Paul Petch

Sun. Dust. Sweat. Hills

What a fantastic sunny day! I headed up Rapaki for midday and then over Mt. Vernon- then once over the other side I re- traced my steps back over Mt. Vernon and then over Witch Hill. I’ve not ridden these tracks for at least 3 months and was pleasantly surprised that I rode 90% of them. Woo hoo to keeping up my physical fitness over winter single speeding! Now I just need to work on my technical skills!

Then onto Castle Rock (where I was helping out yesterday) which was a hoot. Technically I was like a penguin on a bike…. totally useless :), but after not riding the Hills proper for so many months I’ll forgive myself! One section that made me gulp was one of the many off camber sections of rock that over summer was totally “nailable” but was today covered in a thick green algae! I walked that bit! I was also chuckling to myself the whole way down as it felt like I’d never ridden the track….. amazing what a few months it can do! I did miss my Revelations though…. fantastic forks for the hills…. and hopefully they should be back under warranty soon.

Once I was spat out of the Castle Rock track I laid in the sun for 30 minutes listening to the iPod.. and chilling. The plan was to meet up with my Wife Amy at this spot for some lunch…. but after an hour had passed I thought I’d best ride down the Bridal Path to see if she was on her way up. The gradient was that steep that I had my brakes practically locked up the whole way down…. and it was on a gravel too….. which we all know is brilliant for braking cyclists eh! At the bottom I waited in the sun and Amy turned up soon after…. apparently the buses had got all messed up… which is common here! No stress.

After a lazy lunch in the sun (there is a theme here isn’t there?) we both headed upwards… Amy on foot and myself on the Cove. I have NEVER climbed anything like this before in my entire life! The start of the track required granny and largest ring….and people were struggling to walk up!! I had my chest practically on the bars most of the way and I was constantly wishing for a 36 or 38 gear! After stopping a few times briefly due to the rear spinning out (which to be honest was a blessing!) and having to push to a section with no gravel ahead just to get traction again…. I finally made it to the top. WOW what a buzz that was to get to the top!

Amy joined me minutes later and was struggling a little as walking the track is a real effort too….. it was crazy! Amy had not seen the views from this side of the hill so we had a walk about and spent a few hours taking in the views and just enjoying being out of the city… it was really nice. The temperature started to drop some so I cycled back to Witch Hill then onto Rapaki and down while Amy walked back down the Bridal Path to the bus.

Sunshine- salty marks on camelbak- DUST on the bike. What an epic day…. and Amy loved it too :) Crap.. it’s Monday tomorrow!

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Related posts:

1. Richard’s visit. Ride one. Port Hills
2. Showing some more visitors around the Port Hills
3. Port Hills track maintenance
4. Crater Rim ride at Port Hills
5. Port Hills + Sunshine = :)

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 31st, 2008 at 8:25 pm and is filed under Bike Rides and tagged with cove, port hills, Trails & Rides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.