Sunday, quick up into drizzle to dinner

headed across town and up Major Aitken onto the new found wee piece of singletrack on the way up, thinking i'd look for another exit. could see one and another possibility, but didnt venture into them as i couldnt see any actual trails. back up onto the road and into the rest of the climbing grunt. as i got up above the pilons, the drizzle started getting thicker. all the way up the Huntsbury to the road, then hit the summit traverse towards Vic. good fang round here, tho tussocks soon drenched my shoes, with rocks and matting getting slick too.

Hit Thomsons both sections and blasted down to Kiwi, then hit Old Dyers. great ride down the first section, flowy and pumpy, then the midsection with the ruts was saturated, with all the long grass leaning into the trail, drenching me even further. down the 4wd section was wetter than i'd have thought, so a bit of splatter resulting, then crossed the road and scrunted up through vic onto the road then down past the dog exercise zones and down the track under the tv/microwave tower behind the houses and into the top of cashmere for dinner. happy birthday Mum!

Tuesday night, quarry and a pair of crocs.

no riding for over a week due to being in Fiordland.

grabbed a lift with Pete, running a little late, so the others (steve, tony, warren, abacus-steve) had slowly headed up the over the quarry ahead of us. our lungs screaming, we chased, meeting them at the top. cruisy flow down, me chatting to steve, then up the paddock and up the zigzag into the new windswept houses. tarmac for a bit then over the gate and up the singletrack. i peeled off and rode the log, then caught back up and overtook everyone into the grunts. blew the first, but cleaned the rest, gasping for air a the top. then we blitzed the 'short course' track down to gate. unbelievable how fast the elite guys must be riding that to complete 12 laps in 30mins!!!!!

regrouped at gate, and headed back up singletrack then down. i led and we were chasing this older guy who we'd given a big lead. i caught up with him before the pond, and went to pass him on a straight bit, but then i bloody well hit a rut hidden in the grass and went down HARD. pretty much right next to him... twisted my handlebars/stem, so had to get the multitool out and straighten it up. steve tony and wazza continued on, but pete and abacus-steve stuck with me. then it was off again, this time me chasing pete. down (what was) 'new tasty' and onto the croc. fanging it. didnt let a little crash slow me up. couple close calls with rutty bits and neeaarly didnt clip out when i stalled in that rock tightspot, then on down, cleaning the steepie after the bridge, where steve et al were waiting.

then steve led down but i darted round him in the lower hairpins, then we hung a tight left and down into loose grave and some surprise rock stepping stones to a regroup where steve steve and tony all bailed on account of steve's gurgly guts.

pete warren and me headed back up a different trail this time, straight up to the zigzag into the tarmac then back down the croc. another good blast, with lungs just getting right... home by 8.30. nice wee jaunt.

Wednesday evening, Major Hunts Traverse Fence Hidden OldSkool twice.

picked up Chris before 7 and we parked on Bowenvale Ave. tootled down and round to Major Aitken then up here. part way up, on a bend, spotted a wee singletrack snaking off into some gums. hit it, Chris got a pinch flat on the kerb, stopped to fix that and then on up the 'Reserve' singletrack, which appeared to finish in someones back yard. he was watering his lawn and said "up to the right", so we found our way out, and spotted where you'd go next time. nice, will be an interesting wee down next time we bail down this hill.

on up huntsbury to top, reasonably uneventful except for meeting a guy on a Simple (Soul's singlespeed sister). clambered straight up onto traverse and hoofed it round towards Vic, sun thankfully just set, reducing blindness.

dropped straight over the DH fence, hung a right and headed onto Upper Fenceline track for an explore. i'd not been down it for a year or two, so figured'd take a look. someone's been working on it, trying to stop the fall-line and they've dug in berms and jumps, but not nearly finished. bit crappy actually, and was a bit of a waste of altitude.

into Flow, Bridges, Chris taking our high line for a change, down the drop, and down to and up Hidden Valley track. cleaned it all up, round to pylons and Old Skooled it. At the stile, stopped for snackage and it was lights on time. rode the first bit without lights, which pinged and buzzed us down and then finally turned them on on some of the new section. good bomb down here trail in great nick.

at the bottom, we rode back up the valley track (steeper than i remembered), back up Hidden Valley, me blowing heaps this time, and then slaughtered Old Skool again. mint.

Sunday mornin', Hunts Vern on Witch Castle Green Thom

Met at Steve's (who was crook), smallish posse, Andy Tony Pete and Wahayno. rode round and headed up Chuntsbury. hefty climb, but not bad. Headed up onto singletrack and down towards Rapaki. good blast down here only meeting one person riding up. dabby but not bad jaunt round witch hill, then up road, and hit Castlerock. excellence ensued, absolutely flying down to the first hairpin, feeling totally on form, but then wondering whether i should trusting the on-form-ness. round the bend and i'm all over the place, rocks pinging my wheels around. round the next bend and still not quite right, then climbing and getting it right again.

round road onto Britten, spotting the new trail from the Gondola-top on the way. nice blitz round britten, getting the rocky bit first time in years. then to Greenwood. good blast down the first section, break for snackage on the ruins then hit the main drag. awesome descent. got round into Gloomy gulch and before the next descent looked back and didnt see anyone... eventually pete turned up, tony had a flat. so we sat and took in the view and chewed the fat til the others showed, then it was off again. good blast the rest of the way out.

