Posts tagged mountain biking

Queenstown Day 4: Exhausted, but Epic!

October 27, 2011 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The tracks in the morning were closed since it rained last night, which didn’t really bother me. After riding a full day prior a half day up the hill was sounding pretty good. The morning consisted of eating day old Indian for breakie, cleaning and checking my bike and finishing my book. Nice chill way to start the day – let the body rest before thrashing it again!

At 11:30am we headed into Queenstown to grab a lunch at Bob’s Weigh – my favorite café in Queenstown. You will also get a good coffee and feed at Bob’s! All fuelled up off to the skyline to huss some tracks.

We got out first ride in around 12:30 and managed to get 12 runs in throughout the half-day. Same as the other days; we rode everything. I did manage to have a pretty good crash on Rock Garden. Somehow I went over the bars and head first into the ground. I was pretty lucky not to hurt my neck and am now considering getting one of those neck braces for riding DH – probably a smart move. Our plan was too meet up with a mate at 5pm who was willing to show us a bit of the Fern Hill Loop. You can access it from the trails with a bit of pushing the bike. We met at the bottom of the track at 5pm and hit up a couple of runs together. There were 4 of us, which was pretty sweet. On a couple of tracks we all broke off and headed different routes which pretty cool seeing all these guys rolling together and then all of sudden they flick off in different directions – it reminded me of a bike movie. We waited until the last run up the skyline to head up the Fern Hill Loop. This way we would have an extended day of riding, which is always good!

The push up was about half-hour and being that it was the end of the day it felt like an hour. There was even a river crossing in the middle. The track was steep, rooty & rocky – similar to craigieburn. It was all native bush so lots of beach trees, which means a tonne of roots and slippery ness. Walking up it and seeing what I would be riding back down left a happy/nervous feeling in my gut – it will be fun but there is potential for a good crash ehehe. The thing with roots is they can spit your bike out from underneath you very easily. To ride them you want lots of speed and to be light on the bike so you sort of just skip a long the top of them. Fun eh! After the exhausting push up we had a bit of a breather taking in the amazing view and then it was time to ride. Helmet on, goggles in place, drop in and start hussing. All the apprehension that I felt walking up was instantly gone. My bike was just skipping a long the tops of the roots and the suspension was getting a full work out as I tried to keep up with my mates. A couple of times the back of my bike went sideways, but I always managed to stay on it and keep rolling. Exhilarating! What an amazing trail. I think it is better then some in the park. Definitely worth the push up.

Once back at the car it was time for a beer and then we headed off to Fergburger for a feed. This time I got the Cod Burger… good as! Definitely give it a go! After the feed it was back home for a couple more beers and then bed. Another exhausting, but epic day!

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Queenstown Day 2: Prayers Answered

October 25, 2011 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My prayers were answered and I awoke to blue skies and sunshine on Wednesday. The lifts weren’t opening until 1pm, so I lazed around as long as I could at the hostel and then went back to the library to jump on a computer and read.

At about noon I headed back to the hostel, changed into my riding gear, built up the bike and then it was off to the skyline for an afternoon of riding. Being that it was mid-week there wasn’t too many people out riding so no waiting to get on the skyline! Last time I was down I managed 12 runs in a half day so that is what I was shooting for.

My mate wasn’t arriving until the evening so I rode solo just getting used to the speed of riding downhill again. Around Auckland it is mostly single track so it does take a few runs to get used to flying down a hill with trees, roots, rocks and drops all over the place. I warmed up on Hammy’s track, which is the easiest, but one of the most fun trails. It is pretty wide trail, but it littered with HUGE berms, lips, tabletops and jumps to pop off of. Also hit up Vertigo, Armageddon, Original, Shit Sandwich and Thingymajig. I managed to get in 11 runs in about 4.5 hours. Not bad, just one short of my goal of the day.

At 6pm the skyline stops taking mountain bikers up as it gets pretty dark in the forest, so my day was done. Complete success, no crashes just heaps if fun. My mate arrived just at 6pm and met me at the bottom of the hill as I was coming off the trail. He was all geared out and ready to get up the hill, but he missed the last run of the day.

Hungry from riding we hit up Fergburger for a feed and then we head out to our accommodation to set-up our tents. We are staying on a mate’s front lawn about 20 mins outside of Queenstown. The location is stunning – over looking the lake surrounded by the mountains! One of my favourite things about this place is the outdoor shower. Nothing beats a steaming hot shower while gazing up at the stars.

Since my mate didn’t get any laps in he was itching to ride so we quickly tossed up our tents and headed out to 7 mile to get some runs in. We were told of a short cut to the trail head, but in typical fashion we ended up in the middle bush just making our own track through the bush. We ended up going to high in elevation and had to ride our way down which was an adventure in itself. We soon found our desired track; Kochong, which is one of the best tracks at 7 mile as it is super flowy with jumps. We were able to get in 3 laps as the sun fell. Once back at home we drank some well deserved beer.  I was beat and was wondering how my body was going to feel the next day. I had a full day of downhill a head of me… fawk yah!

What an epic day – 11 laps at the bike park, 3 laps at 7-mile. Sweet!

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Queenstown Day 1: Shit Weather = Reading not BIKING…argh

October 18, 2011 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I took some time off this week to head down to Queenstown and do some downhill mountain biking on the skyline. As usual it was an early flight, I like to make the most of my time off so I usually fly really freak’n early to maximise my time riding. Well this time it didn’t quite pan out! I flew into some real shit weather. We are talking about a southerly that has just covered the entire country – cold, wet and windy. Not ideal for riding. When it rains hard and the ground is muddy and soft it is best to stay off the tracks since you just end up destroying! So my day was a wash. The skyline wasn’t taking bikers up, so what was I supposed to do with my time?

