Crosstafarian Cyclocross Hurtfest

Pic - Craig Madsen

A fine sunny morning heralded the arrival of the second Crosstafarian Cyclocross Race in Upper Hutt's California Park.

Mike from The Bike Hutt and his fine team had laid out another good course. This time geared more heavily towards the CX machines. It was faster and had a longer fast gravel section, and the steep climb to the hairpin, had a barrier at the foot of it, so you couldn't just ride it. You had to do a proper dismount and run up. Good stuff.

Crosstafarian Cyclocross - August 2009

Clicky clicky above to get to our Picasa Web Album. Many, many thanks to Craig Madsen for allowing us to pilfer his outstanding photos. There are also a few from Davo's wife, Amie, too. Revolution's Facebook page also has a great album courtesy of speedmachine, Al Revell.

Repping for the BLRT were Me, Hinge and Slackshanks. Here are our reports:

Nicko - Winner:

After having such a great time in the first race of the series on a borrowed ride I decided I had to get my own ride. Through the wonders of Vorb was able to track down a NOS Singlecross frameset and collected up the parts for the build. Was a bit touch and go whether the hubs would turn up in time but they came through in the nick (a pun? Ed.) of time.

Sat turned out to be a cracker of a day and Mike had pulled out all the stops to put on a great course. A couple of slight changes made the course a bit longer, faster, more technical and probably more cross focused.

Story of the day was Bushlove domination with Davo and I busting off the front from the getgo. Over the next few laps put the hurt on Davo to up a nice gap that wouldn't be closed. The 45min went pretty fast but will still stoked to hear the belllap. Showboated across the line to the waiting fans (Mrs K & my dog) and some cupcakes.

Was stoked how the bike rode. Probably a tad overgeared but no matter what the gear was it was always going to be a hurtfest. Will give a more compete right up for those nerdy enough to care in a future blogpost.

Scored a sweet maxxis jersey for winning although made the faux-pas of not thanking the Mrs, therefore missing out on extra brownie points.

Big thanks to Mike at The Bike Hutt are in order for putting on the race. Hope to see more of you out at the planned 3rd race. Cross is a rad sport so come out an give it a go.

Dave - First Loser:

I was a bit worried about my SS as it's gearing is pretty low at a tooth lighter than 2:1 (34.18). Turned out that it was still fine for almost all the course which was a relief. Unlike Slacky, the grass puts up a lot of resistance, so I went for 1.9 sparsely treaded Conti Twisters, thanks to the generosity of Harry Potter. Apart from the weather the best thing about this race was going to be that my wife and daughter, Amie and Ella, had come to support and I wanted to dig pretty deep for them.

After watching the ladies race I did a bit of a warm up on the grass and realised how tough the race was going to be. I lined up in second row, thinking my low gear was going to be worthless down the start straight but when the 'gun' went, I managed to surge straight through and read Slackshanks his horoscope before the first bend. I had to spin like crazy on the gravel stretch and this was going to be my undoing every lap. I had oodles of Spartan power to drop into the cranks, but kept spinning out and had to freewheel a lot.

Pic - Craig Madsen

Nicko and I moved away from the pack and rode together for a couple of laps before he started easing away from me on his new CX machine. I could see Vaughan and a Nic Blair from Revolution working together to pull me back, so got my shovel out to dig in harder. I was loving the course. I was making good time over the barriers and on the run up and was cornering as hard as I could. It becase clear that Nicko must have been pulling time on the start finish stretch and the gravel loop. (Nicko pirated the draft to replace this sentence with the following. Crafty S.o.b: It became clear that Nicko was edging me out on all aspects of the course like the cross god he is. Damn him and his madcore skills!)

I had a great time knocking out my 17 laps and propelled by the cheers and encouragement from the family and friends, finished a fine 2nd place, apparently less than a minute behind Potter on his new broom. I was really pleased with how I had ridden, and even managed to lap a few chaps. I even managed to lap the Godfather after a couple of struggle laps, as his pride spurred him on to not get done over. But I came inside him with a couple of hundred meters to go. I also remember coming inside Slacky on the barrier jump, but I doubt he remembers it, as he was wearing the mask of pain from hauling the dog around the whole course! I even came inside Sifter, much to the delight of the crowd, as we rounded the big tree.

The bike was still a good choice. Last round I kept trying to roll a bigger gear to make progress and just smashed my legs. So the lower gear saved my legs in that way, but if I had dropped 1 or 2 teeth at the back I should have been able to keep Nicko a bit more honest!

