Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Wet Hills.Dyers, H.Ell, Traverse, 'paki

Too long off bike, weather's been diabolical...
bout 8, i drove over to Nelson's with the Cotic in the back. we rode down colombo and up Dyers Pass Rd. Past the Takahe, we hit the walking track which sidles along above the road, all the way up to the saddle. nice easy climb, good track surface, no damage whatsoever resulting from us. More and more snow as we got higher... Summit Rd was closed, which was nice.

headed to top of Vic Park, then hit the Traverse... we appeared to be the first to have sliced through the snow along there. was fun. we stopped to aid guttering drainage a few times. otherwise, the trail is holding together well, and survived our riding it very well. hitting a patch of snow was like someone putting your brakes on, and the front wheel would dart left or right randomly too... interesting... the rocky bits near Lava flow were tricky as all hell. few other tire tracks round there too...

then we took the road around vernon, into a bitterly cold wind down to Rapaki. then hoisted it down Rapaki. the most fun Rapaki can be. foot deep ruts, greasy clay, slippery rocks, limited visibility... mint!

cruised back across town, invigorated, splecked with less mud than you'd expect, toes like blocks of ice, or as Nelson put it, his feet felt like they'd been through a planer...

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