great ride today with Chris. got away from mine about 2, tootled across to the 'paki, and up. heat was pounding down on us, and we kept up a good cadence but both wilted, so a quick break under the manuka tree part way up, then onwards to the top. feeling like i was dying in the heat and the climb.
hit Witch hill, and i really struggled, fumbling on every rock and gasping for air, richochet'd my way back down to the road, and then round and up to Castlerock. bit of a breather there too, awaiting the mustard Simple rider guy (again), and then we headed off down. bit of cross wind down here, and Chris was off form, with me catching him, letting him out, catching again. on the climb he got away from me again. round road to Britten
Doing better on round the britten, and then onto Greenwood. lawns mowed, so slippery dry grass all over the trail. the wideness cleared made the trail seem less rutty, but the occasional loss of front wheel traction added to the excitement. at times it was almost like it was wet. bit of a break mid way and then back onto it. feeling a bit more on form lower down.
crossed the road and hit the Thomas. i was finally feeling like i was getting it again, whereas Chris was baulking on heaps of spots, so i took the lead. usual couple of bits caught me out, but cleaned the other usuals nicely. great blast lower down, bumping into Helmark on his way up and having a good old yarn. on down, hitting the road for the long slog home. at least there was a tail wind most of the way.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Sunny sunday, Sumner to Evans to Taylors to Sumner again.
nice ride this morning. picked up Pete and we drove out towards scumner. passed the boys (Steve, Tony, Abba and Wazza) on the causeway, so parked up just into redcliffs and then chased them round to DotCom where Andrew and Wahayno were parked. headed up the Thomarse, me cleaning more than usual, including right to the steps at the start, all of the rooty section before the bridge (in the gulch), and nearly getting that little steep before the seat. then walked up the three or four other usuals, and all in all didnt feel that bad. we all grabbed shade whenever we could, the sun was beating.
At Evans, sheltered in shade of the bank and shot the shit til all regrouped, Abba bailing out here on account of knackeredness, then the rest of us hit Godley. i got miles up the first section, and one more pedal stroke would have had it, but i didnt. one of my best efforts yet. pete also was on form here and did about as good as me. then nice breezy flow round up and down, up and round and down. some of the party took the new right hander on the way down to Livingston Col, which isnt finished and they took the fall line straight down to us. grass is long round to Breeze, keeping you on your toes.
i led off into the 'conda. taking it pretty easy to start, flowed nicely, round and then opened it up a bit. i could feel Andrew on my tail most of the way, he seems to be on form at the moment, but i still got some distance on him, with him commenting "dunno how you can do that so fast on a hardtail" or words to that effect. stopped at beginning of 'tail and took in the lovely view. also there were lots of summery peeps on the beach, and the water was black with surfers. nice wee blast down the tail to Taylors, another regroup and water taken on and then the slog begun. i pushed reasonably hard up the hill today, cos i just wanted the climb done. caught some shade til everyone else got up and then off down Nicholson park with steve getting a close call with a car on the lane above the cliffs. meandered round waterfront watching the longboarders and enjoying the sun, then coffee time at the 'Com. then zoomed back to car and were home by 12.15.
planning to ride tonight the Packhorse with Nelson and others tonight, but this storm's come through, so we'll see i guess...
:update: hooked up with Nelson and Craig (with Bergamont!) and we drove through rain to Gebbies, then proceeded to sit in the van for over an hour chatting, then finally giving up. it absolutely pissed down, so even after it'd lightened up a bit, the trail would have been bloody wet.
At Evans, sheltered in shade of the bank and shot the shit til all regrouped, Abba bailing out here on account of knackeredness, then the rest of us hit Godley. i got miles up the first section, and one more pedal stroke would have had it, but i didnt. one of my best efforts yet. pete also was on form here and did about as good as me. then nice breezy flow round up and down, up and round and down. some of the party took the new right hander on the way down to Livingston Col, which isnt finished and they took the fall line straight down to us. grass is long round to Breeze, keeping you on your toes.
i led off into the 'conda. taking it pretty easy to start, flowed nicely, round and then opened it up a bit. i could feel Andrew on my tail most of the way, he seems to be on form at the moment, but i still got some distance on him, with him commenting "dunno how you can do that so fast on a hardtail" or words to that effect. stopped at beginning of 'tail and took in the lovely view. also there were lots of summery peeps on the beach, and the water was black with surfers. nice wee blast down the tail to Taylors, another regroup and water taken on and then the slog begun. i pushed reasonably hard up the hill today, cos i just wanted the climb done. caught some shade til everyone else got up and then off down Nicholson park with steve getting a close call with a car on the lane above the cliffs. meandered round waterfront watching the longboarders and enjoying the sun, then coffee time at the 'Com. then zoomed back to car and were home by 12.15.
planning to ride tonight the Packhorse with Nelson and others tonight, but this storm's come through, so we'll see i guess...