Finally, onto the Captain. i started off good, but then i got spooked on the first rocky sections. got on okay after that, cleaning the usuals. the final blast was awesome. has been opened up a bit and some wicked wee jumpies all the way down, then into the darker stuff, meeting walkers and runners, easy easy, and down. long slog home by 12.30.

Thursday Night, FINALLY a ride, Worsle Nun Gov Thom Gum Cool OldSkool

after working late and not thinking i'd ever get a ride again, amazingly i managed to get out. picked up chris after 7, drove to nelsons whereuponst our bikes we rode. headed across town to Worsley's, me realising how spending that long off the bike had left me feeling fat and slow... realising it even more so as we hit the climb and chris and nelson blazed off ahead of me. struggle struggle i did up to the dirt, gasping for air and feeling the burn.

hit the Worsley dirt, and trundled up balancing on the crests of the ruts, dying, but managing not to dab. the boys waited for me half way up, then we set off again, and by the time i was hitting the body bag they'd already crested it. legs screaming i managed to get nearly all the way up, but, practiced as i became accustomed to, i walked a little bit, then managed to get back on and ride to the top. ugh. darkness encroaching we cruised to top of flying nun and chris and me put our lights on.

Chris led off, me second and nelson last. headed in, i felt sketchy as, nearly scaring myself on the steep rock drop corner, but pulling thru, conscious of nelson on my tail i put some distance on him, then would muck something up and feel him breathing down my neck again. one of the riser-corners i took the shortcut and nearly got thrown by something i didnt see hidden in the grass, managed to stay on, still feeling sketchy. on down and where i thought we were bailing (carpark), chris had continued down, nelson got by while i was off the track and we chased down chris who had a massive lead by now, me eating both of their dust down the lower section. regroup and trundle back up the road to the Governor's Track.

Top of the Gov's track, Nelson and Chris off first and me last. nice wee descent, lovely track, floating over the bridge, ducking branches, etc. sidled round to where the other down-track continues its switchbacky way down to the road. Nelson and Chris decided to head on down to take in all of it, whereas i couldnt be bothered with the grunt back up, so turned back getting a head start on them, back up the way we'd come down. couple bits i had to walk, below the bridge, steep wee steepies... then regrouped and finished off the lower section of the Nun back to the kiwi again, this time with Chris tight on my tail.

due to Guy fawkes, the summit road from kiwi towards rapaki was the busiest i've ever seen it. thousands of cars cruising it, bumper to bumper, fireworks going off in all the laybys. insane. we rode all the Thomson's sections for this reason. then it was down through Vic, bit of Brake free, chris riding it a couple times, then off down through the oldschool gummies. interesting rock treatment just before the trees. that should keep a few out. lost chris when we hung a left and nelson and me continued right down to the road gate, riding back and hollering for Chris at the skidder site.

then it was off up the middle trail to Cool Runnings, something i'd not ridden for quite some time. the other two hung a right for a higher line, but ended up on a completely different trail. i waited for them as they scrambled back to it, then off we flowed, railing the berms and out to Flow and Bridges, nelson and me sticking to the high line to the washout drop. then down to the new Hidden Valley connector (nice work in here!!!), round, screamed down Old Skool, and back to Nelsons about 10.30.

Excellent to get out on the bike again, but i gotta get my fitness back up, bad.

The Golden Bay Trip... PFMTBC Inc, annual pilgrimage

Well. Weather-wise, this was the worst of our trips yet. Couldn’t have picked a worse weekend to ride in Golden bay. but cant do much about it.

Started off with torrential rain as Nelson and me drove into blenheim around 11.30-midnight Thursday in the Bongo. Rain didn’t let up all night, and we woke up to it too. Figured, lets go look at Rarangi and see (grabbing some Renaissance beers on the way). It ‘appeared’ to be lightening-up out at sea, so we headed off up the track anyway. An hour later, we’re drenched, pushing our bikes up through the clouds and the bush was saturating us further drip drip dripping down. I'd conveniently forgotten how much uphill there was on this ride. However, the sketchy-as downhill made up for it all - steep slick(ish) rooty rocky technical (made doubly so by the wet) trail down down down through the bush. FANTASTIC. That is what mtnbiking is all about. Pushing your limits, challenging your skills.

Changed into dry clothes and hit the road. Drove over and through towards Marahau to meet up with the boys. Ending up connecting with them in Kaiteriteri to ride the new trails there. Taking in halfpipe up, sidewinder, swampmonster, gladerunner, then up Shady lady (losing tony, steve and wayne somehow), to gladerunner and back through swampmonster and sidewinder, chainsuck starting to bite us all, then round Salivater back down. That was fun. Hosed down bikes at boatwash, and headed through to Marahau beach camp to our cabins. Weather held off a bit over beers and bbq.

Next morning, drove over the hill into rain rain rain. Decided we wouldn’t ride anywhere that day (tho, had we known what was instore for us, we *should* have done Canaan Downs then...). Checked into the Nook, and then drove through torrential rain (the westcoast kind where you nearly have to pull over cos the wipers cant keep up (tho, the Bongo wipers can handle anything!)) to the Mussel Inn for some beers and kai, then back to the Nook for dinner and lots more beer, and maybe some bourbons.