I chose a mint Bike Hutt hat from the prize table, to go with my bag of energy bars and goodies. Mike also hooked me up with some new Louis Garneau gloves too. They are very comfortable. I borrowed the mic to do some thank yous, especially to Amie and Ella, at which point Hinge probably realsied he had forgotten to publicly shower Sarah with praise. It was to be expected though as Nicko is a podium 'freshman', where as I am more 'Alumni'.

Went to Pauahatanui for lunch after and lazed contentedly with the family, a coffee and a good eggs benny. Cracking day.

Slacky - Rear guard:

CX is the harbinger of pain, and I knew I was going to be suffering. I even had a side bet that I'd be struggling so much that I'd puke from the effort. And naturally I was going to keep it in the DOG!! Luckily I was too tired to vomit by about halfway thru the race.

Davo seemed to think he was outriding me at the start, but it was tactical as I hadn't even done a lap of the course so was letting an idiot lead out and show me. Both Davo and Nick took up the offer. I rode at a pace that I thought I could maintain. I found that EVERYONE was slow over the barriers and around the corners. I snaked Kenny on the downhill corner, foot out Cully styles. I think he was so suprised he lost his rythmn for a few laps. The Godfather started slow, and Old Man Red was struggling on the boards.

Pic - Craig Madsen

However as the pain fog descended around the halftime mark, Kenny came back past, Old Man Red came back past, The Godfather came back past, a bunch of people before them had gone past.

Deep from within I summoned the Bushlove spirit of never give up (hmmm.. actually Davo proved otherwise at the Moonride) and struggled on, thru the pain barrier, then the fufu barrier. The speed and style over the barriers dropped off, but not the re-mount at the top of the run/walk up the bank. That style remained and was always quick and effortless. If not the walk/stumble/crawl up the hill.

After 4 years or so, Mike called 5 mins to go. Somewhere around this time Nick past me the 2nd time. Quickly. I rode backwards to help him feel like he was riding fast. On the last lap I dropped the hammer. Unfortunatly the rest of my energy also dropped with it. But never fear, for my sideburns pulled me around one last time, making sure that Davo didn't catch me.

I might have passed out at the finish line, I can't remember, it was all blurry. A steady diet of track building and only riding my downhill bike doesn't make for a very good top end. It does however make for tight lycra tops.

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Tiger Vs Shark

For the fourth and final time it was off to the BP Road Series, but this time with a twist... The almighty Angry (Dodgy Old Shark) decided he would take a holiday and drop down a grade to Break. After packing his bag full of sand he rode down to Mirimar to meet me and sandbag about his "Top 10" finish in break.

Wow Angry, nice leg deffinision LOL

It was a stunning day and we had lost a few hardout riders like Davo, Ricky

and Nick K to the Cyclo-Cross in Upper Hutt, which from what I hear BLR took out 1st & 2nd for a nice podium victory with Ricky giving a madcore display of skills. (Post to come)
Anyway I was here to race and knowing Angry had dropped down a grade purely to put me in a world of pain did not help the nerves. We started off at a much too casual pace and continued that for 2 of the 3 laps around the Mirimar Peninsula. On the second hill Angry decided to see what people had and gave it a bit of Weetbix up Awa Road - no one went... it looked to be an outing with my Nana on her zimmer frame, finished with a dog fight up the Prison Hill. But I was proven wrong, Scratch caught us on Awa Road on the final lap and put the preasure on, now the race was getting interesting... I jumped onto the back of Scratch with the thought that last time I did this they dropped me faster than a fat kid chasing an ice cream truck. This time it was to be different, I pushed the pins hard and held the Scratch pace, all the way around the bays to the prison climb, knowing that Angry was right behind me checking out my ass again (always his inspiration).

As we hit the hill everyone climbed out of the saddle and gave it gonads. I knew that halfway up this climb there was a slight reprieve so worked hard towards that. Angry passed me looking strong but I stayed with him till the flat. By this stage we had dropped more of the Break riders and it looked to be a few Harry Hardouts in a bunch to the top. The second climb started and I was feeling it, I dug deep to hold as close to Angry as I could but he had me, with 100mtrs to go I was 3 secs back but digging hard. Finish 4 sec behind him and in a happy 3rd place for Break.

