prior to riding, i oiled, on the Singlespeed, all the spoke nipples and heads, squeezed oil into the freehub both sides, and the jockey wheel. hoping that would ease the creak... spun over to Pete's, we drove, picked up Nelson (also singling), and zoomed out to Mcleans Island, where we found Andrew, Warren, Wayne, Dallas and a girl i cant remember the name of now... off we tootled, blatting round the trails. about 2 kms in nelson and me out front, heard a ping clatter from behind, and pete had stopped. we bailed up and turned back to find him looking at a seat-less seatpost. the bolt had snapped. he talked of turning back, but then decided to stay with us for the rest of the lap. so, a good work ensued for him, standing. kinda what we're doing on the singlespeeds most of the time too. anyway, on we bombed. me out front most of the time, swapped with Nelson at one stage. and warren not far behind most of the time too. eased up after the open flowy section (near the diggers) and i put more air in my back tire which had been washing all over the place, also took jacket off then. onwards again, and the fucking back wheel started its creak up again. its gotta be in the freehub somewhere. put up with it, rode on. Pete departed leaving nelson and me to catch lifts with the others.
second lap, warren, nelson and me did full loop, others bailed into the shortcut loop. the creak continued, we were faster 2nd time round. good blast all up. nice and dry out there, even after all the rain. shame its so far from town but then again, its kinda more boring than even Bottle Lake, so probably just as well...
Friday, May 29, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Sunday a.m. Cruise. Sumner then back to plant some Trees for Canterbury
crapulent weather for the entire week, trails are all creeks or would be destroyed from the attack of the tires, so jumped on the ratrod-ghetto-backpedal-single-Specialized Globe commuter beast and trundled over to pete's. joined by himself and his lovely wife, him on Grandad - WW2 Swiss Army Doctor's Bike, and her on her brand spanking new Electra Coaster, girly cruiser, we literally cruised down linwood ave and through Charlesworth Reserve to ferrymead bridge to meet up with Wayne, Andrew, Warren (all on mtnbikes) and Steve and J9 on their cruisers. as a large group now, cruised along to sumner, had coffee at dotcom and cruised back to Charlesworth Reserve whereupon we put plants in the ground. O was dropped to me by friends he'd stayed with overnight, and i put his seat on my toptube and he rode home with Pete and me. mellow. cruise.
Monday, May 18, 2009
SundayNight Singles. H.Ell, Nun, Traverse, OldSkool
Saturday night i finally tensioned and trued up the front disc wheel i built for the singlespeed and tightened and tweaked the back wheel and adjusted the rear brakes on the beasty too. then on Sunday due to childcare responsibilities i wasnt able to join the boys (and girl) on their ride... so, while H had his morning sleep i sorted out the front end of the single. put my old Manitou Minute's onto it, and set up the Avid Juicy 5 brake and got nearly everything sorted. needed a Star-fangled nut in the steerer tube, and needed a clamp bolt on the brake, so once H woke, and we went on the vege run, took the bike and dropped into bikebiz out Marshlands. guy there installed both and only charged me $11.50 all up. Sweet as.
So, had to try out the bike, and we were going for dinner at my folks, so, arranged with Nelson to come up after that, and off we rode, probably about 8pm. me, full to the brim with yummy food and a couple of wines, which made riding tricky.
because it was dark, we decided on the H.Ell track, mint gradient climb for singlespeeds. to the Kiwi, then up road to the Nun. the Minutes SPV feature is exactly as i expected for singlespeed, perfect. it locks out excellently for the standing-in-the-pedal-kranking yet still absorbs the bumps when on the trail. i was feeling like i was gonna blow chunks near the top of Worsley's Rd, so had to have a major breather, then up the dirt track to top of Nun same thing happened so walked about 10 m before forcing myself back on the bike.
The descent was decent. nelson led off, and we blazed our ways down. fair bit of wind about, but pinned most of the jumps okay. the minutes feel quite burly, but no where near as buttery plush as the Fox's on the Cotic. a lot firmer, majorly in need of a service methinks after a few years in a cupboard. and the Avid brakes? not bad, not bad, slightly better than v's i guess. blazed on down to kiwi, only hiccup being nelson's commuting rear mudguard snapping off halfway down.
Then it was up the road to top of Vic Park. lighting up some young lovers in the carpark at the top, hehe... then on round the summit trail. not a bad blast round there, singlespeed all you need. all the puddle work we'd done last week had done a good job of drying out the affected parts of the trail nicely. i had one close call just past top of Lava Flow, somehow i missed the track and was heading over the edge but then pulled the front back over the wooden edging and came to a squirrelly stop with a wheel on either side and nearly losing balance... got going again and we picked our way down through the off piste tussock sheep trails.
All's cool on the Old Skool. nelson led the bombing down, staying on the zig zag trail rather than taking all the shortcuts. was kinda fun. hadn't done it for years! was getting pretty shaken up by the end tho. then round and down the singletrack. sweet flowing singletrack. on the second of the splits, old above new, i passed Nelson and led on from there. not much further on, ran into water running down the track. blast. round the corner and back across the face, and near the end there's the big muddy hole again, i stopped and nelson came over the rise behind me and nearly took me out. we walked by the hole, and rode on, with this wet section running across the trail 3 times below that. then, where the single meets the bottom road, we fixed up some of the ruts. and then headed out and home across town. the rear wheel creak winding me up all the way home...
So, had to try out the bike, and we were going for dinner at my folks, so, arranged with Nelson to come up after that, and off we rode, probably about 8pm. me, full to the brim with yummy food and a couple of wines, which made riding tricky.
because it was dark, we decided on the H.Ell track, mint gradient climb for singlespeeds. to the Kiwi, then up road to the Nun. the Minutes SPV feature is exactly as i expected for singlespeed, perfect. it locks out excellently for the standing-in-the-pedal-kranking yet still absorbs the bumps when on the trail. i was feeling like i was gonna blow chunks near the top of Worsley's Rd, so had to have a major breather, then up the dirt track to top of Nun same thing happened so walked about 10 m before forcing myself back on the bike.
The descent was decent. nelson led off, and we blazed our ways down. fair bit of wind about, but pinned most of the jumps okay. the minutes feel quite burly, but no where near as buttery plush as the Fox's on the Cotic. a lot firmer, majorly in need of a service methinks after a few years in a cupboard. and the Avid brakes? not bad, not bad, slightly better than v's i guess. blazed on down to kiwi, only hiccup being nelson's commuting rear mudguard snapping off halfway down.
