Left work just after 12. headed Manchester, High, Barbadoes, Waltham, Wilsons, met Nelson at Centaurus, we headed up Rapaki. pretty quick climb, first section graded flat and smooth, blatted to top. hard work. then up round Vernon singletrack, which had been weedeaten most of the way up, with very very very very dry grass all over the trail (this'd be hella slippery coming down). the weedeaters were parked up for lunch. Hit the first bit of Traverse, then bombed off piste and onwards down Old Skool. excellent run down there, cleaning all nicely. nelson made his leg bleed by scraping it with his back tire off balanced in a rut. lower section of singletrack full of sheep and shit and trodden up dusty trail. out bottom, Bowenvale Ave, Birdwood, Sandwich, round river to Colombo, all the way back to work, Nelson peeling off at Milton... back at work by 1.45.
this was just what i needed after a more than a week off the bike.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Monday, February 02, 2009
Packhorse, pack of heat...
Mint ride yesterday with Nelson. rode over to his place by about 8.30, and we jumped in the Bongo, headed round to Motukarara and up Gebbies.
parked up top (160 m), and hit the trail. gravel road for first 800 odd m, mild gradient, then into pine forest singletrack. slight climb then sweeeet descent into a valley, then a climb up a bit and over a stile then climbing along side forest and round a corner, onto a forestry road descent, which then peeled onto a sweet flowing climbing singletrack through fir. a coupla switchies too tight and steep to ride, then pedalling again, all the while in forestry. man, have we discovered the untouched unknown forested singletrack riding destination on the outskirts of chch??? Possibly. climbing easily some more ups and downs, nothing major, passed a couple of walkers, then it got steeper, little bit of walking, not much tho, heat getting to us, so muggy so stopped for rest. walkers passed. rest some more, then onwards, up towards the final fence of the forest. quite steep hillside here, with the track lightly bench cut into it, going up at a nice gradient, kinda bottom range middle chainring, or a few down on back in granny, sidling round the hill. you wouldnt want to tumble off the side... up to the Remarkable dykes with some nice rocky trail here, and they really are remarkable... then its about 5 minutes round to the hut (460m)... all up, about an hour from van to the hut.
the hut had been full over night, with people camping around it too. most had departed by the time we got there. nice hut. great views, down Kaituna, across Lyttelton Harbour, over the porthills all round. no sign of the southerly.
anyway, we decided to explore a little further, and so headed round back of Mt Bradley. nice trail round to a wicked patch of bush, trail sweeetness through it, except for the onga onga that crowded out the trail at one point, then out of the bush onto a zig zag track up the hill. spotted some goats above us. ended up getting tighter and tighter up to about the 650m contour. then we turned round and rode the 200m altitude back to the hut. then after waiting for a few walkers to come up, headed on down the track to Gebbies... much better downhill, obviously.
carefully round the sidling through the dykes and on down to the forest. then into the forest and a smooth flowy bombfest ensued. luckily encountered no walkers, tho the visibility is such that it wouldnt be a problem, not really any blind corners anywhere that you're not going carefully round. awesome flow all the way back down. the first few little ups are easy blasts, but towards the end theres a couple of grunts that were pushing my heat and sleep deprived exhausted bones. the last climb (that was the sweet descent at the start) had a few corners of walking. then a blast down the gravel to the car. all up, about 25mins back down from hut. We're thinking this'd be a great night ride.
parked up top (160 m), and hit the trail. gravel road for first 800 odd m, mild gradient, then into pine forest singletrack. slight climb then sweeeet descent into a valley, then a climb up a bit and over a stile then climbing along side forest and round a corner, onto a forestry road descent, which then peeled onto a sweet flowing climbing singletrack through fir. a coupla switchies too tight and steep to ride, then pedalling again, all the while in forestry. man, have we discovered the untouched unknown forested singletrack riding destination on the outskirts of chch??? Possibly. climbing easily some more ups and downs, nothing major, passed a couple of walkers, then it got steeper, little bit of walking, not much tho, heat getting to us, so muggy so stopped for rest. walkers passed. rest some more, then onwards, up towards the final fence of the forest. quite steep hillside here, with the track lightly bench cut into it, going up at a nice gradient, kinda bottom range middle chainring, or a few down on back in granny, sidling round the hill. you wouldnt want to tumble off the side... up to the Remarkable dykes with some nice rocky trail here, and they really are remarkable... then its about 5 minutes round to the hut (460m)... all up, about an hour from van to the hut.
the hut had been full over night, with people camping around it too. most had departed by the time we got there. nice hut. great views, down Kaituna, across Lyttelton Harbour, over the porthills all round. no sign of the southerly.
anyway, we decided to explore a little further, and so headed round back of Mt Bradley. nice trail round to a wicked patch of bush, trail sweeetness through it, except for the onga onga that crowded out the trail at one point, then out of the bush onto a zig zag track up the hill. spotted some goats above us. ended up getting tighter and tighter up to about the 650m contour. then we turned round and rode the 200m altitude back to the hut. then after waiting for a few walkers to come up, headed on down the track to Gebbies... much better downhill, obviously.
carefully round the sidling through the dykes and on down to the forest. then into the forest and a smooth flowy bombfest ensued. luckily encountered no walkers, tho the visibility is such that it wouldnt be a problem, not really any blind corners anywhere that you're not going carefully round. awesome flow all the way back down. the first few little ups are easy blasts, but towards the end theres a couple of grunts that were pushing my heat and sleep deprived exhausted bones. the last climb (that was the sweet descent at the start) had a few corners of walking. then a blast down the gravel to the car. all up, about 25mins back down from hut. We're thinking this'd be a great night ride.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday night, into the wind...
bit of a southerly blowing, pushed into the wind over to Steve's to find him not riding (again!), this time cos of his wrist tweak (cause unknown) of sunday. Nelson, Andrew, Tony, Warren and myself were the only starters. tootled round, up busy Rapaki, taking down a few people, helluva wind up on top, waited for Helmetless Mark, Marie, and accountant Steve, aka Abba... my legs still not fully recovered from heat and ride on sunday.
struggled up round Vernon, then blasted round Traverse to Vic, Thomsons, Kiwi, up road to top of Marleys, struggling majorly with the road and last 4wd climb. (Marie riding up Flying nun from road to meet us part way up). Bombed it down the 'Nun, passed Marie by, and hauled ass down to Kiwi again... everybody seemed to have a pretty good run. i felt good, getting to know what to expect on every section now.
Up road to top of Vic, and down to brakefree, then down ?Sesame St? into new section with cool wooden wallride. then Tony, Marie, Mark and abba bailed, and the rest of us went down Dazzas, into Brents, Flow, Bridges, top line again, cleaning all, then barged up the being-rebuilt-zigzags, up Hidden Valley, to pylon, and caught the lower Old Skool singletrack for a blast down. all good.
streetlights were just on as i rode home across town, nice tail wind to push me, tho it'd died a bit (as per..).
struggled up round Vernon, then blasted round Traverse to Vic, Thomsons, Kiwi, up road to top of Marleys, struggling majorly with the road and last 4wd climb. (Marie riding up Flying nun from road to meet us part way up). Bombed it down the 'Nun, passed Marie by, and hauled ass down to Kiwi again... everybody seemed to have a pretty good run. i felt good, getting to know what to expect on every section now.
