Pete n me treadled the length of Linwood Ave and round to Warren's, finding him, Tony and Marie ready to ride. Steve was off being wined and dined somewhere fancy. We headed round the ferrymead singletrack, then off up Mt Pleasant Rd, spreading out pretty good but regrouping a couple times and then layering up up top before hitting the Greenwood goodness.
once again, I was on fire! felt really good once again, possibly better than Sunday. fanged it, railed, popped, roosted, relishing the dry singletrack. quick reqroup midway, til Marie rounded into view, then off again, cutting through the lower section even smoother and faster than before. cleaning both little rocky ups and floating from there on down. whole ride was totally on form, felt great.
Marie took off down the road, due to light issues, and the rest of us headed into Capt Thomas, once again, feeling very good. usual baulk, then great cleaning of all the rest. quick regroup in the middle and into the rest of it, great times. first night ride without lights (cept for Tony and Wazza in last bits of Thomas).
then the slog home, head winds, once again, but not quite as strong as sunday.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sunnyday east end blat
Nice wee ride this morn. gorgeous day, hot, norwest. Rode over to Steves. Tony, Marie there, then up rolled Andrew, Warren and Wayne. and off we all went down river, round behind ferrymead, causeway, and up Mulgans, nasty little piece of work that it is. cleaned a couple corners i'd not before, but still dabbed out most. climb climb climb, then up Panorama, and up the nice rooty singletrack, on up to road, and cruised to top of Greenwood...
where i led off and had one of my best descents down there for a lonnng time. every corner smooth, flowing over rocks not being pinged from one to another, great times, high speed, roosting.
was quarter after 11 when we got to Evans, and we talked about Godley, but it was decided coffee at the bottom of Capt Thomas was more appealing. shame, but as i found out later, a bit of a blessing. So, the Captain. was good. my on-form-ness was still with me, and roosted nicely down all but the one nemesis. not too many other trailusers, which is always good on the lower slopes.
after coffee, the headwind. norwest, fucking strong, and relentless. took me probably twice as long to get down Linwood Ave than usual, horrible it were, and i was starting to bonk near my usual place. so, it was just as well we hadnt done Godley, cos that would have left me dead before i'd even got to Ferrymead...
where i led off and had one of my best descents down there for a lonnng time. every corner smooth, flowing over rocks not being pinged from one to another, great times, high speed, roosting.
was quarter after 11 when we got to Evans, and we talked about Godley, but it was decided coffee at the bottom of Capt Thomas was more appealing. shame, but as i found out later, a bit of a blessing. So, the Captain. was good. my on-form-ness was still with me, and roosted nicely down all but the one nemesis. not too many other trailusers, which is always good on the lower slopes.
after coffee, the headwind. norwest, fucking strong, and relentless. took me probably twice as long to get down Linwood Ave than usual, horrible it were, and i was starting to bonk near my usual place. so, it was just as well we hadnt done Godley, cos that would have left me dead before i'd even got to Ferrymead...
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Tuesday repeater
Rode to Pete's for a lift over to Tony's where we found Warren, Wayne and Tony. Off up Worsley's we chuffed, everybody doing well. the dirt was a tad drier than Sunday, but the ruts and ridges were just as challenging and enjoyable, the odd bit dabbing us all. three cleaned the body bag, one with a blow out part way up.
on up to the Nun. i led off, blazed away, weed-eaten grass strewn all over the whole track now. felt a little more on form than sunday, tho the grass and lights made it a bit trickier. got through all the midlevel rocks and below the old 4wd bit and waited for a bit for the other's lights to appear. Pete had had issues, his handlebar mounted lights had been flopping forward on every bump. continued on down, pete sorted his lights at the carpark and on down to the kiwi we flew.
up the road, ignoring the Thomsons, into Vic, flowed down the first bit, i took the see-saw, then into Brakefree. i peeled off, but then Pete yumped and swooped round it, so i got back in and we hit Sesame St, the landing off the Wall nearly wiping me out, then into Dazza's, and Flow and once again New Bridges, and out the bottom.
pretty much one year on, Camelback Mule is still a good wee pack, however, the bladder has fucked out. leaks if left on wrong angle, and has taken on a nasty freezer smell (if not so much taste).
on up to the Nun. i led off, blazed away, weed-eaten grass strewn all over the whole track now. felt a little more on form than sunday, tho the grass and lights made it a bit trickier. got through all the midlevel rocks and below the old 4wd bit and waited for a bit for the other's lights to appear. Pete had had issues, his handlebar mounted lights had been flopping forward on every bump. continued on down, pete sorted his lights at the carpark and on down to the kiwi we flew.
up the road, ignoring the Thomsons, into Vic, flowed down the first bit, i took the see-saw, then into Brakefree. i peeled off, but then Pete yumped and swooped round it, so i got back in and we hit Sesame St, the landing off the Wall nearly wiping me out, then into Dazza's, and Flow and once again New Bridges, and out the bottom.
pretty much one year on, Camelback Mule is still a good wee pack, however, the bladder has fucked out. leaks if left on wrong angle, and has taken on a nasty freezer smell (if not so much taste).
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sunday Worsley Nun Victory, ah.
quick earlyish blat this morning. left home bout 8.30 (after unseizing one of my derailleur jockey wheels), cruised across town and up Worsleys. hard work but just kept at it. ridges and ruts provided a nice challenge while grey warblers provided the soundtrack. managed to clean the body bag, but not without a breather near the top.
onto nun, and off i flew. perfect condition, great blat, popping all the airs and railing all the berms. not much sketch. bit of freshly mown grass on the lower reaches.
up road, upper Thomsons, Coffee Break, over the see-saw, brakefree, sesame, dazzas brents, flow, little bit of the upper new bit, then into nu-bridges, and out the bottom. great blast, home about 10.30.
meanwhile, the rest of the usual crew will have started at Steves and gone somewhere...
onto nun, and off i flew. perfect condition, great blat, popping all the airs and railing all the berms. not much sketch. bit of freshly mown grass on the lower reaches.
up road, upper Thomsons, Coffee Break, over the see-saw, brakefree, sesame, dazzas brents, flow, little bit of the upper new bit, then into nu-bridges, and out the bottom. great blast, home about 10.30.
meanwhile, the rest of the usual crew will have started at Steves and gone somewhere...