Then it was up the road to top of Vic Park. lighting up some young lovers in the carpark at the top, hehe... then on round the summit trail. not a bad blast round there, singlespeed all you need. all the puddle work we'd done last week had done a good job of drying out the affected parts of the trail nicely. i had one close call just past top of Lava Flow, somehow i missed the track and was heading over the edge but then pulled the front back over the wooden edging and came to a squirrelly stop with a wheel on either side and nearly losing balance... got going again and we picked our way down through the off piste tussock sheep trails.
All's cool on the Old Skool. nelson led the bombing down, staying on the zig zag trail rather than taking all the shortcuts. was kinda fun. hadn't done it for years! was getting pretty shaken up by the end tho. then round and down the singletrack. sweet flowing singletrack. on the second of the splits, old above new, i passed Nelson and led on from there. not much further on, ran into water running down the track. blast. round the corner and back across the face, and near the end there's the big muddy hole again, i stopped and nelson came over the rise behind me and nearly took me out. we walked by the hole, and rode on, with this wet section running across the trail 3 times below that. then, where the single meets the bottom road, we fixed up some of the ruts. and then headed out and home across town. the rear wheel creak winding me up all the way home...
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Moondaynight. Farm, Summit, Worsley rut scuffers
13 days since i last mountainbiked... ugh.
however, an excellent old skool ride last night was had under a 96% waning gibbous moon. drove to Nelson's bout 7.30 and we hit the road closer to 8. Feeling almost frosty, backstreets to Wilsons Rd then up past St Martins Primary, where it was already starting to feel warmer, just with the slight rise. across to Hillsborough Tce and on up the Crescent where the exursion and the rise out of the pooled cool air made all the layers we were wearing a bit much. stopped at the gate and took off jackets and hats as a couple of riders came tentatively down towards us, both on flash vpp cruz type machines. hit the dirt and mud and surprised ourselves with the traction. cleaning stuff i didnt think i should have, but then blowing on stuff i shouldnt. walked for about 5 m below first gate, rode some more but then blew again - due to lack of riding and usual small-child-induced tiredness, and walked again for the last bit before reaching the ridge. Nelson's brake was rubbing so brief pause for quick repair and it was onwards up, soft dirt conspiring to make the hill steeper, and a headwind further up adding to our woes. Nelson rode the whole hill. i walked again briefly on the last steep, getting back on for the last 100 m (without the lights riding by moonlight only). i did middle ring everything i rode tho.
Hit the road, towards Dyers. Poked our noses down and had a look at the summit traverse trail, it was full of puddles. continued. below sugarloaf, hit the singletrack again and in the first 50 m was a few largish puddles just past the rocky bits, so we made some drains and continued on. from here round almost all the way to Vic Park trees was dry as. the all weather surface proving to be quite 'all weather'...
was very mucky under the trees so we picked our way carefully through there and on up to the road again. bombing down to the kiwi was cold and there were several sheets of flowing water crossing the road, spraying up and making us colder... then from Kiwi, up road to top of worsleys. snow and ice appearing around the back, and the top of Worsley's road crunchy and icey...
the downhill. fun. streams of water gurgling, often on both sides of us as we rode the skinny ridges between the ruts. the bodybag looked slick and dodgy, but actually had quite good traction. below there the newly graded cut is being eaten up by the streams of water. more weather like the last week + a few overzealous 4wds will turn Worsley's back to the old one we knew so well. out of the graded section it got more hairy and fun, ruts to avoid, streams of muddy water to hop over and not lose a wheel into, skinny ridges to perch upon. fun fun fun. picking up more speed when allowable, scrubbing it off carefully when not. the lower half, nelson's light was getting more and more orange, and by the bottom of the dirt it was hopeless.
Finally a bomb down the seal, and after the final corner down into the icyness. brrrrrrr... beside a muddy high Heathcote river and thru the burbs to Nelson's, into the car, heater on full and i was home by 10.30, chilled to the bone.
however, an excellent old skool ride last night was had under a 96% waning gibbous moon. drove to Nelson's bout 7.30 and we hit the road closer to 8. Feeling almost frosty, backstreets to Wilsons Rd then up past St Martins Primary, where it was already starting to feel warmer, just with the slight rise. across to Hillsborough Tce and on up the Crescent where the exursion and the rise out of the pooled cool air made all the layers we were wearing a bit much. stopped at the gate and took off jackets and hats as a couple of riders came tentatively down towards us, both on flash vpp cruz type machines. hit the dirt and mud and surprised ourselves with the traction. cleaning stuff i didnt think i should have, but then blowing on stuff i shouldnt. walked for about 5 m below first gate, rode some more but then blew again - due to lack of riding and usual small-child-induced tiredness, and walked again for the last bit before reaching the ridge. Nelson's brake was rubbing so brief pause for quick repair and it was onwards up, soft dirt conspiring to make the hill steeper, and a headwind further up adding to our woes. Nelson rode the whole hill. i walked again briefly on the last steep, getting back on for the last 100 m (without the lights riding by moonlight only). i did middle ring everything i rode tho.
Hit the road, towards Dyers. Poked our noses down and had a look at the summit traverse trail, it was full of puddles. continued. below sugarloaf, hit the singletrack again and in the first 50 m was a few largish puddles just past the rocky bits, so we made some drains and continued on. from here round almost all the way to Vic Park trees was dry as. the all weather surface proving to be quite 'all weather'...
was very mucky under the trees so we picked our way carefully through there and on up to the road again. bombing down to the kiwi was cold and there were several sheets of flowing water crossing the road, spraying up and making us colder... then from Kiwi, up road to top of worsleys. snow and ice appearing around the back, and the top of Worsley's road crunchy and icey...
the downhill. fun. streams of water gurgling, often on both sides of us as we rode the skinny ridges between the ruts. the bodybag looked slick and dodgy, but actually had quite good traction. below there the newly graded cut is being eaten up by the streams of water. more weather like the last week + a few overzealous 4wds will turn Worsley's back to the old one we knew so well. out of the graded section it got more hairy and fun, ruts to avoid, streams of muddy water to hop over and not lose a wheel into, skinny ridges to perch upon. fun fun fun. picking up more speed when allowable, scrubbing it off carefully when not. the lower half, nelson's light was getting more and more orange, and by the bottom of the dirt it was hopeless.
