with Mel) on his crabon fibre homebuilt internally alfined machine too. him and friend took off first, then of our posse I was first off, down the Nun, having myself an excellent wee blast flowing nicely and carving and yumping and gliding and pumping loving mostly all of it - except for the fact that my back end seemed to be squirrelling all over the place, on account of the pressure being perhaps a little low. Myself, Nelson and Pete continued the full descent down to te Kiwi where the rest pulled out half way (cant understand it myself, its not like the climb back to that point is particularly hefty...?), anyway, i flipped my Soul over and proceeded to increase the airpressure contained within, then we treadled hard to attempt, in vain, to catch the others...

huff huff huff and we got to the top pretty shortly after the rest of them, with Robin slow and steady not far behind us. Again, i took the lead and this time dabbed within the first few metres, nearly ploughing myself into the side of the trail and screwing myself thereafter of a smooth ride down. Every thing i could fuck up I just about fucked up. my entire game was OFF. but, somehow managed to keep it together, albeit maybe slower than previously, and was just getting back into the groove on the lower reaches.

At the Kiwi end we struck up conversation with a nice young lady from Auckland (we found out) who was travelling with another young lady who's entered in the Nationals DH at Mt Hutt this weekend. These were who Lance had been talking to at Worsley top. Andrew and Matt werent showing, on account of Andrew fixing (yet) another flat, so Pete accompanied Nelson and me on up the start of another loop, bailing at half way while we continued up for go number 3. The others bailed down Old Dyers and i'm sure they had a wicked ride.

Go number 3 was better than attempt number two. This time at the top conversation was enjoyed with the owner of the Black Sheep i've met up there a number of times before heading down. This time i was much more attuned to myself and the trail. Nelson and I stopped and examined a couple of bits that we'd not really looked at before, trying them once or twice for good measure, then blasted on down having a splendid trip.

Onto Old Dyers trail and really getting the flow out of the first bits, thankfully this time i avoided a bite from the Lawyer, Nelson wasnt so lucky. Juddered down the fast bits onto the 4wd bits and then grunted back up to the car where we met Pete again, him having just been up to meet his "smalls" who he would pick up at the bottom of Bowenvale.

Home via Indian and a wicked hot Vindaloo for me enjoyed with an Owld Speckled Un.

Tuesday evening port hills back and forthers

Nelson and me corona'd up past the Takahe and parked up on one of the laybys, treadling up the road from there to the Old Dyers track. This was in good knick and we climbed it pretty quickly, him seemingly effortlessly and me dragging my chain a bit but surviving and making it in the end. we were passed by a few riders on their ways down.

Up the road taking a look over into the Gov's bay trails, still closed, and round up over the Nun. Muggy and humid and warm, excellent night. Misty cloud lingering around the tops. Lovely blast down here, really cruisy taking it pretty easy gliding and flowing and mostly keeping a reasonable pace. the lower half definitely smoother now.

Then it was up the Summit to top of Vic and we hit the Traverse round. Nice blast round here again me dragging and struggling to keep up with the jackrabbit Nelson. Up over Vernon was sweet and the descent really fun with the rough rocks and dodgy sketchy ballbearing gravel near the bottom. Turned around and headed up the road back round to the Traverse where we hauled some ass good, great run round back to Vic and then it was a sweet blast down the two Thomsons.

A pause at the Kiwi where Nelson got some water and we scoffed down a couple of OneSquares between us, then it was off back up the slummit road to top of the Nun for a final blast. Finally Nelson was tiring and my stamina kept me up or even maybe a little ahead of him on the final off-road climb to the top. 2nd time round was waaaay better, we blazed down the trail, yumping everything really nicely, with only a brief hangup in the rocky middle section, otherwise an awesome blast down, then into the Dyers trail and the bit below the steep just below the Kiwi has become my favouritest flowiest little section right now. beautiful the way it just sucks you through it like being on a magic carpet. Round the rocky bend and some lawyer ripped at my arm "OW!!!" i holla'd and Nelson got it too, 'cept his arm didnt bleed. my blood mixed with sweat reddened my arm something wicked. On downwards, what's usually rough as guts and rutty was a sweet flow, meeting a couple of walkers and blasting brakefree down heaps of it. then the last 4wd section was nice too, and finally a cruise down the road back to the car.

A couple and a bit hours of very nice riding, dusty, punishing, muchly enjoyable.

Saturday 7th Jan. first ride of 2012.

3pm hit the road up the hill. non eventful climb. thinking about how cool it would be if there was a singletrack route up. a few cars up and down. a sheep truck. otherwise just plodding away in granny or next down, plus one stint standing for a while 4 down.

3.45 reached the summit. took a look up top of Piper's valley stock route, considered trespassing up the paddock farmtracks above, but thought better of it and headed round Summit Road and instead trespassed across the back flank of View Hill. Fun sidling stock trail singletracks with little actual riding, then good route up the rocky ridge to gate. bit of a breather rest here lying in the shade of a tree, dreaming of what to say to a farmer who hits you up for this socalled Trespassing ie "I'm not doing any harm. Not disturbing stock, leaving gates and fences alone, just out enjoying the views and the riding of my bike. No harm no foul. And i know there's a paper road across here, but I'm also aware the the track doesn't follow it to the letter."

4.30 left the gate rest, headed round the 95% rideable sheep singletracks meandering nicely always dropping a little but sidling up to stay on nice flow round eventually to View Hill Rd top gate, 4.40. over the gate and off down down down speeeeeeeeed floooowww on off on off on off brakes controlling speed on the concrete cos of sheep below then letting it all go and roaring 80odd past the crow's nest on down to chorlton then into the wind tucked down, lukes road, back of tennis court, over fence, calf singletrack, fence gate up drive. settled on deck with T and it was 4.55. a well spent 2 hours, i reckon.

Last day of 2011, a ride of 2 rides more down than up.

Family drive to Akaroa for a look-see, so chucked the bike on the back, and they dropped me at the Okains/Robinson's/Summit intersection, where i coincidentally met Aaron and a couple of his mates all on their roadbikes up from Okains. We rode together up the Summit Rd a wee ways then i peeled off down an incredibly overgrown double fenceline into Robinsons. Started out with a longer bushy section than i remembered from dealing with it during a cold foggy wet Cyclic Saga in '99 with Paul DeSpa. I nearly went over the bars in here, cos of the long grass hiding the ruttedness, but quite fun, most of the grass at least as tall as my axles, some as high as my wheels, and the seedhead stalks higher than my bars! Quite slow going really, with intermittant clay-ey bits allowing a brief burst of velocity, and then got much better right near the bottom where the trail was nice dry clay surface, and some good rough speed could be enjoyed. Vastly different from my previous experience in '99 when i was belly on seat legs out like trimaran pontoons both wheels sliding in mucky greasy grass and mud...