Up road to top of Vic, and down to brakefree, then down ?Sesame St? into new section with cool wooden wallride. then Tony, Marie, Mark and abba bailed, and the rest of us went down Dazzas, into Brents, Flow, Bridges, top line again, cleaning all, then barged up the being-rebuilt-zigzags, up Hidden Valley, to pylon, and caught the lower Old Skool singletrack for a blast down. all good.
streetlights were just on as i rode home across town, nice tail wind to push me, tho it'd died a bit (as per..).
Monday, January 26, 2009
Hot as hell, Sunday. lots of rests in the shade
Left home 8.35ish, warm sunny morning. Nelson was riding slowly to meet me and we rendevoused alongside Lancaster Park. both pretty tired, me cos of an excellent saturday enjoying Fat Freddy's Drop followed by a slightly late night, nelson just cos of a late night. we cruised very mellowly down Wilsons, Eastern and up Bowenvale. Hit Old Skool for the climb, already feeling the heat, but thankfully, a lot of the singletrack was still in the shade. however, the final zig zags were not and we cooked. i had to stop twice due to poaching of the brain. stopped in some shade for a rest just above top gate. rode on up, hit the Traverse and hauled ass round to Vic park, then down Thomsons to Kiwi. Nelson got some more water, i bought a Budget Ice Cream Soda, knocked back its sugar, flavouring and colouring goodness, then on we went up to top of Marleys. sat under shade of Worsley's big pine tree for a bit enjoying a cool breeze and chatting to some folks with a flat.
rode up and hit the Flying Nun... nelson following, camera mounted on handlebar. bombed it. flew down, enjoying every berm and yumpy and rocky bit. all the way down. caught upto and were briefly held up by a woman on the lower section below road, she pulled over and on we flew. then on down Old Dyers. best ride down there in ages. the middle section that is usually heinously bumpy was smoothed out somehow and we seemed to float down it in now time.
climbing up into Vic from the road was killing me, took off my helmet and when we got to the 19th battalion memorial stopped under a tree in the shade for a rest and discussed how people on sundays seem to be mostly rude...
after a rest we tootled up to skidder site and passed top of Dazza's down to middle section of Cool Runnings, swooped down it, round Flow, upper line of Bridges cleaned all drops into washout bottom of K2, nelson stepped off, then on down out and home by 12. all up bloody good ride, but tired and heat are not a match made in heaven.
meanwhile, the boys rode like this which i would have done if i'd not been doing the bees in the afternoon.
rode up and hit the Flying Nun... nelson following, camera mounted on handlebar. bombed it. flew down, enjoying every berm and yumpy and rocky bit. all the way down. caught upto and were briefly held up by a woman on the lower section below road, she pulled over and on we flew. then on down Old Dyers. best ride down there in ages. the middle section that is usually heinously bumpy was smoothed out somehow and we seemed to float down it in now time.
climbing up into Vic from the road was killing me, took off my helmet and when we got to the 19th battalion memorial stopped under a tree in the shade for a rest and discussed how people on sundays seem to be mostly rude...
after a rest we tootled up to skidder site and passed top of Dazza's down to middle section of Cool Runnings, swooped down it, round Flow, upper line of Bridges cleaned all drops into washout bottom of K2, nelson stepped off, then on down out and home by 12. all up bloody good ride, but tired and heat are not a match made in heaven.
meanwhile, the boys rode like this which i would have done if i'd not been doing the bees in the afternoon.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tuesday night, rapaki, vic, nun, vic, oldskool. Kar Nidge.
good sized group assembled at Steve's (who'd returned from holiday), to find Steve was piking all due to a measly little flat tire... tubeless, eh? who'd run 'em.? :). anyway, there was Pete, Andypandy, chris, weird-little-tony, waynus, nelsy, warren, and then we picked up english mark at bottom of Rapaki Rd.
tootled up, nelsy and me putting a bit of distance on everyone, tho mark keeping up well and the others not that far behind. i overtook these two guys half way up the first half only to be overtaken by them on the last section. chur! some nice views to be had, and hoards of other bikers, runners and walkers. busy busy. made the top and had a good rest, then on up Vernon. legs tired from sunday i reckon, but cleaned it all good,
took off from below road round traverse, haulin' ass, me trying to hold on to nelsy's tail, which i managed to mostly. and just before the lava flow i started something that i seemed do from then on, which was taking a differing line from him (more on that later). good bomb round to vic, with one incident just before the pond where this guy could have easily pulled up and let nelson thru, but cos he was on the uphill decided he had right of way and nearly collided with nelson, and me right behind. sure, uphill has right of way, but only where practical, and its courtesy to give people way if its easier... dumbass.
all assembled eventually at vic, and no sign of waynus. weird-little-tony went back, andypandy checked his txts and there was one from wayne, flat tire... right back at the start. he showed up eventually.
then it was over and down Thomsons, some taking both bits, others not., then up road to top of Marleys. Nelson and me just absolutely flew down this. really getting the flow on. bombing the rocky bits, jumping, nelson nearly losing it on the jump into the old below the road. made the kiwi and waited. and waited. mark turned up. waited. waited... then along come the others. Pete in a bit of a state. blood leaking from knee, what will be a very bruised chest, scaped hip... he'd lost it on the same jump nelson nearly did.
Pete bailed down Dyers Pass Road, we went back up into Vic. all taking different lines to Brake Free, then into the new below that, me chasing andrew to skidder site, others ending up there.
then into Dazza's, nice flow down, bottom bit a bit brake-cut. into Brents, flew thru there. before Flow, Tony busted a whole bunch of spokes, so he bailed, walking back up to road and out home, the rest of us continued down. took the high line across Bridges, into K2, i cleaned all and down 'washout', the others walked down. then wayne crashed at top of washout...
then the others continued down valley and nelson and me took newly nearly-restored zigs and zags up to pylon at beginning of lower OldSkool. bit of granny, bit of walking, but moderately effortless gain of altitude to an excellent flowy descent, me taking every line nelson didnt... including the old bit that has the overhanging gorse, extrawidth thistles and sketchy rocks, which surprising cuts a couple of minutes off the descent... waited for nelsy then bombed the last. out bowenvale, home across town, just before dark, lights'a'flashin.
tootled up, nelsy and me putting a bit of distance on everyone, tho mark keeping up well and the others not that far behind. i overtook these two guys half way up the first half only to be overtaken by them on the last section. chur! some nice views to be had, and hoards of other bikers, runners and walkers. busy busy. made the top and had a good rest, then on up Vernon. legs tired from sunday i reckon, but cleaned it all good,
took off from below road round traverse, haulin' ass, me trying to hold on to nelsy's tail, which i managed to mostly. and just before the lava flow i started something that i seemed do from then on, which was taking a differing line from him (more on that later). good bomb round to vic, with one incident just before the pond where this guy could have easily pulled up and let nelson thru, but cos he was on the uphill decided he had right of way and nearly collided with nelson, and me right behind. sure, uphill has right of way, but only where practical, and its courtesy to give people way if its easier... dumbass.
all assembled eventually at vic, and no sign of waynus. weird-little-tony went back, andypandy checked his txts and there was one from wayne, flat tire... right back at the start. he showed up eventually.
then it was over and down Thomsons, some taking both bits, others not., then up road to top of Marleys. Nelson and me just absolutely flew down this. really getting the flow on. bombing the rocky bits, jumping, nelson nearly losing it on the jump into the old below the road. made the kiwi and waited. and waited. mark turned up. waited. waited... then along come the others. Pete in a bit of a state. blood leaking from knee, what will be a very bruised chest, scaped hip... he'd lost it on the same jump nelson nearly did.