Finally a bomb down the seal, and after the final corner down into the icyness. brrrrrrr... beside a muddy high Heathcote river and thru the burbs to Nelson's, into the car, heater on full and i was home by 10.30, chilled to the bone.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
no ride week. Happybirthday Blog and RIP Freud.
bah. too much fun and other busy-ness over weekend to get out on bike. then missed out on last night, intending on getting out tonight, and now the rain has set in and the trails will be soaked. BLAH!
BUT!!!!! Swtchbckr is 4 years old now!
BUT!!!!! Swtchbckr is 4 years old now!
And on Thursday, 7th of May, we had to put down our beautiful big boy Freud. He was the best dog ever, and we were so so sad to say good-bye to him
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday night short hill jaunt
the norwest mildness had stuck around, and so it was a perfect night for riding.
a few of us assembled at Steve's, who turned out wasnt riding cos he'd forgotten to charge his light from last week (or that's his story anyway...). Pete, Andy, Warren, Tony and myself headed off and cruised up Rapaki. Pete, Andy and me got into a good groove and rode ahead, lightless pretty much the entire way up. Warren and Tony tail-end-charlied it with their lights on. with the city glow off the clouds, there was plenty of light to ride by. made the top in reasonable time, but most were feeling it.
quick spin out and back on Witch Hill, with most of us fucking up at least once. nightridebalance issues methinks. as we passed back over the top of Rapaki, there was a group of something like 15 riders. said gudday to them. no reply. dicks.
then it was up the Vernon singletrack. i blew out on one rocky section overlooking rapaki, and then again on the first hairpin near the top. cleaned the top rocky section perfectly, finding the smoothest line i've ever seen there. stopped just over the road and regrouped. the huge group from top of rapaki regrouped there too, and not one of them said hello. what a bunch of fucking imbecile asshole stuck up wankers. flash harry wankers. then Hubby turned up from the direction of Vic park. we stood and chatted a bit as the wankers all filed off.
then we hit the trail, with the first 5 heading down OldSkool, and hubby continuing round to where he'd parked his car at kiwi to do a few laps of the nun. good waft down through the offpiste tussocks'ville, and then a blast down oldskool. no sketchies, took one of the steeper droplines down the rocky bits, and then had a good blast down the lower new.
home by 8.30.
a few of us assembled at Steve's, who turned out wasnt riding cos he'd forgotten to charge his light from last week (or that's his story anyway...). Pete, Andy, Warren, Tony and myself headed off and cruised up Rapaki. Pete, Andy and me got into a good groove and rode ahead, lightless pretty much the entire way up. Warren and Tony tail-end-charlied it with their lights on. with the city glow off the clouds, there was plenty of light to ride by. made the top in reasonable time, but most were feeling it.
quick spin out and back on Witch Hill, with most of us fucking up at least once. nightridebalance issues methinks. as we passed back over the top of Rapaki, there was a group of something like 15 riders. said gudday to them. no reply. dicks.
then it was up the Vernon singletrack. i blew out on one rocky section overlooking rapaki, and then again on the first hairpin near the top. cleaned the top rocky section perfectly, finding the smoothest line i've ever seen there. stopped just over the road and regrouped. the huge group from top of rapaki regrouped there too, and not one of them said hello. what a bunch of fucking imbecile asshole stuck up wankers. flash harry wankers. then Hubby turned up from the direction of Vic park. we stood and chatted a bit as the wankers all filed off.
then we hit the trail, with the first 5 heading down OldSkool, and hubby continuing round to where he'd parked his car at kiwi to do a few laps of the nun. good waft down through the offpiste tussocks'ville, and then a blast down oldskool. no sketchies, took one of the steeper droplines down the rocky bits, and then had a good blast down the lower new.
home by 8.30.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday Rapaki Traverse Nun Vic
turned out a nice warm norwest day. Warren, Steve, Wayne, Tony, Rex and myself assembled at Steve's. Three of us at least nursing heads and guts from Tony's party previous night, with Pete piking (we think) for that reason, and Andrew otherwise besetzt. Up Rapaki at a surprisingly good pace, Rex and me feeding off each other a little for speed, so i directed him onto the valley singletrack for the last leg to the summit... i was too wiped to contemplate it, but it gave him a little bit of adventure.
hit the singletrack and cruised round to top of Vic, enjoying a good blast along the Traverse, then hit Thomsons to Kiwi, running into Hubby on his way up road. Then off we went on up road to top of Marley's. Bombed flying nun, enjoying it all but overcooking a couple of the new jumps and nearly ploughing myself into the bank. Steve's rear brake was for some reason starting to rub so he bailed down the Dyers Pass Rd. the rest of us headed up the Summit to top of Vic, flowed down into the Gummies and then on down Dazza's Brent's Flow and Bridges, me taking the high line that i love so much and cleaning all the droppy bits nicely. Discussed heading up the (by the looks of it -newly worked on) trail into the Hidden Bush valley to take in the lower Old Skool, but figured Steve would be waiting at bottom of Bovenwale, so headed down and out. out by 11.30 pretty much. Steve was waiting, so all but Tony went for coffee at St Martins. after which i pushed into a helluva head wind home.
hit the singletrack and cruised round to top of Vic, enjoying a good blast along the Traverse, then hit Thomsons to Kiwi, running into Hubby on his way up road. Then off we went on up road to top of Marley's. Bombed flying nun, enjoying it all but overcooking a couple of the new jumps and nearly ploughing myself into the bank. Steve's rear brake was for some reason starting to rub so he bailed down the Dyers Pass Rd. the rest of us headed up the Summit to top of Vic, flowed down into the Gummies and then on down Dazza's Brent's Flow and Bridges, me taking the high line that i love so much and cleaning all the droppy bits nicely. Discussed heading up the (by the looks of it -newly worked on) trail into the Hidden Bush valley to take in the lower Old Skool, but figured Steve would be waiting at bottom of Bovenwale, so headed down and out. out by 11.30 pretty much. Steve was waiting, so all but Tony went for coffee at St Martins. after which i pushed into a helluva head wind home.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Tuesday Night, Bottle Lake cruise.