Then it was onto narrow seal and more fast descending before the flat of the valley, then the main road, round the waterfront and up a small hill, overtaking a guy on a roady (who'd ridden from Papanui and was still to ride back(!)), then fast down into Takamatua, hung a right, and then a left up a wee gravel grunter which turned to steeeeeeep clay before meeting up with the main road again. Then it was across that and down the Old Coach Rd for a steep fast descent into Akaroa where i found a Cruiseship crowd added to the usual nutjobs that frequent Akaroa over New Years, and my family.

Interlude of play and buying fish, and fish and chips, and we escaped the loonybin and returned up Robinsons Bay Rd, left onto Summit and they dropped me at the View Hill farmtrack. Quite cool up there. Grass not so overgrown on account of some cattle, so shit needed to be avoided. Good climb to start with, but then it goes a bit messy with rocks and unrideable sections and a bit of walking eventually to a gate. I'd love to get across this top with a tool or two and strategically sculpt a rideable trail. After the gate, its a short steeep climb then onto the traversing semi-benched sheep track around the west face of View Hill. Before hitting the farm track i veered right and made my way across and onto the farm track which i took (granny most of the way) to the top. Great views, it being called View Hill for a very good reason. Then it was down down down down down. fun times. Forgot to check the time at the top, but at the gate to View Hill Rd proper (where we were just shy of couple days before), it was 15.10. Hit the trail, faster than 2 days prior because a vehicle had been up and down in between, so the grass was a little more pressed down, and i knew what to expect, and where the likely worst ruts were to watch out for. Excellent blat down the gravel, just insane speed then out onto the seal and a car coming from Longlookout gave way to me and i left them for dead in my tucked speedster coast into the valley. All heads turned as i whipped past the beach, then i huffed back up to the bach.

December 29th Pete and Teens View Hill nearly

Pete came over to the bay in the camper with teenaged Alistair and Nikau (Niko? Nico? Nicho?) and we headed out for a ride, in the morning after a bit of an evening prior, about 11.30 after the numerous girls got back from their morning constitutional. Headed round up past the church, Alistair grunting away on his singlespeed. Up up up the seal, then up the gravel and into the truly steep, then steeper. Al started walking impressively late, up under the macracarpas up the road from the crows nest.

At the top of the grovelly concreted strip (upon which i had to stop for a breather, while Pete managed to continue out the top of) we met a couple of guys on their way down. gudday gudday blah blah. they'd been to the top and asked after any similar rides about the place. i forgot to mention Mt Pearce.
The higher we went spits of rain got more and more spitty. And Alistair's hands were starting to blister from all the standing. Also, the grass got longer and longer, hiding any lurking ruts which are most common. Got just shy of the gate, and with the spits getting slightly spittier and the two boys totally stuffed, we pulled the plug and turned back down. Nice run down ensuing, gravity sucking us down the hill faster than you can say gravity sucking us down the hill faster than you can say gravity sucking us down the hill... tires picking up sticky dust, flicking it up, blinding both Al and me momentarily. I re-donned my sunnies under the big pines (it being a grey day i'd pocketted them earlier) and off we screamed downward again.

i took it pretty easy down the concrete strips cos i thought i might jump onto the off-piste stuff under the macs, and Al overtook me rocketting down ahead. I decided to stay on the gravel tho, and followed him on down. I managed a glance back and could see Pete and Nico screaming down behind us. We hit the seal and whooshed down to the church (bit of a look here), then hung a left into Lukes Rd and up and over and down and down to the back of the tennis courts, then over the fence and back up the paddock under the gum to ours.

December-twentyseventh menziesii.

Blogspot for 27th December, 2011
Christmas hols at Little Akalalaland, scorching hot day, hit the road to Menzies Bay in an attempt to exude some of the excess christmas cheer. Hefty wee climb to the top of the -over to Decanter, everytime i was tempted to go to a lower gear, i'd instead drop it down to a taller gear and stand up, a nice practice i figured might do me some good. From the top, hit the gravel down, with a shit-eating-grin dodging a farmer on his way up, i'da been over his bonnet if he'd not pulled to his left, yikes!, then through the bottom of Decanter and on up round and up and round and up and round-up, cooking, in the heat, talking to the cattle and watching a plane flying low and practising engine cut-outs, powering off, then revving up, repeat ad nauseum. At Rehutai's gates, just before the descent to Menzies, i stopped, checked out any messages, then turned back.

Nice long descent with no detours to any potential interestingnesses, tho there be many - little strips of animal singletrack meandering close-to or above the road... Rounding into Decanter Bay, dreaming about rockfalls and gravel-loss-of-controllers off heinous tumblings to rocks and sea below, and avoiding stray sheep doing's. Over the cattle stop near the bottom and i stopped for some reason. Adjusted something or other, and thought that if someone had been watching my progress they might have thought i'd crashed abruptly at the cattle stop, cos prior to disappearing behind their viewed trees i was flying, then would have failed to appear on the other side. Got going again avoiding leg-reaching onga-onga and rolled through the valleybottom hitting the climb back out. met an advertisingclad car suddenly but no others. Little sign of previous year's cape gooseberries, plants still in early growth stages. lots of lovely wild roses flowering and that smell-of-hops plant. it is resiny like hops too... tho prickly. I wonder how it'd flavour a beer. What is it, first? and, is it poisonous? (or any more poisonous than hops??).

Top of hill, into a tuck and down down down, so fast, whooshing down, standing up for air-brakes, then into a tuck for the acceleration out of a corner, finally massive airbrakes and disc brakes scrubbing enough speed off into the final hairpin and back into a tuck for the last leg down to the cattlestop.

Tuesday short croc.

Rode round to Pete's for 6pm and we plied the streets in the Falcon to meet all the others at the Quarry Park for a ride of much stoppedness. Wayne, Warren, Steve, Tony, Robin, Marie and Andy were all in attendance. We treadled our way up the main track to where we peeled off down and across the stepping stones where something bit Steve's tire and it started hissing fluid as we grunted up the short sharp straight after. We stopped. Steve fiddled a little and pumped a little and remembered that in these circumstances he just needs to put the hole to the bottom. Problem solved.

Up the left hand side of the Quarry and then round the grassy paddock and a few went steep and the rest took the easy low line to the gate and on up the gravelled switchbacks which for once everybody cleaned. Up the road to another stop at the gate, then finally onto the upper Croc, or New Tasty as it was once called. I believe i was the only one to 100% clean this :D. Another regroup before heading over Siberia for a nice descent, upon which Steve's dropper seatpost blew a seal, or something. Pete came to the rescue with some Duct Tape. Back up the way we'd come down, to another regroup.

