King's Sunday Blow Out

Nice spin up and down the first half of the Blowhard with Nelson today... Drove out to find a "Track Closed Until Further Notice" sign ("call Riki on this number for info").  Nelson rang Riki and he was cool with bikers and walkers, just not 4wds or motorbikes or poachers...  So.  Off we rode.  Straight into the steep, like hitting the body-bag from cold.  Gruunnntt...  but eventually it levels off for a bit and we heard a motorbike coming.  Nelson knew the guy, Alan, who was bringing down a heap of possum.  He had a really nice dog too.  Chatted for a bit then we headed off again, not far from the mudpug, then the real climb began...  A bunch of walking, pushing, a little riding, more pushing.  Steep.  Rough, but dry.  Forest was WAY more open than in the past, the deer numbers must be mad.  Bit of pig sign around, and the occasional pool of blood where Alan had slaughtered one of his possums.  Eventually, surprisingly quicky, we made the first top, one that we'd ridden as far as with Chris one of the first times.  Sat and had a snack, then turned and pointed down...

Awesome blast down, all the tech that'd lookd sketch as f on the way up was immenently rideable, tho still sketchy in places.  Really enjoyed it, considering last time we climbed up here I would have been on the Turner and that time we went down the Bypass Track, meaning the last time I'd descended this I would have been on the Soul!  This bike just rocked this rocky descent, almost treating the toddler- to baby-head sized rock like pow pow.  Met Alan on his way just turning around to head down again, and chatted briefly, then bailed...  Railed it.  Nailed it.  But alas, it was over too soon.  Through the mud pug, then the 'farmy' bit then the steep rutted 'bodybag' bit, and back to the car, very little time elapsed.

Minimally, 6.24 kms, with 436 m climbed. 

Saturday Blowin' Hard with a twist.

Left home just after 7am, stopping for gas and snacks, then got my way out to the end of Maori Reserve Rd, finding Nelson already there.  He disappeared for ages getting a beer into a creek (apparently miles down a bank) and we got going up the steep trail just after 8am, granny gear and grinding away, track in well graded form compared to the rutsville it's been in the past, making it a lot easier to handle the steep.  Rode the all the way to the big boggy hole then we walked all the bits you walk, rode a few times, and walked some more, as you do on the Blowhard.  Snack at the top natural stopping bit, then down and across a bit, stopping at the bush edge and being blown away by the view of Banks Peninsula out there.  A lot of norwest wind blowing across the tops here too.  Into the steep gravelly downhill, dropper posts earning their keep, and then through sweet twisty singletrack before getting out on the ridge again.  Then climbing again, out in the open and eventually getting to the Bypass track, and continuing on up.  Usual amount of walking and riding, meeting a woman with 2 dogs near the top of Richardson.  Topped out dead on 2 hours since departing the bottom.  Awesome views from up there too, and wind, so we sheltered behind a dracophyllum for snacks before heading back down.

W00tfest downhill, back down, steep fun and at the Bypass we took a right.  Now, this was a track.  Some annoying boggy bits at the start but they soon vanished and steepness began.  Tricknical sections abounded and steep techy rocks and roots were fun to be had.  Passed the woman and dogs part way down and she couldn't believe we could ride it.  On down, steeper and steeper, so much fun, brakes getting pretty hot.  Just before what was probably the steepest little section, Nelson decided he needed to change out his rear pads.  So, walked down this bit and parked up.  The woman turned up half way through and continued on down, and I had a rest while he changed his pads.  Just after here the trail turned rooty.  Unrideably rooty.  Walked these sections, then steep riding again.

Then a junction, hung a right down to a wee creek and over the bridge and steep steps climb, then cramp set into my left hamstring.  Paaaiiinnnn.  Struggled to get on and off the bike for the next couple bits, but stretched it and was careful and we made the Mt Richardson main track and descended down on through Glentui.  Around the gravel road and then super fast (over 80kph) downhill on road, and more gravel then out to the main road for the long hot slog back towards the cars.  Part way along a straight we found some cherries which were small but delicious.  Then up the gravel road towards the cars the wind was strong in our face making it hard work.  Exhausted back to the car at 12.  Cold beer.  gooood.  Scorching hot trip back to town, and slow due to the Bogan-fest in Rangoon.  Home around 1.20..