To go one step further with my sandbagging
#1 MTB peak still on helmet
#2 MTB SPD's still on shoes
#3 Cross country sprigs still in shoes

Final results in Break:
Angry Bushlove Bennett - 2nd place ADD TO CART
Tiger Bushlove Keith - 3rd place ADD TO CART
Kah Bushlove Chan - REMOVE FROM CART
Full Results

A fantastic race day finished with a massif dinner and too many drinks at the Keith Mansion. Finished of with a ride around Makara with the boyz (Couple of mechanicals there but lets not talk about that one). I did hear Davo went ove the handle bars down Ridge Line, such an amatuer :0)

This weekend its the first of the Penny Farthing Cycles PNP MTB Series
See you all there,
Tiger

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Madcore Road Hucks - BP Round 2

The PNP Balfour Pennington Road Race Series is in full swing and Tigerbone, Kah, Angry and Davo rocked up to Round 2 in Upper Hutt to give it a crack. Here are their brief stories.


Davo

First road event in I think 13 years. Travelled over with Tigerbone, Bennett and Simon. I had switched my beefy Armadillo tires to Conti skinnys for the race, but must have failed switching them as I had a slow flat. I hurriedly changed the tube out and made my way to rego where I pushed in to join the boys and whiled away my time flinging bullshit at Cam and Hayden.

I was racing Break. Same as Tony. I thought I was in over my head. We did two laps and first lap felt good, all under control, doing my turns. We got to the Wallaceville hill climb and I started to feel pretty boxed in straight away. I figured I could hold on, but doubted i'd be climbing it with the bunch on the 2nd lap. I even changed out of the dog to preserve my shanks. More a handbagger than a sandbagger.

Into the 2nd lap and the pace was high and we'd shed some riders already. Sadly I think Sifter and Morabar had lost touch on the hill which was a shame. I was feeling tired but figured we didn't have long to go so put in a bit of a surge/attack-ish at the front as we hit Mangaroa Hill. I don't think it shed too many riders though. I went over the top with Tony and I know sneaky Joel was there too because I recall him laughing as I nearly took a bite out of the side of the road. Luckily my madcore mtb huck skillz came into play and with my foot rigged out wide, I stayed up.

I barrelled onto the flat with the guys looking a little stretched behind and hoped some would step on the gas to get me and thus form a smaller bunch to smash along to the climb. But it didn't really happen and sat up a little and drifted back. Wasted opportunity. Everyone seemed to be saving themselves for the last climb, whereas I wanted to go into it minus a few other riders. Me and Tigerbone continued doing our chores at the front along with the other Spartans. There were clearly a fair few Persians in the bunch who were not pulling finger which was disappointing.

I couldn't quite hold on to the front guys like James Truebridge, Alex Revell, Joel and our own Tigerbone. I did give it my best shot though and climbed it in the dog for good measure. I reeled in a couple of guys who I had figured would give me a hiding, and I was totally maxxing out at the top and then hammered the descent. I crossed the line on my own, going full bore. Boner got 4th ahead of what I think was an 8th for me. What a blast. Good times.


Kah
How not to prepare for a race:

9 beers
2 double G&Ts.
No breakfast
No lunch
1 long black. 

Take one 150lb weakling. Mix in beers and G&Ts - remember not to add dinner, this will weaken the alcohol. Whisk and let it sleep for 4 hours.

Take the previously prepared mixture. Remember you're not allowed to add any solid food. Wrap it in lycra, put it on a bike and toss a long black in it for colour.

Leave it on the bike for 20km in the sun.

Makes one serving of "missing timing chip or error".

Angry
Hmm, a few lessons learnt from this race, main one being dont underestimate the pace down a hill, I figured I would simply rejoin the bunch as I got myself out of position at the bottom of mangaroa hill and was one of the last to go up as I had circulated too far back in the bunch, so gassed up the hill and decided to recover on the downhill, well no one else did and I played catch up for the rest of the race. I had nearly caught onto the back of the bunch on the first climb up whitemans but had wiped myself out recatching the bunch so was out of juice.
Next week maybe..


Tigerbone
I can back that comment from Davo that it was TRUE mad-core hucking that stopped him hitting the bank and eating the gravel sandwich coming down Mangaroa Hill. Joel and I just sat back and laughed shaking our heads.

So not to double up on Davo's fantastic story above, my race was much the same as his as we steamed the Bushlove train together (man that sounds dodge). Apart from the last hill where I moved to the front of the bunch where I comfortably sat until midway up Wallaceville Hill. Two hardouts finally made a break to which I was STUPID enough not to go with them... About 2mins later when they were far enough away for me not to catch them, Joel also came past me... Bloody Nora!!! Out of the saddle I got and sat about 10mtrs back from Joel to the top of the hill.

Down the other side I reeled him back in and sat comfortably in his slip stream, grinning. Cheeky bloody roadie looked back at me and gave me the wave on through with about a kilometre to go (you're bloody joking I thought), even from my running days have I learnt not to bow to that kind of race stupidity... well maybe once but I learnt from it. Anyway at about 500m to go I dropped the hammer and sprinted past, Joel held on for about 300mtrs and then faded much to my delight. I steamed home in 4th place, happy with my efforts.

