Paul Petch

Richard’s visit. Ride five. Port Hills to Taylors Mistake

While I headed out with Spencer yesterday, Richard took a well deserved break off the bike and did tourist stuff in and around Christchurch. Today he was all rested up and ready for more riding! Initial thoughts were for the Wharfedale Track, but it is a much better ride with a group so we decided on the Port Hills once more and this time our destination was Taylors Mistake.

After sorting out our gear for a hot day (and weighing my pack in at 5.6KG!!!) off we headed up Rapaki and then over to the fantastic Castle Rock and Greenwood tracks that Richard rode on his arrival. We were in no rush today (as usual!) so stopped for some staged photographs and food :D I must confess that after riding 6 days out of seven this week I felt mentally exhausted as I bounced down Greenwood rather than pinning it. Oooops :/

Instead of heading down the Captain Thomas track we kept on towards Godley Head on tracks that were new to Richard. Infact, he greeted the technical climb up the Godley Head Track with some serious luster on the Sultan…. which was very impressive to watch! This technical climb is also one of my favourites and after adjusting to a lower bottom bracket height on the Wolf it was alot more fun to ascend than on the Cove. With a few photos, more food stops and general messing about we were climbing up the steep singletrack and grassy fire road to some magnificent ocean and coastal views looking into the Bay at Taylors Mistake before we knew it. With perfect blue skies and little fluffy clouds and such a radiant ocean it was (as usual) a fantastic view that greeted us, which Richard could not quite get over.

The tracks heading towards the Anaconda descent were a highlight for me today as I mostly freewheeled at speed along the high ocean single track with sun kissed hip height grass blowing gently, radiant blue water and cool ocean breezes! It was amazing!

As usual the Anaconda Track did not disappoint when we got to it and I hit it with some serious speed with Richard tailing me as I jumped off  every trail irregularity while trying to get around the berms as fast as possible. When Richard caught up at the bottom he had a grin from one side of his face to the other and just could not believe how much fun it was! Traversing into the carpark I was barely able to concentrate on the rocks and ruts…. as I was pretty much mentally spent after such an epic week of riding. What a great week :D

Exchanging our favorite parts of today’s ride we decided to not hang about and hit the road climb out of the Bay hard. With no technical challenges I climbed out with little problem at all and with strategic spots where I was out of the saddle ot clear the burning sensation in my muscles…. I was quite impressed at how well the Wolf and I climbed :D Once at the top I waited for Richard and then we made it down with some serious speed into Sumner.

As soon as we hit the beach front towards the City we were greeted with a famous Christchurch headwind…. the kind that is head on no matter which direction you take! I suggested that we make a service station stop for food/ drink and then face the strong wind back home. At this point Richard started to really feel the weeks riding… and his muscles were really hurting as we battled into the wind…..for 17KM! As much as it hurt our legs, it was great that Richard experienced a Christchurch head wind….as it has a serious reputation and I’m sure he will not forget it in a hurry.

Once home my legs…. felt bruised and tender….so this weekend will be bike and excessive carbohydrate free! LOL. Richard rated this ride as his favorite since arriving….and it was a pleasure to see how much he loved every minute that we were on our bikes this week. Aside from the Flying Nun track we pretty much covered the best tracks in the hills this week too!

Good on you mate…what an epic week and travel safe to Queenstown tomorrow :D

Richards notable quotes of the day:

Hold up I need to adjust this saddle…my damn nuts are numb again.

Melbourne is going to be boring as F*#K after this week.

My body wants to keep going but my muscles tell it otherwise (as we cycled back through the city into a famous Christchurch headwind.)

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Related posts:

1. Richard’s visit. Ride two. Port Hills
2. Richard’s visit. Ride one. Port Hills
3. Port Hills to Taylors Mistake
4. Port Hills into Taylors Mistake
5. First night ride at Port Hills

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 1st, 2009 at 7:00 pm and is filed under Bike Rides and tagged with marin, port hills, richard, Trails & Rides, turner. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.