Pete bailed down Dyers Pass Road, we went back up into Vic. all taking different lines to Brake Free, then into the new below that, me chasing andrew to skidder site, others ending up there.
then into Dazza's, nice flow down, bottom bit a bit brake-cut. into Brents, flew thru there. before Flow, Tony busted a whole bunch of spokes, so he bailed, walking back up to road and out home, the rest of us continued down. took the high line across Bridges, into K2, i cleaned all and down 'washout', the others walked down. then wayne crashed at top of washout...
then the others continued down valley and nelson and me took newly nearly-restored zigs and zags up to pylon at beginning of lower OldSkool. bit of granny, bit of walking, but moderately effortless gain of altitude to an excellent flowy descent, me taking every line nelson didnt... including the old bit that has the overhanging gorse, extrawidth thistles and sketchy rocks, which surprising cuts a couple of minutes off the descent... waited for nelsy then bombed the last. out bowenvale, home across town, just before dark, lights'a'flashin.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sunday, rapaki to thunder to sumner
just the 4 of us met outside steve's. Tony, Wayne, Rex and me. headed up rapaki, good haul up there, Rex pushing hard as he's training for the Vulcaniser this coming weekend. At the top we hung a left. the sky was looking ominous, with huge thunder-head type clouds, darkness below. had a good spin round witch hill then a bomb up the road to the Castlerock.
waited for some guys to come up towards us, then waited for a couple of other riders who'd caught up. then let them get ahead in case we got stuck behind them. i said "i bet i'll catch him on the 2nd hairpin"... wasnt far wrong either. hussed down the trail, wishing i didnt have quite so much pressure in my rear tire, and would have caught the guy by the second hairpin, except that a rider comin the other way slowed me up... anyway, caught him by the end, and his mate had a pinch flat.
Stopped at top of Bridle path to admire the roar of hail on Heathcote Valley. could see it slowly creeping up the Tunnel Rd motorway, and the roads in the valley were all saturated. Thunder rumbled overhead and around us. very spectacular... headed round summit road and under the gondola a bit of rain spat on us, but nothing major. by the cutting the road was drenched but rain had passed on. walkers were soaked to the skin and complained of hail. John Britten was soaked, i stopped and cut a couple of drains in places, mud flecking all over us.
down road to Greenwood, trails quite wet. musta been a downpour, the clouds heading towards Port Levy and along the coast. just prior to this time there was a waterspout off sumner pics . was a fun spin down greenwood, with the greasiness making it interesting. amazingly, the steepest bits were the driest, as the water would have run straight off, whereas the less steep stuff the water had soaked into. not too much carnage, tire to trailwise, a group had been through before us and their treads were barely visible. all cleaned it nicely, out to Evans.
Then, time for the Captain. once again, i led off. strangely i took the new(ish) low line (which we normally climb up). baulked on the big rock with the wee steps cut into it (its been getting me every time lately). then cleaned everything else. had a great flow. all the way down. then to Dot Com for coffees, disturbing some snobs who made comments about how 'there should be dress code', us giving mud splattered evils back. they can just fuck off back to their poxy McMansions and stick their middle aged middle classed heads back up their middle new zealand assholes.
waited for some guys to come up towards us, then waited for a couple of other riders who'd caught up. then let them get ahead in case we got stuck behind them. i said "i bet i'll catch him on the 2nd hairpin"... wasnt far wrong either. hussed down the trail, wishing i didnt have quite so much pressure in my rear tire, and would have caught the guy by the second hairpin, except that a rider comin the other way slowed me up... anyway, caught him by the end, and his mate had a pinch flat.
Stopped at top of Bridle path to admire the roar of hail on Heathcote Valley. could see it slowly creeping up the Tunnel Rd motorway, and the roads in the valley were all saturated. Thunder rumbled overhead and around us. very spectacular... headed round summit road and under the gondola a bit of rain spat on us, but nothing major. by the cutting the road was drenched but rain had passed on. walkers were soaked to the skin and complained of hail. John Britten was soaked, i stopped and cut a couple of drains in places, mud flecking all over us.
down road to Greenwood, trails quite wet. musta been a downpour, the clouds heading towards Port Levy and along the coast. just prior to this time there was a waterspout off sumner pics . was a fun spin down greenwood, with the greasiness making it interesting. amazingly, the steepest bits were the driest, as the water would have run straight off, whereas the less steep stuff the water had soaked into. not too much carnage, tire to trailwise, a group had been through before us and their treads were barely visible. all cleaned it nicely, out to Evans.
Then, time for the Captain. once again, i led off. strangely i took the new(ish) low line (which we normally climb up). baulked on the big rock with the wee steps cut into it (its been getting me every time lately). then cleaned everything else. had a great flow. all the way down. then to Dot Com for coffees, disturbing some snobs who made comments about how 'there should be dress code', us giving mud splattered evils back. they can just fuck off back to their poxy McMansions and stick their middle aged middle classed heads back up their middle new zealand assholes.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Wednesday night, MacCormacks, Greenwood, Godley, Snake, husshhhh...
totally mint ride last night. i drove over picked up Nelson and we drove to MacCormacks Bay. headed up the grunty singletrack, cleaning most, only walking the round two lowest corners (and me the second of the final switchbacks at the end), and the steps at top. then on up Mt (un)Pleasant Rd, which is always about a km longer than you think its gonna be... short break at top of Greenwood park, then the bomb began. Nelson led the way, i sat right on his tail most of the time. sometimes i couldnt see the trail for the sun shining on the dust he was rarking up. once or twice he got away from me but i reeled him in on the rockier stuff. excellent flow down with only one near-whoops that didnt result in anything.
crossed Evans Pass and hit Godley track. both botched the first rockies, pounded the rest no probs. i led after i passed Nelson part the way up (where i broke a pedal once, under a rock overhang near the top). excellent flow through to Livingston, bit of easterly shove from the left on occasion, then clambered up and over next lump, with a good flow down to Breeze, a few cattle in the way (and their tasty deposits to avoid).