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Thursday muddy hell
Chris showed at mine, no other takers, so we Fiat'd out to Slumner to haul ourselves up the Captain. prior to Chris's arrival i'd rubbered up my wheels, 2.35 Muddy Mary up front, and 2.3 Stout on the rear, turned out they were a pretty good choice for tonights ride. Captain Thomas had more mucky places on it than i've ever seen before, in places i've never seen muck. quite astounding, tho, still eminently rideable, albeit with copious dabs. bailed on the top section knowing its messiness, and rounded the final hairpin of the road to be greeted by the Evans to Lyttelton Road Closed sign, which i'd forgotten about, and explained the extreme lack of traffic.
on up the summit road passed by only 2 cars, and hit Greenwood. not too bad to start, quite good in fact, round the top and down to the ruins. then on down. round the first left hander into rocksville i lost it, catching a rut or something, off balance, really thought i was a goner over the edge, but juuust managed to keep it together, including in my moment of distress, missing altogether a hedgehog in my firing line. adrenalin burst (something i'm used to of late, what with all these aftershocks), and on downwards. rode a bit better after that and caught Chris up after a couple more bends. mucky middle section, then good for a bit again, down, down, then into the bit that'd been worked on the other week, and it was a mess. all the soft dirt that was flattened so nicely was a big rut. we walked around the worst bits. stream crossing and onwards all good.
crossed Evans and slugged up Godley. rocks getting rockier by the day, troublesome climbing for both of us. nice in the windy dried bits, still a bit of wet in places, until you get round onto the grassy slope in the Taylors catchment. Ugh. what a mess. diabolical. and, for the first time, i'll admit, Teddington shit is the shit. once you hit it, it was the only flowy bit of trail there, after it, rutsville again, til the lower descent to Livingston. on over to breeze was a breeze, except the last 100 metres or so by the fence, wet mucky mud under grass.
anaconda top was puddled in places, a few ruts, and one or two flows. onto anaconda itself, the whole top section was sweet, over the three jumps into the berms, nice, but then in the valley, rut city, mostly avoidable but no speed carried. finally, the tail was sweeeet, until you got onto the bottom paddock, yuck.
clambered back up out of taylors, down through nicholson and along the waterfront. home around 9.30.
and a quake hit just as i finished this. 10.30ish
on up the summit road passed by only 2 cars, and hit Greenwood. not too bad to start, quite good in fact, round the top and down to the ruins. then on down. round the first left hander into rocksville i lost it, catching a rut or something, off balance, really thought i was a goner over the edge, but juuust managed to keep it together, including in my moment of distress, missing altogether a hedgehog in my firing line. adrenalin burst (something i'm used to of late, what with all these aftershocks), and on downwards. rode a bit better after that and caught Chris up after a couple more bends. mucky middle section, then good for a bit again, down, down, then into the bit that'd been worked on the other week, and it was a mess. all the soft dirt that was flattened so nicely was a big rut. we walked around the worst bits. stream crossing and onwards all good.
crossed Evans and slugged up Godley. rocks getting rockier by the day, troublesome climbing for both of us. nice in the windy dried bits, still a bit of wet in places, until you get round onto the grassy slope in the Taylors catchment. Ugh. what a mess. diabolical. and, for the first time, i'll admit, Teddington shit is the shit. once you hit it, it was the only flowy bit of trail there, after it, rutsville again, til the lower descent to Livingston. on over to breeze was a breeze, except the last 100 metres or so by the fence, wet mucky mud under grass.
anaconda top was puddled in places, a few ruts, and one or two flows. onto anaconda itself, the whole top section was sweet, over the three jumps into the berms, nice, but then in the valley, rut city, mostly avoidable but no speed carried. finally, the tail was sweeeet, until you got onto the bottom paddock, yuck.
clambered back up out of taylors, down through nicholson and along the waterfront. home around 9.30.
and a quake hit just as i finished this. 10.30ish
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
De-stressing Earthquakes.
7.1, felt at 0436 Little Akaloa 4th Sept 2010 (where a ride had been intended), munted the weekend and days following cleaning up bricks and mortar. untold destruction, general freaked-outedness prevailing. So, finally today, i skived off the first day back at work on what could only be described as stress-leave, and unwound by getting out on the bike. Chris was at a loose end not being allowed into the cordon to work, met at mine and we StanNurseWilsEastmorerysonerned to the foot of the hill, spotting the odd chimney down as we spun. werent really sure where we'd climb, but ended up choosing Holliss. one i'd not been up for a while, and not having been on the bike for a while either, thought would be some good punishment. Chris's first time too. good wee climb, across the lot that is still vacant, onto Longhurst, and on up Harry Ell past Warnin's place, through a gate and up a well trod wee singletrack through "Private Land", skirting the bottom of Dog Park and onto vic park rd, to drop down to cross Dyers and under and up. lots of water in the first half, good technical grunt up to kiwi and on to the misty cloud topped Marleys.
Nun was good. not as greasy as that other recent time, but with one or two slickish spots and rocks seemed to have grease on them cos of the dirty tires resulting in some careful picking and a scare or two.
Back on the road up to top of vic, round through the trees, and down over the DH fence, chris leading me into Tits. a corner i'd never turned before, and slick as pig shit with me running and skipping over lots of stuff i'd only just manage (on the edge) in the dry. arrived at 4wd track and decided against the remainder, so headed for top of Cool Runnings, chris choosing to go further along and hit yet another DH'y dropper. rode more of that, but again, have managed it no worries in the dry but there was too much grease around. Onto Flow nicely and nubridges wafting sweetly even off the end, and down out the valley bottom, muchly improved by lack of bovine slop.
back across town under the railwaytracks, bumping into Pete, checking on Pomeroy's for openness, parting ways, cleaning up, grabbing some Indian, scoffing, then the boys turning up for an exploration of the local urban carnage. meandering around the river downstream a few kms from here observing the utter destruction a megatonne of energy unleashed over 39seconds, 10kms deep and 40kms distant, can inflict on the crust human settlement lays over a flexible land. Liquifactionville - how long is this shit gonna take to clean up? and yet, as observed (and heard of) elsewhere, barely a chimney cracked for some. mother fuckin' nature, eh?
touch-wood, the rumblings seemed to have slowed down a litte... one can but hope.
Nun was good. not as greasy as that other recent time, but with one or two slickish spots and rocks seemed to have grease on them cos of the dirty tires resulting in some careful picking and a scare or two.
Back on the road up to top of vic, round through the trees, and down over the DH fence, chris leading me into Tits. a corner i'd never turned before, and slick as pig shit with me running and skipping over lots of stuff i'd only just manage (on the edge) in the dry. arrived at 4wd track and decided against the remainder, so headed for top of Cool Runnings, chris choosing to go further along and hit yet another DH'y dropper. rode more of that, but again, have managed it no worries in the dry but there was too much grease around. Onto Flow nicely and nubridges wafting sweetly even off the end, and down out the valley bottom, muchly improved by lack of bovine slop.
back across town under the railwaytracks, bumping into Pete, checking on Pomeroy's for openness, parting ways, cleaning up, grabbing some Indian, scoffing, then the boys turning up for an exploration of the local urban carnage. meandering around the river downstream a few kms from here observing the utter destruction a megatonne of energy unleashed over 39seconds, 10kms deep and 40kms distant, can inflict on the crust human settlement lays over a flexible land. Liquifactionville - how long is this shit gonna take to clean up? and yet, as observed (and heard of) elsewhere, barely a chimney cracked for some. mother fuckin' nature, eh?
touch-wood, the rumblings seemed to have slowed down a litte... one can but hope.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Re-opened Singletrack goodness
so good to finally get out today. was a shame i'd been so wrecked Saturday night, cos i felt like absolute shit all morning, except for the actual riding.
so. got my ass over to Steves, overtaken by Pete in the Cosworth on Opawa Rd, and greeted by Tony, Wayne, Warren and Andrew out front of Steve's, who had an excuse of family bother to get him out of riding... not pisscrookedness at all, right?
anyway, off up Rapaki we lugged our sorry states, meeting Mark and Marie and truck at end of road. Marie joined us, while Mark drove off to see us up top. climbed like climbing things, surprising ourselves i think, Pete and me, with our ability to actually succeed. cold southerly wind in our faces all the way up, and into the clouds up top, with some spitty drizzliness going for it dampening everything. decided on heading towards Sumner, but not thinking we'd make it.
