Sunday Jehting about the place, and a discovery

Most excellent ride today... Left the house with Tra'y and toodled with her until the lower dogparkcarpark and then said my good bye.  Ploughed on up through 19th and over to Skidder and up the grunter, pushing hard.  Out the top of Vic to the road and wondered where to play.  Hopped off down around the jumps then Worm back up to Traverse and moseyed around here, seemingly stopping for everybody (bar a few).  

At top of Huntsbury DH I looked at T's tracker and saw she was below, so texted her and I could see her down there, so I headed down, jumpiddy flow rail and then down the more tech of the landing strip variants on AliExpress, then down all of the zigs and zags with sheepshit as bonus spleck, meeting her half way down/up.  

We caught up and then I continued my rocky way, dropping down into Old Skool and having a mighty fun fang.  Blip bloop blop all the way down into the valley and started the clamber back up into Vic.  Stopped a couple times to scoff on some berries, then worked my way up K2, steep gasping bastard.  Into the trees below Texaco, nice climb around in here then up past the jump and on up the steep bastard of a track.  

More berries up near Pono's and then up through the Rad Zone, dropping over then up a shitty steep to Cool Runnings entrance, hanging a right and moseying around and up.  This way is nearly right.  I think the way I went last time was better, but needs a little work.  Less steep than going up the usual.  Out to Skidder, and left across to the lower 'gums' track, stopping for a rest in the shade here and organising my day.  

On again, riding out to 19th, below road then back up at Tawhairanui entrance, road, DogParkCarPark dropping down checking out the mud, then realising there's a way across the mud at the bottom where it's dry.  Hmm...  back up to the rocks, found my way through and onto the lower old trail, which looked more used, and lo and behold, found and followed this all the way up back up to the steps below the Tawhairanui start.!!!  Fantastic.  Now I have no need for the road anymore, from 19th, all the way to the bottom of H'Ell.  Wonder what the trail should be called?

On fleek 12.85 kms, with 562 m climbed

Thursday Night Thomas Godley to Livingston presumed

Good ride tonight with Nelson. Drove to his, took his car to Slumnervale and hit up Captain Thomas, stopping a few times to scoff some blackberries.  At the second stop the old 29er crew we'd ridden with a couple times over the years turned up.  They were moving so we got in behind and followed, variously attempting (not me) to sketch up some techknuckle rock sections, with various success or failment.  Some were on eeebs.  Up above one of the walky dropdowns one of them had a derailleur mechanical and they all stopped and Nelson caught up with his old buddy, then we got going and they were ready go to too, so variously passed, or didn't, us on the rest of the way up.  I was 4th to the top, nearly fucking dying of asthma - gasping.  We split our separate ways at Evans, with them heading down the Scarborough Bluffs track to venture all the way along and over to Taylors Rd, while we headed up Godley. 

The tech was good - I walked or dabbed a few sections.  Nelson cleaned 99%.  On the ridge we headed into the descent.  Railing down towards Livingston my back end was making some weird noises.  Stopped, couldn't find anything wrong, continued, and we triple checked it over at the Col.  Found the rear left dropout pivot bolt loose!  That's the second bolt to loosen on this bike.  Not enough loctite?  .... Tighened it up, checked all the rest, and headed up the road.  Up the usual farm track, light starting to diminish, some nice sunset action out on the plains, and into the descent(ish) back to Evans.  Good railing.  Lots of near muppetry, including one adrenalin-raising near-off that I just managed to dab through.  Then into the Captain.  Oh yes.  Very nice.  Flowy, techy speed fun.  Nice through the OG, tho Nelson mysteriously offed and ended up inside his bike and not on the ground.  Lower down it was DARK in the trees.  Was a bit of a shock.  Slowed a bit then it wasn't quite so dark.  Nice finish down and out, then across to the car and she was getting pretty dusky.

Well-nigh 13 km, with a luxuriant 727 541 m climbed (previously 20km, 727m, but that's cos I didn't turn off MMR until Nelson's place...  now deleted)

Saturday Local Quick Stooge

Pumped about 40psi into the rear slow-flat and hoped for the best.  Was probably still 39psi when I'd finished this ride - so slow as to only be noticeable after several days.  

Up and back with a bit of up and back in it. Plastered up Vic through 19th, Skidder Grunter and into Thomsons #1, stopping for a bunch of floater-walkers, then back up the road and dropped down around the jumps, down through rocks and gums all the way down, then back up to Skidder and into Razza's dropping down the tech for some goodness, then climbing again back up and around, dropping down through below road, up, coast, into dogparkcarpark and biffing down through here, taking my meander and all the way out the bottom and home.  Nicely nicely, good to get some exercise before Em's wedding and our gig.

Three-quarters of an hour of paua, 6.21 kms, and 205 m pried from the rock.

