following in everyone elses footsteps, i too have decided to stop the RSS feed of my blogspot and just post the releventia.

so... finally got out and rode today after 2 weeks sick with chicken pox. as an adult, they SUCK.

here's the sunday-arvo-post-pox-exhaustionlink.

and here's what it says...
Finally, exactly 2 weeks since the pox struck i get out on the bike. planting in the morning, so while H slept i picked up Chris and we parked up on Hillsborough Tce. headed up Farm Track, which was a bit of a mistake, as i found my lungs just couldnt seem to get enough air. anyway, with a bit of walking in the lower reaches, but surprisingly cleaning the top bit, we turned right on the road and headed round to top of Vernon Singletrack. headed up onto it and down round to rapaki, having a damned good flight down, track in mint condition, showing no signs of issues from previous weeks' rain (not even in the usual spots)

round witch hill, not bad, tho struggling- me on the ups, then up road to top of Castle where there was a Hangglider careening around above. Excellent blat down there, chris leading, we flew. was good. at bridle summit we decided to ride up back up the way we came, so clamber clamber, me struggling away. ugh, the climbs were so hard. then back down road, back round witch hill, much much better this time, its soo much more fun in that direction, blasting down to top of rapaki. back up vernon, chris blasting off ahead to blitz some other guys (who i surprisingly caught up to as well).

then we blatted the first bit of summit and down Old Skool... briefly think i had an apparition of a "Track Closed" sign, but it was so fleeting and i was travelling fast and committed so we carried on. in hindsight, only reason we can see for it being closed is cos of all the lambs and their mums all over the hill from that top gate to the new stile part way into the singletrack (annoying place for a stile, we reckon). we were cautious, and dont think we upset too many small family units (tho, sheep being sheep, ie, fucking stupid, there was one mum who kinda left one of her offspring behind due to us... hopefully she'll wander back and find it)

annyways, excellent run down the rest of the singletrack, all in mint condition too. no harm done, even if we accidentally ignored a sign. then round road back to car.

This was my last chance to ride before heading away Thursday night for the PFMTBC annual trip... much looking forward to it. few things to do on the bike before that...

update-age...

http://swtchbckr.blogspot.com/2009/10/trip-pfmtbc-inc-annual-pilgrimage.html

Annual boys bike extended-weekend. Whitesbay, Kaiteri, Puponga, Aorere, Rameka(s), Canaan.

swtchbckr wrote:...annoying place for a stile, we reckon

Yep, it is annoying but it's there for a reason. The lower paddock has been destocked and thousands of young kanuka have been planted in there to make a forest. A FOREST !!!

So until those trees have grown a bit it is absolutely crucial that all sheep are kept out, hence the cattlestop being replaced with a stile. With the valley becoming forested during the next few years we reckon it is all worth the 5 seconds it takes to jump over the stile.

Have you ridden the new Hidden Valley track? We still have lots of work to do on it but it's easily rideable. Opens up a whole lot more XC singletrack when you are dropping out thru Vic Park. You could come along (with your mates) on Wednesday evenings to help us finish it off

XCguy wrote:

swtchbckr wrote:...annoying place for a stile, we reckon

Yep, it is annoying but it's there for a reason. The lower paddock has been destocked and thousands of young kanuka have been planted in there to make a forest. A FOREST !!!

So until those trees have grown a bit it is absolutely crucial that all sheep are kept out, hence the cattlestop being replaced with a stile. With the valley becoming forested during the next few years we reckon it is all worth the 5 seconds it takes to jump over the stile.

Fantastic!!!!! good to hear.

XCguy wrote:Have you ridden the new Hidden Valley track?

not for ages, when it was still a carry from about the first hairpin!

We still have lots of work to do on it but it's easily rideable. Opens up a whole lot more XC singletrack when you are dropping out thru Vic Park. You could come along (with your mates) on Wednesday evenings to help us finish it off

we'll try to! tho, tuesdays are our usual ride night of choice (and allowance by the many missus's...), but, sometimes wednesdays are a go...

finally got a ride in...