Witch hill was like a pinball machine, little bit of grease on the rocks pinging my slightly over inflated tires all over the place. few dabs, lurches and lost moments. but all over quite good. Marie and Warren took the road, Marie due to a bad wrist. regrouped and headed on up summit road towards the Castle.
Castle Rock started out a bit mucky but not bad. a few damp spots down the way, but mostly pretty good, had a nice flow on down round the hill, first hairpin nicely negotiated, on down and after the second hairpin nasty rutsville just before the bridge. pete stepped off to film everybody, and Tony had a nice tumble off down the hill, i think caught on film, nice couple garks on his legs. Marie took the road. Mark showed up and we chatted and then got our ways on round, in the clouds, tailwind, to Britten
John Britten trail: led off and could someone on my tail for a while, til the nasty rock-up, which i dabbed but kept going, under the very wet (rainmaking) shelterbelt on round to the road where i waited. and waited. and waited, and thought, hmmm, and was just about to ride on back to see what'd happened, when Marie and Warren and Tony appeared out of the gloom saying Pete had had an off but they were on their way. he'd been straddling his bike, walking up that rock when one of his feet gave way and off he tumbled down the hill, garking himself nicely i think. Mark rolled up and Marie changed bikes here.
hit Greenwood, for the first time in a lonnnnnng time. started off with a greasy rut which threw me a bit, but dried out nicely on further up, with even some dust appearing at one stage... had a good cruise down really enjoying the freedom of this trail, and pleasantly surprised at how little damage the winter had inflicted, maybe a few more rocks showing a bit more of their teeth after dirt's been washed away. mucky wetspot after rockgap, but all good round into gloomy gulch. still in the clouds at this point, pulled up just down from usual stopping place, and regrouped again, looking down on the willing workers we were intending on joining. got rolling again and cruised down to the workers, stopping to chat with Ranger Nick Singletrack, who basically said no need to worry about helping out and to enjoy the ride!!! gotta make it to the next workday. bolled down the rest of the trail, seeing Mark again, and then hit Captain Thomas.
First corner, more workers (and a "NICE BIKE" comment on the Soul), chatted to Graham a bit then continued on down. bad slip mud eating my wheels before the first of my nemeses. i stopped, walked quickly down, then turned round to see Pete dropping his bike and scuttling down and juuust stopping on his hands... enjoying the rest of the trail, cleaning my other two old nemeses. one or two other wet bits, nothing too major, quite fun dodging and popping the various holes and rutty bits, on out to the bottom. up pulls Mark, informing us Marie was behind. once she arrived we all tootled down to DotCom and coffeed up before the slog home.
so. got my ass over to Steves, overtaken by Pete in the Cosworth on Opawa Rd, and greeted by Tony, Wayne, Warren and Andrew out front of Steve's, who had an excuse of family bother to get him out of riding... not pisscrookedness at all, right?
anyway, off up Rapaki we lugged our sorry states, meeting Mark and Marie and truck at end of road. Marie joined us, while Mark drove off to see us up top. climbed like climbing things, surprising ourselves i think, Pete and me, with our ability to actually succeed. cold southerly wind in our faces all the way up, and into the clouds up top, with some spitty drizzliness going for it dampening everything. decided on heading towards Sumner, but not thinking we'd make it.
Witch hill was like a pinball machine, little bit of grease on the rocks pinging my slightly over inflated tires all over the place. few dabs, lurches and lost moments. but all over quite good. Marie and Warren took the road, Marie due to a bad wrist. regrouped and headed on up summit road towards the Castle.
Castle Rock started out a bit mucky but not bad. a few damp spots down the way, but mostly pretty good, had a nice flow on down round the hill, first hairpin nicely negotiated, on down and after the second hairpin nasty rutsville just before the bridge. pete stepped off to film everybody, and Tony had a nice tumble off down the hill, i think caught on film, nice couple garks on his legs. Marie took the road. Mark showed up and we chatted and then got our ways on round, in the clouds, tailwind, to Britten
John Britten trail: led off and could someone on my tail for a while, til the nasty rock-up, which i dabbed but kept going, under the very wet (rainmaking) shelterbelt on round to the road where i waited. and waited. and waited, and thought, hmmm, and was just about to ride on back to see what'd happened, when Marie and Warren and Tony appeared out of the gloom saying Pete had had an off but they were on their way. he'd been straddling his bike, walking up that rock when one of his feet gave way and off he tumbled down the hill, garking himself nicely i think. Mark rolled up and Marie changed bikes here.
hit Greenwood, for the first time in a lonnnnnng time. started off with a greasy rut which threw me a bit, but dried out nicely on further up, with even some dust appearing at one stage... had a good cruise down really enjoying the freedom of this trail, and pleasantly surprised at how little damage the winter had inflicted, maybe a few more rocks showing a bit more of their teeth after dirt's been washed away. mucky wetspot after rockgap, but all good round into gloomy gulch. still in the clouds at this point, pulled up just down from usual stopping place, and regrouped again, looking down on the willing workers we were intending on joining. got rolling again and cruised down to the workers, stopping to chat with Ranger Nick Singletrack, who basically said no need to worry about helping out and to enjoy the ride!!! gotta make it to the next workday. bolled down the rest of the trail, seeing Mark again, and then hit Captain Thomas.
First corner, more workers (and a "NICE BIKE" comment on the Soul), chatted to Graham a bit then continued on down. bad slip mud eating my wheels before the first of my nemeses. i stopped, walked quickly down, then turned round to see Pete dropping his bike and scuttling down and juuust stopping on his hands... enjoying the rest of the trail, cleaning my other two old nemeses. one or two other wet bits, nothing too major, quite fun dodging and popping the various holes and rutty bits, on out to the bottom. up pulls Mark, informing us Marie was behind. once she arrived we all tootled down to DotCom and coffeed up before the slog home.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
meeting of singletrack minds
townie, with Pete to STeve's, meeting Wazza, Mark and Marie (tandemised) there. all rode round river on paths and roads eventually to Tony's where we were joined by rex wayne andy and plans for October's trip were hatched... Dunners here we come.
Monday, August 23, 2010
View Hill Quickster
Bad weather, then 10 days in Fiordland chasing robins and moreporks, has kept me off the bike it seems all this month so far! shocking. anyway, went to the bach for a slightly extended weekend and finally today i got out.
