ANZAC Porterhouse Cheese and CoalSpit Pur.

Minty bunch of rides today, it being ANZAC Day, and my family out of town, Nelson and me met just before 11 at Sheffield and convoyed both cars out to Porters ski field road. 

Drove up the 5km gravel road to check out the Porter Lodge (as featured in recent Spoke mag).  Had a coffee then on with the helmets, no bags needed, and headed up their Flow Trail. Twas fun.   A little greasy (melted frost-heave) in places, but drying out.  Climbed about 9 minutes, with two opportunities to cut the loops short passed by, brief look at the view up Crystal Valley, then into the descent:  flowy, a few nice wee jumps, and bermed corners.  One really nice jump down the bottom, and a couple of kinda hip jumps lower down too (the last one followed by a super greasy off camber corner (nearly lost it!)).  Then a wee grunt back up to the carpark. - 2kms, 115m climbed, 13.31 minute spin.  My tires were caked, so I hosed them off and then we had some lunch.  They've only got a couple things on the menu, but they're bloody good - BLT or a Buffalo Mozzarella sandwich.  We had a half of each each.  Then, about to leave, decided to blat round the lower loop to do the three main jumps again.

Back into the cars and around to Cheeseman Rd, driving up the gravel, past Texas Flat, and leaving my car at the ice rinks turnoff.  Headed up in Nelson's to park at one of the entrances to Smegma (aka Cuckoo Creek).  From here we rode up the road past the top entrance to Cuckoo, and further on up to K Line.  Here we met a guy and gal and 3 more young blokes rolled up behind us too.  Followed the couple into this fun rooty steep awesome trail.  Got past them after a couple of stops, then Nelson and me were blitzing out ahead.  It spits you onto Dracophyllum Track just as hit the Flat, so across this and through the usual, but climbing out to the Ice Rinks (rather than all the way to Texas Flat).

Next, we rode back up the road to Smeg, riding past Nelson's car to the top entrance, a steep one, and bombed down this.  It was way more hard work than K-line, just lots of kinda big lumpy whoomps, and heaps of tricksy little roots that'd send your rear wheel sideways, but all fun rideable.  My glutes and quads were getting a hammering.  Finally it finished, on the Draco Flat Track but much closer to the zig zaggy climb towards the Ice Rinks.  So, up this, much harder this time, and out to the Hyundai.  Checked out a wee track across the road, which took us up to Cocaine Alley (a wordplay on Cockayne, I've since realised - Cockayne was an eminent NZ botanist whose name is associated with lots of native plants).  Up and back on this connector track just to check it out then stashed the bikes in the bushes and drove my car back up to his.  Back down to the bikes, chucking both in his car.

This here's the route, cept we accidentally left MMR running til we were most of the way up the hill (so, ignore that bit). About 11.4 kms, and maybe 500 m climbed but more than twice that descended.

Back in the cars and off around the highway, this time to the far end of Coalpit Spur track (past Flock Hill).  Parked my car there, then back up to the start in Nelson's.  Awesome bomb down hill this track, into the valley below, some rocketship rush speed sections, and a whole heap of cool switchbacks that are great to practice the nose-wheelie turning technique (even if not actually necessary), and then a creek crossing.  We both tried different methods  - Nelson riding half-pedals; he stalled and got a wet foot, and I tried to just rock hop, but they were slippery, and not many were out of the water, so I got a wet foot (and damp 2nd foot) too.  On down the valley from here, and then it started climbing.  Didn't expect it to be much of a climb, but it turned out to be, and quite steep too.  Ugh.  Over the top, and then down again, a few more switchies and then down a 4wd(ish) gravel 2-track which eventually forded another stream (dry feet this time) and we were back to my car.

This one was apparently less than 20 minutes (felt like longer, cos of tiredness), and 4.5 kms with about 100 m climbed (again, quite a bit more than that descended)

Tally for the day, more than 700 climbed, and probably double that descended...

Tuesday Night Tour De Pleasant.

Parked on Stoneyridge, cold beasterly blowing thru and got riding just as the sun set... Up through Britten, around the front, up Mt Pleasant, all without lights needed.  At the top, it was time for lights.  Awesome, tight on Nelson's tail, descent, following him and flowing down through to Greenwood, where we headed down the 'new' trail, with a detour down into Jollies Bush.  A zig and a zag down and up in here, then back up onto the 'new' trail, out to the Richmond Hill pines, and on up to the old Greenwood entrance.  Sheep Shit Everywhere, tires well coated.  Off down the entrance of Greenwood, around and up, then up the way we'd come, Mt Pleasant to the top again, and over and down back to Britten, around the top (below the road) and then bombed on down, excellent fast run, down to the car.

A twisty turny ramble around the tops, 13.5 kms, 410 m climbed.  Not bad for a 'warm up' for the next day.

Sunday Morning with O

9am ish start with O.  We parked at top of Huntsbury and the Beasterly was blasting across the ridge.  Some chain troubles with him (as usual), and so I put in 5 or more links, seemingly fixing the problem (for now).  He did well climbing, but hated the wind.  We hopped up onto the singletrack and then up the landing strip, then up the grovel to the top, where we found the pfmtboys, Stevo, Andy, Wazza and Bobbin, got to check out Steve and Andy's new steeds for the first time.  Niceypie.