Then it was off down, what fun. Blasted down always gaining on a couple guys in fluoro yellow, finally passing the hardtail one who'd bailed in the ruts on the last sweep. They let us lead off down the Croc proper and i put a good pace on railing the berms, one of which was pretty hairy carrying too much speed into. Down the straight-away through the cattlestop and drops, expecting the rock 'gap' and thinking to myself "am i in the right gear for this" and then finding a newly formed bypass, which allowed me to carry heaps of speed on down into the swoopy final switchbacks, but hell, it was getting overgrown down there and i started to baulk.

Juuuuust cleaned the grovelly climb up and out of the valley, and we had another big regroup, watching everyone following down the zags and zigs. The final section next, and it was good. couple very nice wee jumps in them there trees, and switchied down and out and nice leaps on the longer jumps out and another regroup and then back down to the vehicles.

Short, but good, ride.

yikes!

Sunday east end huff and puff

Was gonna ride to Steve's but went to Pete's instead and we cruised Linwood Ave to Ferrymead where we caught the posse of Steve, Andy, Tony, Wazza, Dallas and Marie. The 8 of us then headed up McCormacks, steep little fucker that it is in bits. I spun out at one point and used some dogshit as an excuse, flicking it off the track so's the others wouldn't encounter it as first Pete then Andy rode on past. On today's ride Andy astounded me with his climbing prowess. Several times he just kept on chuffing when everybody else, including me, had spun or gasped their last out. This was the first occasion. A brief regroup above the 2nd hairpin (which nobody got), and on up through more steepness and a number of sodden clay bits, cleaning most.

Into the top hairpins and Pete and me (and Andy) gave them all a damned good go, with, i think, Andy getting the most, but Pete and me doing pretty good too. Varied results for the rest of the crew, but thats fine, Xmas is nearly on our doorsteps and the chelibrations are already piling their insidiousness upon our insides... Out the top, up the road and on up Longridge to John Britten Reserve. Brief stop and then as i headed onto the singletrack i realised my rear tire was nearly flat, so, a quick change of tube ensued as all but Andy and Pete headed on up.

The three of us followed on up, gasping for air and struggling with traction to catch the others. Once again, Andy methodically plugged away at it and cleaned bits no one else did. Marie put in a good effort too, and by and by we all got to the top via various digressions, regrouped and relayered before enjoying a newly trailed alternative line that rides above the previously rutted version of the trail, to the road, and to Greenwood (which had a big fat OPEN sign). Top section of this was great, catching and passing a group of 3, two of which were running inappropriately tyre'd bikes (well, one had a slick on the back, the other was on a hybrid-commuter-29r-cyclocross bike with Rohloff).

Discussion was held, and several werent keen on all the way, but Warren, Marie and me were on a roll and keen to continue that roll, so we blazed on down Greenwood while the others pampered themselves off down Richmond. Greenwood was excellent. Trail in perfect knick, way overgrown in places, but firm and good traction, with a single puddle down below that jump before the valley in the bottom third. We had an excellent run, all of us overtaking at least the two inappropriately tyre'd guys (before gloomy gulch), Warren and me taking the other dude too in the lower, hella overgrown, switchbacks.

Then, off up the road, good plod, and down Richmond, taking in the new G.Effect trail which bypasses the top steep rooty bit very nicely, then down and across to Richmond on REALLY overgrown track.

Blast down road, Dot Com, then home. Excellent sunday ride and much needed to combat the excesses of this time of year.

Sunday Morning Pugsley Testride

Twas to be a 'normal' sunday ride with the posse (Steve, Andy, Wayne, Tony, Lance), and i'd finally picked up a Pugsley off Dave from velo-ideale. His personal machine, it was an extra large, in gunmetal grey, and came with Surly Open Bars (like i've got on the commuter), and running singlespeed, but with 2 ratio options, a 35:16 for town, and 30:21 for hill. a very manual shifter, ie, flip bike, loosen hub bolts, shift chain from cog to cog, straighten wheel, tighten chain, tighten bolts.
XL, Phat tyred...


Town gear was good on the flat, i had a bit of a play around my street and tried out different tire pressures. When i got it off him the pressure was pretty low, so low in fact that it didnt register on my floorpump... so, with tires set to 20psi i spun across to Steve's for the 'normal' ride on a very abnormal bike. Once up and rolling it spun along quite nicely, the tires humming away, but not feeling that hard work. Seat was too low, which i adjusted once i was at Steves.

The boys all had to have a quick turn on it, all of them oohing and aahing at the somewhat preposterousness of it, but also at its total coolness. And all expressing surprise at the apparent lack of weight.

Off round Hansons and up Ramahana we went. I managed to stay on top of the town gear to the first corner, where i flipped her over and made the shift. From here up, much nice riding, cleaning everything except a sizeable portion of the very top piece of seal, then the gravelly bit before the second gate. Oh, and a bit of the gravelly bit right up near the top. Steve was feeling crooked so turned back before we even made the dirt.

At the summit i let a little air out of the tires, and off we hooned round the Traverse. Felt pretty good, grip on rocks was spectacular. I overcooked a couple of corners, i think due to the 29r nature of the tiresize more than anything. but soon got the hang of it and enjoyed the trip round the trail, particular enjoying getting a bit of speed up on the nice downhill bit towards the pond. Was probably travelling slightly slower than normal, 2 reasons for this, firstly not wanting to over-cook myself, but also inability to pedal any faster than flat out in such a low gear.

The dipper was cool, cos as i came up the other side the rear tire left the ground, and when it hit the ground again i was travelling slower than it was spinning so it actually gave me a nice wee kick up and over the crest. Rest of the ride round the bike just stuck to the trail, no wash, no slip, and flew into round and into the forest, me really getting the hang of it.

Down Thompsons was a blast, me juuuust making it round the first hairpin. Final section great grip.

Kiwi up road to Nun was okay, sitting for most of it, the 30:21 a great gear, the tires really not that sucky, gasping the last half of Worsley's Rd to the dirt, then clambering up it pretty good.
So good.

Does my butt look big in this?


Top of the Nun, raring to go.

Little bit more air out of the tires and down i went. possibly still too much air, but, and i still wasnt overly confident of my handling skills, so took every bunny route, but it was still really good. flew down, enjoying the traction and boingy-ness. Pulled out half way, as did the others, but Andrew never showed. We could see him waaay up on one of the first straights so waited a bit, then Lance and me took off down the rest of the trail and the pug sang its way down this section. Awesomeness! Then back up to the others and still no Andrew. Eventually we saw him rolling and then we all headed back up to top of Worsley again. Off down the bodybag, a few riders on their way up drove me into a gravelly rut which the big fat tires just boinged me on through.

Tight wee clamber up to the Hidden and this is where Pugsley really found its place. the loose dirt, pine needles and odd rock feature were just eaten up under the high volume tires. Absolutely fantastic. At the bottom we rolled where Nelson and i had days previous, below the tank (through a little muck), only to find someone else has treaded in a line from just after the tank, down to the same line Nelson and I coifferred on Thursday.