Thanks also to:

Popper Rodley for looking after the Sprog while I raced.

Alex I waited for you at the top of Mangaroa Hill... where were you? See ya this weekend... Oh hang on youré a bit to yellow to step up to that challenge... or is that orange :D

Thanks for putting the pressure on Joel, I would have got too lazy otherwise.

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Belmont Werewolf Hunt - Nightride Report

The full moon nightride last Thursday was a good one. There were 11 brave souls, quickly whittled down to ten thanks to a lights mechanical not 1minute in.

The following Werewolf Hunters had the pleasure of taking in the beautiful clear night with only a light wind, even on top of the trig: Tigerbone Tones, Rachel Ockleford, Jeff "Undead" Lyall, Marco "Silver Bullet" Renalli, Mark and mate (sincere apologies for name forgetting), Paul, Davo, Angryatwolves Clive and Harry Potter.

The ride headed steadily up the Koro Stream and continued up to Oakleigh St. Dave lost a few bets that he could ride up the wooden steps and now owes about $100 to everyone. Despite not spotting any Werewolves, there were a few amorous cows heard tracking Nick_K through the bush. Not doubt trying to pin him down for the dates he has kept promising in order to gain safe passage in the hills. Fortunately for Nick, it just turned out to be Tones demonstrating his 'Big O' sounds. Jacinda is so lucky.

We dropped down the hill and up Normandale Rd. Godfather resisted the temptation to head straight home to settle in for Coronation Street, and we ended up at the start of Old Coach Rd. after a pleasant moonlit ascent to Danzig, we regrouped and dived into the woods. The slick clay corners gave most people a pause for thought (in the bushes) and the trail seemed to go on forever. Many didn't recognise much of it heading down it in the dark. Dave's v-brakes were worthless once wet, but Nick and Tigerbone represented the team well and really hooned down it. By the time the bunch got down to the gate near the woolshed, Tones and Nicko were well past 2nd base.

Paul and the SilverBullet headed home down the road rather than head up to the Trig. And we were reduced to eight. The climb to the trig was magnificent. Lights off, and just riding in the silvery moonlight. It was borderline romantic. But Harry Potter got bored of waiting for Tiger to pop the question, and romped up the 4WD on his singlespeed. He's such a hardout.

The group bunched at the top and said goodbye to Undead Lyall, who had done the climb for kicks and headed back down to his house, or possibly Coro' at Marco's. The rest headed up to the Trig for a sneaky lager behind a nice windblocking boulder. It was an amazing night for a beer - Nice one Boner_T for sorting the bevies. Quickly got chilly though and the bunch headed off down Honeysuckle Ridge. Luckily it was good and uneventful. Davo provided the clownship by falling in the creek after the log ride. He confirmed it was cold.

Back at the carpark the bunch resolved to do it again and packed up quick to get home to the warmth of their MySky'd Coronation St and some dinner. An excellent outing. Good job everyone! Fingers crossed for more Werewolves next time. They were obviously warned of our approach by the laughter and botty burps.

If interested you can click here for Angry's GPS read of the outing, and a few sub-standard pictures. It sure is hard to take a decent pic at night.

Good job Slackshanks - While we were cruising he was storming the Superdark down the otherside of the hill (see below). Crazy stuff from the Slackmeister and fellow Superdarkers!