27 kms, and I did 1m shy of 1000 (Nelson did 1004 somehow).

Sunday's Blowhard, lives up to it's name

Out to Nelson's with Jet in the car, about 10, and heading out 10.30ish round through a few frost patches to the end of Maori Reserve Rd, parking up to find a few vehicles and could see some hunters and dogs heading up the hill.  Got riding, 11ish, and ground our ways up, blowing bloody hard, what with the fresh start, Jet leading out miles ahead, excited at the smells of the other dogs ahead of him.  Met them pretty much at the high point before the drop to the big mud puddle where the true climb begins.  Also up there was a quad bike with a dog trailer, so obviously other hunters were ahead too.  Jet was great with these first dogs, hello hello, and straight on with us.

Lot of walking up the rocky steep to start, then a bit of riding and more walking and more riding and a bit more walking just for good measure.  All feeling pretty good, Jet bounding around, covering twice the distance of us, up and back, up and back.  Eventually, the sort of avenue along the ridge bit of a descent and we met the other dogs (and their owners), a couple of which weren't quite so friendly...  Jet was good tho, and had no trouble and on we went, a bit more climbing and walking, Nelson cleaning heaps of it, but not able to use his 42t the whole time cos of some gyp it was giving him.  I was certainly glad of my new 40t.  My old 32:36 ratio would have been a bastard and a lot more walking would have ensued.

Awesome descent down the ridge, then the climbing wasn't too bad, on and on it went, not too much muck about, a few bits of ice around, frozen frosty ground in shady sections, but mostly pretty dry the whole time...  bloody good actually.  By the time we were approaching the top, was around 2 hours, so far, and legs were getting pretty tired.  Made the top and it was blowing a fair bit of nor'west up there, not overly warm either.  Chatted to the 'crowds' up there (an older man and a younger woman (father daughter?), and a separate young guy with a foxy called Jack).  Around 1.10pm it was.  1.20-30 we departed.

Off down, and Nelson lost it in the tussocks, couldn't clip out in time and flopped off the bike.  was spectacular and luckily non-hurting...  I took the lead for a bit, finding a good detour round some mucky shit as we re-entered the forest, and bombing on down, smooth as smooth can be, the 5.Spot becoming more and more a part of me.  Jet was never far behind and was really good about stepping aside for us to go ahead on the fast bits, then catching up and cruising on ahead when we were going slow.  Some sections we bombed down and it was glorious.  Past the Bypass Track and onwards down across the ridge.  Sweet flow, a few climbs and downs and suddenly into the steep walking climb.  Took a lot out of me.

Once clear of it we were riding again and not far up there I got a good cramp in my thigh, yowch!  Stopped for a bit of a rest of it, and then once we got going again there was the top...  W00t! down down down swoop and holla, til Nelson got a flat.  Fixed that, and not long after came upon one of the first dogs we saw, injured, fair bit of blood, walking along in a bit of a daze, not fussed by Jet,  but radio collar on (so his owners will hopefully have found him).  Got going again and the last few metres of the last wee climb hurt but then it was into the really rough stuff.  I got bent out of shape on one bit, got going again, cocked up again, then flowed on down.  No troubles the rest of the way with some sections of insane speed.  Bike was superlative in it's performance.  Wicked.  The bottom seemed to take ages to turn up, a couple stops on the way to make sure Jet was with us - he was never very far behind even when we'd been absolutely hauling ass.  One very close call when my front wheel seemed to roll on about 3 babyhead sized rocks in quick succession, tipping me trackwards til i somehow hooked it up and kept it rolling down the steeeeep bits and finally over the frost hauling up by the muddy puddle, the smell of brakes very very hot.  Nelson's were even starting to fade/seize up.  My XT's were cool as cucumbers.