At the gate i flipped the Pug on its back again, changed gears to 'town mode' and put some more air back in the tires, then we headed down the road, me taking as much sidetrack as possible, and down thru the nasty long grass down the lower road section then out past Cracroft and home into a blasting easterly gale.

Will i buy a Pugsley? Almost definitely, eventually. It was insanely cool, but probably not this time round. I'd go for a smaller size frame, obviously. The 29r factor would take a little getting used to, and that's where a 24inch based rim with 4inch tires might fill a 26r based niche. But the sheer possibilities of the Pugsley attract me. I can see it being an awesome all season rider in Hanmer, or Craigieburn - anywhere in the hills really. and a fun ride at the beach, off piste Bottle Lake meanderings. I'd love to try it down the Craigieburn Luge in mid winter on a snow base. or a winter tour up the Poulter. There's deifinitely a space for it in my quiver one day. I told my son they can buy me one in 3 years for my birthday... :)

Terrsday night gloopage

rid the Cotic to work in full mtnbike regalia then at 4.30 worked my way down Blenheim Rd to Nelson's work where we chucked it in the 'Rona boot and headed for the same place i parked up on Sunday.

up the dirt we headed chatting away, finding the lines in the long grass and generally pushing our ways up the hill over rocky sections and up the ridgy faces presented to us. We hit the body bag debating very briefly a quick left and loop but i figured there was gonna be no way we'd be happy with the bodybag after a decent phat descent, so on up the nastiness we cruised til the dreaded top section. this time, with nelson ahead of me grinding away astoundingly in his middle ring, i held on for dear life and ground my way up. Granny, 24:32, as low as i can get and in the state i was in - usual sitting around all day, barely any recent riding - i felt like absolute shit and got pretty bloody close to puking. But, managed to get my body through that bag, working the fucker up that top section. I'd failed it last time, so forced myself to once again conquer it for posterity's sake.

Much breath was caught at the top. Then the little climb to top of nun and into the fun. First round, other than being a great descent, we both seemed to ping off rocks all over the place, generally not having the most comfortable rides tho holla'ing a merry "Thank yoouuuuu" as we passed the awe-inspiring track builder. When we reached the bottom i remembered i'd pumped my tires to over 40 for riding to work and beyond. Nelson realised his were a little hard too. So. figuring we'd deflate at the top, filled water at the Kiwi, hit the climb.

At the top there was woman in blue stopped, busy tweaking her suspension - for she had full, and us on lowly hardtails(!). We deflated some air, and hit the trail, 2nd time round, ahead of her, both having a MUCH better trip. Not just for having the just-done-the-trail feeling but also the smoother and far more grippy rides engendered to us by the lower airpressures. This time round tho, on the first of the really big uphill sweeper left handers, round round round , i ended up off balance and stalling up on the grass just at the top of the corner...

Anyway, good ride down, much better with good tire pressure. Quick chat to Te Builder, lots of thanks given. Back up the road, round, and over, meeting the girl from the top again (discussion was made re her speed overtaking us without being seen - she'd cut out half way...). And off we headed down the Bodybag - at an insane speed.

Hauled up and hit the low gears to climbed the gorsebone graveyard to the goodvibes. Some motorbikes had been through ahead of us, leaving the trail loose and a little messed up. More pushbikes through will fix it, with the motos forming our berms for us... great ride down - if a little slow and cruisy and not full-on hard-out noise. Into the great final bit, getting finally softer and looser over the drop and into that nice tight lefthander that drops you over into the steepest little wickedness of a corner, and finally across the slope down the drop to the wee climb out. Back up at the top we met some guys riding up our next descent. Sweet flow down that to the tank and out. Decided to seek further forested singletrack, so got back in to the tank, headed to it's right, and assisted in the potentials for connective flow into the next sections (that were already in there - thanks to moto's!).

finally, out the maintrack and down to the car. then to some mackers and onto Pomeroy's, where we met Steve, Warren, Robin, Pete, Andrew, Tony and Mark(of the abacus, and now the New Parent status). Epic beers were mostly consumed and Ms Swtchbckr was on the scene, on her Switchback no less!

The dregs headed to our home and more fun ensued, with Noir, Ardbeg and Highland Park. A good night had by all, I believe.

1 on it

Sunday night Quicky

Got out and had a nice wee ride tonight. left home in the car about 6.30 and parked up top of Worsleys Rd, end of the seal. Was feeling pretty shite but gave it a good go and just cruised on up the trail, taking the odd break to get some air. failed the bodybag, first time for a while, walked about 10m near the top, but managed to pedal out the worst.

Shifted down a few gears and plodded up to top of the Nun. Nice cruisy flowy trip down here. Not really pushing it, just focusing on the flow. Really enjoyed it, railing the berms, popping some nice air. Passed a couple of stopped riders at the carpark, then had an excellent blast down the lower flat-out wide-open section.

Then it was back up the road, over the top and back down the Body Bag at a ridiculous speed, then ducked up into B-Line and enjoyed this profusely, loving the rock features, washing out on the odd berm, taking it all the way down, including over the steepy droppy lowest section, back up the short climb to the dodgey ex-wallride, then into the final little bit to the tank and back onto the main drag, meeting a couple more riders on their way up as i blasted down the final ruts and back to the car. All up, a little over an hour car to car - choice loop.

Yes, Finally. Sunday a.m. hill scamping

About bloody time too. A 'standard' Sunday, left home 9ish and got my ass across to Steve's, where met Dallas, Warren, Wayne, Tony, Mark, Ben, Marie, Matt and Lance. The 11 of us headed round Hansons and up Huntsbury. Usual sprawl and regroups, climbing and chuffing, we made the top in reasonable time.

Then we headed up over Vernon for the sweetly decent singletrack descent to the Rapaki-top, minimal eventage, lots of speed and fun. Unbelievable what people ignore, we spotted some riders around under Witch Hill, unable to ride due to the overgrownness of it all, but ignoring the Road Closed No Entry signs to their heart's malcontent. Not to mention all the plebs carting themselves up Rapaki on a regular basis.

Back up the road we treadled to the Traverse, where we spun and bombed and lurched enjoyably, me relishing the seemingly new sensation that is the Traverse, something i'd not experienced since Sept 18th, all my rides since having been out-of-town... madness. Anywho, brief regroup at the usual regroup spot and Mark led off to show us the dropover line on the dipper... i was with him all the way then pulled up to watch him fly over, in, then drop the backend or foot off pedal or something, garking his shin nicely, and ending up with his thigh on top of the back wheel, squishing his wanger apparently too. quite the crash. no one else saw it tho. first time i've ever heard him admit to thinking maybe clip in pedals perhaps being a good idea too! :). Onwards round and fun yumpies and making for the shade. Then it was free for all down to the Skidder. I took the seesaw and a few of the brakefrees then into the rockgarden gummies and my favourite little peel to the left through twisty goodness and on down and out. nice.

