dented wrote:First night ride.

Took us a bit under 3 hours. I have been getting out once a week for a ride lately, but its all a bit different at night. Took a while to get my mojo going.

Ah .... missed the night bit.
never done Pondy New at night .... that'd be hard case

Here is my effort for today.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31911674
Great ride

sunday ride

Skyline Walkway -> Makara Peak carpark

Karori > Wainui. 491, jungles, Snail trail, jungles, 491, jungles > Karori. Awesome

I was in the Wainui trail park this lunchtime, a choice place to be able to get to in a 25 min ride from work. I've had about a week of reacquainting myself with mountain biking after 10 years of running and road riding, and I've been up there nearly every day.

After heading out yesterday and riding Snail Trail and Jungle Gym, and being quite pleased to make it round without putting a foot down or touching a tree except to stop for a dog walker, I joined a workmate for a lunchtime ride today. He suggested we ride Spoonhill/491. I haven't had the guts to try that yet, having heard that it's tougher than the other tracks in the park that I've ridden. We ended up riding up Labyrinth, then down Spoonhill/491, the link track, a bit of the wetland, Beeline Extension and the new Westside track, then back via Jungle Scout and Jungle Gym.

I was stoked to have ridden Spoonhill/491 without stuffing it up and flying off into the trees, suffering just an accidental toppling over when getting too close behind my workmate, braking and losing my momentum - other than that, I just rode it without thinking too hard. It's rooty, rocky clay singletrack, with little dropoffs and chutes - nothing wildly dramatic, but proper mountain biking. I'm getting the hang of this stuff.

Plug - I have a blog, to chuck a few ride reports in: Punter on a bike.

Good stuff, Oliver!

I'm really enjoying lapping Koru > Swigg > Starfish at the mo

Steady pace until the Skills Area turn off. Then put (my small) hammer down across to the start of Swigg where the flow really kicks in. I think I'm starting of get the hang of these mtb's

Three laps tonight. First time on the Cotic off road for yonks.

Have been really enjoying the Blur so much lately but 'ed being back the Soul - it seems to have way lighter contact with the trail.

I'm well satisfied with both my bikes. Especially when I get back on one of them after it's been rested for a few weeks.

it's wednesday... so that kind of ment Browning hut.

Woohoo! Today is my 33rd birthday. For the last three years I've taken the day of work for my birthday and gone for a ride - all road rides, round the Akatarawas the last couple of times. This year I made it a mountain bike ride. Instead of riding to work, I packed the bike in the van and commuted from the Hutt into Wellington, and introduced myself to Makara Peak.

I rode up Koru, Sally Ally, Missing Link and Aratihi to the top, then down North Face, Swigg and Starfish. After a break at the van for morning tea I rode up to the top the same way, and down Leaping Lizard then back up the road to the van for lunch - then a couple of laps of Koru, Swigg and Starfish to round things off before heading back to the Hutt to visit a few bike shops before picking the kids up at school. Cool day.

Happy Birthday, Oliver! Sounds like a cool way to spend it...

Thanks Oli, it was.

I heard Billy Connolly talk, on TV or something, about always taking his birthday off work even in the days when he was an ordinary working guy. It struck me as a damn good idea so I've taken it up.

Just a lil ride this arvo. Up rapaki, mt vernon, traverse, and down through vic park. The traverse is flowing so well these days.

It’s my first time in here (looks around).

I did an MTB ride today.
My wife had a friend come over on a Kona Blast that she got given by a friend = nice.
I rode it around the house a couple of times…and it wasn’t too repulsive either.

hey there FF: it's good to see you coming over from the dark side to the light! NEXT THING YOU'LL BE RIDING IN BAGGY CLOTHES!!

Did a fantastic ride with the Stickbug this morning: despite the dark, pendulous clouds and the blustery winds, we headed up Parkvale Rd to the Skyline, south to the Makara Rd saddle, up Varleys and the 4WD to North Face.

Down North Face, left on Allington connector, right into Smokin', left down the AMP connector, right onto Rimu (love those switchbacks, they have none of the engineering of NF & Smokin so you really have to ride through them! ), down Rimu and out on the Snakecharmer 4WD. Up Snakecharmer, left on Big Tom, down SWIGG - sharp right at the end of SWIGG - UP the 4WD track to where it comes out by Magic Carpet; around Magic Carpet and down the "Easy" path to the 4WD.

Back along the 4WD to Sally Alley, up Sally Alley, down Missing Link, up Aratihi to the LL turnoff. Along Upper leaping Lizard, sharp right at the end and up the 4WD to the summit. Wind blowing like a bastard, clothes all sweaty, chill factor soaring so we stopped to put our jackets on. Down the first part of Zacs and up the steep thing to come out by North Face.

That loop was quite a bit longer than we thought it would be so no time to do it again, just back down the 4WD, down Varleys and back along the Skyline track to Parkvale. A very pleasant 25km in a very leisurely 2:15.

Only saw 7 other riders out today, but it was perfect conditions for riding - the tracks were all moist enough that the dust has settled back into dirt, but they are dry enough that they are hard, no mud, no slipping wheels. North Face is getting a bit rutted already on the switchbacks, looks like people lock up their back wheels to slide around them (Lewis - you better get another brake for your front wheel!! )

Every time I ride in Makara I'm amazed at what a fantastic facility we have - so many tracks to ride, so many interesting ways to combine them. Upper Leaping Lizard has now been trimmed so the steep descending bit is really fun - you can see exactly where the track is, no more peering through the grass and barberry hoping your wheel finds solid ground. Also the switchbacks on Skyline (just north of the pines) have been cleaned up so they are fast riding as well. Good stuff.