Round the puddle and up over and on down the 4wd.  Careful round the ruts, and back to the car, 2.30 on the dot.  Awesome day.  Weather couldnt have been better, trail was mint, bike was great, and the dog was the best!

Sunday Blown Out

Daylight savings this morning and I totally forgot about it.  Tom rang at what i thought was 6.35 asking about the ride, and I said, yeah, get to mine for 8.  I got on the rain radar to check what was up with the rain and then saw the time!  7.37! YIKES.  Scrabbled to get ready, and Pete was early, but no matter, got ready and Tom arrived and we set sail to the Palms and the others (in two cars - Wazza, Wayne, Tony, Marie, Steve, Andy) arrived and off out thru Rangoon and sLoburn we cruised, finding Nelson awaiting us at the end of the road and the rain we'd been driving through just stopped.  Over a year since last was up here (with Nelson, Matt and Tom) and just about 2 years since riding it with Nelson and Pete.

Granny grunt start, climbing away, everybody getting into it, nice and fresh, soft trail in places and rut city down the bottom, we meandered our way up and regrouped at the mud wallow, which Nelson got his shovel out for and dug a drain, relieving it of a fair bit of water by the time we'd returned.  Then, as usual, the first walking began.  And a shit load followed it.  As usual, with a few riding bits between.  The really steep stuff was really steep, and the first timers were probably wondering how it was gonna be down hill.

A few regroups on the way up.  Marie was struggling I think and left her bike behind thinking she'd walk the rest of the way, but we convinced her that riding further was worth it, and Nelson ran down after it, and she rode a good deal further.  Regroup and snack in the open area before the main downhill.  Then down and climbing re-engaged, up and up, up and down, up up and ever onwards up.  Into the cloud enshrouded tops we struggled, Marie leaving her bike behind finally further up, and walking the same pace as the rest of us to the top.  Pretty mucky in places, with water running down the track.  We stopped at the Mt Richardson sign and a walker guy and his dog cruised through, surprised (and not very happy) to see us, then it was the final push to the top.  Quick feed and jacket on at the top then off down.

Just after the Mt Richardson sign, i was out the front, and i noticed something going thuck thuck thuck on my back wheel then BANG! it blew.  My tire had split next to the rim and was rendered useless.  Bugger, i thought, and was about to start walking when Tom pointed out he had a spare tire...  phew!  a little 2.1 Ritchey, which was hard to get on, but did the trick real good.  The others had all gone ahead, with Nelson and Pete hanging back with me, and we put on a chase now.  Catching them just before Marie got to her bike at which they were all waiting.  From here it was in the open, mostly down until the steep shute-y climb, which at this point was very hard work walking up...

Bit more climbing and into the forest again, for a good downhill til the next climb, which wasnt long, then finally the long ridge section before the steeeeeep downhill.  In here you're dropping a couple hundred metres within about a km and a half.  I baulked on the steepest shute, just getting out of the way in time for Tom and Pete to get by, then had to walk a little before being able to get back on.  Made good chase now and when it leveled off again we all regrouped not long later.  Another rapid downhill stretch and we stop where Nelson is puzzling over the back end of his bike...  damn, his rear derailleur has caught something and snapped in two.  Once again, the others took off ahead, but this time 4 of us stayed to help Nelson get his chain apart (which was very difficult) and off for him to ride chainless.  Tom managed the previously impossible of splitting the chain.

Awesome blast down the last sections, relishing the rapid acceleration experienced upon release of brakes, Tom close on my tail all the way down to the (now quite a bit lower) mud pug.  Nelson had a couple of bits he had to run but mostly it was a coast for him.  Eyes splecked like crazy, half blind, on the last open ruttsville section back to the cars and a bunch of very mucky puppies we all were.  a grand total of just under 1000 metres total climbing (and descending) under our belts.