Treadled my way up to Chorlton, standing singlespeed style most of the way up, relishing the fresh air, then on up View Hill Rd (grovelling the steepest in granny). Took the left fork for a change, and laboured my way up to the end gate. weather was packing in a bit, with some rain spitting up there, so turned back down, occasionally off-pisting it for the ovine-singletrack goodness.
At the big pines i hung a left up the usual fork, but the further i got the stronger the southerly blew in my face and the more the rain was getting me, so decided i'd had enough, and turned back. tailwind pushing me downslope. again, occasional off-piste singletrackage, and then a final blast down to the seal, then round into the rain and wind again for the road descent into the bay. 10 minutes after i got indoors it hosed down...
nice warm up ride for a first after so long.
Treadled my way up to Chorlton, standing singlespeed style most of the way up, relishing the fresh air, then on up View Hill Rd (grovelling the steepest in granny). Took the left fork for a change, and laboured my way up to the end gate. weather was packing in a bit, with some rain spitting up there, so turned back down, occasionally off-pisting it for the ovine-singletrack goodness.
At the big pines i hung a left up the usual fork, but the further i got the stronger the southerly blew in my face and the more the rain was getting me, so decided i'd had enough, and turned back. tailwind pushing me downslope. again, occasional off-piste singletrackage, and then a final blast down to the seal, then round into the rain and wind again for the road descent into the bay. 10 minutes after i got indoors it hosed down...
nice warm up ride for a first after so long.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday hill chuff, Rapaki Witch Traverse Nun Vic
Nelson and Chris assembled at mine and we headed across to Milton St in Nels's car some time near 7 (he had something to do at the old flat). rode through town to Rapaki and on up, starting with a hiss and a bang, and then having to layer off at the 2nd gate. Chris took off ahead, after a guy that'd passed us as we layered off. i didnt have anything left in my legs after Tuesday's ride, and a long townie to dinner on Wednesday, so i struggled horribly all the way up, and Nelson had ridden once in 10 weeks, so was pretty off form (still quicker than no-power me). eventually made the top, i oiled my chain, and we hit up Witch Hill, Chris bailing on a rocky section and ending up down the bank. there and back, Nelson had a good chat to a lamb. wheels pinging and slipping off slippery rocks.
up Vernon, Teddington Sog sapping power on first climb, the other two leaving me for dead, tho i took the shortcut between hairpins and nearly got up to them again.
Traverse, Chris leading off, me next, good blast all the way round, the ups slowing me, but the flats and down i was in pretty good form. then i led down Thomsons, lovely wee blast through the trees. nelson pointed out that it'd be cool if there was a track just like it that went on for a few kms, tight and flowy... (McVicars sometime?). Second half of Thomsons was drier at the bottom than last time.
heaved our ways up the road from Kiwi to Marley's. me lagging seriously on the last steeps, and frost on the lead-in chilling down the feet a lot. munched and layered up at top, then i led off down the Nun. pretty good blast down here, tho i was getting a bit tired, and my hands never seemed to be holding the bars tight enough. some of the improvements done down here have certainly evened up the plan. sweet as. regrouped below middle carpark, and Chris led off down the lower half. i had a couple of really close calls near the bottom, barely staying in control.
up road to Vic, all of us feeling the cold and tiredness now. took off down the first path, steep and rocky, then down all three over the seesaw, first coupla Brakefree jumps then across the mucky flat to the rocks into the gums. great run down here, nelson leading, taking it all the way down and onto the singletrack that takes ya down to the gate. bit messy in there, few ruts at the start.
back up road to Skidder, nelson aghast at the waste of money on the new picnic area, and off into Dazza's, me leading. nice blitz. Brents, highline this time, just moseying, out to flow, where i lost it at the top of rut-city, frontwheel sliding out from under me, and taking a nice lowspeed stack onto a tussock or two. the other two got past me here, and i struggled my way down the actual ruts, then took the lead into the new bits, guiding the way down, less mucky than Tuesday, tho still bad at the bottom.
then, out the bottom, through the disgusting cowshit muckfest and a blast down the final to the road and back to the car around 10.30.
up Vernon, Teddington Sog sapping power on first climb, the other two leaving me for dead, tho i took the shortcut between hairpins and nearly got up to them again.
Traverse, Chris leading off, me next, good blast all the way round, the ups slowing me, but the flats and down i was in pretty good form. then i led down Thomsons, lovely wee blast through the trees. nelson pointed out that it'd be cool if there was a track just like it that went on for a few kms, tight and flowy... (McVicars sometime?). Second half of Thomsons was drier at the bottom than last time.
heaved our ways up the road from Kiwi to Marley's. me lagging seriously on the last steeps, and frost on the lead-in chilling down the feet a lot. munched and layered up at top, then i led off down the Nun. pretty good blast down here, tho i was getting a bit tired, and my hands never seemed to be holding the bars tight enough. some of the improvements done down here have certainly evened up the plan. sweet as. regrouped below middle carpark, and Chris led off down the lower half. i had a couple of really close calls near the bottom, barely staying in control.
up road to Vic, all of us feeling the cold and tiredness now. took off down the first path, steep and rocky, then down all three over the seesaw, first coupla Brakefree jumps then across the mucky flat to the rocks into the gums. great run down here, nelson leading, taking it all the way down and onto the singletrack that takes ya down to the gate. bit messy in there, few ruts at the start.
back up road to Skidder, nelson aghast at the waste of money on the new picnic area, and off into Dazza's, me leading. nice blitz. Brents, highline this time, just moseying, out to flow, where i lost it at the top of rut-city, frontwheel sliding out from under me, and taking a nice lowspeed stack onto a tussock or two. the other two got past me here, and i struggled my way down the actual ruts, then took the lead into the new bits, guiding the way down, less mucky than Tuesday, tho still bad at the bottom.
then, out the bottom, through the disgusting cowshit muckfest and a blast down the final to the road and back to the car around 10.30.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesday opened trail muckiness
treadled across to Steve's with Pete who was on grandad. there, were RacerRex, Tones, Andy, followed shortly after us by Wazzah and Wahayno. Steve emerged from his house with Cruiser, and it was decided they'd all do a townride, and Rex and me'd head up cRapaki.
i gasped my way up the track with Rex barely breaking a sweat. millions of runners coming down the hill towards us, seemingly the whole way up... past a whole bunch of riders at middle gate, i raised my seat and felt a tonne better the rest of the way up, pushing it good (again, i think Rex was just being nice sitting with me...).
Rex led off up Vernon, the first Teddington'd section being pretty soggy. he baulked a bit on the rocks, but kept the lead, powering nicely on the smoother bits. Rocky section up top got him and he let me take over the lead. couple dabs here and there, but mostly pretty good.
onto the Traverse. all good except for the nasty wet bit before the first cattlestop, blazed our ways round there. trail all good. usual damp bits below Sugarloaf, then on round to Vic.