Sunday, joined by Norm from Nelson (who'd ridden with us in Nelson a few years ago), we drove up to Wharariki / Puponga (Farewellspit). Lovely day up there, barely a breath of wind, best I’ve ever seen it at Wharariki. Parked at Pillar Pt Lighthouse track start, sort of the top of the road. cruised down road to farm track along behind the beach, popped out to rock bridge and then GreenHill beach, and back up road and up track up to the Pillar Point Lighthouse and along the ridge a bit, chatting up some horses on the way. Then bombed it back down, track like a river bed - fast flowing, steep, rocky as hell, babyhead rocks abounding, and fun fun fun.

Drove down to Collingwood, had lunch as the rain started, then up to the Devils Boots, from whence we rode into the Aorere goldfields. Rode up grindy slurpy steep and rutty singletrack to Druggans Dam, a bit further, then 3 of us (Nelson Pete and me) back down the way we'd come up, while the rest 'piked' choosing to ride out via the 4wd track instead (this proved, by all accounts, to be everybit as challenging and enjoyable as our way (and longer too)).

Norm stayed over night, it rained all night, and Monday morning was still wet, so taking it easy getting started, we all took our 3 vehicles (leaving his behind) up Takaka hill, and half way out the Canaan Downs Rd where it was clearing a bit. Parked at the saddle. Rode down to Harwoods Hole carpark, and then out the Rameka track. Jungle riding at its best in these conditions... Very mucky, but VERY fun. I had a nasty crash, misnegotiating a rock entry to a streamcrossing, over the bars, into the creekbed, landing on a rock with my chest. Pounded the wind out of me, hurt like hell for a bit. But kept riding. Rex went over the bars at various times too, and Pete got stung good by a Lawyer of the bush variety on the cheek. Fun descent in the lower sections, the one bit i thought would be the worst. then a wicked struggle up the marbley cliff-ledge final climb. finally a fun bomb down the gravel access road to the Rameka Project that has extended markedly since i rode it back in March, and was a joy to behold. sidling singletrack through pine forest and hacked, nay, carved lovingly, through gorse and scrub. eminently turnable switchbacks throughout and even a kea screeching overhead in the pines. followed by a bomb down to the ford, and onwards down the rameka road. Once we finally got out to the road, rode back down towards the Nook, via a small detour into The Grove. sweet smooth walkingsingletrack up to a look out and back through spectacular limestone formations with rata trees and jungle bush. Three drivers and Norm went up to get the vehicles, with Norm continuing on home. (they were gone nearly an hour and a half, bloody long drive). Big celebratory night that night with three of us staying up til waaaay past our bedtimes.

Tuesday, still wet, so figured we’d head back up hill and do Canaan Downs trails. So, UP the hill once again, out to the saddle, and rode down the road again, and then into the start of the Rameka, only instead of turning left to go down, we continued up to Wainui Saddle. From here, locals (and DOC (see Mtbiking on this page) ) have made a trail that meanders across almost all of the Canaan Downs farm. Its really great. Awesome terrain, scenery, landscape. Lambs everywhere. Weather came and went, sometimes we could see the whole valley, other times we could only see about 10 feet. And one stage it hosed down for a good half hour. Luckily, biking keeps you warm. Plodded back up to the vehicles with sunshine trying to get through, and hail piled up around the sides of the road!!!!! Nelson rode down the road and I drove the rally-Bongo. I picked him up at the main road, then as we headed into the rain at the top, dropped him off again, and followed him all the way down the main hill retrieving him in Upper Takaka. Out to dinner at the Penguin in Pohara (just round the corner), then we all had like one drink each and crashed very early.

Awesome trail surfaces ridden, all drain well, none seemed particularly bothered by having 9 or 10 sets of tires over them at all. good times had by all. no major injuries nor major bike mechanicals. lots of chainsuck tho. and all our brake pads will have worn heaps more than usual.

Bring on next year. as well as trips to Hanmer, Kirwans, Croesus, Marlborough in between... not to mention Craigieburn and Wharfdale...

Sunday arvo, post pox exhaustion...

Finally, exactly 2 weeks since the pox struck i get out on the bike. planting in the morning, so while H slept i picked up Chris and we parked up on Hillsborough Tce. headed up Farm Track, which was a bit of a mistake, as i found my lungs just couldnt seem to get enough air. anyway, with a bit of walking in the lower reaches, but surprisingly cleaning the top bit, we turned right on the road and headed round to top of Vernon Singletrack. headed up onto it and down round to rapaki, having a damned good flight down, track in mint condition, showing no signs of issues from previous weeks' rain (not even in the usual spots)

round witch hill, not bad, tho struggling- me on the ups, then up road to top of Castle where there was a Hangglider careening around above. Excellent blat down there, chris leading, we flew. was good. at bridle summit we decided to ride up back up the way we came, so clamber clamber, me struggling away. ugh, the climbs were so hard. then back down road, back round witch hill, much much better this time, its soo much more fun in that direction, blasting down to top of rapaki. back up vernon, chris blasting off ahead to blitz some other guys (who i surprisingly caught up to as well).

then we blatted the first bit of summit and down Old Skool... briefly think i had an apparition of a "Track Closed" sign, but it was so fleeting and i was travelling fast and committed so we carried on. in hindsight, only reason we can see for it being closed is cos of all the lambs and their mums all over the hill from that top gate to the new stile part way into the singletrack (annoying place for a stile, we reckon). we were cautious, and dont think we upset too many small family units (tho, sheep being sheep, ie, fucking stupid, there was one mum who kinda left one of her offspring behind due to us... hopefully she'll wander back and find it)

annyways, excellent run down the rest of the singletrack, all in mint condition too. no harm done, even if we accidentally ignored a sign. then round road back to car.