Next up was Shazza's, nee Dazza's (Dazza's now apparently more to the right). This too was funtimes, tho rutty and cruddy in a couple spots. At the 40footer we hit up the climb back up via a small play in Mark's playarea where Rad crosses then on up and up in heat via the 4wds to the top again.

Next it was back round the Traverse and off piste sectionally down Huntsbury again. Uneventful, but enjoyable riding all the way including the wee jumpy track which few ventured to jump, one catching Lance pretty good, and the tiny double at the bottom proving to be just fine.

Me, just landed.

Bombed down the road, me wondering all the time what the thuck-thuck-thuck was from the back end all the way down the smooths, down Kenmure and onto Major Aitken, but thinking perhaps just a slight buckle. Anyway. Pulled up at some watertank steps i know of and led the posse down what seemed a garden path into someone's garden, which eventually broke free into a sweeeet little bit of singletrack through loose gumtree debris and reasonably quickly back onto the road, and on down the smooth tarmac out to Centaurus and on to the cafe...

Coffee and snackage etc had, we went our separate ways. Me down the river eventually onto Wilson's, chatting to a random fellow mtnbiker along Eastern. Then, on Nursery road there's a BANG PHWEEEEEEEEE-OOOOSH and my rear tire's flat as a pancake. Bah. Knobs are peeling and one has ripped right off and the tube has popped through the hole... the Thuck Thuck Thuck earlier probably the tube in full bulge mode, could have resulted in a heinous doesnt-bear-thinking-about blow out at speed on Major Aitken. ugh. pulled out the blown tube, put the spare tube in, inserted the blowntube alongside to try to cover the hole, then pumped up and got riding. Made it maybe a km into the shops at Stanmore/Worcester when it blew through again. Walked from there...

WANT

from http://oregonmanifest.com/ competition to design the best utility bike.

The Shame!

3 weeks without a ride! this is a new low... THREE whole weeks off the mountainbike. now my head is beginning to be done in. i had to have at least one blog entry this month. maybe i'll sneak a ride in while in Wellington, or somehow get something going for me over the coming weekend...
reasons??? well... after the week away on the trip, i had to spend 'family time' for the week, then i was off to Fiordland for the following week, taking out the usual Tuesday and Sunday that the boys all got, then another week of 'family time' necessary, and this week, tomorrow, i'm off to Wellington, meaning more 'family time' next week!!!

only benefit to me is that i've ridden to work most days in the couple weeks i've been back, including today getting drenched to the skin, and Fiordland had me walking about in the forest a bunch, which is good hard work...

Meanwhile, the 'crew' has had all their usual rides!

The Annual Trip, Eastside - Hanmer

Drove through rain from our showers in Reefton and made Hanmer by 6.30pm, meeting up with Steve, Robin, Matt and Lance.

Next morning, Nelson arrived, and so we were a party of 14.

Tricky having freshness and staleness mixed together, but it worked out pretty well. Round we rode and up Jacks Pass Rd, to Flax Gully Track. nice wee blitz down and the legs sure felt the climb. Then i took a wrong turn and lead a bunch of the group up a garden path (of excessive steepness) to the Yankee Zephyr, while Steve led some of the rest of them the right way. Nelson and me jetted back round to them and then rode it with them meeting Pete and Andy on the way.

The new Yankee Zephyr is a blast. great blast down with swoopy back and forth corner after corner after corner down this halfpipey landform. then crosses over the road into a new Swamp track and that just went on and on and on, eventually spitting you out now at pretty much the bottom of Timberlands. Up this to Jolliffe Saddle, and out Red Rocks, a tree clipping me, then richocheting Nelson, then actually throwing Dallas miles down the bank into blackberry and gorse, but otherwise a sweet descent and now continuing right thru to Dog Stream, that we went up the Lower and rested in the shade at the end of Mach1 and opposite the start of Detox. Nelson and me blitzed there and back on the new section of Mach1 here, then Him, Pete, Matt, Lance and me headed up Detox while the rest just went down Mach1.

Detox was fun, tho nelson had some issues, and then new to me Mach1 bits were sweet as. Nelson dropped me on this, but we all regrouped at the end. then headed round behind the Forest Camp to Jollies Pass Rd. Up up up, losing Matt and Lance to the heat, spotted the rest of the crew bypassing the usual Threshold entrance, and so followed and caught them before the firebreak, cursing the person who invented granny gear and hills. a hot slog. big regroup in the shade half way up access road then final grunt of the trip to top.

Mark, Nelson, Me, Pete, Steve then not sure the rest of the order back to Robin into the forest down the glorious sidling then switching back round and sidling, repeat, indefinitely, til the bottom. How long will Threshold last? As with all the best Hanmer trails of yesteryear, the forest cant be far from harvesting and like Big Foot will go the way of memory.

Out the bottom, cross the road, sketchy steep, then flick back up and onto an interesting singletrack down to a ditchcreek crossing that got Pete to off. bit of a play on the jump for everyone, and off we went, 3 of us back behind the camp, the rest not, then we chased them down the singletrack just inside the forest on the left hand side of the road, final drop to creekcrossing and a pie and 2 raspberry buns and a coke for me thank you very much.

Final tally for the trip. no major injuries. Dallas's knee, and Andrew's buttocks probably the most injured regions.

The Annual Trip, Westside - Croesus

Saturday Morning dawned wet. We had to pack up and get going, headed for Blackball. Bit of rain around but nothing major, we took the gravel road to end of track, parked up, and got riding. Greeted with very finely gritted track to start with, and initially quite a long down hill section before crossing a (rideable except the steps (altho Mark rode them down)) swingbridge and the climbing began. Nice climbing mostly. Lots of technical features to really keep the concentration and balance on the absolute edge of reason. Sometimes i'd make it over a clusterfuck of riverbed-esque rocks and roots and just be astounded to still be upright and moving, but have to get over it very quickly because more was coming my way... sometimes tho you'd just stall and have to walk for a few metres.

Various showers of rain came down at various times. At one stage i spotted a bunch of goats further up the track, completely oblivious to our existence until the clatter of rocks under our treads alerted them. A few switchbacks and there also were a few creeks with big enough drops to make us dismount.

Higher and higher we got and the forest petered out into subalpine scrub, the trail more rocky. I was on my own out here, cos after the previous couple of re-groups the long waits were making me really really cold, and i'd be chugging up the whole time in 24:30, whereas all the others were in 22:32 (or 34), and so by the time the tailender arrived at the regroup i was starting to get cold. So, plodding along, and massive showers of heavy rain drenching me, i was very pleased to round a corner and see the hut ahead.

Got in, jacket off, shirt off to wring it out, then every layer i had with me on. filled out the book. contemplated lighting the fire, but didnt bother, cos i figured we'd be off in no time. the others turned up one by one. we all ate a little something, Mark tried to light the fire with no luck. then we headed out.

