Man down! at the Wharfedale Track
I did not get to bed until after midnight so come the early rise I was not feeling to good. Infact- a lazy day under a tree with a book would have been my choice! And with Spencer running characteristically late we did not get going until after 10am. To further aid the poor start [...]
Craigieburn mountain biking with Mark & Ricco!
After a week up North, Richard and Mark went via Wellington to Nelson before arriving late Wednesday in Gotham (Christchurch). I chose a few rides my Aussie guests at Craigieburn and the Wharfedale to show them what the trails in Canterbury are like. If time was on our side I would have loved to have [...]
Rotorua. North Island trip. Ride six!
The day before I left for Auckland (3rd) I rode the Port Hills and felt terrible. It was 27 degs and I wanted to vomit climbing up the Rapaki Track. Just three weeks earlier I had run my first Ultra Marathon and it was like my body and mind had forgotten just how grueling it [...]
Lake Taupo. North Island trip. Ride five
Our legs are feeling a tad tender so today’s “recovery” ride was welcomed at Lake Taupo. It was really warm as we got our gear ready and set off, so the challenge today was going to be the heat as much as the aching legs!
The drive took about an hour and was nothing special to [...]
Rotorua. North Island trip. Ride four
We set off at about midday today with a route planned the night before that aimed to take us to the highest point in the park and then down…down..and down :) Needless to say, the climbs were a bit of a grind but nothing like the good old South Island ;). With all of us [...]
Rotorua. North Island trip. Ride three
Another awesome day with more riding in the redwoods this afternoon. We were lucky enough to have Vanina Vergoz & Gavin with us who and were happy to show us their favorite tracks. Mark and Richard bumped into the pair and got chatting while waiting for the wheels to be built at Kiwi Bikes. Small [...]
Rotorua. North Island trip. Ride two
It typical Craig and Paul fashion we got to our accommodation and had a quick feed and were off climbing up to the highest point in the park with 30 mins of our arrival! And boy oh boy it was sticky and humid out there! Unlike most climbs though- the reward was more than I [...]
Woodhill mountain biking. North Island trip. Ride one.
I’m currently in Auckland and staying with my good friend Craig- who I’ve had many an adventure with over the past few years. Last night we met up with some of his mates and went out for food- and rose early this morning for a spin at Woodhill bike park- about 45mins outside of Auckland.
With [...]
An afternoon with the Salsa Fargo
Things have started to mellow somewhat as I taper to the biggest physical challenge of my life on the 5th December in the form of the Kepler Challenge- a 60KM Ultra mountain run. Today I rode the trusty Fargo to Bottlelake Forest for a short run.
Once I was on route- I was enjoying the Fargo [...]
One of those rides…
The mission was simple. Ride to Godley Head and beat the threat of an incoming cold front and sleet n’ snow. Yeah that’s right- 3rd October and snow. Anyhow- Brent pulled the pin due to being sick so Spencer and I headed upwards and over.
Things were sweet until the much dreaded and sadly anticipated flat [...]
The Wharfedale Track – wet n’ wild
After recruiting a small group of crazies from the Derailed forum we headed out to the infamous Wharfedale Track near Oxford yesterday. After getting lost on route (again :)) Spence and I were on course for lateness as usual but made it in time. We all checked over our gear- threw on knee pads and [...]
Mountain Bike Skills Clinic – Victoria Park
I’ve been keen to attend a MTB skills clinic for sometime and today I took part in the first of a series with Zane as the instructor & a small group of 5 at Victoria Park. After a warm Dyers Pass climb & a good stretch to wake up my legs from yesterdays run, a [...]
Mountain biking weekend. Porthills & Mcleans Island
Well, Spring time has indeed sprung and I met with Brent yesterday to ride Rapaki to Sumner via Captain Thomas and then today Spencer & I headed off for a social ride with a crew from the derailed forum as part of planned monthly ride. What a great weekend to be out on the bike [...]
Mcleans Island mountain biking
Spencer and I headed to Mcleans Island yesterday for a few laps and I decided to take the Marin Wolf as I’ve kind of moved away from the single speed over winter. Spencer has been out weekly on his new Kona Unit and I was looking forward to the challenge of keeping up with him! [...]
A sunny afternoon of Mountain Biking in the Port Hills
Amy and I headed into the city for a quick bite to eat and a coffee before I met up with Ben at Worsley’s Road to begin the long climb up the road and then the steep and now technical muddy and slippery Worsley’s Track. The track has huge ruts running all the way up [...]
Salsa Fargo update & the first off road ride!
Getting things comfy
I can’t remember any bike that I’ve owned in the past 15yrs that has caused me so many issues when it comes to getting it dialed in. But has it been worth the hassles?
I admit that even I was confused when I picked up the Salsa Fargo……should I set it up for road…..or [...]
Winter ride in the Port Hills
Due to wintery weather, the Marin Wolf being at BikeHQ for a good service, repair (more of which I’ll talk about later) and of course my slackness, it has been at least a six weeks (yeah I know) since my real last MTB ride. I’ve been running, commuting and doing other sports- but it is [...]
Finally we got our Wings on AV8R at Woodhill
The weather here today was fantastic for winter… Clear skies and a crisp wind. We (Momentus, KB, Whafe) were doing more of a play jumpy ride today. We had some interesting times on some structures.
As we were heading back to the carpark, we rode up and checked out a jump called AV8R. It has caused [...]
Wintery Canterbury foothills
It is definitely winter down here in Canterbury! Dragging myself from a warm bed before it was properly light on a Saturday morning was kind of hard… and it was cold out! There was a crisp white frost covering the ground and I had to get a warm jug of water to melt the ice off [...]
Weekend of mountain biking at RotoVegas (Rotorua)
We have had a long weekend in New Zealand last weekend known as the Queens birthday weekend, and we all decided to take a trip down to Rotorua (us locals call it RotoVegas – Long Story). The forecast was not great at all for the weekend, and Saturday was wet most of the day with [...]
Auckland Harbour Bridge Getacross Protest Ride
It was a logistical nightmare for someone as organized as myself, but we did it, we rode across the Auckland Harbour Bridge!
I had the bikes already mounted on the car and we awoke to a beautiful winter’s morning, cold, but fine and sunny. The kids and I drove down to Devonport to catch the 8.30am [...]
A stunning Winters day at Woodhill
Woke to a very chilly Auckland morning, where it had got down to 3 deg C on the drive out to Woodhill, BUT we were graced with not a cloud in the sky, this is unusual for Auckland.
The trails were in perfect order, and it was one of those days where the weather was so [...]
Heli biking at Taupo – North Island
Well the weekend finally arrived to do our Heli lift downhill ride near Lake Taupo on the North Island, with Helisika.
This was booked almost a year ago when I was still living in Spain, so was great to finally use it with Momentus. It was his partner whom bought it for him for his birthday [...]
Bottlelake Forest – Laughing in the face of Winter
I cannot remember the last time that I’ve ridden at Bottlelake Forest on the single speed and was very keen to get out there this afternoon with Spencer. With cabin fever peaking due to the worst week of weather I can remember in a long time my legs were just itching to get a few [...]