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Faded Dreams of Glory

So in the last 2 months or so I've gotten myself a DH bike. Going back to some old roots one might say. I've saddled myself up an Ironpony Sunday, with some 2010 boxxers.
Now I know all you jeyboi's are thinking "Boxxers???, you don't wear boxers under your Lycra." You'd be wrong on 2 points, 1 - DHers dont wear Lycra anymore, it's actually against the rules, and 2 - Boxxers are a suspension fork.
Lots of suspension travel front and rear, and a nice hefty weight of 39.5 pounds. Yet it still pedals pretty darn well.
But I digress, Jono B has been organising some "timed" Dh rides with a small select group. Called SuperDark, obviously been run at night in the dark, in a super D format. I turned up to one on the hill that shall not be named, 2 weeks ago, and whupped ass, well sorta. I missed a card stop cos I didn't see it. But still got 2nd even with a 1 minute time penalty. Even rode the Uphiller Sunday back to the top for another sifty run.
Last week, on the same night as the Werewolf hunt up Belmont, a small group of merry men gathered once more. We actually met at the same place as the werewolfers in Cornish St. They took off before us, cowed by our ............ok, so Caleb was really late and we had to wait.
Up the stream we went, Caleb decided we should take a shortcut on the way up. This involved carrying our bikes up a nigh on vertical rocky track. This sucked greatly, cheers big guy. At the top of that track, there was more hill, and then more hill, and still more hill. Eventually we got to halfway. And after that there was more hill.
Finally the top of Belmont trig was reached, and an order was sorted. Jono headed off first, as he was the bottom timer. I was 4th off, and nearly pedalled into a hole in the first 10 meters. I was really unsure of where I was going to be honest, but having spotted a few lines on the way up, made sure I hit them, which helped in the flow of things. Passed young Sarah in the wood switchbacks, and was getting the swap on at times, back out in the open and the faster stuff was a bit of a struggle. I wasn't sure of the traction levels, unsure of whether or not the track turned at the end of some of the straight bits, how tight it did and what way. So I was quite cautious in the faster bits. Coming thru baked beans bend was fun as hell, but seeing as I had only been down there once before and that was a few years before, was essentially running blind. Caught and passed weasel the dog and his owner, and took off down the stream bed. Bloody wet feet tho. Coming thru the next junction and I saw the 1st riders lights head of me, but my front wheel was a bit washy. Great front tire was going down, and it's still a long way to go to the end. Ah well, sit down and pedal on the low seated DH bike, still got a good pace on, but can't really stand to sprint, can't attack corners cos the front lets go, but ah well. Still pedal hard, walk the bridge with the steps cos it's well too flat to want to ride them by now.
From memory I did a 18:34, about a min up on second place. Pretty happy with that, spesh with the flat front tire and all.
And when I got home, I found I had a rear flat as well. Double tube fail.

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Mono goes berko

Don't get too excited folks - just a ride report from Sharpie.

I took advantage of the mint weather today and got a few miles in on the MTB - with no real rain for the past week I swapped out my 2.4 winter tyres for some 2.0 semi-slicks. Fun.

I headed along the road from Karori, out onto SH2 towards the Hutt Valley. Some dude on a full-on Time Trial bike came past me on the motorway, and although I've only got a 32T on the front I rode along at his pace from before Horokiwi to Petone (I sat about 5m back though, didn't want to cramp his style). Cruised along the Petone Foreshore, enjoying the sunshine and lack of any real wind. I peeled off the armwarmers at the foot of Wainui Hill, and headed up the track off the side of the road. Upon reaching the saddle I headed south, along Rata Ridge, towards Mt Lowry. I saw a fair few people out enjoying the trail, including a few walkers and a group of 4 on mountain bikes. The trail to Mt Lowry along Rata Ridge is great fun - pretty rooty, and quite a challenge to ride in places. Same goes for the descent down into Wainui - plenty of tight corners, rooty bits, steep bits, etc... fantastic fun. It was riding super nice too, everything was dry and grippy.

Once I'd popped out onto the streets of Wainui I headed along to the Crazyman Climb (the Konini firebreak). Moseyed up the various wee pinch climbs and clay bits to the T intersection at the top. Normally I head left, and head for 491/Spoonhill, but today the sun was shining, the shanks were doing OK, and I had some time to kill (Obviously). I thought I'd check out the trail leading to the right, see where it ended up. Long story short, it ends up in Stokes Valley... hmmm, OK. Once I'd escaped gangland I headed down the Hutt River trail, wishing I had a compact road crankset on the MTB. The combination of a slight downward slope and a slight tailwind made the thought of a 50T appealing. Anyway, I carried on along with my teeny 32T, eventually reaching Lower Hutt city. I jumped onto the roads again, and headed across the motorway and up into the hills. I flagged hitting Danzig, instead climbing by road to the top. Along the tops, and into the paddocks. I bumped into The Godfather (Marco) and had a chinwag until I got cold standing in the wind. Along I went, up to Round Knob (Always funny) then down to Takapu Road substation. On the way down from Round Knob there were heaps of sheep on the track, and I was making lots of odd noises to try and get them to move outta my way. At one point the track does a 180 down the hill, and I had a couple of sheep do the mean road gap - a drop of about 2m, and they landed about 4m from where they took off! Kamikaze sheep in Belmont.