This was my last chance to ride before heading away Thursday night for the PFMTBC annual trip... much looking forward to it. few things to do on the bike before that...

The Pox

Last sunday, a whole week ago, i woke up ready to go for a ride, and found that my body ached like someone had taken to me with a baseball bat, and my head ached like hell and i generally just felt bloody awful... i still considered riding, thinking it was just the flu starting and i might burn it out, but, nope, got sensible and hopped back into bed... where i remained for the following 7 days pretty much. monday afternoon i noticed the first few spots, and a visit to the doctor on tuesday confirmed our suspicions, Chicken Pox.

so, a pox riddled sickboy for a week, with wednesday being the lowest point and have been on the up somewhat since then, with this weekend having been finally up and about. i'm still off work today, probably tomorrow too just to be safe. i think thursday might be my first chance back out for a ride. dont think i should push it with a ride tomorrow night, altho i am feeling heaps better, i reckon its probably best to rest these bones just a little longer, get allll the virus out of me.

that'll make it more than 2 weeks off the bike. s'been a while since i've had that long off.
(i've also turned off my RSS feed to vorb, and will just post up the rides from now on in a single thread...)

Tuesday Night, quick Muntsbury Old Skool blat in threatening skies

big black shower clouds rollicked through the city in the afternoon, making the riding look dubious. didnt help that the rainradar went on the blink making it a by sight ride planning mish. drove over to steve's and everyone had bailed except us and wayne. we rode round damp streets with thick dark weather approaching to the west. i was convinced we'd miss it if we got on the hill, so we kept clear of it and up ramahana and aotea on up the hill, thinking we'd bail at any moment, and keeping an eye on what was over sugarloaf. finally hit dirt, and it struck me, why not just head down Old Skool? so. on up we went, ominous weather all around us, wind howling on us, along the ridge, and it was all downhill from there.

tucked into the descent, cleaning all the fun bits, but the tricky rocky section got me out again, only just tho. couple of interesting lines, then onto the singletrack. the rain from earlier had basically only damped the dust, and the trail was in mint condition. i floated round and down, loving it all. steve and wayne were taking it pretty easy, so i'd hold up and hang for a bit, let them catch up then set off again. they got quicker as we got lower tho. the last little section before the bottom that nelson had worked on ages ago turned out really good, bypassing the nasty holes real good...

rain got us as we rode back through St Martins, but only a little. all up probably only rode about an hour.

Sunday, Rich Green the God-Snake

after a surprise child-free night, T and me went to UTRV for eggs-bene (mmmmm, goooood), and she was gonna give me a lift all the way to Slumner, but when we saw Steve, helMark and Tony on Ferrymead bridge, figured we'd just get to the end of the causeway. unloaded bike and i waited for the boys. tootled round to Do'Co' meeting Andypandy and Wahayno there and hearing that the Hubbatronic Goatinus was already topping Greenwood and wouldnt be joining us.

test riding the Camelbak M.U.L.E for the first time.

cruised round and up Richmond Hill Rd. its quite steep, but stayed middle ring all the way up. then up gravel and paddock... (hmmm, steve, i think i still prefer the track that goes round to top of Clifton/Panorama from there, then up that singletrack under the trees, no gravel, and no paddock...but nevermind). anyway. up road with a tail wind and Mark discussing wheelies, and then onto the 'wood.

I had an excellent run down here, chasing steve who'd headed down a fair bit ahead of us. i finally spotted him as i rounded into gloomy gulch, heading down the other side. the chase was on. i pushed faster than i have for a while and by the time i got to the gap in the fence with the jump just after it (just before heading into that little valley with the stream), he was only just heading across the other side. it was about here i could hear a clattering from my rear end, figuring it was that pesky cassette locknut again, so i pushed on down and arrived at the final stile as he was just hopping over it.

cross road and quick fix (luckily i hadnt turfed the cassette tool when changing bags). then onto Godley. blew the rocks first try, bout the same point as i made it to the other week. mark headed back for another go, so i did too. blew it even worse, trying a line on the right that proved too steep. the rest was awesome. felt very good all the way out, and flowy smooth most of the time on the downs. excellently fast run down to Livingston Col, feeling mark breathing down my neck, so i kept the speed on. over to Breeze, going good, but blowing a rock weirdly on the techiest section.

onto the snake, i led off, but into after the first couple of corners (of the anaconda proper) i felt Mark behind so pulled up to let him pass (turned out he wasnt as close as he'd sounded). with him past i stuck to his tail, popping awesome air, nailing the downs, and hammering it round the curves (some of which are seriously messy). then i led down the 'tail, flowing good and easy.

felt surprisingly good climbing out of taylors, and we all had good flight down nicholson, along the front to coffee at the Do'Com.