Worsley Nun Gov'nors Thomson Gummies Cool Runnin down to the Old Skool
after working late and not thinking i'd ever get a ride again, amazingly i managed to get out. picked up chris after 7, drove to nelsons whereuponst our bikes we rode. headed across town to Worsley's, me realising how spending that long off the bike had left me feeling fat and slow... realising it even more so as we hit the climb and chris and nelson blazed off ahead of me. struggle struggle i did up to the dirt, gasping for air and feeling the burn.

hit the Worsley dirt, and trundled up balancing on the crests of the ruts, dying, but managing not to dab. the boys waited for me half way up, then we set off again, and by the time i was hitting the body bag they'd already crested it. legs screaming i managed to get nearly all the way up, but, practiced as i became accustomed to, i walked a little bit, then managed to get back on and ride to the top. ugh. darkness encroaching we cruised to top of flying nun and chris and me put our lights on.

Chris led off, me second and nelson last. headed in, i felt sketchy as, nearly scaring myself on the steep rock drop corner, but pulling thru, conscious of nelson on my tail i put some distance on him, then would muck something up and feel him breathing down my neck again. one of the riser-corners i took the shortcut and nearly got thrown by something i didnt see hidden in the grass, managed to stay on, still feeling sketchy. on down and where i thought we were bailing (carpark), chris had continued down, nelson got by while i was off the track and we chased down chris who had a massive lead by now, me eating both of their dust down the lower section. regroup and trundle back up the road to the Governor's Track.

Top of the Gov's track, Nelson and Chris off first and me last. nice wee descent, lovely track, floating over the bridge, ducking branches, etc. sidled round to where the other down-track continues its switchbacky way down to the road. Nelson and Chris decided to head on down to take in all of it, whereas i couldnt be bothered with the grunt back up, so turned back getting a head start on them, back up the way we'd come down. couple bits i had to walk, below the bridge, steep wee steepies... then regrouped and finished off the lower section of the Nun back to the kiwi again, this time with Chris tight on my tail.

due to Guy fawkes, the summit road from kiwi towards rapaki was the busiest i've ever seen it. thousands of cars cruising it, bumper to bumper, fireworks going off in all the laybys. insane. we rode all the Thomson's sections for this reason. then it was down through Vic, bit of Brake free, chris riding it a couple times, then off down through the oldschool gummies. interesting rock treatment just before the trees. that should keep a few out. lost chris when we hung a left and nelson and me continued right down to the road gate, riding back and hollering for Chris at the skidder site.

then it was off up the middle trail to Cool Runnings, something i'd not ridden for quite some time. the other two hung a right for a higher line, but ended up on a completely different trail. i waited for them as they scrambled back to it, then off we flowed, railing the berms and out to Flow and Bridges, nelson and me sticking to the high line to the washout drop. then down to the new Hidden Valley connector (nice work in here!!!), round, screamed down Old Skool, and back to Nelsons about 10.30.

Excellent to get out on the bike again, but i gotta get my fitness back up, bad.

annd, the usual sunday crew.

Met at Steve's (who was crook), smallish posse, Andy Tony Pete and Wahayno. rode round and headed up Chuntsbury. hefty climb, but not bad. Headed up onto singletrack and down towards Rapaki. good blast down here only meeting one person riding up. dabby but not bad jaunt round witch hill, then up road, and hit Castlerock. excellence ensued, absolutely flying down to the first hairpin, feeling totally on form, but then wondering whether i should trusting the on-form-ness. round the bend and i'm all over the place, rocks pinging my wheels around. round the next bend and still not quite right, then climbing and getting it right again.

round road onto Britten, spotting the new trail from the Gondola-top on the way. nice blitz round britten, getting the rocky bit first time in years. then to Greenwood. good blast down the first section, break for snackage on the ruins then hit the main drag. awesome descent. got round into Gloomy gulch and before the next descent looked back and didnt see anyone... eventually pete turned up, tony had a flat. so we sat and took in the view and chewed the fat til the others showed, then it was off again. good blast the rest of the way out.