:update: hooked up with Nelson and Craig (with Bergamont!) and we drove through rain to Gebbies, then proceeded to sit in the van for over an hour chatting, then finally giving up. it absolutely pissed down, so even after it'd lightened up a bit, the trail would have been bloody wet.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
desperate ploy at post count increase
didnt ride, but the PFMTBC groovers assembled at Pomeroys for a beer or 4 on Tuesday night. most brought their girls, tho i couldnt. even Nelsie showed with Trudes. and Chris joined in the fun too.
there, one more towards my 75 posts for the year...
there, one more towards my 75 posts for the year...
Monday, December 14, 2009
Sunday evening, Worstleys nun traverse (first time)-lava hidden oldskool
good loop with Chris and Nelson last night. in the bongo, nelson and me picked up Chris from centre of town and we parked up in Wherstead Rd. hit Earnsley Reserve and round to Worsleys. i struggled with the hill, suffering from a bad case of previous-evening's-overindulgence. but made it to the top eventually, walking the last 20 metres or so of the 'bag.
surprisingly good blast down the 'nun, catching good air, tho the other two were pinning it all the way and by the time i got to the road, they were way way ahead. up summit road to top of vic, and hit the traverse. my struggling continued, with me dabbing(!!!) on a couple of bits, and running out of grunt on a couple of the wee climbs... appalling!
what was amazing tho, was when we stopped at the Sugarloaf stop, the way the sun came through under the norwest arch and lit up the city like it was some crazy religious icon chosen city, surreal dark clouds all round the background and this pure slightly yellowed white light blazing down on the 'chosen' place. the sun crept slightly further down, then encompassing our trail ahead (with just the shadow of Sugarloaf covering a little bit). fucking lovely.
got to top of Lavaflow and descent began. my first time ever, amazingly. cleaned lots, but had to walk a couple of wee bits just cos i wasnt feeling on form enough. quite enjoyed lots of it. nelson had one step-off-over-the-bars moment, but other than that we all survived out to the bottom and down valley. then we hit the Hidden valley track up to oldskool. excellent hammer down there and back to the bongo all of us craving some Angus...
surprisingly good blast down the 'nun, catching good air, tho the other two were pinning it all the way and by the time i got to the road, they were way way ahead. up summit road to top of vic, and hit the traverse. my struggling continued, with me dabbing(!!!) on a couple of bits, and running out of grunt on a couple of the wee climbs... appalling!
what was amazing tho, was when we stopped at the Sugarloaf stop, the way the sun came through under the norwest arch and lit up the city like it was some crazy religious icon chosen city, surreal dark clouds all round the background and this pure slightly yellowed white light blazing down on the 'chosen' place. the sun crept slightly further down, then encompassing our trail ahead (with just the shadow of Sugarloaf covering a little bit). fucking lovely.
got to top of Lavaflow and descent began. my first time ever, amazingly. cleaned lots, but had to walk a couple of wee bits just cos i wasnt feeling on form enough. quite enjoyed lots of it. nelson had one step-off-over-the-bars moment, but other than that we all survived out to the bottom and down valley. then we hit the Hidden valley track up to oldskool. excellent hammer down there and back to the bongo all of us craving some Angus...
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Sunday, a valley, traverse, gums, dazza's, nats, hidden, oldskool
good blast this morning. Pete, Andrew and me met at Steves. the four of us headed off.
because Rapaki is so dull now, we decided we're boycotting it (couldnt remember when last rode it, so checked - was back in August). so, we ventured into a "here-there-be-dragons" zone between two well known tracks. nice steep techy climb, lots of dabs, lots of walking, lots of pedal shoving rut-sides, and lots of keeping good relations with the few walkers and runners we met. none seemed bothered at all by our presence. upon meeting back up with one of the aforementioned well known tracks, we stayed on the animal paths and pushed and shoved our way up through juncus, tussocks and ruts, the overall climb taking twice or three times as long as Rapaki normally would. all of us were feeling the mugginess and lack of wind by the top.