Mark went off to play on the Captain, we lost Steve to a burpy tubeless rear tire and his girls, leaving tony and me to ride on meeting a sweeet tailwind across causeway, then i bailed at Ferrymead Bridge up to the G's.

M.U.L.E, - review. good pack. comfy, carries everything i need, sits well, popped up bumping my helmet a couple times when bunnyhopping, but should be able to be adjusted out, and sometime i might try the waist belt.

Tuesday Night, poached Quarry, Crock x 2.

picked up Nelson and met Tony Andrew Warren and HelMark outside Quarry Park gates. kitted up and headed into a nasty cold easterly. up over the top of the quarry and down to bottom of the Croc, it being dark, meeting no walkers, then into the trees and up up up. got a yell from behind to hear Tony had a pinch flat (prob from the steps above the quarry). that fixed we headed off again, me struggling on the ups which seemed to never end. dusty trails, but i'll get to that later. regrouped a couple times, then on up to top of singletrack, sheltering from the wind on the ground in the tussocks while we waited for the stragglers, then down to the next gate, and back up the single to top again, then Nelson, followed by Mark then me et al. headed down down down. wind coupled with narrow ruts offsetting balance and control.

into the top of the croc and the dust began. chasing Nelson chasing Mark, i was getting a mouthful of dust at every breath, and my eyes were catching it too. clouds of it billowing off their tires and getting caught by the wind. the worst cloud (i couldnt see through it) was just after the cattlestop before that rocky narrow derailleur eating twisty bit. then down the switchbacks, grunt up the slope aaaaand rest. others catch up, then into the pines and blast, catching smooth smooth air on the first jump then down into the lower switchies. regrouped on the field and half the crew bailed... leaving Nelson Mark and me to head back up for another lap.

again, up up up, good spin, feeling it tho, really tired last night for some reason. then the descent, a little smoother this time, i held right back to let the dust settle and had a much fast run, catching up quickly after each time i'd held back. back through the park to car and home by about 9.

Sunday a.m. Worsley gnarley Marley to Old Skool

beautiful morning, treadled over to Tony's for a 9ish meeting. buncha pikers or at least sickos (and one injured in action) left 4 of us departing Tony's about 9.30. Us being Tony, Wayne, Rex and myself, with knowledge that we'd bump into helmutless Mark somewhere on the Worsley. spun across, and hit the hill, Rex and me striding ahead and running into Mark up by Liz's old place. regrouped at the end of the road and hit the dirt. great climb up here, again rex and me riding ahead, regrouping, riding on. lost my front wheel on the top of the bodybag, but got restarted and finished. rex and mark both cleaned it.

Marley's Nun was joyful. Mark showed us all that new beaut bermed top corner, dropped into it and blasted the rest. caught up to tony and wayne (who'd snuck by when we were contemplating that stonework) and got past wayne, then took a shortcut further down to get past tony. blazed out to where you can hop back onto the road, and we regrouped there and decided to pin another lap in, so, back up the road, and into it again. followed this time by a young'n on an Ironhorse 6.7 or something, he was fanging, let him past and he was chasing Mark catching massive air in front of me. carried on down to kiwi. smooth fast fun running. Wayne got a call and stayed put to meet another mate for a ride, while the rest of us took off up to top of Vic.

Up Thomsons Rex took the first bit, i couldnt be arsed cos of that boardwalky bit at the end... onto the second bit, blazed up there and again, regrouped then hit the traverse. nice flight round there meeting some who were rude and some who were not. then Mark headed down Lava Flow while the other three of us hit Old Skool. fun tussock dodge into the top section, stopped at gate to watch Mark on the ridge, then down all the (what we used to call) off piste bits, (that are now pretty much the standard flow, it appears), the lower middle rocky section is very very washed out now, with a tire eater that got me twice, then onto the sidling single, great flow down there, and out to the bottom dead on 12.

home across town

Thursday Night, the Captain Green God Snake

Picked up my bike from Kris, thursday a.m., delicious freshly serviced forks, (and i got a couple new sets of Bridgestone pads to put in too).

Thursday evening, chucked one of the new Prowler MX tires on the front (replacing the Nevegal (with missing knob)), and then after 7.30 (on account of T's yoga) Chris arrived at mine, then Nelson picked us up and off we went out to Slumner. headed up the Captain Thomas, spinny spin spin, layer off due to warmth, and added air to back tire part way up. usual bits caught us out, but all in all not a bad climb. then up the road to top of Greenwood. we always forget how long that is, but once at top, liquid load lightened into gutter, and off we headed.

nelson led out, then Chris, then me. good blat across the top and into the down, when into the first of the switchbacks nelson bails off with a pinch flat. bit of wind, cooling us, so vest on and off we rolled again. one or two corners later my chain is shifting changing skipping no matter what i do. the others getting away on me, i stop and finally look, yep, thats one mighty twisted link... so, rolled the rest of the way down, my 'flow' all jiggered. dusty and poundy is how greenwood can be described at the moment. once at Evans, out with the trusty chaintool, and a rummage around in my bag found a short length of chain, so, removed the offending link, and patched in a fresh couple. all good ready to roll again.