...into the trees, squirrelling through bits of soft dirt, past the seesaw, then down towards the gums across an extremely soggy flat. into the rocks which were okay, but once under the trees, i dont think i've ever seen the ground so wet in there. not for years anyway. bypassed a couple of nasty ruts in same spot as last time next to Sesame St, on round sidling over jump and back to Skidder, then met up with a random orange-lighted-halogen guy, who didnt really know his way around, so followed us down Dazza's, which was all good, then Brents which too was all good, tho has some bad braking holes, and cross the swiftly flowing creek onto a slightly messy Flow, which got pretty bad towards the end with its own Rut-City, and then onto the 'new' exit from bridges...
sorta follows the Hi-line, but a cool switchback chucks you back across Bridges then below with more corners, risers and good flow, and even some ups (which'll put off the DHers). Bottom of this was unfinished and extremely MUCKY. then down the 4wd to usuals, squirrelly and mucky mucky mucky, and the Cows were really trashing the private bit (my bike smells of shit now), before a good blast out the bottom
Rex headed back to his car at Steve's. i txtd the boys, and met them at Pomeroys for a couple nice beers.
i gasped my way up the track with Rex barely breaking a sweat. millions of runners coming down the hill towards us, seemingly the whole way up... past a whole bunch of riders at middle gate, i raised my seat and felt a tonne better the rest of the way up, pushing it good (again, i think Rex was just being nice sitting with me...).
Rex led off up Vernon, the first Teddington'd section being pretty soggy. he baulked a bit on the rocks, but kept the lead, powering nicely on the smoother bits. Rocky section up top got him and he let me take over the lead. couple dabs here and there, but mostly pretty good.
onto the Traverse. all good except for the nasty wet bit before the first cattlestop, blazed our ways round there. trail all good. usual damp bits below Sugarloaf, then on round to Vic.
...into the trees, squirrelling through bits of soft dirt, past the seesaw, then down towards the gums across an extremely soggy flat. into the rocks which were okay, but once under the trees, i dont think i've ever seen the ground so wet in there. not for years anyway. bypassed a couple of nasty ruts in same spot as last time next to Sesame St, on round sidling over jump and back to Skidder, then met up with a random orange-lighted-halogen guy, who didnt really know his way around, so followed us down Dazza's, which was all good, then Brents which too was all good, tho has some bad braking holes, and cross the swiftly flowing creek onto a slightly messy Flow, which got pretty bad towards the end with its own Rut-City, and then onto the 'new' exit from bridges...
sorta follows the Hi-line, but a cool switchback chucks you back across Bridges then below with more corners, risers and good flow, and even some ups (which'll put off the DHers). Bottom of this was unfinished and extremely MUCKY. then down the 4wd to usuals, squirrelly and mucky mucky mucky, and the Cows were really trashing the private bit (my bike smells of shit now), before a good blast out the bottom
Rex headed back to his car at Steve's. i txtd the boys, and met them at Pomeroys for a couple nice beers.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Sunday sloppy Wharfdale goodness
Got word on Saturday that a couple guys i know were gonna do Wharfdale on Sunday. i's keen as mustard, so did a little prep on the bike, regreased headset and nicely oiled up the chain. Also, chucked on a new tire i'd got. Ritchey ZM Premonition i'd picked up from Torp7 a couple days before.
Tom and Matt picked me up at 8 and we headed out the Tram Rd. Left Chch's dreary grey and headed into blue skies and sunshine. First car in the carpark, tho some walkers (and dog) arrived while we were getting ready. Somewhere on the road there, something must have been flicked up by the back wheel of the car, slashing Tom's front tire, totally slicing through tire and tube. no spare tires on board, so we cut up the old tube, folded it several times, inserted between new tube and tire, and pumped her up. kinda bulged a bit, but wasnt too bad, but just to be safe, we put a random ziptie (that i just happened to have in my bag) around the tire, which held it quite nicely.
hit the trail. pretty good knick. excellent muckiness, lovely slippery roots. hit first pile of snow at about the 3rd bridge. counted somewhere between 6 to 10 tree falls. wonderful flowy section half way in, love that groove. fair bit of snow and extreme muckiness up towards the switchbacks, and the saddle. Tom figured his tire was gonna blow out, by the saddle the ziptie had gone, so he turned back, while Matt and i headed down for the hut. first 50m or so was messy snow, but beyond that was good, mostly. lots of snowloaded branches down, all of which we cleared off the track, and quite a lot of ice down this side. very cold, and cool eerie mists kinda hanging around.
made the river, got across without too much bother, and then this heinous climb kicked in. i didnt remember this from last time (years ago!) i'd been to the hut... anyway, got to the hut, signed in, had a One Square. brrrr, got moving again, back up and over, then the long slog back to the saddle. one off at a creek when my front wheel dropped and i leaped over the bars and stayed on my feet. at Midday, Matt replaced his front pads.
made the saddle, and the down began. for a bit anyway. not bad, bit splecky. on the climbs my legs were really starting to burn. the second to last descent (the one with the bridges in it), i think would have to be one of my favourites. its when everything comes together, all your skills honed to perfection, cept for feeling utterly shattered having not had a good long inclement ride like this for a lonnnng time.
the climb to the gate nearly killed me. but the final descent made everything better, getting faster and faster, briefly slowing for that metal pipe and following little creek, then on down to car park. sweeeeeet!!
Tom had made it back just as the bulge eminating from his tire was starting to rub the fork arch. he'd been waiting a fair while for us... Lots of cars in car park now too. We'd seen a couple of couples runners en route.
Meanwhile, my new tire worked very nicely thanks. was predictable. a nice size, good and big for a 2.25. didnt hook up as much as some mud specific tires would, but never gave me any issues of spinning out. should be a good tire to go on with. expecting another newby soon too, a Schwalbe Muddy Mary. chuck that on the front for a while methinks.
home 3ish.
Tom and Matt picked me up at 8 and we headed out the Tram Rd. Left Chch's dreary grey and headed into blue skies and sunshine. First car in the carpark, tho some walkers (and dog) arrived while we were getting ready. Somewhere on the road there, something must have been flicked up by the back wheel of the car, slashing Tom's front tire, totally slicing through tire and tube. no spare tires on board, so we cut up the old tube, folded it several times, inserted between new tube and tire, and pumped her up. kinda bulged a bit, but wasnt too bad, but just to be safe, we put a random ziptie (that i just happened to have in my bag) around the tire, which held it quite nicely.
hit the trail. pretty good knick. excellent muckiness, lovely slippery roots. hit first pile of snow at about the 3rd bridge. counted somewhere between 6 to 10 tree falls. wonderful flowy section half way in, love that groove. fair bit of snow and extreme muckiness up towards the switchbacks, and the saddle. Tom figured his tire was gonna blow out, by the saddle the ziptie had gone, so he turned back, while Matt and i headed down for the hut. first 50m or so was messy snow, but beyond that was good, mostly. lots of snowloaded branches down, all of which we cleared off the track, and quite a lot of ice down this side. very cold, and cool eerie mists kinda hanging around.
made the river, got across without too much bother, and then this heinous climb kicked in. i didnt remember this from last time (years ago!) i'd been to the hut... anyway, got to the hut, signed in, had a One Square. brrrr, got moving again, back up and over, then the long slog back to the saddle. one off at a creek when my front wheel dropped and i leaped over the bars and stayed on my feet. at Midday, Matt replaced his front pads.
made the saddle, and the down began. for a bit anyway. not bad, bit splecky. on the climbs my legs were really starting to burn. the second to last descent (the one with the bridges in it), i think would have to be one of my favourites. its when everything comes together, all your skills honed to perfection, cept for feeling utterly shattered having not had a good long inclement ride like this for a lonnnng time.
the climb to the gate nearly killed me. but the final descent made everything better, getting faster and faster, briefly slowing for that metal pipe and following little creek, then on down to car park. sweeeeeet!!
