jo wrote:Hope Kaitlyn is enjoying a good keen man - its a classic.

Cheers Jo! She's such a cool kid

sifter wrote: I'm usually a hot guy . . .

Bump for the morning crew. New Plymouth to National Park with words and pictures... And Garmin animations... sifter-goes-bike-riding-t58400-1065.html#p2199351

Good to see you today John! I spotted you in Oriental Bay this evening too

Thanks for the read. It was great as always.

Monolith wrote:Good to see you today John! I spotted you in Oriental Bay this evening too

I think possibly I saw him waiting to cross Taranaki St at the bypass

happybaboon wrote:

Monolith wrote:Good to see you today John! I spotted you in Oriental Bay this evening too

I think possibly I saw him waiting to cross Taranaki St at the bypass

Guilty as charged!

Just had an awesome ride with Jay-Z and Simon around the Miramar peninsula. I was on my sparkly new 69er and enjoyed a few sprints in the gravel at the side of the road. It was great to have James along on his road bike to tear Simon's and my legs off... The rear tyre squirmed a bit being set at MTB pressures, but my legs are now rooted! Fantastic! Yay for the reincarnated XTC

Had a nice, if not chilly day today. Started off my entering the Makara Peak Rally... "Simon and sifter ride to the top and back" for the Creek to Peak Relay in the morning, and yours truly, brought to you by Roadworks in the Tour de Peak. I reckon I'll use the 69er XTC in the morning, and my tried and true Epic in the arvo...

Had a play around on Mt Vic's ridgeline with my family after a good feed at Joe's Garage on Tory Street. We practiced riding up a hill and then down it a few times before hitting the bays. We got turned around at Shelly Bay on account of a car race, and by that stage I was running a bit behind so headed back to Newtown with Carly. After a quick coffee she shot off to work, and I met Simon at Oriental Bay for 8 ascents of Mt Vic.

In order:

1. Grafton Rd
2. Kio Bay zig zag
3. Hay St
4. Upoko Rd from Hataitai Village
5. Majoribanks and MTB tracks
6. Mein St and ridge
7. Maida Vale Rd
8. Palliser Rd

It was pretty hard looking at the GPS unit while climbing, but the steepest gradient I noticed on Hay St and the path from it to Palliser Rd was 33%

The XTC is rocking with the Crow on the front and a bit more air in the rear. We finished the last at the summit 2 hours 5 minutes after starting. We were both capable of at least one more, which is a good sign... Feeling rooted after 4 (mind you that did include Hay St on the roadies...) doesn't seem like so long ago

Looking forward to Taupo next weekend, then the Makara Peak Rally, followed by the Mangaone Walkway loop, and then some MTBO before getting stuck into a big bowl of Christmas trifle...

Had a rather odd experience walking down Woodward St at lunch time today.

I was just about to pass a group of men I didn't know, when one of them, looking in the direction I was walking said "SIFTER", upon which another man, walking towards me, smiled and looking across my path towards the guy who'd spoken said "SIFTER". Three sifters in a row... What are the odds of that ever happening to me again?

The Earth's mantle will start to move! That sort of alignment isn't supposed to happen until 2012 - my Mayan calendar told me!

you should come along and smash up rice mountain classic on the 19th Dec!

Joel wrote:you should come along and smash up rice mountain classic on the 19th Dec!

I'm mildly tempted...

Do eeeeeettt...

I've been looking at ways to carry a spare set of clothes on a bike trip... Fun!

A bike trip in particular?