hit up Godley. on the first techy climb we all bollocksed it, so we all went back and tried again, and again, and again, mostly bollocksing it on the same hole or rock, but on my last attempt i damn nearly got it... got higher than the other two anyway. on up and around good cruise, tho nelson on my tail was making me push harder and harder. then the blat to livingston, after which i lost my puff on way up over to breeze. lower back was starting to give me gyp too... bit of a rest at breeze then off down the snake. i got started ahead of the other two, and realised i had this massive gap, so i stopped a ways round waited for 'em, then, lights appearing, i got going again. fuck it was bumpy. bumpiest i've ever ridden it. but, fun none-the-less. blasted down into taylors. then the road. ugh. legs spent, struggled up the hill. nicholson blast, and cruise round waterfront and back to truck. home by 11.

Saturday, hungry Poulter singlespeed slog

in Arthurs Pass for weekend, so Saturday, Tom and me headed down and through the Mt White road to the Poulter. Cotic still with Kris, so i had the singlespeed. parked up, and there's a DOC truck with trailer (for quads) and white subie with bikerack (the maxxis tread we followed all the way)

Starts off nicely, with a quick wee blast down a rocky 4wd track to the valley bottom, then meandered up following a mob of merino with a big climb in view ahead. hit the climb, i rode lots and walked lots. especially the really bouldery messy steep shit. once up tho, a nice descent flowed down, lots of line options and fun, then round a few tight bends and across a rough creek, and then down this wicked scree infested rock fest. needed to stay waaay off the front brake down here or you dug in and had no steering. steep too. over all, lots more ups and downs than i expected.

we met a hardcore 4wd coming out. as well as the fellow cyclist (who'd been in for a couple days, was carrying a MASSIVE pack (+ gun and fishing rod).

once in the National Park proper, the track becomes a DOC quad track, ie, narrower. we cruised up through this to the Tarn (where we met a couple of trampers), about 3kms shy of the Casey hut, and it was the 2 hours in mark and we figured we ought to get back. plus, we'd not banked on it being so long, so hadnt had lunch or brought much food with us. ie, Tom had brought an orange, and i'd only brought a One Square, which i duly shared with him. we reckoned if we'd not had them we'd have been toast, crawling back... turned back, slogged up the fun descents that had been on the way in, and bombed down the previous slogs. came across another DOC quad heading in too.

all up: 4 hours riding (and walking), lots of fords, shoes soaked, frozen feet from snowmelt, spectacular views, bikes well and truly beaten into submission, along with our legs and bodies.
not entirely uninteresting riding, just not sweet singletrack. next time, i reckon take a whole day, big lunch to be had at the Trust Poulter hut. or, stay night, check out Lake Minchin, etc...

Tuesday night Spottle Bake Lingle Sin.

Nelson spun over to mine on his single, i jumped on mine and we spun spun spun out to the sand infested pond. massive group of riders, mostly the usuals, turned up. Steve, Tony, Andrew Hubby Wayne Rex Abbasteve warren and a guy i didnt know but had seen another time. i led us off into the southern circuit, we bombed along nicely, watching for mini root stumps in the 'new' section. onto the trad trail and somehow nelson and me just totally dropped the nearest contenders... clambered up to that gazebo and everyone caught up. then it was off again. getting some excellent speed down into the next section. then at the jump nelson and i stopped for a play. i did a nice job of it when i finally got up the nerve to clear the gap, which proved no biggie at all.

then we were chasing cos the others had gotten miles ahead. caught up to find them all stopped cos tony hadnt charged his new light when he got it (a simple misunderstanding...). so, Steve and tony took to the forest roads, the rest of us headed on into the singletracks. northwards, to the spencerville turn off where steve and tony were waiting. then they led off and we followed catching before the next section, on through blast blast blast, running into Chris, stopped and chatted and all the rest headed onwards. then we rode the rest of the way. pretty uneventful, cept for one overtaking maneuver where nelson was a little cheeky, cutting a guy short. caught up with all the rest at the carpark.

nelson chris and me rode homewards, via the western section of Horseshoe lake trail, a play on the flying fox at burwood park, then took in all the singletrack along Banks Ave, round river to home. for a couple of homebrews and a juice.

Friday arvo View Hill clamberings

as seemingly has become a (rather tragic) pattern, no ride during week, due to usual mix of children and schedules. Going to the bach Thursday night didnt help, so, friday afternoon, H having a kip, i jumped on the treadly and headed up the road to Chorlton, then on up View Hill Rd, managed to clean the steepest section, which must be one of the more sustained granny climbs around. and considering it starts after you've already done around 300 m altitude, you're already kinda 'warmed up'... anyway, on up into the valley, keeping a wary eye on the magpies that were careening around, past the lambing sheep, past a bunch of staring steers, then to the road's end, through gate and on up through the grizzled totara ruins and pepperwood peppered remnants onto the flanks of the View Hill weathertop. norwest wind was howling across the tops, blowing a bloody gale she was. threw a txt to steve into the ether and figured my time was up, so turned tail and skeddaddled down. chose an off piste way back to the gate, following the odd perfectly groomed natural sidling singletrack or dropping straight down the slopes. then, back on the road (read: farm track at best up top here), i took turns either riding it, or skirting up onto the sides and negotiating livestock trails. got some sweet flowy sections down too. after the fork and the big pine i chose one line that had yump after yump after yump, then into a giant's-head (as opposed to baby-heads) rock garden that stalled my progress immediately. picked my way through it and grabbed more of that sweet soulful flow. bombed down the last gravel section of road, side wind nearly washing me out, then tucked into the 80 odd kph sealed road bomb.