9 folk bowled up to the Broadpark carpark. if i remember correctly, warren, dallas, andrew (on his longlegged singlespeedsteed), steve, pete, tony, steve and marie. and me (on the singlespeed). tootled up the coast and hung a left into the park. some rode the first uppydowny section, others took the 'road'. then through to the old dump. met a few up by that shelter, them calling me the pied piper cos of the string of lights following me... headed on into the forest, against the flow of traffic, meeting two groups of assholes who didnt know how to move over. the track is bi-directional, get with the fucking programme, losers. anyway, round to near waitikiri and bombed on into the usual loop. little bit of fun had playing with slightly longer paths from the front and ending up in second or third place. and a few times we all stopped and steve and marie continued on through after they'd caught us up, which made for some fun overtaking. i seemed to always overtake steve on a jump, me flying (literally) past him.
mosied out to Spencerpark, sat about a bit, then headed back in. by this stage Marie's underpowered light was starting to die, but dallas came to the rescue with a groovy led thing. we rode on, he bailed at waitikiri, we continued back through, towards the end Tony's light was dying.
as usual, the weird creak reappeared in the latter stages of the ride. gotta sort it.
mosied out to Spencerpark, sat about a bit, then headed back in. by this stage Marie's underpowered light was starting to die, but dallas came to the rescue with a groovy led thing. we rode on, he bailed at waitikiri, we continued back through, towards the end Tony's light was dying.
as usual, the weird creak reappeared in the latter stages of the ride. gotta sort it.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sunday Night, fog-coddled Worsleys Nun Vic.
got out with Nelson last night. probably at his place 7.30-45ish, dunno what time we hit the road, across to Worsleys, via Earnsleigh, Heathcote and Cracroft singletrackies and on up the road. i was stuffed, had been at a 1 yr's b.day party all afternoon stuffing myself with cheerios and lollies etc and was full full full.
hard work getting up the hill, but pushed and pushed up into the fog. we rode with minimal lighting. both just using our small LED's for the entire climb. was magical up on the dirt, cos you were coddled in this fog, with only the beam of the LED and the quietness all around. the last section before the gate at the bottom of the bodybag just disappeared, suddenly there we were and the harsh climb began. top of the bodybag got the better of me. blew out where i used to always blow out, not through loss of traction, just loss of lungs... meanwhile, nelson middle ringed the whole bastard. i walked to the finishline. then onto the nun climb a brief rest, now just sitting in the top of the cloud level before the glorious, and tricky to see descent...
nelson lead off and we picked our way down, still pretty quick but careful not to out ride the lights too much(which were glaring in the fog back at us). boosting through the new corners, all minty and fun, dust kept down by the moisture filled air. some sketchy moments but mostly smooth. loving the rocky section, and the blitzing down the old... until my chain jumped, the crunched and jammed. poor chainstay all gouged and scratched, was bloody hard to pull the chain out from where it'd wedged between granny ring and stay. got moving again and were surprised by a new (since Wednesday!) section in the last leg before popping up to Kiwi, i think it was here it was about 9.18.
Kiwi to top of Vic up road, in fog, car headlights sooo dim in distance. Bombed first bit down to see-saw, which we bypassed, then took the oldskool line down to the Gums. first rockgarden was smooth, me in the lead, then we were fog free for a bit through the gums, peeled left (where no one seems to ride anymore) enjoyed the wee jump, i slid beautifully through corner berm and on down through next two berms then blew the wee climb back up to Skiddersite...
then we rode over to Dazza's and explored on foot the wee yumpy trail that starts just to the right. wandered back to the bikes and hit up Dazza's. good flow down through there, me tight on Nelson's tail, then at Brents we peeled onto the "Track Closed" trail. just for a look. rode in and walked over the first jump, then the next, and the next. then there's this wicked swoopy uppy downy blast section, then a couple more drops and jumps that are unrideable to us. good to explore tho, and see whats happening in there. the unfinished end led us through to the 'Darkness' section of Cool Runnings, bombed out the rest of that and onto Flow and Bridges. took the high line above Bridges and had fun dropping down the the drop and then just blew on down out the valley.
rode back through to Nelson's and it was 10pm when i drove home. good use of a sunday night.
hard work getting up the hill, but pushed and pushed up into the fog. we rode with minimal lighting. both just using our small LED's for the entire climb. was magical up on the dirt, cos you were coddled in this fog, with only the beam of the LED and the quietness all around. the last section before the gate at the bottom of the bodybag just disappeared, suddenly there we were and the harsh climb began. top of the bodybag got the better of me. blew out where i used to always blow out, not through loss of traction, just loss of lungs... meanwhile, nelson middle ringed the whole bastard. i walked to the finishline. then onto the nun climb a brief rest, now just sitting in the top of the cloud level before the glorious, and tricky to see descent...
nelson lead off and we picked our way down, still pretty quick but careful not to out ride the lights too much(which were glaring in the fog back at us). boosting through the new corners, all minty and fun, dust kept down by the moisture filled air. some sketchy moments but mostly smooth. loving the rocky section, and the blitzing down the old... until my chain jumped, the crunched and jammed. poor chainstay all gouged and scratched, was bloody hard to pull the chain out from where it'd wedged between granny ring and stay. got moving again and were surprised by a new (since Wednesday!) section in the last leg before popping up to Kiwi, i think it was here it was about 9.18.
Kiwi to top of Vic up road, in fog, car headlights sooo dim in distance. Bombed first bit down to see-saw, which we bypassed, then took the oldskool line down to the Gums. first rockgarden was smooth, me in the lead, then we were fog free for a bit through the gums, peeled left (where no one seems to ride anymore) enjoyed the wee jump, i slid beautifully through corner berm and on down through next two berms then blew the wee climb back up to Skiddersite...
then we rode over to Dazza's and explored on foot the wee yumpy trail that starts just to the right. wandered back to the bikes and hit up Dazza's. good flow down through there, me tight on Nelson's tail, then at Brents we peeled onto the "Track Closed" trail. just for a look. rode in and walked over the first jump, then the next, and the next. then there's this wicked swoopy uppy downy blast section, then a couple more drops and jumps that are unrideable to us. good to explore tho, and see whats happening in there. the unfinished end led us through to the 'Darkness' section of Cool Runnings, bombed out the rest of that and onto Flow and Bridges. took the high line above Bridges and had fun dropping down the the drop and then just blew on down out the valley.
rode back through to Nelson's and it was 10pm when i drove home. good use of a sunday night.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Wednesday Night, Dyers, H.Ell, new, Nun, Traverse, Old Skool.
excellent ride last night. drove over to Nelson's and we watched the Craigieburn footage he'd gotten. worked out pretty good.
then we hit the road, Strickland, Colombo and up Dyers Pass to the H.Ell Track. burned up there under LED light only and made the Kiwi in good time.