Saturday Blowhard push

Tom and Matt picked me up at 9 and we cruised out through Rangoon and on up through a mighty hard frost through the Slowburn to Maori Reserve Rd, expecting to meet Nelson there.  We waited.  Waited a bit more then I rode a little way up the trail to get reception and rang him.  "Where are you?" "Waiting for you."  "Where, Wharfdale?" "At home." Oh...  Whoops.  We got the ill communication.  So.  Tom and Matt headed on up and I milled about waiting for Nels to turn up.  All told, they got about a 35 minute head start.  Making time on this track is nigh on impossible.

Started off too damned steep for too damned long.  Granny-chuff, til it settled down a bit and it was greasy.  Icey or greasy.  Couple of kereru spotted on the more settled bit - good to see!  From the big pool the up gets steeper than steep and walk is all we could do.  Walk walk walk, ride a bit, walk a bit, ride a bunch, walk a bit, ride more, then finally descend, wicked descent on crunchy snow.  What a spectacular day it was, sun shining, bugger all wind, not cold.  Fantastic.  Climbing again, up and ever up.  Met a couple of runner women, climbed some more.  Met an old woman walking.  Climbed some more. And more, legs getting pretty tired by now.  More and more snow encountered as we climbed higher, the other two's tire treads ever present.  Nearly at the top we encountered a group of hunters with a small piggy on one of their packs.  Then finally we were on the last stretch to the summit of Richardson, finding the other two guys awaiting, and having had been there for 35 or 40 minutes...  all up 2 hours, steady going to the top.

Ate some, changed layers, admired the insanely perfect day and incredible view, then it was time for the descent.  And what a descent.  Landmarks just came back to us soooo quickly.  In no time flat you're 'there', then 'there', then that place where it seemed like ages from the top.  So fast.  Awesome sketchiness in places, brilliant.  I had one close call on a wee rut, no biggie.  The final couple climbs killed our legs, then it was the final descent.  On the way up, Nelson had moved a big hanging hunk of lawyer out of the way.  On my way down i rode straight into it.  Thankfully I was going fast enough that it didn't get a hold of me.  What a blast.  So fast, and down so quick, it seemed.  At the muddy pool, practically at the bottom, when I stopped I thought I could smell a fire somewhere nearby, like a campfire.  Then we realised it was the hotness of our brakes. but finally out the bottom, after taking it pretty easy on the final lower stretches, it was an hour since we'd left the top, pretty much.

All up, an excellent ride.  Perfectly finished, post shower and feed, with a couple of O for Awesomes and a Hopwired with my lovely lady at Pomeroys.

Sunday no wind blowing on the Blowhard

Awesome ride this morning. Pete picked me up at 8.30 and we headed for Nelson's place. Grabbed him and headed 'round past Ashley Gorge and up to the end of Maori Reserve Rd. A bit of frost around, but sunshine and blue skies blazing.

Relentless start, no warm up, just granny geared grunt, nearly steeper than bearable, but eventually mellowing out a bit. nice to see some native clematis in full flower in places. Got to the big 4wd wallow and the real steep walking began. Rocky, gnarly, steep as, for a little while. Then a bit of riding ensued, couple more walky bits, more riding, more walking. all good. a real lung opener. Here's our first break.


On up for a bit, then a nice down, reminding Pete why he rides (he was beginning to wonder), then on up again. Eventually we got out to where Chris, Nelson and me got to on my first trip up there. From here there's quite a steep chute of a descent into the woods again then its climbing again, mostly out on an old burned cleared alpine tops type environment. some real good grunts. Back into forest for a while now and then. Somewhere in there we met the Bypass Track from Glentui. Not far up from there Pete snapped his chain

Fixed that and it was on up up up up up, into some open true alpine Dracophyllum scrub with a lot of muckiness and then through a cool forest with lots of moss and with snow on the ground and drips of melting falling on us. a few rooty holes and a couple of clearings and we were at the top, all 1048m of it (which, by my calculations, is roughly how much we'd climbed in all, even tho we'd started at 300m, there's roughly 300m of downs interspersed with the climbing on the way up). spectacular views up there, and, i kid you not, not a single breath of wind. fantastic. not living up to the name at all...
Towards Lees Valley