at the church, i exited the road into the cemetary, jumped over the fence into Lukes track and wafted down it. steps got the better of me, i probably rode a quarter of the whole track, and then was left carrying my bike up the last hundred steps back to the road. all up, 2 hours of good hard graft. rest of weekend, just cruised about on the old Phillips, H on the top bar.

bike to Kris tomorrow, get the forks serviced... its been wanting.

Sunday, posse on the highways of the hills - first pollen

trails drying out over week, and too busy otherwise...

Sunday morning, usual meeting place with the usual peeps. Tony, Marie, Warren, Andrew, Hubb, Wayno, Pete and me. Steve had had a bad night's sleep, so couldn't join us, but we met at his anyway. rolled round and up rapaki, along with a billion other walkers and riders. pete was on form, especially considering his lack of sleep and un-lack of excesses... felt the burn a bit up the top section. been a while since i last got up there. ran into Angrywad James and friend, both on Tomacs, who both zipped off for a witch Hill there-and-back.

Hit Vernon Single, very packed, teddingtonshit all firm and good. the two muddy spots were coping okay now too. felt pretty good riding up here, seemingly having sufficient balance and power. then cross the road and pause for a regroup. James and friend passing us by here. Then i led off onto the Traverse. excellent bomb round this, absolutely flying with a tail wind pushing me faster and faster. caught up with James and friend at top of Vic. then it was off down Thomsons, another good flight. to kiwi, brief stop and snackage. and on up road to Marleys. From road, looking across harbour, noticed what at first i thought was a lot of smoke, then clicked on the colour, plumes of pine pollen billowing out of the plantation on the point down to Quail Is. made me realise why i've got this weird 'cold' i've got (that i get every year at this time and every year remember that i get it at this time)... i guess now is the time to realise (once again) i'm a mild sufferer of hayfever. just a tickly throat and mild sinus annoyance... or IS it a cold? aannnyway, no biggie.

Marleys... fantastic run down the top section, blasting through all the curves, blazing all the jumps, into the middle rocky section i slowed a tiny bit and heard someone on my tail. a brief check and realised it wasnt any of our guys, and he was gaining on me quick, so i slowed up and pulled aside, and a matt green burly hardtail passed me by. so, i powered up and stuck to his tail the rest of the way down. bombing. then where trail meets road again, i slowed up and let Andrew and then Pete catch up, then it was time to roost the lower section. flew down that starting to gain on matt-green guy again, but then when i got to the road he'd vanished (up to kiwi i found out later as him and his buds rolled out). regrouped at trail end, and a cluster of crosscountry whippets in full racing regalia turned up, then we blasted off down Old Dyers. very nice run down here too, tho, picking carefully through the rutty wet bits which still plague the middle section.

Clambered up through Vic, legs starting to really burn on last climb, to skidder site, and good run down Dazza's, Brents, Flow, Bridges, with Pete following me across the high line and dropping down through the gut, below which we all regrouped again for last blast down valley track. Marie and Pete bailed bottom of Bowenvale. Pete and me onwards round Eastern, the rest over the river and back to Steves. home by 12.30 or so i think.

Week without a ride, then Sunday Tagalong McLeans.

Weather and timing and family all conspired to keep me off any trails for the week.

But, Sunday afternoon, there was pent up energy needing to be expended, so O and me headed with the singlespeed and tagalong out to Mcleans. hit the slightly splecky trail and O loved it - seemingly much prefering it to the old Bottle Ache. we spun round, him in swim goggles to start with (til they fogged up so much he couldnt see), hit the detour out to the river, parked up at the fence/road and walked to the waimak. river majorly shifted its big flow that used to be right there, now just a trickle. wandered back to bike and hit trail again.

Got to the pond (after the 'rockgarden') (which was almost empty - the pond, that is)), and saw the entrance to the new loop. only 5km, so we took it. O really enjoyed it. smooth, with humps. alongside where John and me were getting wood the other week i was getting a tad tired, from lugging the tagalong along the whole way and O was feeling the cold, but once back in the trees and with a bit of encouragement ("You'll be warmer if you push harder!") we rallied and bombed the rest of the way through. O really likes the G-out cornering. he was raving about it in the car on the way home. saying he wished we could go out there more often... thumbs up. Sunday afternoon ride turning me from tired grumpy (lack of riding and lack of sleep) dad to happy appreciated dad...