From here I had more tarmac to cover - I had planned on riding through Spicers forest to Ohariu Valley, but seeing as I don't actually know where to go I thought I'd flag that. Instead, I headed along the road to Johnsonville, where I made a stop for 2 packets of mini dinosaurs and a drink. Up to Truscott Park, then to the top of Mt. Kaukau. I didn't stop to admire the view, but I'm sure it was just lovely. I had some confidence in the tyres and I'd played around with the new(ish) Fox F29 fork a bit too to get it working all proper like, so I had an excellent steam down through the farmland near the top. Infact, since the new stiles have been installed I was able to ride uninterrupted from Kaukau to Makara Road. Awesome. The little bits of singletrack that have been cut in along the way are excellent, and really help give the Skyline track some continuity.

After negotiating the gate near the water tank, I headed for the summit via Varleys and Zacs. Straight through at the top, to try my luck on Ridgeline. As it turned out the tyres were fine in the slushy bits - during the winter months a couple of sections of Ridgeline don't see ANY sun at all, and are quite sheltered from the wind, so remain soggy for some time after rain. This was pretty much the only mud I saw the during the entire ride! Ridgeline extension, Swigg and Starfish were fantastic fun. At the carpark I refilled my bottle, and made a tough decision - I live about 3 minutes from the carpark, and could have quite happily headed home at that point... but it was still sunny, and my legs still worked. Damn.

Up Salvation to the top of Wrights Hill, then down alongside the Sanctuary fence to the Long Gully access road. Riding up the road I had time to check out the hoons drifting around on the old airstrip, and passed a corolla parked up, with 4 young guys standing on the roof and the unmistakable smell of pot. I reached Hawkins Hill Road, and headed for the golf ball. I caught up to a dude on a 6" travel trail bike, and as I passed asked "How's it going?", to which he replied "Not as good as you". I nearly burst out laughing, but didn't have the energy - my legs felt like they'd been through a tumble dryer, and I had absolutely NO energy. Maybe he didn't notice the salt (dry sweat) covering my face...

Once at the top of the Tip Track, I conjured up enough energy to steam down to Red Rocks. This is one of my favourite descents around - mainly just fast and loose, and the little pinch climbs break it up nicely. I had a stretch at the bottom of the track, before battling with the dozens of groups of walkers using the track round the coast - great to see so many people out, but a pain in the arse for me to navigate. Back onto tarmac, and I headed round the coast to Houghton Bay. Up Houghton Bay Road, and across the park to join up with the trail that climbs to the top of the hill. Progress was slow, but that gave me more time to check out the burnt out nifty fifty near the top... kids these days.

From there I went past the 4X track (Which I didn't know was there until 2 weeks ago!) up to the top of Mt. Albert. Around the side, and down to the soccer field by the zoo, before crossing over to Karitane. Didn't hit any jumps up, not cos I suck at anything like that, but cos I was in a hurry. Honest. A bit more tarmac followed, before I got to the top of Mt Vic, which was to be the last hill of the day (Apart from my ride home... forgot about that). I cruised down the North face, and popped down to Oriental Bay. Smashed a chocky milk, then sifted along the shared footpath thing - bloody hell it was packed! Some reet went speeding the other way on a road bike, would probably only be a matter of time before they took someone out. Along the waterfront, down to the Beehive and back up to Karori.

A great day out - bike was fantastic, the weather was great and the trails were just dandy. It was cool to hit some decent hills, all in one ride - Mt Lowry, Konini, Belmont, Kaukau, Makara, Wrights Hill, Hawkins, Mt Albert and Mt Vic.

Factoids:

Total Distance: Definitely more than 22km.
Total Ascent: Enough to make my legs a bit sore
Total time: 8 hours
29ers rule
Number of yellow dinosaurs found in 2 mini packets: 3 (yellow ones are the best)

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Belmont MTB Group Ride

I thought it would be a good idea to organise a nice group social ride last Sunday. It didn't take much organising really. I just banged out an email to the Godfather for him to include in his weekly spam. I was expecting a dozen or so keeners for the pedal up and over Belmont Trig and round Koro Dam and back.

I got away from home just before 8am and headed up over the Cannons Creek hills and up to the Dress Circle. The Puke Ariki/Dress Circle track heading past Round Knob and over towards the Airstrip was harder work than normal, no breakfast and a couple of shandies the night before had taken the edge off me, and the track was pretty chopped up by the gangs of patrolling cows. There were some pretty organised sub-herds. I noticed they would call from one rise across to another gang on the next rise, who would turn and assemble across the track. I had to give one lot near Round Knob a severe staring at, to get a passageway between them and the fence. Nicko would have absolutely lost the plot.

I picked a nice track that sidles round from near the Airstrip, to Old Coach Rd. It was uber claggy and I had to stop a couple of times to get the clag and dung out of the bike so the wheels stood a chance. I was running late by now and decided to drop down Choppers through the forest as it was the most direct route down to the valley. Always a testing and cracking downhill that one.