First section pretty good, but once in the forest it was a blast. Pete filming and chasing Mark chasing me. a few regroups higher up, but little gap between us and the next guys (and gal). Faster and faster, til a gnarley rock garden would ping us all over the place, Mark astounded at some of my lines, and Pete not having time to react to the settling boulders left behind by Mark. Seemed to take no time to get much much lower (but at one point it appeared as if we'd been at it for 45mins (time flies when you're having fun)). What a blast.

But, all good things must come to an end, and eventually we made the swingbridge. Little climb from here, then a lovely blast round to the next bridge that you can hop onto and ride across and jump off the end of. then another short climb followed by a wickedly good blast round to the last swingbridge (that Mark rode the steps of), and the final grunty wee climb back up 80m or so to the very last fast drop to the cars.

The Annual Trip, Westside - Kirwans and Waiuta

Warren and Dallas arrived Thursday Night, and the weather was looking good for Friday, so Warren made contact with the Chopper pilot and arranged for a 9 am pick up.

Friday morning opened foggy, but it was a shortlived fog and lifted by 8.30, and chopper confirmed we headed round to Boatmans Rd and up to the end. All the bikes stacked up ready for the strop,

Chopper came in, and promptly blew them all over as he almost landed on them. Ropes through all the front triangles, and Mark and me got in the back, Marie in the front - her first time in a chopper, and off we flew. Awesome flight, and so quick. bikes swinging back and forth under us. Then he set them down nice and gently, releasing the ropes then setting us down.

Hope those blades arent really that curved!

Back in twice more, we paids our moneys and off he went home, leaving us in the peace and tranquility next to the cool hut. Techy steep wee track down to the main track, and we peeled left to go look at the proper tops. nice views all round, interesting low forest with lots of moss to ride through. back along this track and onto the downhill proper...

Helluva blast, with Mark leading me, then Pete then the rest of them. fast, rooty, rocky, occasionally muddy, descent. sometimes stopped by biiig fallen trees, zigging and zagging now and then, down and down and down. Dallas had a bit of a crash, garking his knee, and getting a flat, whereupon this photo was taken.
Roots, and the crew, Dallas fixing a flat


On down and down, then a wee up, and we stopped for a snack.
My view down the trail on this rest.


Then on down, and the trail got more and more technical, and eventually started following the river a bit more closely, with more ups and downs, the occasional massive slip or washout, the odd carry, more roots, etc. Definitely an 'advanced' or 'expert' track, and not to be taken lightly. Injuries in here would be bad, with a mission to get out back into cellphone coverage.

crossed the river a couple of times on smaller bridges, then eventually got to a swingbridge, which proved quite a challenge to get a bike over, with each of us having our own techniques. at the end of the swingbridge, a short tunnel, and this little creek...
Picturesque little waterfall pool just past the tunnel.


Then a bit of a climb and suddenly there's a nice wide (similar to lower sections of Lyell) benched track which we proceeded to fly down, and out to another, this time rideable (bar the steps at each end) swingbridge, down across farmland back to the cars. rougly 2-3 hours of descending.

WAIUTA
Back to base, lunch and a bit of a rest and bike maintenance, and all but Marie tootled round to Waiuta. Headed up the Big River track up the wide 4wd start, then the gravelled quadbike bit into the forest and finally onto the nice benched singletrack that is so rife in this part of the country. Quite a wee climb for a while, with interesting roots to keep you keen, and that sapping sucky mud in spots, but mostly good riding. Track levels off after maybe half an hour, and we continued for a while longer wondering if we'd get much more height. eventually at 5.55 we decided we'd had enough and turned back. Warren and Dallas had turned back a bit earlier.

Not far down, i decided my front tire was getting low, and stopped to pump it up. the others all got miles ahead and i began the chase. finally caught Tony, overtook him and caught Wayne, overtook him and caught Andrew, then raced on ahead, now on the steeper down, hauling ass, thinking Mark and Pete must be doing a similar clip to me so there'd be no way i'd catch them, but finally i spotted Dallas ahead, and just ahead of him was Pete and Mark, and them Warren. Awesome. and just around the corner, the 'gate' (motorbike discourager), and a nice open clip i chased Mark down to the end, then the cruisy 4wd section to the cars.

Mark and I decided we'd ride the road out, and so we did. The gravel road is just about ALL down hill, and fast, and grippy, and scenic, and was super fun. Got to the seal and just coasted cruised slowly down the road til eventually we saw Warren's car, then Andy's van, who stopped and loaded Mark, and then Pete and Wayne showed and grabbed me. Home for dinner around 7.

The Annual Trip, Westside - Denniston and Blacks Point

Woke up Thursday to drizzle and thought it'd be a crappy day up on Denniston, but figured we'd give it a go anyway. so. packed up and headed out of Westport and out of the cloud about 10 kms north. Pulled into Waimangaroa and followed an empty coal truck hauling ass up the road. Quite chilly breeze at the top, but a mix of blue skies and cloud around the place.

Headed off onto the same trails i'd ridden last time i was up here, ie, the Miners Track and the Drill Track. Vastly different conditions to then tho. Everyone enjoyed the blasts down, especially the tight single bit before the first Drill track climb. Got back round to Burnetts Face and headed up the road, with a bit of a play around the old School site. Then we headed out and did the Pig Route. this had some fun downhills but it all being semi-4wd track does not a singletrack make. at the road we started heading up, then realised only the two drivers needed to go up, so the rest of us coasted, at some awesome speeds, down til we got to the turn off for the walking track. imagine our disappointment when we saw on the mapboard how much of the old bridle track we'd missed... but, we can save that for next time, and we enjoyed the crap out of the fantastic, at times technical, downhill blast this trail is.

Back in the cars (after one of the best pies EVER (highly recommended, pies from the Waimangaroa Dairy)), and on the road for Reefton. Checked in to The Camp (run by The Old Nurses Hostel - highly recommended for our sized or bigger groups), then headed up the road to...

BLACKS POINT
Steep little start up Murray's Creek track, on a nice wide good surfaced track, steeps interspersed with easier grades, up to Energetic Junction and on up to Waitahu Saddle. then on round and on up up and up to a fast downhill to Inglewood Junction.

Here we turned left on Ajax Track or Machine Track, and up a more rugged track which went up and up and up, then peeled round into a narrow wee singletrack that kept going up and up with some wet bits and we wondered where the hell we were going. at a top (where they used to use horses walking in circles to haul stuff up the hill) there was what looked like a ridge track, but there were no tire marks on it, and it looked like it petered out, so we headed down towards the Ajax Mine and Stamper Battery. some wickedly tight techy forest downhill, followed by swampy boggy crappy bits round and up, to another small saddle (where the previous ridge track would have probably gotten us).