Friday nite Spring Living, Saturday tagalonging

Friday night, picked up Chris Cove about 7 and drove to nelson's, whereupon Chris realised he'd left his battery at home, so we all went back to his to get it and then took 'scenic' route thru tunnel and round to Living Springs finally arriving about 8. parked on Bamford under the macrocarpas, and headed in, sidling across Skoolz Out round to the steep grunt up gasping for breath to The Pines, climbed up thru this, enjoying the nicely radius'd switchbacks and middle-ring-ability, onto Rhymes with Orange for a quick swoop through and then up to the OCC. grabbed Mississippi down, near the top stumbling across a couple freshly birthed gooey just-stood-up lambs and mum right in the middle of the trail, on with the anchors and we jumped off and carried our bikes around below them giving a wide berth. continued on down the twistiness and then across onto Zanes. excellent fang down here, only one really nasty wetspot near the bottom. fun twisty tight singletrack..

Back onto Skools Out, back up the grunt, back up through the pines, then we thought, there must be more? (cos silly me hadnt printed off the map i'd gotten off Craig and Rebekah...) so we rode the road round to the main complex, not seeing anything obvious, headed back round and headed up a trail that said Summit... took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up sidling up and across the slope above OFarrells following a cow pocked fenceline. Figured we'd turned wrong so went down to O'Farrells and followed it a bit towards Gov's Bay, but decided it was no good either (reminded us of old skool dayz of exploring trails with cow shit and holes everywhere and not knowing where to go...) turned back to OCC down O'Farrells. then down to Mississippi again, avoiding the sheep and lambs again, flowed down it but this time took the bail out before heading on to Zanes, rode back up open slope and into Rhymes and then Pines in the opposite direction to before, down to the Pines' end. Turned around here and back up Pines, Chris and me swapping bikes for the climb back up. To finish, we headed back down Mississippi (avoiding the mother and lambs again), then back down Zanes (where the leaves that are near the middle nearly threw me off) and out to car. we all rode up the road a ways and bombed back down to try to get all the sticky mud we'd just picked up off that wetspot in Zanes off our tires.

DX LED lights still the biz...

home via Dyers, stopped for a couple beers at Nelson's and would have been midnight by time i was home.

Saturday. Me Sis is over from melbourne, so, O, her and me went to bottle lake. took tagalong and singlespeed, and also O's own bike. rode first a short way into the first section with O riding his own bike. then back out and grabbed the tagalong and did an internal loop. was fun.

Chooseday Night Posse. Dyers Nun Gov's Nun Dyers

i picked up Nelson about 6 and we drove up to find a massive group assembled at Takahe. lemme see if i can remember - there was 11: Steve, Andrew, Tony, Wayne, Hubby, Rex, Steve(abba), Mark, Marie, and nelson and myself, yeah, thats 11. Discussion ensued as to whether H.Ell track was a go, with some of us thinking not, on account of it being a nice night and earlyish and therefore potential for runner conflict. so, we headed off up Vic Park Rd.

At the carpark below the visitor centre Steve decided they'd go up H.Ell from where it crosses just up the road, whereas Nelson and me decided to blat down to Old Dyers and tootle up there. i was surprised to find we were joined by Hubby, Andrew, Steve(abba) and Rex. all had a good spin up, making good time, gradually spacing out, me leading up the first singletrack bit, nelson tight on my tail. i let him pass where the trail headed down a bit, cos i could barely breathe. trail was good, one or two bits still wet, but nothing sloppy. i chased after him up the last climb, and he was probably 20 metres from the end when we saw a couple of lights ride under the Kiwi (STeve and Tony).

Got up to summit road (by kiwi) and waited for the stragglers. Wayne and the others turned up from Hell (steve and Tony had gone on up road). once we were all together again, off we went up the road for Marleys, catching Steve and tony eventually just near the top. more discussion of options, i led off downhill. blazing. funtastical wonderland, tail wind pushing airborne jumps railing corners, flying. beautiful run down, and popped up onto road at saddle to regroup. Nels and me tried to talk anyone into doing a quick lap of Gov's bay trails, to no avail, so...

Him and me headed over onto the Gov's Bay trail (which we hadnt ridden since before all the wet). Awesome descent down that, with only one rut worth mentioning, and only veery slight greasiness in a couple of spots. seemed to go on and on, down and down, chock full of awesomeness.

then the climb up and out. grunty little bastard that it is, back up onto the road, and climbing yet again, we saw the other's lights up on the 4wd bit of Marleys while we were below on the summit road being overtook by a van-load and a car-full of girrrlz... got to the top of Flying nun to find the others all still in residence, apparently waiting for Mark and Marie who'd vanished...(musta buggered off home early).

another good blast down flying nun, me close on the tail of Nelson, blazing all the way down to the kiwi. all in all, felt really good, riding well, feeling totally on top of my game right now. (i wonder if that "edge" is quietly approaching, the one that sneaks up on you when your riding is getting betterer and betterer, fasterer and fasterer, til WHAM, over you go, crashing and burning. - fingers crossed i'm just becoming a better rider, yeah?). anywho. we all reassembled at kiwi, (nelson noticing here that his fork had been locked out for the descent!)

Splintering again, the others headed down Hell (strangely enjoying a groomed wheelchair track over a gnarley twisty tight narrow singletrack), while nelson and me opted for Old Dyers. another nice bomb down here, me leading and having a blast. once again we spotted the other's spots from below whilst they were negotiating the steps. hit lower Hell and blazed down to Takahe, with more and more spots of rain. downpour beginning as we loaded the car.