Category: Uncategorized

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.

• Jan: 6 rides
• Feb: 8 rides
• March: 5 rides (a couple of longer ones)
• April: 2 rides
• May (so far): 5 rides

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.

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.

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.

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.

Did a couple of laps of Mākara, great fun. I got psyched out by Wha Out, even though I was sure I could deal with it.

I finally got back to Barking Emu and I was super impressed. A lot of the trail had been widened and the ruts removed. Car Parts Extension was challenging but more because of the number of people coming the other way.

But it was a good ride, 20km and it felt pretty good.

Today I rode Serendipity twice at lunchtime, and managed the whole thing in under an hour.

The big deal was riding the one rooty area I’ve so far been unwilling to attempt (and learning how easy it is), and for the first time getting around the left hand corner near the bottom of the trail, and doing it twice.

Finally I need to confront the gnarly and steep chicken line next to the drop, before the track gets wet again.

There is still one rooty section that I’ve ridden successfully in the past but didn’t do today. But all that said I can ride the damn thing from top to bottom, I just need to put it all together

1. Ride the Tip Track by the end of the month;
2. Ride from the top of Brooklyn Hill to the bottom (ie Carparts to Ikigai to Serendipity) by the end of the month.

The last two Sunday’s I have been up to Mākara (ashamed that I finally learned to spell it correctly). The climb has been tough, but the downhills just amazing.

The Smokin’ changes are AWESOME, it flows so well, smooth, fast and fun.

Peak Flow is feeling great, the Meta feels so different from the Roscoe, the teeth chattering jarring I used to experience when riding down does not occur on this bike, which could be a change in my technique.

My calf muscles have been killing me, I found this spot part way down to rest, although I hope I don’t have to keep doing this as lovely as the view is.

Only seven rides in July. It’s been two weeks since the last outing due to weather and illness.

Yesterday was a quick and somewhat difficult circuit around Ikigai.

Today Ikigai felt a lot better, so I was encouraged to try Serendipity again. It was much drier than last time, and I was able to ride more and walk less. I nearly tried the steep line next to the drop, but chickened out. If it’s dry next time I’ll see how I go.

Overall it was energizing, and I’m hoping for less rain this month.