I arrived at the carpark and it looked more like a race was on. There were cars everywhere and around 35 riders. We've never had so many at a social ride! Brilliant turnout!

We had plenty of peeps I had not met before and lots I knew. A good age mix too, from young guns like Jono Wood and Jonty Sanders, right up to the Godfather, still looking sharp as ever at 93yrs. Plenty of ladies were out too which was a good sign, including some girls from the MTBChicks riding group.

We headed along the stream track and up to the Trig. I was the good shepherd at the rear of the bunch and had a good time jawboning and enjoying the views across the valley. I saw a lean mean Nick_K, who had arrived fashionably late, coming strongly from behind. He was followed up by Gav and Mike, who were late, but not fashionable - no offence boys.

The bulk of the bunch had hung around at the Trig for a while and the cold winds forced them off the top before my planned group photo. Fair enough though, some of them hadn't got windtops, earmuffs or anything to keep them cosy. We headed to the summit regardless for a victory pic.

The downhill of Honeysuckle Ridge was a goodie! Greasier than my previous descents, so more challenging on the upper sections or the more novice dudes. I waited at the top with Dr Hinge and got his expert opinion on my foot injury - Thanks NoButt. Then we headed down at a good pace with mucho no traction action. I caught up with the girls in time to see Amber dusting her self off. Her brakes were pulling back almost to the bar - air in the lines. She had also only been biking for 3 months, making her the Newbie of the bunch. We carried on down to Baked Beans Bend and had just missed the bunch.

I heard an awful scream and realised one of the girls was about to take a big bite of the shit sandwich. Amber steamed into view, totally out of control looking like she was going to fly across the grass and land on the rocky trail section below the bend. Christ I hate watching stuff like that. Luckily she knocked into some bigish rocks, just as I was doing a quick mental inventory of my first aid kit, which somehow steered her back on track. She jumped over the bars and somehow bounced off the floor and finished with a 'ta-daaaaa!'. Bloody brilliant. Could have been a major drama. Well done Amber - You earned your stripes with that one!

We had a good time heading out along Koro steam and then up to Oakleigh Street. I had the pleasure of the company of Matt Clarke and Amber, who after her crash scored further bonus points by mentioning she had read some of the blog.

It was great to get onto the Stratton St descent and we swooped down the valley to find a lot of riders still there, having enjoyed a lap of Danzig, Chopper and Big Weta. Sharpie spoke in glowing terms about the descending skilzz of Jono and Jonty, which I thought was well worth mentioning in case you are reading boys ;o)

After some gasbagging, Sharpeshanks and I headed back up Danzig, heading for home via Round Knob, the way I came in. I was an embarrassment climbing Danzig. Felt like I had sand in my tires. Dave showered himself with glory by producing two mini packs of Natural Confectionery Dinosaurs (key sponsorship target - we love your Dinosaurs).

The wind, as we moved from Old Coach Road over towards Round Knob, was obscene. It had really gained some punch during the morning and was now hard to ride into at all. It did mean that we got to do some walks up the hills. Me on the SS and Dave having no granny ring, meant the steep climbs and the strong winds were the perfect excuse for a bit of walking and gobbing off about the benefits of wide handlebars and wotnot. The wind was so strong at one point that we were having trouble getting them over the gates, and if you held the bike out, it would blow out like a flag. Crazy stuff.

We parted company at Takapu Rd. Sharpie continued his haul back to Karori after a biiiig ride, and I cruised down to my place in Aotea. On the way of the hills I came across one of the earlier cow gangs. They had obviously heard I had out-stared their mates up on the tops, and wanted to prove they weren't as soft. It took a few minutes to batter their confidence with my evil eye, and they reluctantly allowed me to pass. I wished Nicko was there. He could have maybe cast a spell or at least distracted them by soiling himself.

I got home to find a yummo plate of corn and feta fritters, courtesy of my lovely wife, Amie. I had a great day out. I always feel like I've been on a holiday after a good trip into the hills. It was fantastic to have so many people come out on the ride, and I enjoyed meeting some new friends. Looking forward to next time.

Cheers

I've got some more pics I'll put on tomorrow.

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Lessons learned...

