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 [...]
Kona Unit 29er – a 750km update
This is the third in a series of posts that describe my experience of owning this particular bike as well as my impressessions of singlespeeding on a 29inch wheeled bike in general. The previous posts can be found at Kona Unit 29er – my first single speed and Kona Unit 29er – ride two
750kms
I’ve now [...]
My bikes. 2000 – 2009
Marin Wolf Ridge. Current.
It’s a six inch machine that rides and feels like I’m on a XC bike.
This is my current trail bike. It is a 2008 Marin Wolf Ridge with 6 inches of travel. I absolutely adore this bike as it’s light enough for 8hr epics, but it has enough boing and strength to [...]
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 [...]
Kona Unit 29er – ride two
This is a follow up to my original post – Kona Unit 29er – my first single speed
Second ride
After it’s maiden voyage I contemplated making a few changes to the set up of the Kona Unit. The bike did feel large, forcing a very stretched and unfamiliar riding position so thoughts of installing a shorter [...]
Kona Unit 29er – my first single speed
Christchurch trails
During the New Zealand summer time Christchurch is the perfect place for a mountain biker to reside. There are the excellent Port Hill trails right at the foot of the city with pristine alpine singletrack a little more than an hour’s drive away in either direction. However, when the seasons pass and winter arrives [...]
April 2009 updates
Holidays
What a week it has been here in Christchurch! Over the Easter weekend Amy and I hit the Little River Rail Trail, with some fantastic Craigieburn tramping the following day (so nice!). I then met up with Spencer on the Sunday for a spin in the hills….which was an expensive but memorable day. After [...]
Autumn at Bottlelake Forest
Tonight’s ride was a bummer for Craig who had some serious mechanicals, but a gem for me as I had my camera and was able to capture the magic of an Autumn dusk in the forest.
Cove Handjob and Its rebirth ;D
A funny thing happened today as I was stripping and cleaning the Cove Handjob ready for its imminent sale……I noticed a mark on the downtube that I remember “inflicting” on its maiden voyage down the Greenwood track….. and I started to think of all our adventures together. I’m not usually sentimental when it comes to [...]
Single speed riding – trail rises
This is my second post in a series about my experiences on the single speed. If you are interested in my story about how I got into single speeding you can check it out here.
Basics
Lots of us can be lazy when riding a geared bike… and on occasion lazy works well for me :D I’m [...]
Single speed riding – an introduction
This is my first post in a series about my experiences on the single speed. If you are interested in how to tackle trail rises on your one geared friend, you can check my second post here.
I’ve received a few emails recently asking about what tyres and gear ratio is suitable for single speeding around [...]
Bottlelake Forest
After some emailing this week a few of us met up at the carpark for a Bottlelake Forest ride including Rick who has become a regular reader of the blog (cheers! :) Rick and I were on our trusty single speeds, Martin on his soft tail moots ti, Ben on his carbon Cannondale Rush [...]
This week…
Crikey! how fast did my 3 weeks holiday fly by!?! With family staying for 9 days and Richard for another 6 this end of year break was full of entertaining as well as some serious riding :) This week found me back at work with early starts, long busy days and energy on the incline [...]
Richard’s visit. Ride three. Bottle Lake Forest
Richards knee is not looking to good after his tumble at Port Hills on Sunday so instead of Craigieburn, we headed to Bottlelake for some fast and dry singletrack instead.
With the singlespeed cranking (and typically creeeeaking) and the Turner’s Hope hubs “click click clicking” we put two holiday paced laps in with perfect blue sky [...]
2008 wrap up
Is it Christmas Eve already! 2008 has been a year full of many ups and downs which I’m sure that you can all relate too. But one thing has kept me rolling forward and that is my mountain biking. I’ve met some amazing friends, seen some beautiful places and ridden trails that have blown my [...]
Turner Sultan & Titus El Guapo
I had some great news this week that my mate Richard from downunder will be heading over my way on the 26th December until the 8th Jan. I’ve got a few weeks holiday over the festive period and new year so having Richard stay should work out sweet.
Our early plans are to hit the Hills [...]
Bottlelake Forest
After work I headed to Bottlelake for my regular mid week ride. Tonight was solo as everyone was either working late or had other plans. After this weeks dry spell the track was fast, dusty and a little washy in places due to alot of lines resembling sand more than dirt.
It is at this time [...]
First post in some time – some updates
New Job.
I started my new job this week at the University and it has been a superb week. It’s like being back at University but I’m on the pay roll :D Everyone has been friendly- helpful and really nice to work with. What is another bonus is how remarkable the campus grounds are….I’ve never seen [...]
Kayaking on the Avon & a spin at Bottlelake Forest
Today I did something a little different. An hour on the Avon river in a kayak with Craig which was alot of fun and then off to Bottle lake for a spin on the SS Peace. Boy does the SS fly with some summer tread on it!!
What a fantastic afternoon chasing the daylight!
Sunshine – yes – sunshine!
As if by magic we have some UV so off to Bottlelake in a summer top I went. Yes my nipples were like Dolly Partons in the shade, but overall I was loving the 15degs in the sunshine. Strangely, I think that it is the GT’s first ride on trails that are solid in parts [...]
Cove Handjob as a single speed?
Rode Bottle Lake today in the mud and crap (as usual it seems) and noticed a peculiar thing….. I never changed gear :) It got me thinking….. what would it ride like as a long travel SS? Well I’ll find out on Tuesday night won’t I? :D I’m sure that once spring returns I’ll throw [...]
Christchurch single speed meet
A new single speed club is taking shape in Christchurch and after what seems forever- the weather allowed a small group of us to meet up this morning for a very fast lap around Bottle Lake Park. The turn out was not the best considering the interest has been upto 30 people- but I’m sure [...]
Catching up with Darren
About 4 weeks ago I noticed a thread on Vorb from a Singaporean guy (Darren) who was here for a few weeks and wanted to meetup with fellow mountain bikers in Christchurch for a ride. I was happy to show him around the trails I’ve ridden since my arrival so posted my offer. I’m not [...]
Some quick updates
I’ve been busier than a long tailed dog in a room full of rocking chairs the past month or so… with a new job…riding…cooler weather….commuting…. :) But things have kind of settled into a bit of a groove now….. well sort of.
I’m REALLY loving the single speed thang’. Riding it daily to work and [...]