Finally, onto the Captain. i started off good, but then i got spooked on the first rocky sections. got on okay after that, cleaning the usuals. the final blast was awesome. has been opened up a bit and some wicked wee jumpies all the way down, then into the darker stuff, meeting walkers and runners, easy easy, and down. long slog home by 12.30.

yet another ride in... way yay
huntsbury, traverse, upper fenceline, hiddenvalley, oldskool twice
picked up Chris before 7 and we parked on Bowenvale Ave. tootled down and round to Major Aitken then up here. part way up, on a bend, spotted a wee singletrack snaking off into some gums. hit it, Chris got a pinch flat on the kerb, stopped to fix that and then on up the 'Reserve' singletrack, which appeared to finish in someones back yard. he was watering his lawn and said "up to the right", so we found our way out, and spotted where you'd go next time. nice, will be an interesting wee down next time we bail down this hill.

on up huntsbury to top, reasonably uneventful except for meeting a guy on a Simple (Soul's singlespeed sister). clambered straight up onto traverse and hoofed it round towards Vic, sun thankfully just set, reducing blindness.

dropped straight over the DH fence, hung a right and headed onto Upper Fenceline track for an explore. i'd not been down it for a year or two, so figured'd take a look. someone's been working on it, trying to stop the fall-line and they've dug in berms and jumps, but not nearly finished. bit crappy actually, and was a bit of a waste of altitude.

into Flow, Bridges, Chris taking our high line for a change, down the drop, and down to and up Hidden Valley track. cleaned it all up, round to pylons and Old Skooled it. At the stile, stopped for snackage and it was lights on time. rode the first bit without lights, which pinged and buzzed us down and then finally turned them on on some of the new section. good bomb down here trail in great nick.

at the bottom, we rode back up the valley track (steeper than i remembered), back up Hidden Valley, me blowing heaps this time, and then slaughtered Old Skool again. mint.

Ain't it a handy wee link that Hidden Valley track aye?

We're in the process of getting the jungle sorted, cattlestop made up and installed and a few more bridges/boardwalk built, and berms formed. She'll be super sweet soon.

Where exactly goes this hidden valley track?

See adjacent post - "thoughts re PH XC tracks" - here's a cut and paste;

1. Hidden Valley - Old Bowenvale link is now open. As described above turn right at top gate in bowenvale farm track (bottom of Vic Park Tracks), cross the creek, head up via 2 switchbacks - where it flattens out briefly there is a sign amongst new plantings "Hidden Valley" (plus 2 upended sumps) - head left across the wide bridge and climb up through the pines then out onto the spur where a new cut track rounds the spur below the pylon to join Old Bowenvale. There will be a cattlegrid installed soon to make this a seamless climb.

Acknowledgements to Shane Conlan & Tim Preble who started this re-make ages ago, Richie G + Skope crew who carried it on and more recently Malcolm Browne who kept it alive.

2. People have been commenting about the stile (replaced crappy old cattlegrid) part way down old bowenvale. Reason for this is that the rangers have planted thousands of kanuka in the lower part of bowenvale east flank for erosion control + asthestics and don't want any sheep in there to nibble them. Hence the stile is necessary until kanuka are well established - won't be forever, and when the kanuka have grown it will be an even more pleasant ride down through here.

HTH(I'm a twerp)

a week in Fiordland put a bit of a hold on riding...

got out tonight rode Halswell Quarry and Crocodile a coupla times...
grabbed a lift with Pete, running a little late, so the others (steve, tony, warren, abacus-steve) had slowly headed up the over the quarry ahead of us. our lungs screaming, we chased, meeting them at the top. cruisy flow down, me chatting to steve, then up the paddock and up the zigzag into the new windswept houses. tarmac for a bit then over the gate and up the singletrack. i peeled off and rode the log, then caught back up and overtook everyone into the grunts. blew the first, but cleaned the rest, gasping for air a the top. then we blitzed the 'short course' track down to gate. unbelievable how fast the elite guys must be riding that to complete 12 laps in 30mins!!!!!

regrouped at gate, and headed back up singletrack then down. i led and we were chasing this older guy who we'd given a big lead. i caught up with him before the pond, and went to pass him on a straight bit, but then i bloody well hit a rut hidden in the grass and went down HARD. pretty much right next to him... twisted my handlebars/stem, so had to get the multitool out and straighten it up. steve tony and wazza continued on, but pete and abacus-steve stuck with me. then it was off again, this time me chasing pete. down (what was) 'new tasty' and onto the croc. fanging it. didnt let a little crash slow me up. couple close calls with rutty bits and neeaarly didnt clip out when i stalled in that rock tightspot, then on down, cleaning the steepie after the bridge, where steve et al were waiting.

then steve led down but i darted round him in the lower hairpins, then we hung a tight left and down into loose grave and some surprise rock stepping stones to a regroup where steve steve and tony all bailed on account of steve's gurgly guts.

