This past week I had a bike roadie planned! Its been a while since ive been on a bike trip – last one was in October to Queenstown so I took Thursday and Friday off of work and decided to head down to Taupo and Rotorua.
I’ve never ridden Taupo, but have heard that they have some pretty sweet single track so I figured it was time to go test it out. Up early and on the road by 6:30am, I was stoked for this bike adventure. After 3.5hours I made it to Taupo where I visited the iSite to pick up a trail map. I headed to the carp park lot, had a bite to eat and then off I went.
There are quite a few tracks, so my plan was to ride the northern block in the first couple hours and then ride the southern block in the avro. I wanted to ride all the tracks as I wasn’t sure when I would be back in Taupo next.
The tracks in the northern block are pretty sweet. Nothing to technical or overly sketchy, but a nice ride. In about 2hours I knocked off all of the tracks and managed to find my way back to the car park. I then made myself a coffee and had a bite to eat before I headed off into the southern block.
Just as I was peddling up into the tracks I heard a crack. They same sound I heard riding when I was in Nelson last Christmas. I new instantly that my bike trip was over. I jumped off the bike and looked at my lower linkage and my intuition was right. I had once again snapped the lower linkage on the drive train side of the bike. Argh. What a pain in the ass. This is a design flaw with this bike. Ive read online about this happening to other Giant Reign X’s. I guess the link is too weak to withstand the torque of peddling up hill and snaps. I shot back to the car and headed into Taupo to see if any shops there carry links – they don’t. The trip was over. No ripping it up in Rotorua, no southern block in Taupo, no bike, no camping, no more fun. Bit pissed to be honest.
I spent more time in the car driving there and back then on my bike – that is just wrong. I called the Giant shop in Auckland to see if they could just order the part, but they had to see it before they would do anything. So I headed straight there and after a look – they ordered the part. I believe it will be under warranty, but my issue is will it ever be properly fixed. The link needs to be redesigned. It’s shitty not having faith in your bike, especially if you are going on a trip. Ill be picking up my bike tomorrow and hopefully then get an explanation from Giant. I was told earlier that I had a newly designed link installed last time, but if so they need to redesign it because it doesn’t work.
I enjoyed the little riding that I managed in Taupo. If you are in Taupo go out for a ride, you wont be disappointed. Well that’s if your bike doesn’t break on ya!
Update – March 26th 2012
So Giant sent me a new ‘redesigned’ link, which i was told by the shop manager that it wasnt redesigned at all. Not surprised. It is a 2010 and they already have my money, so why fix it. Ive kept the link as a spare and I am pretty much waiting for it to happen again. I do love the bike, other than it breaks under peddling duress… which isnt ideal eh! Moral of the story – dont buy Giant. Easy.
So Michelle and I have been using our stand up paddleboards (SUP) in our spare time and love it. We manage to get out on the weekends and in the evenings. I’m loving riding my bike in the morning and then paddling around in the avro. It’s a bit more balanced lifestyle, compared to just being on the bike all the time.
We purchased these inflatable paddle boards (Red Paddle Co.), which I know sounds suspect but are really good. Michelle researched them online, but I was very skeptical until I saw one when we were down in Raglan. To be honest if you saw them blown up you wouldn’t realize they were inflatable. They are made of heavy PVC and are incredibly strong. It only takes 5-8mins to blow up. We purchased both a 10ft and 11 ft board.
They are perfect for us! You can rip around a shoreline and surf them in small swells.. pretty sick! They come in a bag you can wear as a back pack and with a pump. The size of them is perfect for a city dweller – you can pack them into the bag and store them in a closet. I don’t have to worry strapping them down on the car when we head out, or theft from the top of my car if I want to do a shop after paddling. The paddle is adjustable so friends can give it a go without having to buy a paddle to fit them.
I would highly recommend these to anyone! We love them and you would too! It’s gotten us out to new bays and beaches around Auckland. When pumping them up I get an odd look from most passer by, but once we hit the water with them people are mostly impressed. It’s a great product… go get one and enjoy the sun, sand and surf.
While I was over in Waiheke I managed to get out to some of the there local bike trails and I must say they didn’t disappoint! Weather was pretty average, so the trails were sticky getting to the point of muddy by the end of the ride. They are located Onetangi Sports Club and the trails are marked very well so you cant miss them.
I would classify all of the trails at Ranghoua Hill single track/cross-country. There are some enjoyable downs and switch backs, but no big jumps, drops or gaps. It is all pretty flowy stuff.