Tom had made it back just as the bulge eminating from his tire was starting to rub the fork arch. he'd been waiting a fair while for us... Lots of cars in car park now too. We'd seen a couple of couples runners en route.
Meanwhile, my new tire worked very nicely thanks. was predictable. a nice size, good and big for a 2.25. didnt hook up as much as some mud specific tires would, but never gave me any issues of spinning out. should be a good tire to go on with. expecting another newby soon too, a Schwalbe Muddy Mary. chuck that on the front for a while methinks.
home 3ish.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Frosty Sunday hill jaunt
COLD start, hard frost, Chris showed at mine and we got our frozen extremities across to Steve's. Up showed Tony, then Andrew, Wayne, Pete and Mark (on a wacky rearbrakeonly 69r carbon 3speed..). so. the 8 of us tootled round and up Rapaki. pretty standard cruise up here, warming up nicely by the first gate.
Took the road round the top towards Vic. with a short jaunt on a frozen solid Traverse trail... Icey patches in the shade. At Vic we hooked onto Thomsons, which was good and the second half of it was bad at the lowest point.
Down more ice to the kiwi, and on up to top of Worsleys. usual boyracers doing their dipshit stuff at the top, and we all kitted back up for the descent. interesting to say the least. first (bodybag) section was a bit hairy, not a lot of traction, if you hit your brakes too hard either one would lock up. at the gate was a big sloppy hole with some broken ice, and beyond that was in the shade, which was nice and icey, frozen ruts, frozen churned up earth. FUN down through here. minty fresh fun. lots of washed-outness, couldnt believe the holes that've formed since last i's up there. met a few hardy souls on their ways up.
Just before the gate, kitted up even more, then blasted down the seal. just before the last descent, we got offroad onto a new side track. nice wee fall-line track parallelling the road, waaay more interesting than the road. at the bottom took the cracroft track round then on round river saying goodbye to Tones and then on to St Martins cafe, coffee, and off home.
All up, quite a fun ride, even with the noticeable lack of real Singletrack.
Took the road round the top towards Vic. with a short jaunt on a frozen solid Traverse trail... Icey patches in the shade. At Vic we hooked onto Thomsons, which was good and the second half of it was bad at the lowest point.
Down more ice to the kiwi, and on up to top of Worsleys. usual boyracers doing their dipshit stuff at the top, and we all kitted back up for the descent. interesting to say the least. first (bodybag) section was a bit hairy, not a lot of traction, if you hit your brakes too hard either one would lock up. at the gate was a big sloppy hole with some broken ice, and beyond that was in the shade, which was nice and icey, frozen ruts, frozen churned up earth. FUN down through here. minty fresh fun. lots of washed-outness, couldnt believe the holes that've formed since last i's up there. met a few hardy souls on their ways up.
Just before the gate, kitted up even more, then blasted down the seal. just before the last descent, we got offroad onto a new side track. nice wee fall-line track parallelling the road, waaay more interesting than the road. at the bottom took the cracroft track round then on round river saying goodbye to Tones and then on to St Martins cafe, coffee, and off home.
All up, quite a fun ride, even with the noticeable lack of real Singletrack.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Tuesday into the drizzly technicality
bit of a mucky one tonight. Nelson picked me up in his new car and we cruised across parking up on Centaurus. both huffed up Hunts, Ramahana, Aotea to the top. Drizzle kicked in now and then and dirt was a bit slick in places. Hit Mt Vernon, and it splecked and splooged about the place, but no worse than Marley's was on Sunday. difficult to control places, so easy it was taken. the Teddingtonshit before Rapaki was very very bad. naughty us, maybe.
Witch hill was much better, rocks slick tho, so slippy-slidey'd our way round there, me chasing a possum for a hundred or more metres on the descent. then on up the road, the drizzle worsening the close we got to the Castle.
I led off down the Castle. damp in places, mud not too bad, but rocks all slick-as, pinging your wheels independently, keeping it well interesting and technical goodness. fair few dabs for safety. very bad spot just after the second switchback, but the climb out was good.
all the singletracking had been interesting, technical, fun, but quite slow, and kinda dirty, splecky mud around the place, so we rode the road back to Rapaki and blazed down there. deliberately gettting into the deepest of the untracked gravel on the top section, just to keep it interesting. then pretty quick down the bottom half and half blinded in the pines at the bottom. back round to the car by about 8.30, and home via a chinese takeaway. yummo.
Witch hill was much better, rocks slick tho, so slippy-slidey'd our way round there, me chasing a possum for a hundred or more metres on the descent. then on up the road, the drizzle worsening the close we got to the Castle.
I led off down the Castle. damp in places, mud not too bad, but rocks all slick-as, pinging your wheels independently, keeping it well interesting and technical goodness. fair few dabs for safety. very bad spot just after the second switchback, but the climb out was good.
all the singletracking had been interesting, technical, fun, but quite slow, and kinda dirty, splecky mud around the place, so we rode the road back to Rapaki and blazed down there. deliberately gettting into the deepest of the untracked gravel on the top section, just to keep it interesting. then pretty quick down the bottom half and half blinded in the pines at the bottom. back round to the car by about 8.30, and home via a chinese takeaway. yummo.
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Sunday, the Return of the Singletrack
Sweeeeet ride today. weather's been fine enough for the singletracks (west of the bridle path) to have finally dried out enough to be reopened.
fantastic day, frosty start, chilly riding across to Steve's, meeting Tony there, then up showed Warren and Wayno. the 5 of us headed round, and up Rapaki. took it pretty easy, cruised on up, one or two of us pushing a bit harder than the struggling lurgy'd one.
at the top, hit Witch Hill, first time on here for ages, really enjoyed popping and hopping up the rocks, cleaning them all and blasting round to the end. Tony got a leak in his rear and we met him on our way back up coming at the highest point. blasted down to rapaki-top and up Vernon. ages since i'd been up here too. was still soft in places, the spongey teddingtonshit being quite power sapping. but mostly good, got up and round and cleaned up all the rocks, feeling a fellow steelrider breathing down my neck, then wondering where the hell he was when i got out the end.
onto the Traverse, quick chat with (the fellow steelrider) a singlespeeding voodoo rider, and then we hit the trail. all good, round to vic, surprisingly not that many other riders out and about. trails all firm and dry, very few puddles, and drier than i'd seen on Thursday night.