Hit the Anaconda. I led off, haulin'. possibly one of the best runs down the snake we've ever done. Nelson reckoned it was one of his fastest and he was on my tail, so i musta been quick enough i guess. i was more concerned most of the way down with the fact that my chain had fallen onto the granny... but yeah, a wicked run down and a couple of major g-outs round some of the bermy corners... then a good blast down the 'tail. (part way down we stopped and watched briefly.. surf was messy, but quite big, not that many surfers out)
thru the car park and on up the road. but not all the way up...(disclaimer: there is no sign that specifically says "No Bikes"... = fair game) we finally tried out a trail i've always wanted to test. it proved a good climb, a few wee switchies that are too tight to ride, and the very last bit of climb i walked (cos my legs were dead by then), then over the ridge and the view of Sumner very good, then the trail sidles along the slope above these big muthahfucker cliffs. quite techy riding, which would be doable were it not for the 100m (or more!) drop below you. no wonder its never been touted as a bike trail, too dangerous. then towards the end it got WAY too techy, so we walked and carried between short riding stints. a few zigs and zags (ride, ride, carry, ride ride) and we were down onto the road, where we blasted down and back round through sumner etc to the car... all up a mint ride.
I can see us using this 'new' trail in the future to get back up onto the Godley track to go back to Evans on then down Capt Thomas, thereby extending those rides and keeping up the singletrack content (and avoiding the road out of taylors and the stupid fucking boyracers who dont seem able to navigate it properly)
Thomson stem report #2. bloody good. still able to climb like a mtn goat, but descent and control is well good.
crossed Evans Pass and hit Godley track. both botched the first rockies, pounded the rest no probs. i led after i passed Nelson part the way up (where i broke a pedal once, under a rock overhang near the top). excellent flow through to Livingston, bit of easterly shove from the left on occasion, then clambered up and over next lump, with a good flow down to Breeze, a few cattle in the way (and their tasty deposits to avoid).
Hit the Anaconda. I led off, haulin'. possibly one of the best runs down the snake we've ever done. Nelson reckoned it was one of his fastest and he was on my tail, so i musta been quick enough i guess. i was more concerned most of the way down with the fact that my chain had fallen onto the granny... but yeah, a wicked run down and a couple of major g-outs round some of the bermy corners... then a good blast down the 'tail. (part way down we stopped and watched briefly.. surf was messy, but quite big, not that many surfers out)
thru the car park and on up the road. but not all the way up...(disclaimer: there is no sign that specifically says "No Bikes"... = fair game) we finally tried out a trail i've always wanted to test. it proved a good climb, a few wee switchies that are too tight to ride, and the very last bit of climb i walked (cos my legs were dead by then), then over the ridge and the view of Sumner very good, then the trail sidles along the slope above these big muthahfucker cliffs. quite techy riding, which would be doable were it not for the 100m (or more!) drop below you. no wonder its never been touted as a bike trail, too dangerous. then towards the end it got WAY too techy, so we walked and carried between short riding stints. a few zigs and zags (ride, ride, carry, ride ride) and we were down onto the road, where we blasted down and back round through sumner etc to the car... all up a mint ride.
I can see us using this 'new' trail in the future to get back up onto the Godley track to go back to Evans on then down Capt Thomas, thereby extending those rides and keeping up the singletrack content (and avoiding the road out of taylors and the stupid fucking boyracers who dont seem able to navigate it properly)
Thomson stem report #2. bloody good. still able to climb like a mtn goat, but descent and control is well good.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sunday, Worsley's, Nun, Traverse, Old Skool
fitted new (short) Thomson Stem on saturday, so was interested to see how performance was affected. it took off 20mm from the old FSA (which has been re-allocated to the Singlespeed).
Excellent ride. spun across town to Tony's, to find a big group (Andrew(pfmtbc), Wayne, Tony, Fi, Englishmark, Andrew's bro Chris, and two others- Warren and TRex(?). we tootled round to Worsley's and picked up a couple of MotherTed's friends, then halfway up the hill, Marie. good climb up the hill, onto the dirt, and i kept the power on the whole way. passed a Landrover Discovery part way up, front tire blown off. stolen? i cleaned the bodybag, as did a couple of the others, which is always good. the shorter stem definitely lightened the front end on the steep, but was manageable... we rested a bit under the big pine tree.
On to the Flying Nun. a tonne of riders through while we were waiting at the top, then we let them get ahead and got to it. enjoyed the descent, blasted down the top section, into the two newly formed switchbacks, nice one, overtook some guy. New stem making the bike eminently flickable. sweeeet. bombed the lower section, jumping more jumps than ever before (short stem? perhaps). at the bottom, i ducked up onto the road and trundled across to have alook if the new gov's bay track was up to there yet, but nope, so re entered the singletrack and promptly caught up with Wayne.
At Kiwi Fi and her two friends peeled off, the rest of us carried on up to upper Thompsons and then round the traverse. good spin round there, lots of oncoming riders, including Graeme from Bicycle Biz's last ride of about 15-20 folks...
then off Piste down top of Huntsbury, into Old Skool, taking all the shortcuts drops down rocky stuff, good flow and control. English mark got dismounted by a rock hiding behind tussocks up top, then got rutted on the 4wd/zigs.
Lower Old Skool absolutely rocked. hauled ass down it, enjoying the crap out of it. then down Bowenvale ave, and i peeled off round Eastern Tce home into the headwind, feeling pretty good but slightly worn out.
Excellent ride. spun across town to Tony's, to find a big group (Andrew(pfmtbc), Wayne, Tony, Fi, Englishmark, Andrew's bro Chris, and two others- Warren and TRex(?). we tootled round to Worsley's and picked up a couple of MotherTed's friends, then halfway up the hill, Marie. good climb up the hill, onto the dirt, and i kept the power on the whole way. passed a Landrover Discovery part way up, front tire blown off. stolen? i cleaned the bodybag, as did a couple of the others, which is always good. the shorter stem definitely lightened the front end on the steep, but was manageable... we rested a bit under the big pine tree.
On to the Flying Nun. a tonne of riders through while we were waiting at the top, then we let them get ahead and got to it. enjoyed the descent, blasted down the top section, into the two newly formed switchbacks, nice one, overtook some guy. New stem making the bike eminently flickable. sweeeet. bombed the lower section, jumping more jumps than ever before (short stem? perhaps). at the bottom, i ducked up onto the road and trundled across to have alook if the new gov's bay track was up to there yet, but nope, so re entered the singletrack and promptly caught up with Wayne.
At Kiwi Fi and her two friends peeled off, the rest of us carried on up to upper Thompsons and then round the traverse. good spin round there, lots of oncoming riders, including Graeme from Bicycle Biz's last ride of about 15-20 folks...
then off Piste down top of Huntsbury, into Old Skool, taking all the shortcuts drops down rocky stuff, good flow and control. English mark got dismounted by a rock hiding behind tussocks up top, then got rutted on the 4wd/zigs.
