Paul Petch

November updates

Summer is here?

Eeek. Mid November already and the days are hanging on until about 9pm ish. Summer seems to have officially arrived and as odd as it sounds my mind and body take a while to adjust to having all of this extra light and seemingly more warmth (13degs with sun is warm for Christchurch!). Thankfully, I think that I’ve managed to get my body clock back into some kind of routine and I’m now starting to think of what the season holds for me and my trusty stead as the trails cross this fine country dry out and call out to me once again.

I’ve been kind of slack on the blog front too (as you may have noticed), but life has been busy with work and other outdoor play so that’s the way it is. I could post up random shit about what new “stuff” the big players are force feeding us for this season but I’ve stopped all that rubbish- as my last post explains in more detail. For 2010 posts at MTBNZ may well be a bit thin on the ground but with the content being more riding related- I’m sure that you will appreciate it. Of course, I’m always open to you folks blogging here if you want to contribute. Let me know. Talking of which Shailer over at Haven Mountain Bike Park has started to post up some ramblings about his love of the dirty stuff and having ridden with him and Collin a few times can I can tell you that both guys have a true sense of adventure and are bloody top blokes too. I hope that you enjoy his ride reports. As for Haven Mountain Bike Park, I’ll post more about this gem soon.

Bike stuff

On the bike front, quite a few things have changed. I’m now a “two bike bloke” for the first time in years, and as you know I’ve sold the Cove & GT single speed to get to this point. I’ve pretty much managed to sell all the crap cluttering up my garage too, that I’ve kept “just in case” such as spare cranks, random wheel sets and of course that spare set of REBA forks! I was amazed at how much gear I actually had once I started to throw it up on Trademe- but after what seems like months of flogging – things have calmed down. Once I started to part with stuff…I could not stop and it has been a liberating experience for sure! It may not be for everyone, but riding one trail bike for all mountain biking adventures, is quite a liberating experience and I thoroughly recommend it. Anyway, less of this evangelistic “one mountain bike to rule them all” BS from me. But yes- I’m loving it.

Over the past 12 months the Marin Wolf has been ridden everywhere from XC events to all day epics in the hills. Aside from the initial upgrades to the brakes, cranks and of course the Gravity dropper, it has been ridden pretty much “as is”.  The only gripes that I’ve had (aside from the PIKES being made in a back street and bearings made of cheese on the frame) have been constant pinch flats and dropped chains when it got rough. With a ride in the hills several weeks ago that resulted in two flats in less than an hour- it was time to sell the current wheelset and  invest in some “real wheels & tyres”. The addition of the DT Swiss 5.1 hoops and Continental Rubber Queen in a sensible 2.4 size have pretty much stopped the flats in their tracks. Awesome. As for the dropped chains, a simple $45 chain device from Blackspire known as the “stinger” in fetching pick has also fixed up that problem. I’ve also revised the cockpit with a set of Kore Torsion bars with a lower rise of 18mm and width of 750mm (cut from 800mm!!) to help with the increased height since fitting the monster Rubber Queens up front. I think that I’ll cut the bars down further though to 710mm as 750mm seems to be a tad much. The increased weight of the tyres from 710g (Eskars) to 1050g (Rubber Queen) combined with the rolling resistance of the chain device has added some extra “gnar”- but to be honest- I’m not struggling out there with the extra weight/ resistance and I hate pinch flats and dropped chains- so it works for me.

Fitness and holidays!

My overall fitness & health is good. Last weekend I peaked for the Kepler Challenge (a 60KM mountain run) with the longest run I’ve ever done at 49KM in approx 5.5 hrs. With 4 months training I’m amazed at what these little legs (and mind?) have achieved and what is even cooler is how well this translates into my bike riding! All day rides or quick blats in the hills on Marin Wolf are now even more enjoyable with a few more muscles! I must admit, I’m kind of hooked on the running and biking thing and may well be dipping my toe into the world of multisport……oh dear! If you are interested in my running journey to the Kepler (which has not ended yet….) I’ve been blogging about it here. Please feel free to wish me luck!!

Soon after the Kepler and a few weeks of well deserved respite- it is then off to Rotovegas baby! That’s right, I’ve just booked flights and a shared house with my good mate Craig who moved back to Auckland some months ago and Aussie Richard who visited last Christmas. This time, Richard is bringing his mate Mark so all four of us plan to hit Rotovegas over new years…..wOoT! We will then head back South for some fine riding closer to home. I can’t wait and I’ll be sure to post up our shenanigans!

Talking of friends, Spencer is expecting a baby in the next few months and is now also a married man! Congrats to you both mate and it has been fun riding with you over the past 2 years. At least you have images of what riding a bike used to be like here at MTBNZ to reminisce if you feel the urge. Hehe :)

Christchurch Singletrack Club

A local group have at last got together to organise rides, trail building and all things bike in Christchurch. To help out I put together a website so that  Rebekah and co. could spread the word and get the show on the road. If you are local and want to get involved it is just $10 to become a member….. so get involved!

Cheers & happy trails.

Paul

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Related posts:

1. 2008 wrap up
2. April 2009 updates
3. First post in some time – some updates
4. Some updates
5. Some quick updates

This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 6:57 pm and is filed under Ramblings and tagged with continental rubber queen, cove, craig, gt, holiday, marin, North Island, richard, rotorua, rotovegas, single speed, spencer, Trails & Rides, wolf ridge. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.