then up the summit rd to the top of the new tasty singletrack that shoots down into Govs Bay. EXCELLENT WORK in there. its finished to the top (opposite where Flying Nun meets the road) and is gonna be hella dodgy in the winter, with permafrost sections and slippery slippery mud. it looked like it was gonna be slippery last night, the dirt was dampish, but proved to be good traction. cool bridge section half way down too. flowed down that and decided to turn tail and ride back up it. not a bad wee climb, but my legs were starting to suffer cos i think i pushed too hard coming up the road earlier, spun out a couple of times.
from the top we continued up Summit Rd to top of the Nun, BOMBED down that, me leading, loving all the new corners up the top, they flow so well. Nelson had a mishap up there somewhere, i think jumping and landing in the rut of the old track. enjoyed the rocky well-worn-in lower sections too. i waited for him a couple of times but never let him get too close on my tail. but we both got to the bottom safely, albeit me a bit ahead.
then up the road to top of Vic Park. hit the Traverse Highway, spun round there, stopping for snackage at sign below Sugarloaf. Nelson pinchflatted his front wheel at top of LavaFlow, so short delay while he swapped tubes, then as we were cruising down through the tussocks on our way to Old Skool i did the classic-slowmo-frontwheel-stopped-by-a-tussock-over-the-bars, rest of bike clattering down on top of me, (literally - rear drop-out and wheel hit my helmet!). luckily tussocks are a soft landing. laughed out loud at it and had a good laugh while we continued and then we BOMBED down to the gate and did the top section of Old Skool pretty damned quick too. took all the piste-off lines - which are ruttier than ever, and then hit the sheepshit strewn singletrack. i had an excellent roost down there, creaming the whole lot. one dodgey section on some of the upper new stuff where there's a really bad wetspot (leaky pipe up hill or something?), appeared from behind a tussock and is a muddy mucky rutted hole, nearly lost it but made it through alive and continued with the bombing.
out Bowenvale Ave, back to Nelso's round the river and the 'lombo, all up a couple hours not bad.
then we hit the road, Strickland, Colombo and up Dyers Pass to the H.Ell Track. burned up there under LED light only and made the Kiwi in good time.
then up the summit rd to the top of the new tasty singletrack that shoots down into Govs Bay. EXCELLENT WORK in there. its finished to the top (opposite where Flying Nun meets the road) and is gonna be hella dodgy in the winter, with permafrost sections and slippery slippery mud. it looked like it was gonna be slippery last night, the dirt was dampish, but proved to be good traction. cool bridge section half way down too. flowed down that and decided to turn tail and ride back up it. not a bad wee climb, but my legs were starting to suffer cos i think i pushed too hard coming up the road earlier, spun out a couple of times.
from the top we continued up Summit Rd to top of the Nun, BOMBED down that, me leading, loving all the new corners up the top, they flow so well. Nelson had a mishap up there somewhere, i think jumping and landing in the rut of the old track. enjoyed the rocky well-worn-in lower sections too. i waited for him a couple of times but never let him get too close on my tail. but we both got to the bottom safely, albeit me a bit ahead.
then up the road to top of Vic Park. hit the Traverse Highway, spun round there, stopping for snackage at sign below Sugarloaf. Nelson pinchflatted his front wheel at top of LavaFlow, so short delay while he swapped tubes, then as we were cruising down through the tussocks on our way to Old Skool i did the classic-slowmo-frontwheel-stopped-by-a-tussock-over-the-bars, rest of bike clattering down on top of me, (literally - rear drop-out and wheel hit my helmet!). luckily tussocks are a soft landing. laughed out loud at it and had a good laugh while we continued and then we BOMBED down to the gate and did the top section of Old Skool pretty damned quick too. took all the piste-off lines - which are ruttier than ever, and then hit the sheepshit strewn singletrack. i had an excellent roost down there, creaming the whole lot. one dodgey section on some of the upper new stuff where there's a really bad wetspot (leaky pipe up hill or something?), appeared from behind a tussock and is a muddy mucky rutted hole, nearly lost it but made it through alive and continued with the bombing.
out Bowenvale Ave, back to Nelso's round the river and the 'lombo, all up a couple hours not bad.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Easter, Little Akalala
Little Ak, took the Cotic over. rode it around the section a bit, and down to the beach with O once. in cutting wood i've cleared a bit of a trail up into the forest, and rode down it a couple of times, nice techy rooty dirt trail. working out a feasible loop route too. also tootled around testing out ratios for the SS project i'm building for over there...
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Capt Thom and Godley under first lights.
got a lift with Pete and met up with massive group assembled outside dot com. Nelson, Steve, Andrew, Hubster, Tony, Warren, Rex, Mother Ted and Pete and me.
Good blast up Capt Thomas, nice and mild on the hill, Nelson and me leading out, riding without lights for as long as mentally possible. I turned mine on briefly in the gulch near the bridge, then off again, until the wee descent over rocky bit further up. dismounted the usual dismounts, but cleaned everything else. good blast to top, tho legs were feeling a bit wiped by Evans. All regrouped there, was amazing watching the tailenders lights from up top.
Hit Godley, balance all over the place, blew the first climb, and had lots of weird offbalance dabs most of the way out. bit of a regroup round at the start of the first main descent, and then off we went, nelson leading out onto the newly laid Teddington Shit. most spectacular crash i've ever had the pleasure (and shock) to watch. it was amazing, i saw his front wheel go out then suddenly the bike was flying through the air and he was crashlanding and running and stumbling and tripping as the bike somersaulted and vaulted off the track and down the hill. amazing. he was okay, just a small graze (which is gonna bruise up nicely) on his thigh, and some scrapage on his shoulder. he led off again, and nearly lost it again before the wee bridge, so i led off and blasted the rest to Livingston. not a bad run, taking it reasonably easy, but still getting a good speed on. From Livingston, i tackled the climb quite well, but my random dabbiness was still in action on the rocky bits near top. then good spin down to Breeze, tho with a massive bottoming out of the shock on the last leg.
The others all bailed down Anaconda, while Pete, Nelson, Rex and me tootled along the road under moon's light to the end. watching the other's lights powering along the 'conda. Nice blast back on the singletrack, then onto the 'conda for us. i was getting my eye in, and managed to really fly down.
Then it was up out of Taylors, Nelson and Rex powering off, my legs still recovering, (craigie-)burning from Sunday's jaunt, and Pete not far behind. then blasted down Nicholson, and at Scarborough Fare looking back, no sign of Rex... thought he'd crashed, but his light had died so he'd come down the road. regrouped with the rest and most of us stayed for snackage and coffees/hotcho's at the Slotcom.