Towards the Wharfdale back end

Looking down on Oxford township


i led off and the fun began. blazing. absolute bliss. at times the softness of the ground acted like brakes, so you could stay off your own ones. had noticed a cool rock feature, moab stylez, on the way up, and both Nelson and me found a line onto it and down it. looking back, we watched Pete navigate the rocky drop to the side. he was trying out his new Gravity Dropper, and taking a bit to get used to it.

lower and lower we got, then we had to climb again. walking up the nasty chute below where Chris and us got to last time, and once more further up. rode the rest tho. sooooo much fun. the steep steep rocky bits were a total blast.

as usual, the bottom (4wd wallow) came too fast, but i think it was worth it, the downs really did last well, and legs were sore, and braking arms were sore (but not as sore as Involution last weekend). then bit of a climb out and then down the 4wd section, fast, til we rounded a corner and there was a couple of HUGE horses (with a couple of guys on them), who were pretty wary of bikes and were getting a bit freaked, so chucked our bikes up into the broom and stood up near them and the horse calmed and cruised by. (+1 for biker / horserider relations).

finally down avoiding the ruts and blasting out to the car, getting hella loose in the grease at the bottom. if my calculations are correct, a grand total of 1300m altitude traversed.

dropped Nelson off and returned via backroads to Cust to Tram Rd. got home before 2. all good.

Blowing Hard

Picked up Chris after he'd finished work today and we jetted out the Tram Rd to Nelson's place. Loaded him up and we gravelled and tarmacked our way round past Ashley Gorge to Maori Reserve Rd and parked up. Was 6.20pm I think, so not a helluva lot of light for us to mission, but got going and made good progress up the Blowhard Track, into the cloud. Called the Blowhard for a couple of reasons - it usually blows really hard up the top, and going up it you blow bloody hard yourself. This is one steep mother of a hill. Starts around 300m, and we got to around 800m.

We all put in pretty good efforts climbing, first section not bad, 100% rideable, was pretty soggy in places. but once you get to what's obviously a 4x4 turnaround (and mudbath), it gets seriously uphill. Rutty, rocky, greasy up. We walked some. And rode some, and walked. And rode a little, then walked. And walked. And probably rode a little before walking again. Sometimes we rode a bit, but usually these chutes would make us walk. And all the while, we're kinda thinking, "this looks really greasy", "and loose", "and its gonna be hairy coming down this bit", and "fuck, that's steep".

Gradually we got into the cloud. Bush all dripping around us. Bush seemed to get pretty small at for a bit, and we stopped for a feed break at a natural stopping point, before heading down a bit, then up. And probably walked a little then rode. Another down, and then up again, maybe less walking, and a bit more down. Then we broke out of the forest and were greeted with a stunning cloud and mist and bushclad hillscape. Very cool.

Then, I mounted my light on my helmet (Chris's was on his bars, and Nelson's was already on his his helmet), and we headed back up the trail for the first bit of descending. Chris first, then me, then Nelson (who'd not been on the bike for like 9 months!!!). The downs were certainly fast - and fun. Light was VERY low, dim as, but I held back on turning on the light for as long as possible. Eventually I just had to, and it was a revelation.

The ups on the way back down were all short and nice, keep it in a high gear and stand to work it over the brow. And the super greasy loose-ass technical sections? Absolutely AWESOME. Rubber gripping wickedly, control, steerability, balance, finesse, excellence. So much fun. Then, at the top of a particularly gnarly section, Chris was stopped. His light didn't work! So. He followed me. I held back for a start, and Nelson stayed on his tail, and shone from behind, and we made it down at a reasonable pace, Chris following my lines, or not. All good. And it was SO much fun. All the stuff we'd had doubts about on the way up were easy as, and technically fun.

Ploughed down the last section, with the Earthquake (yeah, right) moon shining down on us, back to the car in no time flat. Wicked.

Three rides in 5 days is almost a record, and if i ride with the usuals tomorrow morning, even better...