Category: Ride

I’ve had the bike now for nearly two and half months. I think I have ridden it 10 times, so averaging one ride per week. I need to do a lot better than that.

After a very messy Saturday due to issues at work, I was only able to get out for a short ride on Sunday. The weather was dodgy so I ended up heading to the cemetery which was reasonably sheltered.

I was motivated after speaking to Nigel about getting my legs sorted – that I need to practice the hill climbs and condition my muscles.

I rode my largest hill climb, from the lowest point of the grounds to the highest with one stop, perhaps about 600 metres, so less than half Brooklyn Hill. I needed to stop at one point, but only as I thought I was in first gear, when in actual fact I was only in 4th or 5th. I got up the rest of the way without any major issues and then did the final 200 metres again.

It was fun, but I realise that I have a very long way to go.

It’s the final day of the holidays so I took the opportunity to use the new bike rack and head to the Juvenile Delinquent track. It’s a family track and is the first single track ride I’ve done. I did four laps (with breaks in between) and could feel myself getting better each time. I had a number of incidents, but all at low speed. It’s a lot of fun, but still challenging for me. I’m super excited about heading back and trying it again.

While riding the so called kids track I went over the handle bars and landed in a tree. Naturally the first thing I did was look to see who was watching – fortunately no one was. The track has a rut which I found too challenging and I lost control and over I went. The second lap was less eventful.

The car rack (an EziGrip premium boot mount which I got from Burkes Cycles) is amazing too, it’s super easy to fit as long as you read the instructions carefully. It opens up a bunch of opportunities!

… and it was scary. And this was despite it being before 8am on the last Saturday of the holidays and the roads were deserted. I was shaking like a leaf. The funny thing was that nothing passed me for about 5 minutes as I cruised down Ohiro Road. When I stopped and turned to come back up the hill, cars and trucks were coming up behind me. It amazed me how close trucks come to cyclists as they just don’t have as much room as cars.

Overall I was chuffed that I managed to make the (pretty low) climb back up the hill with only one stop, including the scary intersection in Brooklyn.

I jumped in the car after that and headed for the Karori cemetery to practice, well, everything, but mostly climbing.

Then it was a drive to the bike store (the wonderful Burkes Cycles in Kilbirnie) for spares including an inner tube, multi tool, chain link and a wee bag to keep them in. Oh, and a car rack so I can stop putting the bike in the car. That was an expensive trip!

I also got some chain degreaser and lube in one by Rock ‘N’ Roll Lubrication. I think I applied a little too much but we’ll see. They say that you’re supposed to clean the chain after every ride, I can’t see myself doing that….

Three rides today, what a day! About an hour’s riding. My “sit bones” are bloody sore.

Ride one: the skyline. The trail is regarded as intermediate to advanced. I was sceptical as I’ve walked it many times, but it is a very different beast on a bike. It was almost immediately well beyond my fitness and skill level. I’ll consider this ride a benchmark for future rides on the track. I also cruised around some of the nearby streets.

Ride two: the road to red rocks. This road is a lot tougher than Pencarrow. The powerful wind made this quite a challenge, actually stopping me a couple of times. The road will be a great training run however and it’s close to home. I did find the bike was incredibly forgiving over some of the worse terrain.

Ride three: a cruise around the stadium concourse. It was really just to get time on the bike, but I managed to scrape my hand pretty good on a wall along Thorndon Quay.

I was on the bike for an hour, riding the dirt road to Pencarrow Lighthouse. I’d walked out there before to do some astrophotography, and it’s roughly a two hour walk each way – it was only 20 minutes on the bike to the base of the lighthouse track.

Having awkwardly negotiated a weird bike gate the ride began. The ride was great on the way out – I did not realise I had a strong northerly behind me. Looking at folks who were heading north on the track I thought ‘I am doing so much better than them’.

The awakening was rude when I turned back. Riding into the northerly was a hell of a struggle at the southern most points of the road, but it got progressively easier and more sheltered as I headed north.

It took about 25-30 minutes to return to the carpark. I needed a few stops to catch my breath, and about half a kilometre from the car park I need to dismount to rest my hands and wrists, which we numb from the unfamiliar posture.

I felt great afterwards, although I also felt quite weak from the exertion.

My aim is to try to ride at least a short distance everyday to build up my fitness and adjust my body to riding.

Zipped down to Jess and Steve’s to get passport papers. It was the first time I had ridden on the road in town that I recall. It was quiet and I barely saw any cars, but I was shaking and very nervous. It was still good fun.

I attempted to ride up Sugarloaf, and by jingo it was tricky. I did finally get my gearing right but my quads were killing me.

Did my first successful hill start that I got on the second go. It was fine – I must say the bike is easy to ride so far.

Bought a bike on Monday (Labour Day). Took it to the park with Harry and promptly arsed over when the dropper post popped up unexpectedly! Had a great wee ride around.