Paul Petch

My favourite posts of 2009

Another year nearly over, and what an epic it has been at www.paulpetch.com! Some obvious highlights have been merging of personal blogs into one (that went problem free within 24hrs!), lots of riding, shed loads of running (61.7 KM ultra anyone!) and a rapid increase in internet traffic.

The more subtle stuff of 2009 has been a trickle of regular comments (thank you!) as well as some subtle confirmations to what cycling really means to me heading into 2010- and it is all about just getting out there and having fun with friends. I’m digging the new direction of www.paulpetch.com too as I can now not only rant about my outdoor stuff but also the geeky “stuff on the side” that I’m very fond of. And by the increase in traffic and comments It looks like you do too :)

On a personal note, there is always other stuff, some good and some bad that happens in our lives and thankfully- aside from the normal work pressures and employment uncertainty it has been a fairly “standard” 2009 for both my Wife and I.

On that note I have a bike to pack for a new years cycling trip with friends in Rotorua!, go grab those last minute gifts and then get ready to eat lots tomorrow :) Thank you for your contributions in 2009 and I wish you all a safe and happy holidays!!!

Meanwhile, here are my top 10 posts from the year that are clearly half cycling and half running!!! Awesome!

10. Showing some more visitors around the Port Hills

Some months ago a thread was started on MTBR by some folk wanting some info and photos on spots to ride some bikes while tripping around New Zealand. Summer and co. decided on Christchurch so we exchanged a few emails and penciled in some dates to ride Port Hills together when they visited.  Due to the weather forecast of heavy rain in Queenstown this week my trip there to meet up with Richard was binned so I was free yesterday to show the group around a few tracks in the Hills. With temperatures above 33 degs and my legs still recovering from a ride in the hills the evening before, It was going to be a long hot day :D More…

9. Mountain biking at Scotts Saddle

Spencer has been wanting to cross this trail off his list for sometime now and with such great weather of late we decided to give it a go. Scotts Saddle is in fact classed as a walking track, but after some research we discovered that it is shared for both activities and a regular shuttle for local guys even drops off people for this and the other downhill tracks in this region. Here it is via Google Maps. ( The track is marked with two waypoints – 1st by the side of the ski access road, and the 2nd at the bottom of the trail at Awa Awa Rata Reserve). More…

8. Ground Effect Cyclic Saga – “when I’m angry I can read maps”

Hectic would describe the events after arriving home from work on Friday as I found myself changing the Cove’s pedals from the “totally dead” Crank Brother Candys back to Shimano, swapping the rear wheel and seat, cassette and brake pads to sintered, and then giving the bike a much needed check over and tune. I knew that I had a heap of climbing….. and my AM bike would have to do!

I also had to pack for the weekend and with MUCH patience and support from my Wife (thanks Amy x) all was in order by the time Craig arrived for 8pm. With a short list of supplies to pick up “on route” in hand we were off! More…

7. Hanmer 12 hour by Blue Dog Events

Taking Friday off and packing for the weekends sillyness at the Hanmer 12hr race was a great idea and a relatively stress free experience in contrast to the Cyclic Saga only a few weeks prior. Infact by the time Craig got here for 7ish I was totally ready to rock and roll… and chomping at the bit to get out there :)

Before we knew it, we arrived at Hamner and swiftly took care of registration before picking up the keys for the “pad” where we were all going to crash for the weekend. Driving up to the house it was clear that we had stumbled upon a real gem as it was large, modern and nice and warm with a massive open wood burner taking pride of place in the living room! More…

6. Christchurch SBS Marathon photos

Better late than never I suppose :) My first half marathon at 21.1 KM was on the 31st May 2009 and on a cold and snowy/ wet morning here in Christchurch. I ran a time of 1.55.18 which I was really happy with. Here are a few a photos that my Wife Amy took. More…

5. Taking back control of my running

Since my last post, the ITB issues and knee pain got alot worse. So bad that I could only run upto just 45 mins on (the flat) before the knee pains stopped me in my tracks. My head was spinning with all of these “experts” giving me their advice that was fixing nothing and to move forward with my running…..things had to change. So what has changed? :D

After a few weeks with less intensity- I had a good think about stuff and as cliche as it sounds I’ve just started to listen to my own body rather than relying on others to do it for me. More…

4. Port Hills Crater Rim 30KM trail run

Only a few more weeks now before I start to taper off for the Kepler & I’m really looking forward to it. Since last weekend I’ve clocked up about 75KM which, as you can imagine is a first for me!  The Mcleans 12hr mountain bike event last weekend found me racing flat out for 1.5hrs and after a quick stretch and foot wear swap- I headed off to run for 2.5hr forest run. I clocked up a 1.45 run on the sports playing field at work come mid week and then with a “fast” 45min run on Thursday- I was all set for a few days rest before I set out early yesterday morning to run the tracks at the Port Hills as part of the Crater Rim run. What’s cool about the Crater Rim run is that is have a similar amount of elevation and descent to the Kepler Challenge at 1230 m. What’s not so cool is the the technical nature of the tracks- as I’ve trained on stuff that has been specifically “un technical” to avoid injury. Oh well. To say that yesterday’s run was a “stab in the dark” was an under statement as I had no idea what the tracks would throw my way either.  I’ve also given up on the orthotics and they were “binned” early last week (which I’ll surly rant about in another post soon) so my “safety blanket” was also gone. More…

3. Essence Bicycles closing – & I can relate

Times are tough that’s for sure & many businesses are closing. But Essence Bicycles are closing for a different reason and can be summed up in a post by Paul on Vorb.

“The bike has become more than the tool, it is actually defining the type of riding. I think that is all upside down. The bike industry creates riding niches to create more bikes to convince us that we must ride a particular bike on a type of trail. It is getting silly. Five inch travel fullys with slightly different builds are meant for totally different riding? Sure. More…

2. My first ultra marathon distance of 49KM

After a nice weekend on the mountain bike where I rode a solo to Godley Head, this weeks training has felt much better than the last with a little more juice in the batteries.  Tuesday’s “lunchtime” run was a good one and I hit the road to Hagley Park and after several laps I was on  my way back having clocked up my usual mid week 20km. To be honest- the best part was the return on road as I had forgot just how much speed you can generate on the grey stuff! WOW it was like I could fly. Having a bit of a fast “here and there” along with slow and long is the name of the game at present- and in the training world they call it “mixed running”. I like the mixed stuff :) More…

1. Kepler Challenge…I did it!

Ok….an epic post for an epic day………you best go get a coffee :) First things first- I want to thank my wonderful Wife Amy for all of her support during the past 6 months- without it I would not have even got to the Kepler, never mind give it everything on the day! And also to Dorothy- who has worked her “massage” magic on this feeble body- once again without her help and support I would have caved months ago. Finally, there is Elenor- who’s blog I discovered while undertaking this craziness- that was an endless supply of laughter and encouragement that made me realise that I was not alone while training. THANK YOU! More…

Related posts:

1. April 2009 updates
2. Running in 2010
3. Mountain biking on the Port Hills – an epic!
4. Spring updates
5. November updates

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 24th, 2009 at 8:29 am and is filed under Misc Ramblings and tagged with ben, christchurch, epic, Events, kepler challenge, MTBNZ contributors, port hills, richard, spencer, Trails & Rides, Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.