Lower Old Skool absolutely rocked. hauled ass down it, enjoying the crap out of it. then down Bowenvale ave, and i peeled off round Eastern Tce home into the headwind, feeling pretty good but slightly worn out.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Bottled at bottle lake
Nelson picked me up and we drove out to the carpark. Huge turn out, with two guys i recognised but dont know the names of. so, there was them, and the usual suspects Steve, Pete, Andrew, Tony, Wayne, Matt, English Mark, Maria, Helmutless Mark, and Maria's 11 yr old son. Helmutless was on a ONE WHEELER! so, anyway, i was on the singlespeed, nelson was on his new frame, as was Wayne, and Andrew was on the ss too. had an excellent fun ride, spin spin spin, turned right, out to the beach, back in up the middle to Spencer Park where we visited Pete's wife's sister who was camping there. had some beers, was fun, then riding back was even more fun. good times. had a wee go on the Nomad, and on Matt's new Force. both interesting, but strange off of a hardtail...
Monday, January 05, 2009
Peninsula Tops, View, Sinclair, Fitz, Herb
Spent Boxing day to the 4th at Little Akaloa. other than tootling about the bay, i did one big(ish) ride whilst there, then the biggie on the way home.
Cant even remember what day it was now, but back in the last days of 2008 i headed up to Chorlton, and on up View Hill Rd. it was hot, damned hot. schlepped on up to the end of the 'legal' bit, thru the gate and on up to the peak. the Hill really lives up to its name, with a view down into Little Ak, Raupo, Okains, Akaroa harbour, out over the plains to the mountains, across the whole peninsula, the porthills behind Lyttelton, right up the coast to the Kaikouras... with a weird sea fog banked up off Little Ak, Raupo and Okains. mint. had a little explore on the south side, then bombed back down, minutes top to bottom.
Yesterday, got dropped at Pettigrews Road. headed up over Sinclair, Fitzgerald, across the tops over Mt Herbert and into Diamond Harbour. Awesome ride, awesome views, awesome weather. Saw only 3 other bikers, and 5 walkers.
about 20 minutes in, after a bit of climbing, i was stepping off a stile into Whatarangi Totara Reserve when my foot went into a hole and wham the pain shot through my left ankle. "FUCK!" i thought, "not now". it hurt like hell, but i figured i just had to go on with it. it twinged a bit whilst pedalling but mostly was okay. definitely felt it but the pain seemed to keep at bay most of the time. anyway, i soldiered on, not letting it take away my enjoyment of the epic trip i was undertaking. little bit of walking up top of sinclair to where i met the first two bikers by almost being run into by the first. i'd just climbed over a stile and was testing my ankle when this guy came honking in. he took evasive action and avoided hitting me. i had a wicked descent from there to the saddle between the two peaks, flowy and beautiful, with cool singletrack (that we'd always avoided in the past) for a time. the grunt up the back of Fitzgerald was a grunt as always, some walking. on the fast descent off the top i said g'day to a walker.
little bit of walking through the tight techy bit, then nice descent down and grunty wee climb then nice fast descent again to waipuna saddle. walked a bit again then fast down to portlevy saddle. VERY disappointed to see on the DOC sign a biker with a red slash through it from here. ignored that and continued on. steep wee bit then all riding til the attack on the back of Herbert's sub peak (913m). walked up that, carrying bike mostly, sometimes walking it ahead or beside me. talked to a walker couple on way up that. rode across and peaked Herbert (919m). then for the descent. 17:44 and i was aiming for the 18:10 ferry... talked to a couple of walking girls, then right down in the sweet singletrack valley talked to a biker.
made the ferry wharf at 18:15, ferry already half way across back towards Lyttelton... damn. only one thing for it, Godley House, where a pint of Monteiths Golden hit the spot bloody well. as did some fries and another pint... after sitting there for the good part of an hour, when i stood up again, the ankle screamed. T picked me up from the ferry in Lyttelton.
Overall, i climbed the equivalent of Mt Herbert, all up 917 m of altitude gained, but i got to relish a grand total of 1380 m of descent...
Cant even remember what day it was now, but back in the last days of 2008 i headed up to Chorlton, and on up View Hill Rd. it was hot, damned hot. schlepped on up to the end of the 'legal' bit, thru the gate and on up to the peak. the Hill really lives up to its name, with a view down into Little Ak, Raupo, Okains, Akaroa harbour, out over the plains to the mountains, across the whole peninsula, the porthills behind Lyttelton, right up the coast to the Kaikouras... with a weird sea fog banked up off Little Ak, Raupo and Okains. mint. had a little explore on the south side, then bombed back down, minutes top to bottom.
Yesterday, got dropped at Pettigrews Road. headed up over Sinclair, Fitzgerald, across the tops over Mt Herbert and into Diamond Harbour. Awesome ride, awesome views, awesome weather. Saw only 3 other bikers, and 5 walkers.
about 20 minutes in, after a bit of climbing, i was stepping off a stile into Whatarangi Totara Reserve when my foot went into a hole and wham the pain shot through my left ankle. "FUCK!" i thought, "not now". it hurt like hell, but i figured i just had to go on with it. it twinged a bit whilst pedalling but mostly was okay. definitely felt it but the pain seemed to keep at bay most of the time. anyway, i soldiered on, not letting it take away my enjoyment of the epic trip i was undertaking. little bit of walking up top of sinclair to where i met the first two bikers by almost being run into by the first. i'd just climbed over a stile and was testing my ankle when this guy came honking in. he took evasive action and avoided hitting me. i had a wicked descent from there to the saddle between the two peaks, flowy and beautiful, with cool singletrack (that we'd always avoided in the past) for a time. the grunt up the back of Fitzgerald was a grunt as always, some walking. on the fast descent off the top i said g'day to a walker.
little bit of walking through the tight techy bit, then nice descent down and grunty wee climb then nice fast descent again to waipuna saddle. walked a bit again then fast down to portlevy saddle. VERY disappointed to see on the DOC sign a biker with a red slash through it from here. ignored that and continued on. steep wee bit then all riding til the attack on the back of Herbert's sub peak (913m). walked up that, carrying bike mostly, sometimes walking it ahead or beside me. talked to a walker couple on way up that. rode across and peaked Herbert (919m). then for the descent. 17:44 and i was aiming for the 18:10 ferry... talked to a couple of walking girls, then right down in the sweet singletrack valley talked to a biker.
made the ferry wharf at 18:15, ferry already half way across back towards Lyttelton... damn. only one thing for it, Godley House, where a pint of Monteiths Golden hit the spot bloody well. as did some fries and another pint... after sitting there for the good part of an hour, when i stood up again, the ankle screamed. T picked me up from the ferry in Lyttelton.
Overall, i climbed the equivalent of Mt Herbert, all up 917 m of altitude gained, but i got to relish a grand total of 1380 m of descent...