The first trail I rode was Ragihoua Loop track. This trail will take you to other trailheads or you can ride it as a loop. It is a short climb up and then it winds it way through native bush with a lot of fun turns to keep you on your toes. It isn’t overly long, but fun to loop out over and over. It also links to Zoom-Zoom and Nice & Easy. These tracks start at the top of the hill, which gives you a great view of some wineries and Waiheke.
I then hit up Zoom-Zoom, as I thought the name was promising and it didn’t disappoint. It was pretty much all down and a lot of fun to ride. There isn’t a lot of peddling involved, its pretty much winds you down the hill and has some nice off-camber spots. You can get some good speed going and if you are creative pop off of some of nature’s booters to make it even more enjoyable!
I pushed back up zoom-zoom so I could ride it again! I really didn’t want to ride all the way back around the family loop and up Rangihoua loop to get to the trail head. It took about 15 mins and I then decided I would only ride it a couple more times as I really wasn’t enjoying the pushes… since it was all down the push was all up. Argh! I may have been a bit out of shape since all I was doing the couple days prior was drinking and eating. Heheh.
After hussing Zoom-Zoom a couple of times I hit up Nice & Easy. The name is deceiving. I was thinking it would be a nana track, but I was wrong. This was a great trail too! It is a tight winding track that takes you through thick native bush. With the majority of the trail being covered by bush it was the wettest/muddiest of the trails after all of the rain we had. I really enjoyed this trail as it was just switch back after switch back. This track comes out to the mid point of the Rangihoua Loop, so you can either keep looping it, hit up Zoom-Zoom or jump on to the Rangihoura Loop and head back to the car park. I looped it a couple of times as well.
There were a couple linking tracks too. The Prairies takes you through a field and on too Chicken Run, which links you back to the start of the track. Both of the tracks are just linking trails and not much to go on about here.
Overall it is a fun place to ride your bike. I rode each track a couple times and then headed back to the batch muddy and happy! Kudos to the Waiheke Mountain Bike Club for creating and maintaining such great little trail network. I cant wait to come back and ride again!
Had a bit of a sleep in with the help a bit of booze from New Years Eve! We then had a proper big breakfast to soak up the booze from the night prior. The weather really hadn’t gotten any better, it was grey and off and on with some showers, so we chilled for a bit.
After lounging around the batch for a while we decided to go for a paddle. The rain had stopped so we hopped in the car and were in search for a suitable bay with calm water to go paddle boarding. We are not at the level of surfing these boards in good swells… one day, but not now! Three bays later we found a suitable place to take the boards out. The sun was peaking through the clouds and we stayed at the beach swimming and paddling for a couple of hours. I’m really digging the paddle boards! It is pretty chill and calming being on the water.
We then headed back to the batch to have a bit of lunch after working up a hunger on the boards. We all picthed in and made viatnamese summer rolls with prawns.. fan fu*k’n tastic. Full bellied it was chill out time. I wanted to take the bike out, as earlier in the week I had researched some mountain bike tracks close to town.
I packed the bike into the car and went in search of the Waiheke bike tracks. Unlike me, I didn’t get lost and managed to find the tracks right way – I guess that is what happens when it is a small island. I was definitely impressed with the tracks they had in Waiheke and wouldn’t mind hitting them up again. They weren’t overly long, but you could tell work had gone into them! The trails were all single track winding through native bush – brilliant! It rained on me, making the ride even more fun, slippery and messy! I came home covered in mud, which is a good sign for a ride!
That night it was another mean feed and some causal beers! We watched a couple movies and crashed. Another great day in Waiheke! Oh how I would like to live here.
With all of the windows in the batch it was up early with the birds! It was howling outside with wind and the rain as it still hadn’t relented. Since we are on a vacation it was a big breakfast and chill morning of reading and coffee. It was New Years Eve day and we did have a few things that we needed to do. Most important; restock the beer we drank the night prior. Something about being at a batch in the bush that just makes me thirsty. We pretty much polished off a 2-4 the night. Cant have a beer shortage on New Years Eve.
Some of the fallen soldiers from the night before... better restock!
We headed into town to get some beers and other small items to snack on. We stopped at 3 different liquor stores, as the first two were pretty overpriced and in the end we came away with two packs of 15 Macs Golden and a 12 of Steinlager Pure. Now we also brought from home a bottle of 42 Below, plus some Rum. We were ready to celebrate – no chance of running out of booze!
