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The weather is getting a lot better and I have been getting out a lot more. I also did a quite a bit of maintenance on the bike recently so was keen to make the most of a new chain and so on.
It’s really been uneventful, mostly fitness rides, and nothing new or challenging (other than steep slogs up the hills here).
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Time flies. Not too much riding in the last few months, as I have been devoting a little more time to photogrphy. But, in the last week I have been striving to get my lunchtime ride habit restarted.
I have been hitting the steeps of the Fenceline trail, which after 6 attempts in the last 10 days or so I am really feeling it in my core, legs, and general low energy levels. While a rest day would be beneficial, the weather is bound to turn so I am keen to get out as much as possible.
One highlight from the first part of the year was Hdawg going to WORD after school on a Tuesday. It was amazing to get two hours to ride on a school evening, but by the end of the term clocks were about to go back and it was getting chilly in the evenings.
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It’s been a while since I’ve done the Aro to wind turbine climb, and it was great. In fact, I don’t think I’ve done it very often at all, so to hit that today during a lunch ride was extra special.
It was during a cold snap, and the southerly was pretty mean.
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Today was the first ride on the Meta for three months. As much as I love the Kona and the advantages of a full squish, it felt insanely good to be back on a bike that fits me.
It’s hard to quantify but the Meta is such a good climber, I did feel I was expending much less energy on the climbs. Oddly, the steepest parts of the Karepa Vomitron were perhaps more difficult on the HT.
Downhill it feels intense and fast, it’s not, but every single sensation of the trail is heightened.
Getting used to the brakes gave me the shits a few times, the Zeds really are superb completed to the Guides, that might be something I consider changing if I keep the bike in the long term.
It is probably foolish to keep riding a hardtail, but today’s short visit to Waimapihi was a lot of fun.
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It’s been a little while between posts, here are a few reflections.
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Having had a chance to ride a full suspension bike has got me wondering if I should sell the hardtail and get a full suspension.
I love the hardtail, it feels like an almost perfect bike. The attraction of the full suspension became clear at the weekend when riding some of the lumpier stuff at Mākara. I could go faster, felt much more in control, it was not as jarring and it was less fatiguing. Climbing is a little more effort, but not as much as I had expected.
If I do upgrade I would ideally keep the hard tail, but in reality this won’t be possible.
One of the bikes I am considering is the Meta SX or the Meta AM. At the top of Mākara there was a chap with one, and he kindly let me jump on and take it for a quick spin. The thing looked huge, I initially thought it was an XL, it was in fact a medium, he’d gone down a size, which after looking at the geo data I was considering doing anyway, but the chance to actually see one and hop on was incredible.
It doesn’t really solve how I’ll afford another bike, but it does help understand what I might get should the opportunity arise.
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I have been very fortunate to have the use of a full suspension bike for the last three weeks. It’s a great bike, and while it’s a size too big for me, it is still an amazing ride.
Strava has not recorded fast times on it in Waimapihi, in fact it’s been pretty slow compared to my times on the Meta HT, but today it came alive on the bigger and wider trails at Mākara.
Peak Flow was incredible. It took about a third of the trail to realise how much faster I could go. The first third felt slow as I adjusted, but the final half felt very quick despite the wet and slippery conditions.
I happened upon a new grade 3 called Kārearea. I’d decided to go down Zac’s on a whim. I enjoy Zac’s, but finding a brand new trail at the end was a very happy moment.
Kārearea is a stupid amount of fun, a proper smooth flow trail, and I cannot wait to get back there. It does have a few quite sharp corners, but the berms are still in good shape. Coupled with T4 from the Mākara saddle there is a new fun G3 loop that doesn’t require starting from the main carpark.
This ride nearly didn’t happen at all, but I am so glad that I did manage to make it up the hill despite the missteps getting ready.
Today was a truly wonderful ride, I was buzzing.
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After my first Covid infection I’ve had a couple of weeks off the bike as a precaution. The 200 hour Yari service was due so it seemed like a good time to do it.
The big, obvious lesson was that the fork needs to be tuned for the rider’s weight. Adjusting the air pressure and rebound made so much difference. The first ride after the service and adjustment was amazing – especially given a few weeks without any form of riding. I could brake later, and shaved almost 30 seconds off my recent times on a short segment.
I had previously serviced the Rockshox Judy Silver, and my general impression was that it was a fork that wasn’t really designed to be serviced, there were parts of the procedure that were very time consuming — I recall spending close to two hours attempting to reseat something until I applied heat (or was it cold?) to persuade it to fit.
Service on the Yari couldn’t have been more different. I wouldn’t say it was easy, but, it certainly wasn’t difficult. There was nothing in the process that was fiddly or required much of a special knack.
Another lesson was to read the service manual and take note of the tools needed, and check that they were available before starting. All the lubricants were sorted, but not the tools. This required two visits to the hardware shop for sockets which added about 2 hours to the process.
So yeah, the best part of a day. But it was cruisy and overall very pleasant, with a superb result.
I then spent a good couple of hours cleaning the bike including the drive train. The end result was fantastic – it looked almost new apart from minor scuffs, chips, and wear from rubbing. It was surprising how easily a quick rinse with the hose after a muddy ride immediately restored the bike to an almost completely clean state.
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Firstly, the bottom bracket is squeaking a lot less, the last few rides not at all in fact.
I finally have some proper flat riding shoes. I can’t tell if they make any difference, but they seem absolutely fine so far.
I had a three week hiatus from riding due to travel and unusually wet weather. I did notice my high screw adjustment was out, there was chatter in the mid range, and the chain came off the small gear while I was riding. I’ve tuned it up and hope for the best tomorrow.
I have had an amazing few days of riding. Today was the fifth in a row. I’ve done a mix of Waimapihi and Mākara. Today was a so so run down Serendipity, and yesterday included an exhilarating attempt on Upper Starfish.
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The process was ok. After a frustrating start where nothing budged, the magic ingredient was Muckoff penetrating oil and leaving it for a couple of days. I used a 1 metre steel tube for leverage, and everything came off fairly easily.
There was almost no grease, which explains why the bottom bracket was making so much noise.
I’ve yet to ride it, so I’ll know then how it really went.