This is where the true downhill began, finally, and we hit the what is one of the most fantastic sections of singletrack i've ever ridden. it was absolutely incredible. bits where you could just let go the brakes and fly, rooster tail of leaves out behind, followed by tight steeps with your arse being buffed by your back tire. awesome. eventually it steeped down into pines, and then switchback city for a bit, before eventually coming across the slope, a couple more switchies and you're at the car. a damned good work out for the brakepads, hands and arms...

The Annual Trip, Westside - Britannia and Charming

Woke to dreary conditions after a rainy night in Westport and took our time getting going for the Britannia Road. Just north of Waimangaroa (where you go for Denniston) we parked up and chatted to a old golddigger before riding into the mist. no views to be had except for low cloud and damp rainforest, the latter being particularly nice. across a soggy paddock, through an electric fence gate, and into the woods. deep in the woods... quite dark in the forest, and very drippy. up we climbed. across a bridge, very pretty creek rushing under, and on up. cleaning most stuff, occasionally not, sucky muck, slippy rocks and sloppy roots, which are all features of west coast riding. Not sure how long it took us to get to the top, there were a few trees across in places, and old slips the track detoured around, but mostly it is a benched into the hillside well formed old bullock track. a challenging and fun ride up.

At the top the cloud began to lift and for the first time we could see across the valley to the bush on the other side.

Turned around at the top (without dropping down to the Britannia Battery), and the extra fun began. what a blast. what had seemed tricky on the way up we now just flew over, and the end came really quickly with the sun starting to shine on us as we cruised back across the final paddock.

Next up it was Charming Creek. We stopped in full muddy regalia at The Drifter's Cafe, and most of us scoffed down excellent cheeseburgers, then back in the cars and up the road to the Ngakawau River. the river was up a bit, quite dirty and raging to the overnight rain.

The trail was an old railway (for logs first then i think coal), and still had its tracks most of the way up. these proved an interesting feature whenever you needed to change lines, often grabbing the rear wheel and sliding you round if you got it wrong. Also, associated with tracks, are sleepers... rough, old, sleepers. continuously, budump budump budump all the way. most of the time they were eminently rideable, but occasionally there was a hole between them that would eat a wheel. the track was scenic as all hell, with the raging torrent of a river on your left, and cliffs either side, and waterfalls raining down on you. eventually we got to the swingbridge and from half way across the most spectacular waterfall comes into view. incredible, especially with all the extra water pouring over it. then its through a tunnel, and on up the gorge to the actual Charming Creek. from here the track got pretty boring, flat, monotonous, through an open scrubby (completely logged over) country. a sulphur spring next to the track was interesting, and another (rideable) swingbridge met.

probably about half a km from the end, we decided we'd had enough, so turned round and headed back down. the challenges of the climb were easier with gravity on our sides, and everybody had a good spin, enjoying the scenery, back. small detour near the end, then it was back to Westport for 3 lbs of Whitebait courtesy Bruce. Cheers Bruce!

The Annual Trip, Westside - The Lyell

So... i'll do these in bites, rather than all in one big post...

Pete and Wayne picked me up on Tuesday morning at 8.30am and we Falconned out of town northwards, meeting up with Andy, Tony and Mark and Marie in Andy's van in Woodend then driving in convoy from there.

First stop, the Lyell, for what I thought would be a nice leg stretcher, after the howmany hours in the cars. Wrong carpark for a start, but got there in the end, then wrong trail for a start too, taking the track to the Lyell Cemetery, which was cool as, I've never seen anything like it, a bunch of headstones completely surrounded by big native beech forest. anyway, it had some grunty wee ups and a couple of steep downs to a cool bridge then a heap of steps and lo and behold we arrive, after a big climb, at the track proper, which is as i'd imagined it should have been, a reasonably wide, benched, singletrack (an old Dray road to be precise).

The track surface is good, most of the time, or soft and sucky leafmatter muddy stuff, which takes away your power like nothing else. we were to encounter this type of stuff numerous times in the days ahead. This climb just plods its way away up and up and up, and there's never really any reasons for stops except for the sake of stopping for a rest. occasionally you run into a wee stream crossing that might prove a challenge, but the guys that have worked on it have done a really great job tidying this track up.

I guess we rode up for about 2 hours. We went through a few smallish slips, but decided we'd had enough when we reached a massive slip that was obviously one of the "massive slips" that i'd read about on Vorb and elsewhere. A track has been carved into this slip, and it looks pretty scary. It was certainly a lot further on from the 8 Mile site that Mountain Biking South book said was the end of the riding. i'd say we were pretty close to the saddle, but we'd all had enough, and were looking forward to getting back down that track.

Marie headed off ahead while everybody sorted themselves out, then the fun began. what a w00t inspiring descent. what was a grind up, became a magic carpet ride. with various roots and rocks you thought were going to be dodgy on the way down just flew past under your tread. one or two sketchy bits, but mostly just fine. some of the softer mud almost-ruts we'd created or were already visible became traction-mongering berms. sweeeeeeet. caught up Marie reasonably quickly, and then mud in my eye let Wayne get by me and he was flying.

After what must have been 45 minutes of continuous descending, cramps starting to niggle calf muscles, hands worn out from gripping and braking, faces sore from the grinning, eyes watery from the wind and mud, we passed the track we'd come up and enjoyed the final throes of the trail down, then briefly up, and down again to the end. Back across the 'dam' road bridge (massive ship's prow log catcher in steel girders above the water tunnel), and meandered round to a track i'd checked out earlier, but didnt think was the bike track cos of the steps, we had to climb up steeply to get to the campground. quickchange cover of seats and away from the sandflies for Westport (and a great meal at The Pines pub, owned by a friend of Pete's)

Sunday Pearcing the clouds, paper roading

Mark and Marie came to visit at the bach. So, on Sunday, we headed out on our bikes. Mark Heckling, Marie 140ing and me the Soul brother. We headed up Little Akaloa Rd. It starts out nice and gentle, but about 10 minutes up it starts to bite. From here, its roughly 30 minutes of granny. I was always sure it was 1 hour to the top, with 45 of granny from Misty Hills, but today proved that a mis-memory. We ground away, me peering into the undergrowth on both sides above and below the road dreaming of Living Springs styled, but rougher, trails therein. Passed by one or two cars coming down, but none heading up. At one stage a farmer on a quad came down the road, giving us that smile with a trace of "what are you, crazy?" look in his eyes.

Near the summit we got into the clouds, enshrouding us for a good portion of the ride. Top of the road, we headed up the access track up Mt Pearce to the radio tower. Nice climb, only one or two really steep bits. At the summit road it was quite chilly, with the cloud and easterly conspiring against warmth, but as we climbed, it got brighter and warmer, and by the top we were blessed with patches of sunshine and it was very lovely and warm. Mark was partially zapped by the gate at the top which was either electrified, or it was picking up on ambient radiation from the microwave/radio tower??? So, munched on muesli bars on the downhill side of the gate, then hit the trail down. Periods of speed, chatting and rolling. Through the couple of gates and down. At the DOC Mt Pearce Reserve sign we were greeted with an amazing clear view of Akaroa Harbour bathed in sunshine. Spectacular. Nice flight down from here, back into the cooler cloud, getting thicker as we got back down to the Summit Rd.