Sunday Stoogin' CAP

Shortish doddle after yesterday's meat-engined epic distance.  

T was off for a walk with Megan in CAP, so I fixed the snakebite on the Stooge and took it up into Vic, over 19th, then dropped into the CAP entrance myself.   Ate a couple of blackberries on the way down the entrance track, then sidled into Locomotion for a nice wee blitz across to Loess Rider.  Fun, fast blast down here - it really is quite long, then down into the carpark.  Rolled along and saw our Leaf still parked there, so rang T, and her and Meg were up at the cafe, so I popped up to say hi.  They were largely done so I headed off to the uplift.  Very quiet still, due to so early, so solo seating for me!  Boffed off down the Summit Connector, keeping the groms behind me behind me, and catching the ones in front of me slowly.  Missed the first entrance to Nun, so I stopped and went back to drop in.  Rocky snot down through here biff baff boff, lots of work, but fun, and then blasting all the way down to the bottom, staying down to hit the Old Dyers/Choir Boy.  Disappointingly the new trail, Zero Ultra, was closed, so I continued down, overtaking a family (that turned out to be Nick S.), finally deciding on Gung-ho after tackling a few blackberries just before the entrance.  

Dropped in and railed the berms, negotiated the tech with aplomb, and blasted on down and through, biffity boffity baff.  Good run.  

The lift was a lot busier this time and so I had to share with a dad and son.  Mild chatting to them, then off down Connector again, Nun again, and out to Kiwi, up road, taking in both lower and upper Thomsons, which was more enjoyable than I usually recall, then zipped down around through the trees, popping the new jump and cleaning the usual, then down into the rocks, (possibly dislodging or newly pinching, my earlier fix - or there's just a very slow leak), through the gums, nice fun, then all the way through (tree that was across CAP track long gone (I'd noticed that when dropping in the bypass earlier)), out to 19th, below road, then rolling to dogparkcarpark and dropping in here.  Nice rail (tho was starting to suspect tire going down) and took my new line, out and down to H'Ell, clamber, road, home.

Moderate 16 kms with a single kilometre of vertical (obviously 0.8 of which was in a chair).

Saturday Moveable Feast, Tour de Bridges du Heathcote

T and me had a hoon. Her on the E and me on the Troll. Down Dyers and Hackthorne, Lady Poison, out to Bengal and then across the Ferniehurst Bridge, #1.  From here, we crossed every single bridge across the Heathcote River from Cracroft(ish) to Ferrymead.  All told, 31. (tho, technically 30, because the Heathcote Cut bridge isnt necessarily over the Heathcote River as such).  It was fun.  We alternated sides all the way to Hanson's Park where we were stymied by a closed trail along the frontages of those houses, so we went back over that bridge (Steiner school - #20) and popped over and back on the next footbridge (Aynsely Tce - #21).  Continued the alternate-sides thing from there on down.  Diverting, first off the river to Stuff Woolston and the Salatore Armani, on Ferry Rd, then over the next 'couple' of bridges, to La Voute on Marshall St.  Back to Cumnor to roll around and detour into the Tannery.  Had very moderate feed on Sushi, then down for a drink at Cassells, then a little more shopping and it was time to ride again.

Bridge number 28, Garlands Rd and immediately right onto King Edward Tce then around the back of all the factories on the inside of the loop (stopped for a small feed of blackberries and rearrangement of baggage at the start).  What a lovely trail along here.  Lots of well-grown native planting, quite real singletrack, some roots, nice fun.  Then, Long St, bridge, singletrack again along to the Tunnel Rd Bridge, under this, to then salmon back over it towards the roundabout and along the towpath trail the rest of the way to Ferrymead Bridge (#31, tho technically #30), crossed this, used the lights to cross Main Road and then back over bridge to ride along the estuary and into Charlesworth Reserve (man the plantings are coming up!), straight shot up Linwood Ave to the cemeteries and moseying through the dead's zone.  In hindsight we took a wrong turn here, heading across into Cypress Garden Reserve and up into Ruru Lawn, onto Ruru Rd, then McGregors up to hit Kerrs. (should have stayed in Bromley Cemetery then gone Keighleys and McGregors Rds to Linwood Cemetery (for future reference)).  

Straight shot up Kerrs Rd, to Kerrs Reach, finding new landscaping and fenced off areas, stopping us getting onto the new tarmac path in there.  Found a way in, then out, and followed this new, amazing, path from here over the first new bridge, through Dallington Loop, all our old redzone dog running grounds, beautifully planted up, cycle crossing across Gayhurst, more plantings augmenting the old garden plants, new bridge into our main old dog running loop, amazing, looping around this and over the new Medway Bridge then up the new closed off River Rd towards our old streets.  So great to see it all coming up so beautifully.  Along past Riverlution and then stayed on this side of the road following it to Fitzgerald into into Poms for some imbibement and fries.