The season begins: BP Road Series Race 1,

A brief description of the racing categories:

1st Group (Limit) New Rider to Racing, likely to have done some fun rides in the past
2nd Group (Break 4) - Some race experience, used to riding in a bunch, guide Taupo Time 5hrs +
3rd Group (Break 3) Couple of years racing, confident in race bunch, guide Taupo Time under 5hrs
4th Group (Break 2) Experienced A/B Grade Rider,Taupo Time under4hr45m
5th Group (Break) Experienced A/B Grade Rider, Taupo Time under 4hr30m
6th Group (Scratch) Experienced A Grade Rider, Taupo Time under 4hr15m

The night before the race I put Angry's Mavic Ksyrium SL wheel set on my heavy beast, this was to try out his theory that decent race wheels CAN actually make a difference. The difference was instant, I felt more alive and snappy than I ever had on my R500 commuting wheels, ha go figure, the only time Angry was to be correct that whole day.(Sorry about the blur, but below is the PNP dog tied up to my Giant 20kg road bike)

Planned to meet Angry first thing in the morning and rode to the race together. All the way he was reassuring me that "Scratch it's not that bad, you'll be able to hold on".

Got to the race for some pre-banter and prep. Registered to the tune of everyone else I knew at the race saying "yeah, Break, Break 2 for me..." Warning bells going off in my head... as I stood up to registration and was asked what category? "Scratch" I said in a confident voice, to which the guys eyes nearly popped out of his head and rightfully so...

Right onto the race and I lined up against some of the big names in the sport, Lee Evans, Stu Houltham & Clive Bushlove Bennett. Arse!!! right then I knew I was screwed. Off we went at a cracking pace. I started in the rotations fine and had a couple of turns at the front, felt fine until we turned around the point and off they went. As I tried to hold on I found myself at the back of the bunch by Scorching Bay and dropped like one of Davo's ball-sacks when he turned 20, within a kilometre after that I was 5mtrs back.

Decided at that point it was time to try out my time trialling so I dug deep and hammered the rest of the race by my lonesome. I even put a sprint in at the end to cross the line dead last. Never mind it was a day of lessons learned and I will be back for some more ass whooping next week. 66th over all and last in Scratch.

Lesson 1: Never get dropped from a group in road cycling, especially when there is wind involved
Lesson 2: Don't trust Angry when he says "You be fine in Scratch"!!!!
Lesson 3: Decent road wheels CAN make the world of difference. No flex in the wheels mean for better Sprinting, Climbing, Standing up off the seat and general wheel flex from weight. Not that my result from the weekend displayed this :D
Lesson 4: Crossing the line dead last, is not such a bad thing... until they rolled up the timing mat straight after. I laughed!

A big ups to those who cheered me on at the Breaker Bay hill, thanks Oli & Co ED: Me too, the support is great!). All in all an interesting result but a great fun day and race. Will see you all at the next one ;) watch for the guy racing himself with an MTB peak in his helmet

Chur Tiger




My Race (Angry)
My memory must be failing as I dont recall the pace in scratch being that fast last year, right from the get go our small bunch of about 10 riders was straight into attack mode, riders werent just riding to the front in rotation, rather a lot where attacking straight off the front meaning the pace was pretty mean (and throughly enjoyable) as you then had to pass that person to get onto the front again, Still dispite having a bit of a chest cold I didnt feel too bad and was able to do my turns, the climbs up through the cutting in Seatoun were done at a pace most people would be proud of on the flat and into the final home straight the pace was full on with Lee pulling out a big lead until he was pulled back in somewhat, I went for a sprint a wee bit too early and got pulled back in just before the end, im not sure how I would have done it different but I think putting in a sprint earlier to gain a bit of a gap then letting the bunch sprint to catch whislt recovering then sprinting for the finish while they recover seemed to be effective, least thats what I think Lee did too great effect.

Round 2 next week I feel pumped.

Huge thanks to PNP for organising this series, the turnout was huge and just goes to show the level of support PNP has.

NEW FLASH!!..Tiger just emailed me, and said hes going to race scratch again, awesome news, well done Tigs!..

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Belmont Werewolf Hunt - Night Ride

"Belmont Werewolf Hunt" - Night Ride

Come out for some happy hunting - 6.30pm Cornish St entrance to Belmont Park - Thursday 6 August.

Full moon will be great for sighting werewolves and steaming into them. We'll head up the stream to Oakleigh St, maybe howl at the moon down Danzig (good wolf spotting), cruise lights off up the 4WD to the Trig, then romp down back down to Cornish St, impaling vicious undead were-beasts as we go.

Don't forget to charge your lights, sharpen your stakes and polish your silver bullets. If it looks like a nice clear night, might be rude not to bring a beer to have at the Trig ;-). Do forget your heart rate monitor and any ideas of riding quickly.

In case of bad weather, watch this spot for cancellation. 0213116572 on the night if you are running late.

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