Steve had had a wee tumble down in the rushes, landing on his thumb, so he took the road round vernon, while the rest of us grunted up the singletrack. regrouped at road crossing and hit the Traverse - steve taking it easy. great blast round here, feeling (finally) more on-form than i have done any time recently, with excellent line choice and despite having a small head-cold, seemingly enough power. it was like the narrow techy climb had dialled in my riding.
From Vic, we avoided the DH racers by taking the classic Gums trail down to the skiddersite where Steve and Andy bailed, leaving Pete and me to blast down Dazza's, then Pono's and on down the Nats, mostly pretty good downhill. meeting the racers down the bottom, where we decided to avoid them by hitting up the Hidden Valley track, cleaning all of it, and then blazing out way out down Old Skool. Met up with the others and hit up the cafe at St Martins. biked home via C1 to grab some beans.
because Rapaki is so dull now, we decided we're boycotting it (couldnt remember when last rode it, so checked - was back in August). so, we ventured into a "here-there-be-dragons" zone between two well known tracks. nice steep techy climb, lots of dabs, lots of walking, lots of pedal shoving rut-sides, and lots of keeping good relations with the few walkers and runners we met. none seemed bothered at all by our presence. upon meeting back up with one of the aforementioned well known tracks, we stayed on the animal paths and pushed and shoved our way up through juncus, tussocks and ruts, the overall climb taking twice or three times as long as Rapaki normally would. all of us were feeling the mugginess and lack of wind by the top.
Steve had had a wee tumble down in the rushes, landing on his thumb, so he took the road round vernon, while the rest of us grunted up the singletrack. regrouped at road crossing and hit the Traverse - steve taking it easy. great blast round here, feeling (finally) more on-form than i have done any time recently, with excellent line choice and despite having a small head-cold, seemingly enough power. it was like the narrow techy climb had dialled in my riding.
From Vic, we avoided the DH racers by taking the classic Gums trail down to the skiddersite where Steve and Andy bailed, leaving Pete and me to blast down Dazza's, then Pono's and on down the Nats, mostly pretty good downhill. meeting the racers down the bottom, where we decided to avoid them by hitting up the Hidden Valley track, cleaning all of it, and then blazing out way out down Old Skool. Met up with the others and hit up the cafe at St Martins. biked home via C1 to grab some beans.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Tuesday night, Captain Godley Conda
great ride tonight. picked up Chris at 6.30 and we headed out to Scumner. Cruised up Captain Thomas, took it pretty easy. failed to clean many of the usual obstacles, which seemed to become a pattern for the evening's ride. Fog was low, juust above Evans when we got up there, otherwise muggy.
tackled Godley, neither of us getting the first rocky section. i think we both blew the second wee snick too, but easy going after them. Fog seemed to get wetter the further out we got, but the trails (even after a couple days rain) were completely passable. no puddles, no mud, no soft bits, just very slightly greasy in a couple of spots. Chris was having more and more trouble seeing, with the misty fug accumulating on his glasses as we rode. i took the lead after the second boardwalk section and blitzed it down to Livingston Col (new section to the right noticed, just begun digging), tho taking it easy too, what with the grass slightly overgrowing most of the trails. up over to Breeze col, cleaning it all nicely, feeling my mojo starting to return a bit.
from Breeze, we took the trail below the road out to the end, then up the hill back and onto the harbourside walking track. awesome wee float down this, taking it carefully, cos the rocks were just greasy enough to be interesting.
then onto the Snake. i took the lead and got a good flow on. track condition perfect, no dust, just well firm. popped all the air, and railed all the berms and was a sweet descent. then the climb up and over back to car in Slumner.
tackled Godley, neither of us getting the first rocky section. i think we both blew the second wee snick too, but easy going after them. Fog seemed to get wetter the further out we got, but the trails (even after a couple days rain) were completely passable. no puddles, no mud, no soft bits, just very slightly greasy in a couple of spots. Chris was having more and more trouble seeing, with the misty fug accumulating on his glasses as we rode. i took the lead after the second boardwalk section and blitzed it down to Livingston Col (new section to the right noticed, just begun digging), tho taking it easy too, what with the grass slightly overgrowing most of the trails. up over to Breeze col, cleaning it all nicely, feeling my mojo starting to return a bit.
from Breeze, we took the trail below the road out to the end, then up the hill back and onto the harbourside walking track. awesome wee float down this, taking it carefully, cos the rocks were just greasy enough to be interesting.
then onto the Snake. i took the lead and got a good flow on. track condition perfect, no dust, just well firm. popped all the air, and railed all the berms and was a sweet descent. then the climb up and over back to car in Slumner.
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