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 [...]
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 [...]
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!). [...]
Mcleans Island 12hr 2009
Take what seems 24+ hrs of solid rain and a team of three to ride for 12hrs and there you have our plan. Brent arrived at 8am and I was still in my dressing gown- while Spencer running more than 30mins late rocks up outside beeping his horn. As you can tell, our hearts were [...]
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 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! [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Worsleys Track, Flying Nun & the Victoria Park wall ride – Christchurch
I’ve not ridden with Spencer since Easter so it was great to catchup with him today for some exploring and trail riding in the Port Hills. Meeting up at the bottom of Dyers pass we had coffee and then off to the grinding road climb to the start of the Worsleys Track. Oddly, after living [...]
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 [...]
Hanmer 12 hour by Blue Dog Events
Getting ready
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 [...]
One of those days….
Today Spencer and I planned to ride to Taylors mistake and meeting for 10ish off we climbed. I felt really good today even after tramping at Craigieburn yesterday, but Spence was not on form at all and was suffering on the climb. Once up the top we thought about heading to Vic Park instead and [...]
Autumn. Lovely.
Well well well… summer has officially ended and this weekend has been time for log fires and some well earnt chill out. With the sun showing it’s face this afternoon and a quick call, Spence and I headed up for a blast in the hills. With layers, water proof and clear glasses it felt quite [...]
Mountain biking at Hamner Springs
The past month has been quite messed up with moving home then the flu for a number of weeks that left me with zero energy and some time off work. Thankfully the daily commute and Xbox has kept me sane (just!) and this week has seen me clocking up some quality KM’s and time on [...]
Mountain biking at Scotts Saddle – Mount Hut
Getting Ready
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 [...]
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 [...]
Crater Rim ride at Port Hills
Just when I thought I’d ridden all the trails on Port Hills, Ben sends out an email to see if anyone wanted to join him to ride the Crater Rim trail on Sunday. Spence was kind enough to pick me up and his girlfriend dropped us off at the Kennedy Bush carpark in Haswell for [...]
Meeting Martin
I got an email yesterday from a Martin who liked the blog (cheers!) :) He is a Christchurch mountain biker so of course I offered for him to join me and Spence for a spin tonight at Port Hills and he did :) We headed to Castle Rock and Greenwood and finished it off with [...]
New Years Eve Port Hills spin with Spencer
Spence text me this morning wondering if I fancied a run up Port Hills across Mount Vernon and then over to Vic Park via the Traverse…. and I was not sure after yesterdays epic… but I’ve not seen him for a while due to Christmas so I was in :D The Rapaki climb killed both [...]
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 [...]