Damned good timing on craigieburn on sunday, as last night it snowed a lot up there.
Good blast up Capt Thomas, nice and mild on the hill, Nelson and me leading out, riding without lights for as long as mentally possible. I turned mine on briefly in the gulch near the bridge, then off again, until the wee descent over rocky bit further up. dismounted the usual dismounts, but cleaned everything else. good blast to top, tho legs were feeling a bit wiped by Evans. All regrouped there, was amazing watching the tailenders lights from up top.
Hit Godley, balance all over the place, blew the first climb, and had lots of weird offbalance dabs most of the way out. bit of a regroup round at the start of the first main descent, and then off we went, nelson leading out onto the newly laid Teddington Shit. most spectacular crash i've ever had the pleasure (and shock) to watch. it was amazing, i saw his front wheel go out then suddenly the bike was flying through the air and he was crashlanding and running and stumbling and tripping as the bike somersaulted and vaulted off the track and down the hill. amazing. he was okay, just a small graze (which is gonna bruise up nicely) on his thigh, and some scrapage on his shoulder. he led off again, and nearly lost it again before the wee bridge, so i led off and blasted the rest to Livingston. not a bad run, taking it reasonably easy, but still getting a good speed on. From Livingston, i tackled the climb quite well, but my random dabbiness was still in action on the rocky bits near top. then good spin down to Breeze, tho with a massive bottoming out of the shock on the last leg.
The others all bailed down Anaconda, while Pete, Nelson, Rex and me tootled along the road under moon's light to the end. watching the other's lights powering along the 'conda. Nice blast back on the singletrack, then onto the 'conda for us. i was getting my eye in, and managed to really fly down.
Then it was up out of Taylors, Nelson and Rex powering off, my legs still recovering, (craigie-)burning from Sunday's jaunt, and Pete not far behind. then blasted down Nicholson, and at Scarborough Fare looking back, no sign of Rex... thought he'd crashed, but his light had died so he'd come down the road. regrouped with the rest and most of us stayed for snackage and coffees/hotcho's at the Slotcom.
Damned good timing on craigieburn on sunday, as last night it snowed a lot up there.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Craigieburned it up.
huge pile of us, ten in fact, assembled at Steve's. incl: Steve, (abba)Steve, Andrew, Pete, Nelson, Tony, Wayne, (hel)Mark, hubby and myself. drived there, weather looking ominous, but turning out good.
previous trips, once on way home from Kaniere (pre blog), then May06-marys-first with al.
March07-luge-draco-cheese-taboggan with harry from work, and
Jan08happy-new-yeah with nelson (hard to believe that was the last time i did it... )
parked up, and headed up the road to the Luge... i led off, cleaning heaps but walking some of the steeper rootier sections that plague the lower 1/3rd. having not ridden for a couple of weeks meant my lungs were struggling. sat for a spell on the bench 1/3rd of the way up, and regrouped, then headed on up. granny for a start but middle ringing the top 1/3rd no prob. Lyndon saddle, and off i led blasting the way down to Craigieburn access rd. absolutely flew that section, i think it was my best riding of the day. even nelson couldnt seem to keep up. he put the camera on from the turn off and followed pete, who said he had trouble staying on my tail down to the road.
then the grind began. well, not really. the road is sweet to start with, middle ring most of the way, but after the ford/bridge the steepness begins. nelson cleaned it all middlering, but i grannied/2nd it all the way up, the straights looking not that bad, but biting nonetheless.
regrouped in skifield carpark, bit of drizzle drifting in, lotsa wind about. climbed up and hit the trail. the edge. of reason. here's me on it... right near the top, when i was feeling okay about it...
previous trips, once on way home from Kaniere (pre blog), then May06-marys-first with al.
March07-luge-draco-cheese-taboggan with harry from work, and
Jan08happy-new-yeah with nelson (hard to believe that was the last time i did it... )
parked up, and headed up the road to the Luge... i led off, cleaning heaps but walking some of the steeper rootier sections that plague the lower 1/3rd. having not ridden for a couple of weeks meant my lungs were struggling. sat for a spell on the bench 1/3rd of the way up, and regrouped, then headed on up. granny for a start but middle ringing the top 1/3rd no prob. Lyndon saddle, and off i led blasting the way down to Craigieburn access rd. absolutely flew that section, i think it was my best riding of the day. even nelson couldnt seem to keep up. he put the camera on from the turn off and followed pete, who said he had trouble staying on my tail down to the road.
then the grind began. well, not really. the road is sweet to start with, middle ring most of the way, but after the ford/bridge the steepness begins. nelson cleaned it all middlering, but i grannied/2nd it all the way up, the straights looking not that bad, but biting nonetheless.
regrouped in skifield carpark, bit of drizzle drifting in, lotsa wind about. climbed up and hit the trail. the edge. of reason. here's me on it... right near the top, when i was feeling okay about it...
i led the way, but soon felt out of my depth. cleaned lots of tricky stuff, but dabbed in so many places i shouldnt have. was just feeling very very careful i guess. anyway, sections of absolute brilliance followed by sections of near shitting myself rounding corners with shitscary drops off. the final scree was washed out on what it was last time we rode it. nelson nearly offed, pete cleaned lots of it. most walked bits, including me.
then the climb, back up to Lyndon Saddle, and at one point i stopped, rocked backwards slightly and heard this 'ting' from my front brake. the pads were so low that the spring that holds them apart had caught on the disk and bent. rode it to top and got to work. tried bending it back, no good. so new pads installed, (with me being given a hard time for no apparent reason other than holding everyone up - tho, it didnt take me THAT long...), and off we rode. pete, nelson then me, then hub. me breaking in my new pads... hauled up at the benchseat, hub continued on, and then off we all bombed again. pete then me then nelson and the rest. mostly an excellent drop down, tho i dropped my chain near the bottom which slowed me up a little, tho not that much, more of a nuisance than anything else... then talk of climbing up and doing more, but instead we bailed... through gales on the drive home. andrew's car got all chipped up by blown gravel.
then the climb, back up to Lyndon Saddle, and at one point i stopped, rocked backwards slightly and heard this 'ting' from my front brake. the pads were so low that the spring that holds them apart had caught on the disk and bent. rode it to top and got to work. tried bending it back, no good. so new pads installed, (with me being given a hard time for no apparent reason other than holding everyone up - tho, it didnt take me THAT long...), and off we rode. pete, nelson then me, then hub. me breaking in my new pads... hauled up at the benchseat, hub continued on, and then off we all bombed again. pete then me then nelson and the rest. mostly an excellent drop down, tho i dropped my chain near the bottom which slowed me up a little, tho not that much, more of a nuisance than anything else... then talk of climbing up and doing more, but instead we bailed... through gales on the drive home. andrew's car got all chipped up by blown gravel.