Said our good byes and they headed towards Vic, while O and me headed up and around Vernon with the wind blasting us as we rounded the spur, then good zoom down to Rapaki-top and into Witch.  O struggled in here due to the rockiness, and the wind around the corner was hellish.  We sheltered briefly in the lee of a cutting once on the road and snacked, then off up the road to Castle Rock.  He was done with climbing and couldn't face the climb back up from Bridle so he found shelter from the wind and I headed off down for a good blast down the trail.  Wind was pushy, but manageable, and I had a nice run down through the bends and climbing.  Then back on the road and back up the hill to O.

We blasted down the road, and across the ridge below the Tors the wind nearly pushed me off.  I got up onto the singletrack (O stayed on road), and enjoyed the challenge of this wee trail.  Met O at Witch, and I took the singletrack and he rode the road below.  Then, up the road (skipping Vernon), and across the Traverse to the fun descent down the ridge, which was being blasted by the gale, knocking O off on the jump.  Otherwise fine, and then down the landing strip and over the fence, and battled our way around the windy ridge and down to the jumpy section.  Over the gate and as we took off O caught a foot on a tussock, which made him crash (good bruise on thigh from pedal, poor guy).  Rest of the run down was fun for me, and marginal for him.

Effectively the same 15 or so kms (and 600 odd m) as this ride, but MapMyRide bollocksed it all up, as usual...

Sunday 2x CAP laps + Zipline

Had swapped out the new Spoon for the black one that was on the Fatbike, and put the black on the Rocky. 

Booked for the 1pm Zipline, so O and me dropped H at friends and we parked at the Park about 11.  Up the lift and we headed down the Summit Connector, down to the road.  Spoon seat on Rocky waaaay more comfy, thankyou.  Hung a right on the Summit Rd, and headed up the road to top of Flying Nun.  Into this, O's first time from the top, and we cruised down all the way.  He liked it, but some of the rocks were a bit dry-dust-slippery.  At the Kiwi, we headed up the Summit Rd and into the top of Vic Park.  Taking the trails across and back in the trees, then down through the rabbit paddock and rock garden into the gummies, cruising my favourite in here down, then all the way through to the 19th Memorial.  From here, down the shady forest trail to Dyers Pass Rd, crossing carefully to Loess Rider.  A very enjoyable roll down here, though, on second thoughts, I should have tried Shredzilla..

Close to 12pm at the bottom and I was meeting Dad and my bro at 12.30 for the zipline, so figured we'd have time for one more fast lap.  Uplift again, to 12.15 at the top, we bombed down Possum (noticing that Yeah Yeah Gnar had just reopened - wish I'd taken it). Flat tack, then across into Handle the Jandal, which has a bit more to it now that wasn't there the first time we'd done it.  Then down the valley and dead on 12.30 to meet for the zip.

Locked my bike to one of the stands and O went off and did some laps while my bro and Dad did the zipline.  On our lift up as we were passing over the Jandal there was O, he stopped and said hi.  Zipline tour was cool.  The rides are super fun, but in the nearly 2.5 hours of the tour, you're really actually only flying for about 3 or so minutes...  But, the high one is super cool view, and quite fast, and the long one is awesome fast.

(O completed 3 more laps, once more Possum and Jandal (where he saw us from), second one tried out Duncan's but found it boring as so he took DOHC to compensate, then his 3rd, Connector, Nun, Choirb, Loess again.  Nice one son!  How responsible and independent for a 13 year old.

17 kms of riding (and one uplift), and 588 m of altitude (minus one uplift (420m?)...

Wednesday Night, Lights On in Lyttelt-On

Washington Way post-work pick-up and a quick stop at RoundAgain to get me a new Spoon to replace the torture implement that is the saddle that came on the Rocky... One last ride for it then, we headed through the tunnel and negotiated the steep maze that is eastern Lyttelton, parking-up on Foster Tce. Rode up and down a bunch of times on a bunch of trails all very steep and nicely technical, that's what you do in there.  A couple of young fit guys without shirts were pushing their bikes up behind us and were jealous of our lights.  Up the usual, down the ridge, I walked the steep cliffy bit, good blast down, then back up the climber (Sloanstar?) and around and back up to the top again, and down Zombie Lurch, steeeeeeep and cornery, a few of which caught me out because of the lighting.  back up the climber and around and back to the top again, and down the easier descent this time all the way down again, and then back up with a few explorations, connecting things in our head to previous times, we ended up pushing back up the top into Looper and around to the top again, and then down that way, ridge, then Zombie turn off and Stormer, detour to the cool droppy steeps, then around, small explore again, and then down back to the car.

4 ups, 4 downs tallying 550 m in 8 kms

Finished off the evening by stopping into the new Eruption Brewing premises on London St.  Their Fresh Hop Eruption IPA was mint, and the new digs is awesome - decor, brew tanks, etc...