pete warren and me headed back up a different trail this time, straight up to the zigzag into the tarmac then back down the croc. another good blast, with lungs just getting right... home by 8.30. nice wee jaunt.

yippee, another ride under the belt.

up Muntsbury, into some drizzle and a jolly good wetting...
headed across town and up Major Aitken onto the new found wee piece of singletrack on the way up, thinking i'd look for another exit. could see one and another possibility, but didnt venture into them as i couldnt see any actual trails. back up onto the road and into the rest of the climbing grunt. as i got up above the pilons, the drizzle started getting thicker. all the way up the Huntsbury to the road, then hit the summit traverse towards Vic. good fang round here, tho tussocks soon drenched my shoes, with rocks and matting getting slick too.

Hit Thomsons both sections and blasted down to Kiwi, then hit Old Dyers. great ride down the first section, flowy and pumpy, then the midsection with the ruts was saturated, with all the long grass leaning into the trail, drenching me even further. down the 4wd section was wetter than i'd have thought, so a bit of splatter resulting, then crossed the road and scrunted up through vic onto the road then down past the dog exercise zones and down the track under the tv/microwave tower behind the houses and into the top of cashmere for dinner. happy birthday Mum!

sweet ride tonight, Captain Godley Conda
picked up Chris at 6.30 and we headed out to Scumner. Cruised up Captain Thomas, took it pretty easy. failed to clean many of the usual obstacles, which seemed to become a pattern for the evening's ride. Fog was low, juust above Evans when we got up there, otherwise muggy.

tackled Godley, neither of us getting the first rocky section. i think we both blew the second wee snick too, but easy going after them. Fog seemed to get wetter the further out we got, but the trails (even after a couple days rain) were completely passable. no puddles, no mud, no soft bits, just very slightly greasy in a couple of spots. Chris was having more and more trouble seeing, with the misty fug accumulating on his glasses as we rode. i took the lead after the second boardwalk section and blitzed it down to Livingston Col (new section to the right noticed, just begun digging), tho taking it easy too, what with the grass slightly overgrowing most of the trails. up over to Breeze col, cleaning it all nicely, feeling my mojo starting to return a bit.

from Breeze, we took the trail below the road out to the end, then up the hill back and onto the harbourside walking track. awesome wee float down this, taking it carefully, cos the rocks were just greasy enough to be interesting.

then onto the Snake. i took the lead and got a good flow on. track condition perfect, no dust, just well firm. popped all the air, and railed all the berms and was a sweet descent. then the climb up and over back to car in Slumner.

blog tally for the year is 68 posts... the last two years have been 75 posts, and the one before that 73...

so, for the perfect symmetry, i need to get at least 5, if not 7 more posts, ie, rides, before the 1st of Jan...

swtchbckr wrote:sweet ride tonight, Captain Godley Conda
picked up Chris at 6.30 and we headed out to Scumner. Cruised up Captain Thomas, took it pretty easy. failed to clean many of the usual obstacles, which seemed to become a pattern for the evening's ride. Fog was low, juust above Evans when we got up there, otherwise muggy.

tackled Godley, neither of us getting the first rocky section. i think we both blew the second wee snick too, but easy going after them. Fog seemed to get wetter the further out we got, but the trails (even after a couple days rain) were completely passable. no puddles, no mud, no soft bits, just very slightly greasy in a couple of spots. Chris was having more and more trouble seeing, with the misty fug accumulating on his glasses as we rode. i took the lead after the second boardwalk section and blitzed it down to Livingston Col (new section to the right noticed, just begun digging), tho taking it easy too, what with the grass slightly overgrowing most of the trails. up over to Breeze col, cleaning it all nicely, feeling my mojo starting to return a bit.

from Breeze, we took the trail below the road out to the end, then up the hill back and onto the harbourside walking track. awesome wee float down this, taking it carefully, cos the rocks were just greasy enough to be interesting.

then onto the Snake. i took the lead and got a good flow on. track condition perfect, no dust, just well firm. popped all the air, and railed all the berms and was a sweet descent. then the climb up and over back to car in Slumner.

As of 30.11.2009 at 11.15am
Light rain has dampened the tracks. Some tracks are now at "avoid". Forecast looks showery for much of the week-so best to leave the bike at home for a bit. Will update as soon as condition's change.
Nick Singleton.