Friday, December 26, 2008
xmas eve
afternoon, headed up rapaki, turned right, round summit, to vic, and kiwi, then up road, and headed down the gov's bay track, hung a right onto new bit and followed it to its end. then turned round and back down that and up the track back up to summit road. then headed up to bottom of new flying nun, up the old 4wd track to the beginning of the new bit, then bombed down the sweet newby section, all the way down to kiwi, back up road to top of vic. down through gums, dazza's, brents, flow, bridges, and out the bottom. all good, felt super fine...
off to Little Ak for a while, taking bike, so will ride a bit over there.
off to Little Ak for a while, taking bike, so will ride a bit over there.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Sunday, rotovirus Rap Witch Castle Witch Vern Oldskool
Feeling like garbage, i just made it to Steve's as they were heading out. in attendance were Steve (wrote pfmtbc) , Pete, Tony and Wayne. At the bottom of Rapaki we picked up Fi and a friend of hers Nikki. tootled up the hill, me going slower than ever before on account of having had a rotovirus interfering with my system... i even DABBED on the way up, front wheel caugh in a drainage rut and stopped me dead... even today, monday, i feel like crap. anyway. pete dropped me entirely before the last climb...
top of rapaki, waited in the bitter easterly for Marie who was riding round from cashmere. she got there, we hit Witch Hill, had a good spin round there, then up road to Castle.
Pete led off and i sat on his tail... awesome blast down to first hairpin where i reminisced about Nelson's bike the other day, awesome blast to next hairpin. awesome blast to first grunt up and my legs were jelly. struggled up there (but still cleaned it all) and then had an awesome blast down to the end, until... smack! Fussshhh fusshhh fusshhhh, no more air in back tire. walked to shelter, took off wheel, took out tube, put in spare, replaced tire, blew up tire..."hmmm, what are these lumpy bits? rocks?" followed by... "hmmm, where's my other tirelever?"... "D'OH!" out goes the air, off comes the tire, out comes the lever, in goes the air again... then up road, down road fast, back round witch hill, up vernon singletrack. good climb, tho i was getting pretty wiped out by then. nearly lost it on last descent to road. regroup, and then we all headed off round the Traverse, and i peeled off down Old Skool.
Had a total blast heading down there. saw a guy ahead, so i went flat out and caught him. no wonder tho, he was on a rigid On-One SS. (i said, "good to see some English Steel!"). passed his mates who were waiting for him above the pylon, hurtled into the singletrack. bomb bomb bomb, ooop, riders coming up. OnOne guy and mates caught me up. climbers passed and i said "i'll let you by if you catch me" to my fellow descenders. took off, with a couple of lambs running in front of me for the first 100m, then left the others in my dust. had a good run the rest of the way down, bombing it all, living up to my Switchbacker name...
then there was the evil easterly head wind all the way home. i think i stayed in middle ring all the way across town. it sucked. i was exhausted for the rest of the day, and still aint right...
rotovirus 1, swtchbckr nil.
top of rapaki, waited in the bitter easterly for Marie who was riding round from cashmere. she got there, we hit Witch Hill, had a good spin round there, then up road to Castle.
Pete led off and i sat on his tail... awesome blast down to first hairpin where i reminisced about Nelson's bike the other day, awesome blast to next hairpin. awesome blast to first grunt up and my legs were jelly. struggled up there (but still cleaned it all) and then had an awesome blast down to the end, until... smack! Fussshhh fusshhh fusshhhh, no more air in back tire. walked to shelter, took off wheel, took out tube, put in spare, replaced tire, blew up tire..."hmmm, what are these lumpy bits? rocks?" followed by... "hmmm, where's my other tirelever?"... "D'OH!" out goes the air, off comes the tire, out comes the lever, in goes the air again... then up road, down road fast, back round witch hill, up vernon singletrack. good climb, tho i was getting pretty wiped out by then. nearly lost it on last descent to road. regroup, and then we all headed off round the Traverse, and i peeled off down Old Skool.
Had a total blast heading down there. saw a guy ahead, so i went flat out and caught him. no wonder tho, he was on a rigid On-One SS. (i said, "good to see some English Steel!"). passed his mates who were waiting for him above the pylon, hurtled into the singletrack. bomb bomb bomb, ooop, riders coming up. OnOne guy and mates caught me up. climbers passed and i said "i'll let you by if you catch me" to my fellow descenders. took off, with a couple of lambs running in front of me for the first 100m, then left the others in my dust. had a good run the rest of the way down, bombing it all, living up to my Switchbacker name...
then there was the evil easterly head wind all the way home. i think i stayed in middle ring all the way across town. it sucked. i was exhausted for the rest of the day, and still aint right...
rotovirus 1, swtchbckr nil.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Wednesday Night, Old skool vernon witch castle (Nelson frame break, again)
drove over to Nelson's. we hit the road, headed up Bowenvale, up the Old Skool. cranked the first half middle ring, not doing too badly, saw vorb's Tama and friends on their way down. hit the 4wd section, nelson continued grinding on up in middle ring, cleaning the whole bastard, while i struggled and gasped in granny... by the time i reached the gravel of Huntsbury (where i_ride_rigid aka paul passed me heading down), nelson was pretty much already at the top. i ambled on up and had a breather.
Onto vernon, at the highest point Nelson stopped and turned on his camera. i led off down - not very smoothly, a couple of off balance near botch ups, and then a bit more finesse and flow at the bottom. then across to Witch Hill trail, Nelson lead off, losing me on the climb, again, i wasnt very flowy and a bit stilted... then the road. climb climb to Castle Rock.
Camera on again, me leading off, hit the trail, bombed it, flow ALL good, total blast, floaty and flying. this trail is primo right now, into the first hairpin and just round it when nelson yells out (from not too far behind me) and i hear the zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz of his tire rubbing the chainstay... BROKEN, AGAIN! exactly the same place as it went that other time in vic park. needless to say, game over. i headed back up the singletrack, bombed down the road to Rapaki, bombed down that, getting a bit dim light wise now, tho still all good. then i hoofed it across town to my car, and drove to pick up nelson, got to him under the Tunnel Rd bridge on Port Hills Rd.
Footage heaps better than last time...
Onto vernon, at the highest point Nelson stopped and turned on his camera. i led off down - not very smoothly, a couple of off balance near botch ups, and then a bit more finesse and flow at the bottom. then across to Witch Hill trail, Nelson lead off, losing me on the climb, again, i wasnt very flowy and a bit stilted... then the road. climb climb to Castle Rock.
Camera on again, me leading off, hit the trail, bombed it, flow ALL good, total blast, floaty and flying. this trail is primo right now, into the first hairpin and just round it when nelson yells out (from not too far behind me) and i hear the zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz of his tire rubbing the chainstay... BROKEN, AGAIN! exactly the same place as it went that other time in vic park. needless to say, game over. i headed back up the singletrack, bombed down the road to Rapaki, bombed down that, getting a bit dim light wise now, tho still all good. then i hoofed it across town to my car, and drove to pick up nelson, got to him under the Tunnel Rd bridge on Port Hills Rd.