big chat with some non-snobs at the top of vic, then off down the bit of frost at top of Thomsons, into the trees, sweet flowing, onto the road, back into it, flying down, some walkers i didnt see at all having leapt behind a tree to let us by. steve losing his chain in here baulking him before the wee up.
kiwi breather then up road. worsley, annnd, the nun... veeerrry sticky on the approach, a harbinger of things to come... into the first corner, nicely dropping down the rocky berm (which caught steve out after he'd just been boasting how easy it was...), then flowing round through the plantings, and into the second corner, both wheels scootching all over the place, drifting totally out of control, bloody surprising i stayed on, but got round and onwards. sections of this were just nasty, no control whatsoever. i think, if one trail should have stayed shut,'s probably this one... not much damage done, but diabolical - numerous places of nasty slickness, and then some nice flow in between. steve had dropped it in the top rock corner and had a rather sore pinky finger... second half of nun all good, cept for one puddle that splecked my eye nearly crashing me.
kiwi to top of Vic again, i took the second half of Thomsons while the rest took the road. all chose different lines down, i did the seesaw then it was off down across to the Gummies. nice rip through here, cept for lower down, nasty rut made me dab, then peeled round, jump, berm back out to skidder site. then off down Dazzas, all good, and then out down K2, figuring Brents, Flow and bridges'd probably be a bit dodge.
home across town in the sun by one.
all up a nice spin. bloody good to be on singletrack again.
fantastic day, frosty start, chilly riding across to Steve's, meeting Tony there, then up showed Warren and Wayno. the 5 of us headed round, and up Rapaki. took it pretty easy, cruised on up, one or two of us pushing a bit harder than the struggling lurgy'd one.
at the top, hit Witch Hill, first time on here for ages, really enjoyed popping and hopping up the rocks, cleaning them all and blasting round to the end. Tony got a leak in his rear and we met him on our way back up coming at the highest point. blasted down to rapaki-top and up Vernon. ages since i'd been up here too. was still soft in places, the spongey teddingtonshit being quite power sapping. but mostly good, got up and round and cleaned up all the rocks, feeling a fellow steelrider breathing down my neck, then wondering where the hell he was when i got out the end.
onto the Traverse, quick chat with (the fellow steelrider) a singlespeeding voodoo rider, and then we hit the trail. all good, round to vic, surprisingly not that many other riders out and about. trails all firm and dry, very few puddles, and drier than i'd seen on Thursday night.
big chat with some non-snobs at the top of vic, then off down the bit of frost at top of Thomsons, into the trees, sweet flowing, onto the road, back into it, flying down, some walkers i didnt see at all having leapt behind a tree to let us by. steve losing his chain in here baulking him before the wee up.
kiwi breather then up road. worsley, annnd, the nun... veeerrry sticky on the approach, a harbinger of things to come... into the first corner, nicely dropping down the rocky berm (which caught steve out after he'd just been boasting how easy it was...), then flowing round through the plantings, and into the second corner, both wheels scootching all over the place, drifting totally out of control, bloody surprising i stayed on, but got round and onwards. sections of this were just nasty, no control whatsoever. i think, if one trail should have stayed shut,'s probably this one... not much damage done, but diabolical - numerous places of nasty slickness, and then some nice flow in between. steve had dropped it in the top rock corner and had a rather sore pinky finger... second half of nun all good, cept for one puddle that splecked my eye nearly crashing me.
kiwi to top of Vic again, i took the second half of Thomsons while the rest took the road. all chose different lines down, i did the seesaw then it was off down across to the Gummies. nice rip through here, cept for lower down, nasty rut made me dab, then peeled round, jump, berm back out to skidder site. then off down Dazzas, all good, and then out down K2, figuring Brents, Flow and bridges'd probably be a bit dodge.
home across town in the sun by one.
all up a nice spin. bloody good to be on singletrack again.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Turdsdy night solo hill single
belly full of fish and chips and no one willing to brave the chilly evening, i dragged the singlespeed across town on the back of the car, realising as i approached the hills that i'd left my helmet (and light) behind, so, turned back, considered leaving the car at home and spinning blottle ache, but thankfully decided against that and continued on my merry way back to said hills.
getting ready to ride who should jog up but abbasteve. bit of a yarn with him and off i chuffed, making good grind up rapaki road, then onto the dirt feeling surprisingly good. unzipped, vest off, and on up. a few stops for breath to settle down, but no walking. was catching someone ahead on last bit, but had to stop several times and a guy with gears passed me one of those times. bloody hard yakka workin' that beast up that hill in that gear. anyway, made the top and tootled off round the slummit road towards vic park. cursing the Traverse for not being open when i could see it the whole way round being utterly fine. come on Nick, it could at least be 'Avoid', so that munters like me can make up our own minds, instead of feeling too guilty to get down on it.
got to top of Vic and considered my options, one of which was Worsleys, but the thought of the seal from kiwi to top put me off, so, spun the cranks back round the top and blasted down rapaki again, tears streaming from my eyes either in lament of the eminently more interesting track that the crapaki once was, or maybe from the cold air blasting into them. my front end took on a horrible trait of the steering kinda locking up when braking hard. something to do with the fork being compressed and the headset seizing due to the pressure... very dodgy.
good to get out, great work out on the old single, awesome night and very warm and pleasant up on the hills, as usual.
Oh, and last night, installed the new cranks and bb on the Cotic. Chris came round with his tools, and we had a beer. looking forward to trying it out.
getting ready to ride who should jog up but abbasteve. bit of a yarn with him and off i chuffed, making good grind up rapaki road, then onto the dirt feeling surprisingly good. unzipped, vest off, and on up. a few stops for breath to settle down, but no walking. was catching someone ahead on last bit, but had to stop several times and a guy with gears passed me one of those times. bloody hard yakka workin' that beast up that hill in that gear. anyway, made the top and tootled off round the slummit road towards vic park. cursing the Traverse for not being open when i could see it the whole way round being utterly fine. come on Nick, it could at least be 'Avoid', so that munters like me can make up our own minds, instead of feeling too guilty to get down on it.
got to top of Vic and considered my options, one of which was Worsleys, but the thought of the seal from kiwi to top put me off, so, spun the cranks back round the top and blasted down rapaki again, tears streaming from my eyes either in lament of the eminently more interesting track that the crapaki once was, or maybe from the cold air blasting into them. my front end took on a horrible trait of the steering kinda locking up when braking hard. something to do with the fork being compressed and the headset seizing due to the pressure... very dodgy.
good to get out, great work out on the old single, awesome night and very warm and pleasant up on the hills, as usual.