From here we felt our way around the Summit Rd towards Okains. At the cross over between Little Ak and Okains catchments we hit the ridgeline. Officially there's a paper road across here, where exactly you'd need a gps for. We felt our way across the paddock, riding farmtrack and sheeptrails up rocky interesting sections to a fence, over this and up a bit where we were greeted by a half and half landscape

Sunshine bathing Okains valley, and a wall of fog/cloud over Little Ak. Fun singletrack-ish trails around here towards the View Hill Rd which we flew down to being sprayed by the wet grass undertread.

Through the gate and the down the track to where i rode to last week and into sunshine. Mad. Views out to Long Lookout and a beautiful day out there. We bombed down here, much damper, and in a couple of places, greasy, compared to the dryness of Monday prior.

Blatted on down, and then I pulled up a little way above the twin concrete bit, wicked view down into Raupo where the family was unseen on the beach. Then, there's a guy on a bike grunting his way up to us. Had a chat and continued on our mutually exclusive ways. From here, we picked the off-piste play lines, to the right of the road mostly, firstly on grass and rocks, and some clay, then onto clay and roots under the big macracarpas, quite fun. Then the final gravel burst down, Mark taking in some off-road off-piste bits before our speedy gravity powered blast down the sealed road back into the bay.

All up, roughly 3 and a half hours, of good honest grunt. 737m to start with, then a few extras before the 650m odd descent off the flanks of View Hill. Nicely nicely.

Monday quick View Hill blast

Mid School holidays 4 day weekend at the bach, bike in tow, so on Monday afternoon i headed out for a quick ride. headed up past the church and on up to Chorlton, then onto the gravel and up View Hill Rd. Spectacular day, blue skies all round. was scorching hot riding up the steep double concrete strip section, and i very nearly thought i wasnt gonna make it up. Also around were a few magpies i needed to keep a good eye on. made it past the steep and on up i treadled, a bit of a breeze picking up up here. no trouble from the magpies and i was on up past the big pines,

Here's nice view just past said pines.

on the way up the valley overlooking the old house. i kept on climbing, track surface an interesting ex-mud-hoof-trodden spikiness. proved really good once i'd turned around. at about 1 hour total climb, i was only at around 600m, and as high as i wanted to go,

This here being the view down the track just before my descent.

Bombed it down. excellent flow. one hairy moment not far from this photo, when i had let go the brakes for too long and nearly overcooked it into a corner. Much further down the bike behaved weirdly on the gravel sections, with the back wheel sort of feeling like it squirrelling around a bunch.

Once back on the tarmac it was smooth flying, hung a left at the church and grunted up the short climb, then even more speed down the back of all the baches and round past the big house and down the tiny singletrack to the tennis courts. 15 mins or so from leaving the top.

Sunday no wind blowing on the Blowhard

Awesome ride this morning. Pete picked me up at 8.30 and we headed for Nelson's place. Grabbed him and headed 'round past Ashley Gorge and up to the end of Maori Reserve Rd. A bit of frost around, but sunshine and blue skies blazing.

Relentless start, no warm up, just granny geared grunt, nearly steeper than bearable, but eventually mellowing out a bit. nice to see some native clematis in full flower in places. Got to the big 4wd wallow and the real steep walking began. Rocky, gnarly, steep as, for a little while. Then a bit of riding ensued, couple more walky bits, more riding, more walking. all good. a real lung opener. Here's our first break.


On up for a bit, then a nice down, reminding Pete why he rides (he was beginning to wonder), then on up again. Eventually we got out to where Chris, Nelson and me got to on my first trip up there. From here there's quite a steep chute of a descent into the woods again then its climbing again, mostly out on an old burned cleared alpine tops type environment. some real good grunts. Back into forest for a while now and then. Somewhere in there we met the Bypass Track from Glentui. Not far up from there Pete snapped his chain

Fixed that and it was on up up up up up, into some open true alpine Dracophyllum scrub with a lot of muckiness and then through a cool forest with lots of moss and with snow on the ground and drips of melting falling on us. a few rooty holes and a couple of clearings and we were at the top, all 1048m of it (which, by my calculations, is roughly how much we'd climbed in all, even tho we'd started at 300m, there's roughly 300m of downs interspersed with the climbing on the way up). spectacular views up there, and, i kid you not, not a single breath of wind. fantastic. not living up to the name at all...
Towards Lees Valley

Towards the Wharfdale back end

Looking down on Oxford township


i led off and the fun began. blazing. absolute bliss. at times the softness of the ground acted like brakes, so you could stay off your own ones. had noticed a cool rock feature, moab stylez, on the way up, and both Nelson and me found a line onto it and down it. looking back, we watched Pete navigate the rocky drop to the side. he was trying out his new Gravity Dropper, and taking a bit to get used to it.

lower and lower we got, then we had to climb again. walking up the nasty chute below where Chris and us got to last time, and once more further up. rode the rest tho. sooooo much fun. the steep steep rocky bits were a total blast.

as usual, the bottom (4wd wallow) came too fast, but i think it was worth it, the downs really did last well, and legs were sore, and braking arms were sore (but not as sore as Involution last weekend). then bit of a climb out and then down the 4wd section, fast, til we rounded a corner and there was a couple of HUGE horses (with a couple of guys on them), who were pretty wary of bikes and were getting a bit freaked, so chucked our bikes up into the broom and stood up near them and the horse calmed and cruised by. (+1 for biker / horserider relations).

finally down avoiding the ruts and blasting out to the car, getting hella loose in the grease at the bottom. if my calculations are correct, a grand total of 1300m altitude traversed.

dropped Nelson off and returned via backroads to Cust to Tram Rd. got home before 2. all good.

Saturdaze volition to Involute

Stu picked me up from Flamedaisy and we rode up Waimea Rd and round the Ridgeway to Marsden Valley Rd... all the ups hurting me like nothing else. hit the Barnicoat, and clambered away in granny for nearly an hour. ugh, my tired from yesterday legs struggled and struggled, but we made it in the end, then its up and down a few times along the ridge before hitting up the native bush. the views are spectacular, but the climbing is damned hard work.

Involution. yowser. talk about fun. switchback city, reminded me a bit of Nichols switchbacks in Dunners, but rougher, bonier. some amazing long swoopy sections into a corner and back across the slope. met one walker on her way up, and overtook two girls on bikes on their way down. trail just seemed to go on and on, but eventually, crossed a 4wd track and then got nice and twisty down through a couple of stream crossings and then pops back up onto the 4wd, which you then scream down to the gate at bottom.

struggled back round all the ups over bishopdale and down back into town. sweeeeet.