There was a Saturday fair on so we stopped to wander through and see what treasures we could find. There really wasn’t much, some used clothing, hippies selling art work/handmade bracelets, taro card readers and a couple food stalls – we came away with some fresh bread!
Michelle showcasing her fine bevy!
The rain had finally slowed and the sky was a lighter shade of grey.. yahoo it may just turn into a nice day! It was nice having the car with us as it allowed us to tour a bit of the island checking out the batches nestled in the hills and a long the beaches. My mate was taking the ferry over early avro to spend the night at the batch for New Years, so we picked him up and headed back to the batch fully stocked and ready to bring in 2012. As soon as we got back to the batch it was into the beers on the deck. The sun decided to make an apperance so it was time for chilling, talking shit and just enjoying being out of the city!
Enjoying the deck and sunshine when it came out to play.
We made a snakced throughout the avro and evening with chicken wings, burgers, chips, roasted veggies and the fresh bead we purchased dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar… pretty posh eh! My mate brought some Franks Hot Sauce for the wings he got in the States… so damn good! You cant get Franks in NZ, so if you are heading this way please bring me some.
Enjoying some amazing wings!
Of course we had lots to drink – beers, shots, whiskey, vodka and lime, daquiris and some rum. Bit boozed fueled. At midnight it was the usual celebrations, some drunk calls to my brother ahah… answer the phone dick. It was a great way to ring in the New Year. Happy 2012!!!!
We rented a batch (a kiwi cottage) in Waiheke over the christmas holidays for a bit of rest and relaxation. I don’t think there is a better place so close to Auckland to unwind. Ive first went to Waiheke for a day my first year in NZ and then for our staff Christmas party. Both times after returning back to the ‘main-land’ I thought ot myself that I needed to rent a batch out there! This past holidays we just did that.
In the car on the ferry, ready for Waiheke!
If you are not familiar with Waiheke, it is an island in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, located about 15km from Auckland. It is the second-largest in the Hauraki Gulf after Great Barrier Island and has nearly 8,000 permanent residents plus another estimated 3,400 who have second or holiday homes on the island. The island has a very strong arts community, which you can tell by all of the artsy/craft shops. We decided to take the car with us as it allowed us to take food/booze/bags/bike/paddle boards, which meant we had to take the Sealink. So like last Christmas we were once again on a boat with our car on our way to our holiday destination.
Upon arrival to Waiheke we headed straight to the batch we rented. It was a bush batch located a long the side of a hill in native forest. It was surrounded by trees, fauna, bush and birds! Even though there were neighbors on either side, all of the trees and bush provided a lot of privacy giving you the great secluded feeling one wants when heading to a batch. The batch was all windows, which seemed trick a lot of the kings fishers and Tui’s! They kept flying into the windows – no birds were hurt. It was your typical old kiwi batch though! It had a nice big deck from where you could see the ocean, a fire place and a tonne of books from the 50’s, old uncomfortable furniture and more than enough room for the two of us…perfect.
By the fire, relaxing in Waiheke!
After unloading we cracked into the beers, made dinner, had a fire and just relaxed. The cyclone was in full force by now, so it was all rain and wind. No better place to be then in a batch, by a fire, with good company, listening to some Neil Young. Life is good.
Ive just returned from my Christmas vacation and it was great. I think the only downfall was that it was too short! I guess like any vacation. In total I had 11 days off of work – sweet!
Ill start with the weather, Christmas in New Zealand is all about the beach and bbq’s. It is the kick off to the warm summer weather. Unfortunately this year a cyclone and heaps of rain put a bit of a damper on that. It has been pretty much off and on with rain and strong winds. Not just your run of the mill showers, we’re talking buckets of rain. That is how NZ remains so green, heaps of rain with the chance of cyclone.
Christmas was spent at Michelle’s family’s house where like in Christmas fashion we ate heaps, had a couple drinks and spent the majority of our time watching little ones entertain the family with their Christmas enthusiasm. This year Michelle and I decided to get each other Stand Up Paddle boards… pretty amazing present! Now I ride in the morning and paddle in the avro. Not a bad lifestyle eh!
Boxing day we headed to a batch on an olive orchard where we once again ate well, had a couple bevies and just relaxed. It was a pretty cool spot south west of Auckland near Helensville out in the middle of nowhere. We stayed there one night and then headed back to Auckland to prep for the next part of our holidays, Waiheke.