Footage heaps better than last time...
Monday, December 08, 2008
Sunday Arvo, kiwi area meanderings.
Firstly, couldnt make the PFMTBCinc ride in the a.m. due to small person at home with a puke. so, got out later in the afternoon. had to drop something off to the folks, so drove up and rode from there, thereby increasing my singletrack time and lessening my riding across town time and giving myself a 200m alt advantage...
headed up into Vic Park, to the 19th battalion war memorial bit, then headed down the trail to the Old Dyer's Pass Rd trail. Rode up that to the Kiwi, then on up the road round to top of Marleys. Bombed down the 'nun', bailing half way down the lower section before the kiwi, and heading over and down that cool track into Gov's Bay. before the final switchbacky section, hmmmm, what's this? a new track to the right... brand new, no tire treads on it at all, heading up and round a bit... followed it to where it had finished having work on it, and where it is going to go went on into the scrub. so, left the bike and started walking, just for a look to see if it connected up to 'built' track further up. explored a while, then could see its line onwards, but needed to get back to the bike.
Got back to the bike, and there were three guys waiting for me... hehe, um, yeah, hi, just checking out where its gonna go, are you the builders? uh huh. anyway, chatted to them and i should join them sometime. Wednesdays, 6 to 8. eventually, it'll get through to the bottom of the new sections on the Flying Nun... mint. its gonna be so freakin' awesome!. so, rode with them back up to summit road, first one letting me pass, then the fast young guy (james). i cleaned more of it than i've ever cleaned before, including the final little step.
Then i jumped back over onto the rest of the 'nun and headed for Kiwi. then up road, upper section of Thomson's, and down through vic, Brake Free, the new one below Brake Free and onto the gummies, then down to war memorial, down through park, into lower Dog Exercise Area, down rooty goodness on east side of Pines, and into Cashmere, to Nainy's, then back up the zigzzag to the waiting car...
headed up into Vic Park, to the 19th battalion war memorial bit, then headed down the trail to the Old Dyer's Pass Rd trail. Rode up that to the Kiwi, then on up the road round to top of Marleys. Bombed down the 'nun', bailing half way down the lower section before the kiwi, and heading over and down that cool track into Gov's Bay. before the final switchbacky section, hmmmm, what's this? a new track to the right... brand new, no tire treads on it at all, heading up and round a bit... followed it to where it had finished having work on it, and where it is going to go went on into the scrub. so, left the bike and started walking, just for a look to see if it connected up to 'built' track further up. explored a while, then could see its line onwards, but needed to get back to the bike.
Got back to the bike, and there were three guys waiting for me... hehe, um, yeah, hi, just checking out where its gonna go, are you the builders? uh huh. anyway, chatted to them and i should join them sometime. Wednesdays, 6 to 8. eventually, it'll get through to the bottom of the new sections on the Flying Nun... mint. its gonna be so freakin' awesome!. so, rode with them back up to summit road, first one letting me pass, then the fast young guy (james). i cleaned more of it than i've ever cleaned before, including the final little step.
Then i jumped back over onto the rest of the 'nun and headed for Kiwi. then up road, upper section of Thomson's, and down through vic, Brake Free, the new one below Brake Free and onto the gummies, then down to war memorial, down through park, into lower Dog Exercise Area, down rooty goodness on east side of Pines, and into Cashmere, to Nainy's, then back up the zigzzag to the waiting car...
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Scorcher NW, Worsley Nun Dyer Vic Traverse Oldskool
Rode over to Nelson's, and we headed for Worsley's. Hot NW day, scorching hot riding up there, but the tail wind helped, a little... nelson powered up in middle ring, all the way up the body bag!!! i managed to clean it all grovelling in granny, and nearly wanting to barf at the top.
hit the Nun, and had a good float down there, with Nelson chasing me trying out his camera again. then, on down Old Dyers bumpity bumpity bumpity, cross road and on up into Vic.
Hit the fire road up thru the gums, slippin' on the big leaves, me hitting granny and Nelson powering away again up in Middle ring. hit the traverse, not toooo bad a run round there, but the lack of sleep the night before and the heat were really getting to me, and every little climb seemed to kill me. then hoofed it down the Old Skool out to Bowenvale, and on round for a pint at Elevate.
hit the Nun, and had a good float down there, with Nelson chasing me trying out his camera again. then, on down Old Dyers bumpity bumpity bumpity, cross road and on up into Vic.
Hit the fire road up thru the gums, slippin' on the big leaves, me hitting granny and Nelson powering away again up in Middle ring. hit the traverse, not toooo bad a run round there, but the lack of sleep the night before and the heat were really getting to me, and every little climb seemed to kill me. then hoofed it down the Old Skool out to Bowenvale, and on round for a pint at Elevate.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Friday 28th Nov, Crocodiled
Drove over to Nelson's about 7. we took his truck out to Halswell Quarry, parked up and headed on up the Croc. good riding, cleaned all the climby bits, tho my very recent Junkfood dinner was slowing me up, and the legs were a tiny bit tired from the night before. but, got on up to top of Croc, continued up singletrack to highest point then on down to the next gate... then back up the old road section and time to hit the down on the singletrack, me in lead, Nelson testing out his new helmet mounted camera. not a bad run down, not the quickest or the smoothest, gusts of easterly blowing us off course in the top sections and then pushing us faster and faster down the straightaway before the gulley switchbacks... i blew it on the short climb, then a good run down the final section under the trees... 9 minutes of footage... then, it was back up to do it all again.
climbing up into the sunset, it was sitting on the horizon when we reached the highest point again, at which point we turned round and i led off down again, this time much smoother much faster much better. its great doing two runs, you get a better feel for the trail cos its still fresh. bombed well all the way down again, then blew it on the short sharp climb again!, then on out to truck.
checked out the footage back at N's place. some good. but aiming a tad low, and also its a bit bumpy. so, once those two issues are sorted, its gonna be mint!
climbing up into the sunset, it was sitting on the horizon when we reached the highest point again, at which point we turned round and i led off down again, this time much smoother much faster much better. its great doing two runs, you get a better feel for the trail cos its still fresh. bombed well all the way down again, then blew it on the short sharp climb again!, then on out to truck.
checked out the footage back at N's place. some good. but aiming a tad low, and also its a bit bumpy. so, once those two issues are sorted, its gonna be mint!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Old skool's well cool.