Friday, April 03, 2009
heeeesh... no rides to speak of
fiordland last week, and only riding to work and the Specialized Ghettoglobe jaunt to Andrew's on tuesday night for a pfmtbc meeting about this October's trip to speak of...
plan is to do some Craigieburnin' on Sunday. and Nels and me might do a spin on the hills Saturday night, cos its Daylightsavings ending, so the evenings are gonna have to be lit from now on...
plan is to do some Craigieburnin' on Sunday. and Nels and me might do a spin on the hills Saturday night, cos its Daylightsavings ending, so the evenings are gonna have to be lit from now on...
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Paddy's Croc
picked up Nelson and we headed for the Quarry. arrived to find Wayne, Steve, Tony, Warren and Rex, and then Pete showed up. headed through the quarry park to the bottom of the crock. up that, cleaning all nicely, to bottom of Kennedys, then on up newtasty, young cattle all over the top half, that didnt seem to wanna get out of the way. i botched one of the little ups. nelson and me powering miles ahead of all the rest. regrouped at highest gate, then on over to the next one, nelson filming that descent with camera facing backwards on seatstay this time.
turned around, and climbed back up, then filming again, nelson leading, us all bombing down down down down. Nelson got bailed up by the twistytricky little rock gut on the lower section in the valley, i nearly crashed into him, and then pete ended up juuust bumping into me, coming to a halt with my pedal IN his front spokes. if he'd moved another 3 inches it would have taken some out. then onwards down, grunted up the climb, cleaning it, regrouped and on down the rest. some tasty sgilfs walking their doggie were a treat to behold, and on down to the cars... the others went for a st paddy's day beer while i went and got a bike for O.
turned around, and climbed back up, then filming again, nelson leading, us all bombing down down down down. Nelson got bailed up by the twistytricky little rock gut on the lower section in the valley, i nearly crashed into him, and then pete ended up juuust bumping into me, coming to a halt with my pedal IN his front spokes. if he'd moved another 3 inches it would have taken some out. then onwards down, grunted up the climb, cleaning it, regrouped and on down the rest. some tasty sgilfs walking their doggie were a treat to behold, and on down to the cars... the others went for a st paddy's day beer while i went and got a bike for O.
Friday, March 13, 2009
para para again
went in and did it again. Started into Forest again, over Saddle, round Little River, up Ridge, down DH, up Estuary, up Ridge, down Ridge, round Big River, back out Forest, then up to Estuary trail, down that and back round the flat to car... was fun...
time limited me to doing only that again. spent 2 nights at Marahau and would have loved to have ridden the Kaiteriteri trails again, but family time took over and walked Anchorage back instead...
time limited me to doing only that again. spent 2 nights at Marahau and would have loved to have ridden the Kaiteriteri trails again, but family time took over and walked Anchorage back instead...
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Rameka'd, and Parapara
En route to Totaranui on the 2nd March, T dropped me at top of Takaka Hill and i cruised out the Canaan Rd to end, 11kms in a bit less than an hour, prob 400 odd m of climb, then at end there's a sign, roughly 1 hour to bush edge, another hour to Takaka... well, dunno who that's for. 35 mins to bush edge and another 35 to Takaka.
Anyway, mint ride. was a beautiful day, perfect views everywhere, the road in was cool, only met two cars on their ways out. got to trailhead and hit the singletrack. wee climb to Rameka turn off, then the sidling benched gorgeous track began. winding in and out, less of a gradient than any of Wharfdale, middle ring cruising, roots, puddles, the odd stream crossing. nice flow... then, towards bush edge, finally a bit of a flowy descent, then into gorse, steeper, some mildly tech descent into a gulch, then back up other side on a carved out of a rocky cliff bench to the end of the track. 4wd for a km or so, then gravel rd down down down down to a Project Rameka sign (Kennett project), nice wee flowy piece of singletrack deviation from road on original rameka, and then back onto road, near miss with a 4wd coming up, and good bomb to a ford and valley bottom downhill gravel road for a good few kms out to a sealed road... hmmm, which way? left felt right, so took it and ended up about 3kms from Takaka on main road... 1 hr 10 or so since i left the Harwoods Hole carpark, surprising Chris and Lottie at the pub.
No real riding at Totaranui. just 5 days on glorious golden beach, bush, sun, some torrential rain and lotsa beer.
then Collingwood. so far, yesterday morning i drove round to the Parapara inlet, and hit the parapara trails. small, not even 1km sq piece of forestry, with about 60-80 m of altitude in it, and heaps of trails. followed signs, Forest Trail, Big River Loop, Little River Loop, Ridge Track, Estuary Track, Ridge again, estuary again, up an unnamed DH track, down Ridge, Saddle both ways, back round Big River and back round Forest. all up probably 1.5 hours? no idea how many kms or m alt, but a lot of it is twisty low speed stuff. the whole time i was thinking how cool a Pugsley would have been, bouncing over roots and stuff... fun tho.
Might try'n get in Aorere Goldfields, walked up there yesterday and looks like fun country... otherwise, we're prob off to Marahau in which case i'll try for Kaiteri again, or Nelson, do something there again...
Anyway, mint ride. was a beautiful day, perfect views everywhere, the road in was cool, only met two cars on their ways out. got to trailhead and hit the singletrack. wee climb to Rameka turn off, then the sidling benched gorgeous track began. winding in and out, less of a gradient than any of Wharfdale, middle ring cruising, roots, puddles, the odd stream crossing. nice flow... then, towards bush edge, finally a bit of a flowy descent, then into gorse, steeper, some mildly tech descent into a gulch, then back up other side on a carved out of a rocky cliff bench to the end of the track. 4wd for a km or so, then gravel rd down down down down to a Project Rameka sign (Kennett project), nice wee flowy piece of singletrack deviation from road on original rameka, and then back onto road, near miss with a 4wd coming up, and good bomb to a ford and valley bottom downhill gravel road for a good few kms out to a sealed road... hmmm, which way? left felt right, so took it and ended up about 3kms from Takaka on main road... 1 hr 10 or so since i left the Harwoods Hole carpark, surprising Chris and Lottie at the pub.