Oh, and last night, installed the new cranks and bb on the Cotic. Chris came round with his tools, and we had a beer. looking forward to trying it out.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Thursday Mcleans drifting
Picked up Chris about 7 and we drove the byways across town into the wetness. dark clouds from my office window earlier really must've been pissing down over there. arrived just as the security was locking up the gate. i had the singlespeed, chris on his ragley, we headed in, puddles abounding, thinking "ew, we're gonna get muckeeee..."
spleck spleck spleck muddy spray lifting off the front wheels trying to get into my eyes. keeping to the edge of the trail, and high on the berms kept the eyes clear for a while. good blat, old lap, then into the new(ish) Coringa loop, waaay dryer, better made methinks, much less splecky. Then maybe 500m from the overbridge, i thought, hmmm, no hands... gave it a go, slowed us a bit, but from there all the way back to the car we pretty much rode no hands. fun!!! well worth the try. bailed after the one lap cos we were so mucky and couldnt be arsed riding any more of it.
got home and hosed the bike down and showered. bloody mess.
spleck spleck spleck muddy spray lifting off the front wheels trying to get into my eyes. keeping to the edge of the trail, and high on the berms kept the eyes clear for a while. good blat, old lap, then into the new(ish) Coringa loop, waaay dryer, better made methinks, much less splecky. Then maybe 500m from the overbridge, i thought, hmmm, no hands... gave it a go, slowed us a bit, but from there all the way back to the car we pretty much rode no hands. fun!!! well worth the try. bailed after the one lap cos we were so mucky and couldnt be arsed riding any more of it.
got home and hosed the bike down and showered. bloody mess.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday night drudge.
bah. somewhat nonevent ride last night. picked up Pete and met Steve Tony Andrew Warren at Steves. round Hanson's, up Ramahana Aotea and on up, enjoying the one piece of dirt up Huntsbury. Then all the tracks closed so it was round the summit road, running into abbasteve before Farmtrack, may as well have been on road bikes, yech, to Mt (un)Pleasant Rd and down down down down down. didnt even ride round back of Ferrymead single(ish)tracks cos Tony and abbasteve's lights were packing in.
all road and no dirt makes swtchbckr a dull boy.
all road and no dirt makes swtchbckr a dull boy.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Post Fiji first ride, Saturday to Vic Park planting...
Chris caught up with me on Stanmore Rd and off to Steve's we tootled for 11am start. Steve had txtd saying all the tracks were closed, which surprised me... Pete, Wahayno, Steve and us trundled off round up Rapaki. gravel up here's finally packed in. Chris Pete and me made a bit of a break and we regouped past the middle gate. Steve and Wayno carried on up to the top, while us three ventured forth onto Montgomery Spur. off up through the gates and climbed up to top, little bit of off piste. then coming down, we all chose our own lines, over rocks, between tussocks, meandering down to each set of gates and exploring out towards the Avoca Valley drop off, finding some interesting solid rock lines. then along above the Rapaki a bit to the pylons and back onto the main drag. on up to the top, event free. feeling good to get some air in my lungs again, but feeling three (or more?) weeks off the bike.
Round the road below Vernon, on account of the big Closed signs on the trail, then met up with Steve and Wayne at the Huntsbury start of the traverse. decided not to ignore the Closed signs on this and stuck to the road. Disappointment and annoyance plaguing us as we looked down on a perfectly dry track. Likelihood would have been some sogginess on that south face below Scotts, but from there on round would have been fine. Then round below Sugarloaf was completely dry bar about 3 puddles. the Rangers are overkilling the closures. people are gonna get annoyed and start ignoring the closures if they're overreacting to a little bit of moisture. We reckon leave the Traverse from Huntsbury to Vic Park open all the time. its supposed to be an 'All Weather' track. Armour the wettest sections, trail pixies like Nelson and me with spades can deal to drainage occasionally, and beautiful days like today, riders can enjoy while doing minimal damage.
Dropped down into top of Vic Park, me, then Chris doing the see-saw (dunno what i used to baulk about!), then down the old 4wd route to the skidder site, nearly losing it in the insane area of new gravel and a rock barrier!!! Who the HELL designed this fucking area! WHAT were they thinking!?
Off down the NO BIKES track to Di the Ranger's truck, then grabbed a spade and off down to the 'East Side Bush'... planted a shitload of plants (mostly kanuka), and then off up to the Ranger Station (climbing up the steep wee track from the truck) for a tasty snackfest and barbie.
tummies full, off down the road (Chris and me peeling right at the bottom gate, and down a mucky then slightly slick trail behind the houses (below the microwave tower)), then raced it down Dyers Pass Rd, seeing Steve peeling at Tennyson, and finally catching Pete over Brougham. Chris and me then peeled off at Welles St to C1 for some beans, then to Library to grab a MBA mag, and then home.
Round the road below Vernon, on account of the big Closed signs on the trail, then met up with Steve and Wayne at the Huntsbury start of the traverse. decided not to ignore the Closed signs on this and stuck to the road. Disappointment and annoyance plaguing us as we looked down on a perfectly dry track. Likelihood would have been some sogginess on that south face below Scotts, but from there on round would have been fine. Then round below Sugarloaf was completely dry bar about 3 puddles. the Rangers are overkilling the closures. people are gonna get annoyed and start ignoring the closures if they're overreacting to a little bit of moisture. We reckon leave the Traverse from Huntsbury to Vic Park open all the time. its supposed to be an 'All Weather' track. Armour the wettest sections, trail pixies like Nelson and me with spades can deal to drainage occasionally, and beautiful days like today, riders can enjoy while doing minimal damage.
Dropped down into top of Vic Park, me, then Chris doing the see-saw (dunno what i used to baulk about!), then down the old 4wd route to the skidder site, nearly losing it in the insane area of new gravel and a rock barrier!!! Who the HELL designed this fucking area! WHAT were they thinking!?
Off down the NO BIKES track to Di the Ranger's truck, then grabbed a spade and off down to the 'East Side Bush'... planted a shitload of plants (mostly kanuka), and then off up to the Ranger Station (climbing up the steep wee track from the truck) for a tasty snackfest and barbie.
tummies full, off down the road (Chris and me peeling right at the bottom gate, and down a mucky then slightly slick trail behind the houses (below the microwave tower)), then raced it down Dyers Pass Rd, seeing Steve peeling at Tennyson, and finally catching Pete over Brougham. Chris and me then peeled off at Welles St to C1 for some beans, then to Library to grab a MBA mag, and then home.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Sunday non-event-ride to planting
weather being as it has been hills had a big closed sign on them, and so Steve and Pete decided to watch a 3am game of rugby. i'd had a bit of a late night myself, so was a bit sluggish when the phone rang at 8.30 and those two were out front of my house, still a bit merry, ready to go. grabbed breakfast, coffee, then saddled up on the townie and off we headed, Linwood Ave, along Linwood Drain, Hargood St to Ferry Rd, then along trails on the south side of the Heathcote all the way to the Cut, over a footbridge, northbank crossing Tunnel Rd to the southbank again, then round the tracks to Ferrymead, to the bridge, then back round behind the industria and onto Charlesworth St to the Trees For Canterbury planting. 60 odd people, including some of our usual riders, 2000 plants, and a coupla saussies, and the three of us cycled back up Linwood Ave, Linwood Drain, Linwood Ave home.
was good for some fresh air anyway.
was good for some fresh air anyway.
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