Fiiinally got out. time and light short, leaving home at 7.45pm, drove to Bowenvale Ave, rode up Old Skool. right at the start i bumped into Angrywadder James finishing a ride, caught up with him briefly and while talking to him a dude on a Cotic Simple stopped and chatted too...
anyway, headed up through the new switchbacks up the Old Skool. Cleaned everything and was in middle ring all the way til the pylon. its alll good up there now, with post winter repairs all good. cruised, coughing my lungs out and emptying the snot pressure of the remains of a lurgy, grannying all the way the 4wd zigzags to the top gate, chasing the last of the sunshine up the hill. never quite caught it.
then turned around and headed back down the way i came up. glasses off as they were steamy, and down all the techy lines, well worn from the return of other riders, and then down the singletrack. nice flowy descent and home by 9.15.
anyway, headed up through the new switchbacks up the Old Skool. Cleaned everything and was in middle ring all the way til the pylon. its alll good up there now, with post winter repairs all good. cruised, coughing my lungs out and emptying the snot pressure of the remains of a lurgy, grannying all the way the 4wd zigzags to the top gate, chasing the last of the sunshine up the hill. never quite caught it.
then turned around and headed back down the way i came up. glasses off as they were steamy, and down all the techy lines, well worn from the return of other riders, and then down the singletrack. nice flowy descent and home by 9.15.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
lonng time no riding...
hard to believe the last ride was that post election sunday... i've been away in the depths of the south coast of fiordland from 16th to 24th. walking in the bush several hours every day, counting birds, setting traps, examining fuchsia flowers, checking tracking tunnels... i reckon a 36inch wheel balloon tire bike would be the go for some tramping tracks, as for the bush itself, no way could you ride a bike in there...
took O for a bit of a tagalong spin round the river last night, but thats the total of it... will ride again SOON
took O for a bit of a tagalong spin round the river last night, but thats the total of it... will ride again SOON
Monday, November 10, 2008
post election Sunday, vic witch vic nun out
the country is now on its way down the tubes under the new Nazional government. hoo fucking ray.
saturday afternoon, i pulled the cranks off the cotic, took out the bottom bracket, cleaned everything, re-greased, re-assembled, thereby getting rid of the looseness and creak before any damage was done.
Sunday morning... nursing a few too many Leffe's under my belt and a rough night crashed at my folks (left kids there while at Paul's 40th party at Kiwi), i headed up from top of Cashmere into Vic park, gently easing into it, to be confronted with blue tape crossing the skidder site from the gums to Dazza's for local DH racing. Middle ringed it up good to top, getting out of the way of the motherhucking downhillers, and then booked it round the summit traverse towards rapaki. nice flowy ride round, into the wind in spots, and over vernon, with a bloody good flowy down to top of rapaki where i found Marie, Fi the swearing irish optometrist, and Nicole, shortly followed up by Steve, then Pete, AndyRandy and Waynus. We headed back up round Vernon, good climb, overtaking some guys strangely walking near the top (gotta start somewhere i guess), and then good bomb round to Vic. dodged a few more DHers, and headed into Thomsons, kiwi, where pete discovered his rear wheel had come loose, Chris King hubs too, very weird. he bailed down the road.
the rest of us headed up round road to top of Marleys, and had an awesome bomb down Flying Nun, enjoying the crap out of the new bits. then my phone rang. it was T, saying she didnt have a key, so i had to bail then. the others went back up for another blast down the new bits. i bombed it down Old Dyers, (overtaking the two guys that were walking on Vernon), and then blasted it down Dyers Pass Rd (overtaking 1 car and having the rest of the road to myself). was home by 11.30 or so, to find no sign of T, H or O... who arrived later.
saturday afternoon, i pulled the cranks off the cotic, took out the bottom bracket, cleaned everything, re-greased, re-assembled, thereby getting rid of the looseness and creak before any damage was done.
Sunday morning... nursing a few too many Leffe's under my belt and a rough night crashed at my folks (left kids there while at Paul's 40th party at Kiwi), i headed up from top of Cashmere into Vic park, gently easing into it, to be confronted with blue tape crossing the skidder site from the gums to Dazza's for local DH racing. Middle ringed it up good to top, getting out of the way of the motherhucking downhillers, and then booked it round the summit traverse towards rapaki. nice flowy ride round, into the wind in spots, and over vernon, with a bloody good flowy down to top of rapaki where i found Marie, Fi the swearing irish optometrist, and Nicole, shortly followed up by Steve, then Pete, AndyRandy and Waynus. We headed back up round Vernon, good climb, overtaking some guys strangely walking near the top (gotta start somewhere i guess), and then good bomb round to Vic. dodged a few more DHers, and headed into Thomsons, kiwi, where pete discovered his rear wheel had come loose, Chris King hubs too, very weird. he bailed down the road.
the rest of us headed up round road to top of Marleys, and had an awesome bomb down Flying Nun, enjoying the crap out of the new bits. then my phone rang. it was T, saying she didnt have a key, so i had to bail then. the others went back up for another blast down the new bits. i bombed it down Old Dyers, (overtaking the two guys that were walking on Vernon), and then blasted it down Dyers Pass Rd (overtaking 1 car and having the rest of the road to myself). was home by 11.30 or so, to find no sign of T, H or O... who arrived later.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Tuesday Night, Singlist Thomas the Green God Snake
Wounds all healed. Cotic's bottom bracket is loose, so singlespeed it was. Nelson and i hit Slumner, and ground up Capt Thomas, cleaning lots, and puffing a lot.
At Evans we headed up Scummit road, nelson pulling waaay ahead, me struggling. Topped Greenwood Park and hit the single. he blew the first rocky bit and i pulled into the lead for a while, leading into the top descents. nice flow, good riding, the singles behaving nicely. couple weird front wheel washouts but mostly a good flight. got down into the lower reaches and we stopped so nelson could hit this jump just after a sheepstop. he got good air, and on we went.
At Evans again, i thought we were gonna head back down Thomas, but nelson had other plans. the sun had pretty much set, but there was still plenty of light, and i relented and we hit Godley. wasnt long before i lost sight of him ahead. i was slow, he was fast. good ride nonetheless. they've cleaned up a bit, build some groovy rockybits on what is wet in winter, and tidied it further round. ended up we bombed all the way out to Breeze and when i got there he was already well on down the snake, so on i followed, lower back getting more and more sore. still enough light. bombed it into Taylors and hit the climb out, flashies now on.
Down into Scumner via the road on account of it being too dark to do Nicholson, and back to Nelson's truck.
At Evans we headed up Scummit road, nelson pulling waaay ahead, me struggling. Topped Greenwood Park and hit the single. he blew the first rocky bit and i pulled into the lead for a while, leading into the top descents. nice flow, good riding, the singles behaving nicely. couple weird front wheel washouts but mostly a good flight. got down into the lower reaches and we stopped so nelson could hit this jump just after a sheepstop. he got good air, and on we went.
At Evans again, i thought we were gonna head back down Thomas, but nelson had other plans. the sun had pretty much set, but there was still plenty of light, and i relented and we hit Godley. wasnt long before i lost sight of him ahead. i was slow, he was fast. good ride nonetheless. they've cleaned up a bit, build some groovy rockybits on what is wet in winter, and tidied it further round. ended up we bombed all the way out to Breeze and when i got there he was already well on down the snake, so on i followed, lower back getting more and more sore. still enough light. bombed it into Taylors and hit the climb out, flashies now on.
Down into Scumner via the road on account of it being too dark to do Nicholson, and back to Nelson's truck.
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