No real riding at Totaranui. just 5 days on glorious golden beach, bush, sun, some torrential rain and lotsa beer.
then Collingwood. so far, yesterday morning i drove round to the Parapara inlet, and hit the parapara trails. small, not even 1km sq piece of forestry, with about 60-80 m of altitude in it, and heaps of trails. followed signs, Forest Trail, Big River Loop, Little River Loop, Ridge Track, Estuary Track, Ridge again, estuary again, up an unnamed DH track, down Ridge, Saddle both ways, back round Big River and back round Forest. all up probably 1.5 hours? no idea how many kms or m alt, but a lot of it is twisty low speed stuff. the whole time i was thinking how cool a Pugsley would have been, bouncing over roots and stuff... fun tho.
Might try'n get in Aorere Goldfields, walked up there yesterday and looks like fun country... otherwise, we're prob off to Marahau in which case i'll try for Kaiteri again, or Nelson, do something there again...
Friday, February 27, 2009
Peaky.
I'm on Holiday!!!!!
Today, headed out 1.30-2ish, rode up Codgers to Tantragee and a guy had just come down off Fringe Hill, said its shut cos of the logging (that i could see up on the old devils tail). so, headed round Dun Mtn Walkway. good jaunt up there, probably an hour? less?? the wind damage from last year is madcore, whole faces next to ridges just clearfelled. mental. right pedal wouldnt clip in, had a look and it was bent, and the bolt/screw thingy that holds the whole spring set up for one half of the pedal was out. worked on it for 15 mins or so and just couldnt get it in, so tightened it up as best i could.
had a rest at 3rd House and then tackled the walk up through the decimation to windy ridge... probably 20mins carrying the bike. really messed up in there. then up the ridge a brief distance and whoopee, down Peaking Ridge (see here for last year's)(a year to the day, nearly!).
Absolutely more insane than i remember it. the new 'built' bits are few and far between, the rest is still just as rooty and crazy as before, except that there's huge expanses of it, maybe 40%, that have been windfelled. excellent work by the trail pixies who've been in and re-cleared it... a little way down i spotted my pedal wasnt looking so happy, so i took all the bits off and only had one half to clip into. so, even with that, no real tight moments, quite a bit more walking than last year, cos of the fact that it must have rained in the last 24 hours and the roots were a fair bit slippier than the dry trip down i had last year. the last section especially, i thought i remembered cleaning it all, but this time i bailed on quite a few of the steeper sections... had to keep myself safe, right?
anyway, got to bottom, Maitai River, and stayed on the side i was on (vs switching over cos of track work last time), and nice wee ride down benched singletrack to a bridge, then onto the gravel road alllllllll the way down the Maitai.
When the seal started, i popped over the river, and headed up Tantragee to the top and then down Codgers. back at Flamedaisy at 5.30ish.
Loads of bikers in town, cos Nationals are on this weekend, and a cyclone is about to hit. got this ride in today cos forecast looks like a LOT of rain... wet racers... the track was around Codgers, lots of tape around there.
Today, headed out 1.30-2ish, rode up Codgers to Tantragee and a guy had just come down off Fringe Hill, said its shut cos of the logging (that i could see up on the old devils tail). so, headed round Dun Mtn Walkway. good jaunt up there, probably an hour? less?? the wind damage from last year is madcore, whole faces next to ridges just clearfelled. mental. right pedal wouldnt clip in, had a look and it was bent, and the bolt/screw thingy that holds the whole spring set up for one half of the pedal was out. worked on it for 15 mins or so and just couldnt get it in, so tightened it up as best i could.
had a rest at 3rd House and then tackled the walk up through the decimation to windy ridge... probably 20mins carrying the bike. really messed up in there. then up the ridge a brief distance and whoopee, down Peaking Ridge (see here for last year's)(a year to the day, nearly!).
Absolutely more insane than i remember it. the new 'built' bits are few and far between, the rest is still just as rooty and crazy as before, except that there's huge expanses of it, maybe 40%, that have been windfelled. excellent work by the trail pixies who've been in and re-cleared it... a little way down i spotted my pedal wasnt looking so happy, so i took all the bits off and only had one half to clip into. so, even with that, no real tight moments, quite a bit more walking than last year, cos of the fact that it must have rained in the last 24 hours and the roots were a fair bit slippier than the dry trip down i had last year. the last section especially, i thought i remembered cleaning it all, but this time i bailed on quite a few of the steeper sections... had to keep myself safe, right?
anyway, got to bottom, Maitai River, and stayed on the side i was on (vs switching over cos of track work last time), and nice wee ride down benched singletrack to a bridge, then onto the gravel road alllllllll the way down the Maitai.
When the seal started, i popped over the river, and headed up Tantragee to the top and then down Codgers. back at Flamedaisy at 5.30ish.
Loads of bikers in town, cos Nationals are on this weekend, and a cyclone is about to hit. got this ride in today cos forecast looks like a LOT of rain... wet racers... the track was around Codgers, lots of tape around there.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Are your mcleans showing...
nelson, me, singlespeeds. 3 laps. just done. filmed looking backwards from nelson's bike for one lap. overtook a couple people, as well as a group of scouts we kept seeing, and got taken by one speedster on our second lap. he had gears and a nice new looking lightweight weightweenster bike, so it was no surprise really... anyway he only caught us on the straights, couldnt keep up in the corners. first lap, 23 mins, second a bit slower, third, maybe as fast?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday evening, Cashmere quick blat
Had Nainy over for dinner, so dropping her home up the hill decided to have a wee ride. Picked up Nelsy on way across town, and we hit it from her place, up the zigzag, gasping for air, up the Vic Park track, dropped down to Old Dyers, up to Kiwi, up road, checked out the trail progress into Gov's, they were working on it, looking good, nearly connected thru..., then up over marleys, legs tired on the up, followed by my best run down i reckon ever, then up thomsons, down thru Vic, with me doing the Seesaw for the first time ever - finally!!! then down through gummies, stopping and walking up to check out the madcore jumps track off next to bottom of them, then singletrack parallel to fire access down to 19th battalion and Rangerstation, poached paths up round info centre, then across playground, poached dog park where Nelson flatted, fixed that, easterly cooling us down a bit, then it was nearly getting too dark to see, picked our way down the barbedwire-kiss trail beside the pines, below the houses, explored past the no access to see why its no access, and understood why (trees down and gulch washed out), then back to Nainy's. All up a pretty short but good ride.
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