Kilmore St and then around the river through Victoria Sq, then along the strip, locking the bikes and checking out Kanoshi for some kai, then we headed for Electric Ave, meandering around the outside edge of it (another bridge involved) and checking out the vibe.  Certainly getting later now.  Continued across Hagley and around past the hospital, all on bikepaths, and then took the Antigua, Strickland, Colombo straight shot home.  Hard yakka up the hill for me.  I kept telling T to go ahead and get home, but she loyally stayed with me all the way.

 

A rather fun 44.87 kms, with 314 m climbed (220 of which were hard chuffed).

Sunday Summit Troll

Still hadn't fixed the Stooge flat; still waiting for the suspension part from Cotic; so resigned to take the Troll (didn't even occur to me to take the fatty or the BFe...) out for a nice blast out and back. Rode some nuts single-track and a bunch of road. 

Up through all the usual, over 19th, Skidder, short walk up the grunter and then riding the rest to the top of Vic.  Popped up to my stone shelter to see if there were any blackberries (they were all scody), then back onto the road and stuck to it all the way to Huntsbury-top, hitting Vernon singletrack from here.  Nice flowy slowy bomb down, keeping it sketch, then through Rapaki and stayed on the road from here to top of Castle.  A youngish couple arrived and I said, "You heading down?" "Yep, but we'll be slow"  I said I wasn't sure what I was doing but then I decided on the spot to head down too.  Dropped in and proceeded to flow where it was flowy and slow where it was slowy.  Went pretty well, including only one dab due to traction loss on the climb.  Onto the road and climbed back up, seeing the couple riding slower than I had down the trail...  Up the road and down, fast coasting roll through towards Witch, decided to take the Witch Hill trail and proceeded to climb up it no problem at all, bar that one rocky section.  Breather at the high point then dropping around cleaning all the tech carefully to the end, and up the road below Vernon.  Annoying head wind up overlooking Dry Bush valley.  

Into the Traverse and hoofed it around here pretty nicely.  Love the standing-in-the-pedals-cranking mode on the rigid machines.  It's a very lithe bike.  All the way around the Traverse I was slowly winding in a rider ahead.  Caught her and a few others right at the end.  Into the trees, dropped down through, onto Brake Free then peeled left into the Pines, and dropped down through the Gums, exiting at the Skidder (figuring the trail below to still be blocked).  Up towards 19th and passed a guy on an interesting looking rig. "Is that an Evil Sovereign?" "Nah, it's a Marino" which I misheard as Merida and was surprised, until I realised what he'd said.  It was one of the Sick bikes of the recent past.  Slack and low, sweet steel.  I realise now I've seen it out there before.  Anyway, we chatted for ages.  Then I headed off down and through, into the DogParkCarPark, overgrown to start, and a little damp.  Peeled onto my new line, and appalled to find the water in the woods emerging even higher up.  Bloody Council slack-arses.

Lithely provocateured, 20 odd km, and up 710 m

Thursday Spinal Shakedown Stooge, flatted at 19th.

Back had been a bastard all week (after Saturday's wrecking) so I was just gonna stretch it and test it.  Plan was to meet Nelsie up top somewhere and ride back to mine (or Arlo, for beersies), so he'd left his place at 5.41 and I got home from work about 6, got changed and out the door on the Stooge by 6.20pm.  He'd just peaked Castle Rock not long after that.  I headed up the road (loads of water oozing out of every bank), straight into the Skidder and up the gutser, up through the Worm (quite wet) and onto the Traverse, cruising around here at a reasonable pace.  Met lots of riders the other way, and perused the evidence of the earlier-in-the-week's 150mm of rain (as measured at our house).   The hills were still pouring water out of them lower down.  I'd just climbed over past the Lavaflow and the HuntsburyDH/Fourpause when he hove into view.  

We turned back along the summit and I led the way, keeping a reasonable pace but never shaking him.  Into the trees and I baulked at my lack of entry speed for the jump and waited there for him to pile through, then down the Rabbit paddock into the rocks and gums, weaving around through here and all the way down.  A tree was over the 'CAP link' track, so we lifted over and broke off as much branchage as we could, then continued on down to the gate.  Back up towards skidder from here and up over 19th, somewhere within which I flatted and we parked at the memorial and tried in vain to inflate my rear tire.  Decided it would take longer to fix than to just run/walk down, so Nelson took off down to take in the DogParkCarPark track and I walked (and jogged a couple times) down home.  No trip to Arlo, decided to just have a couple beers at home.

Better than nothing, and back feeling better, even with the walk down, 9.35 kms, 313 m escalated.