Yes Queenstown is the adventure capital of the world and there is heaps to do, but when you don’t want to do a bungy, jump in a speed boat or get drunk there isn’t a lot going on especially on shit weather days. So what do I do? I go the library and read. I spent 3 hours at the library and then another two at a café reading and chilling. It’s like when people go to tropical spots to rest on the beach and read… Well I didn’t have the nice weather, but I read.

By mid avro I checked into my hostel and continued reading. I’ve pretty much polished off my book, which is – ‘two seats left’ the story of contiki travel. Good read! I also hit up the local book shop to read and cruise through some magazines. Also I sent a couple post cards… I didn’t bring my lap top so jumping online isn’t readily available. Now I am just praying for blue skies, sun and dry trails!

I guess my question to you is – what do you do when you are travelling and the weather has gone to hell? Also got any good books you can recommend?

 

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Grundy’s Track, Queenstown, NZ

April 4, 2011 · Filed under MTB BIKE · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Here is a short video from my gopro helmet cam from Grundy’s Track in Queenstown, New Zealand. This track is basically a link between a couple other trails. Fun track.. enjoy!

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Woodhill Bike Park – Iron Horse

March 7, 2011 · Filed under AUCKLAND, MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This past weekend it rained, so woodhill was prime! Ive been given the green light from my phyiso to start to hit some jumps again. Here is a short video I made of me riding at Woodhill on a track called Iron Horse. Pretty easy track with xx-xxx jumps, so it’s a great place to start  doing some jumps again. This is a pretty typical track in Woodhill – short downs, wooden structures, pine forst, sand based so good in the rain!

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Mountain Biking in the Hunua Ranges, New Zealand

December 20, 2010 · Filed under AUCKLAND, MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The weekend after I got back from riding on the west coast I was inspired to check out some other local tracks in the Auckland area, rather than just hit up Woodhill Bike Park. As I have said in earlier posting, Woodhill is sand based so it is great when wet but pretty shite when dry. When dry it is just a tough slog through all the sand. Ive also rode at Riverhead, which is in the Auckland area and found that it had some decent tracks. It also has some pretty stupid tracks, meaning stumps in the middle of transitions, dumb ass jumps and gaps… just some stuff that really isn’t very well thought out. As for the good, they are spread out and have to be ridden in the dry as it is clay based and if you choose to ride when wet you will be slipping and sliding everywhere. Not to mention a good two hours cleaning your bike. Now that winter has passed I will be heading out their a little more often, but want to give it a good month to dry out. The week of constant rain hasn’t helped that plan! The new tracks I was going to check were in the Hunua Ranges.

Ive researched these tracks and they sounded ok, pretty much some single track in native bush. I set off to Papakura which is about 35 mins outside of Auckland. Once I found the car parking lot and the tracks I set off on Moumoukai Farm Track & River Track and also hi the Mangatahiri Challenge Track. It is tight winding single track that twists through forests and fields with some gravel road riding in between. There were some steep ups and downs too. Maybe it was because I was spoiled from the west coast riding but I was not overally impressed with the tracks. I didn’t like how they laid gravel down in some areas. Too easy to wash out on and I much prefer sticky earth and the natural soil to the area.

I don’t think I will be heading back to these tracks, just wasn’t very impressed. I will hit up Riverhead once it dries out. Woodhill is great when it is wet and will pretty much keep it as my local riding spot. Next I think I will hit the Whitford Forest, which is supposed to have some decent trails. I of course will be hitting Rotorua as much as possible as nothing in the Auckland area has anything that can compare with those tracks.

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West Coast Mountain Biking: Day 6

December 13, 2010 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Our Craigieburn campsite

I woke up early to the kea’s squawking. Thankfully they didn’t see the bikes and hadn’t picked at them. One was picking at our cast iron pot from last nights dinner, but better that then my bike! On one of the trips to craigieburn earlier I guess one of the guys seat was pretty much shredded by these pesky birds!

The Edge runs a long both of the mountains.

Today we were hoping that two of Marks buddies, Dave and Napalm were going to join us for a ride. We waited until 9 and then decided to head up the hill, as we all thought they just couldn’t make it. We rode up to the trail head and then down the Dracophyllum track to a gravel road. The Dracophuyllum track was like the luge – through native beech forest, winding your way down the hill through forest – sweet! Once we hit the gravel road it was a half our ride to the Edge. The Edge is a hairy track that is steep, with sharp corners and steep drops, shingle rock scree slopes that were sketchy as. The scree slopes were totally open and off camber. You had to keep you speed up to roll over the rocks and if you fell off to the left it would have been a 300 foot tumble down rock scree until you hit the bottom. It would have been a helicopter ride to the hospital if you fell. This track had about 4 of these sections.. I rode 3 of the 4. The one section sketched me out too much and I walked it. There were also hair pin corners with rock face on one side and drops on the other. Take your time, pick your line well and concentrate. It was some of the most intense riding I have ever done. After the first time around we were having a breather on the gravel road and Napalm and Dave came flying down the track. They made it down and luckily enough caught us before we headed up for our next round. It was great to have these two show up. They brought a lot of new energy to the ride – which we needed after 5 days of riding. On our third lap of the track Napalm ended up taking a spill on one of the corners. He managed to grab on to a tree on his way down, but his bike was another story. It took 5 of us holding on to trees in various spots and passing it a long to one another to get it up. If you were to ride there a lone and were to take a spill, it would have been a lot of work to get the bike back. We rode the edge 3 times. It was gnarly and I can’t wait to hit it up again!

Our last track for the day was the National Downhill track from 1996. It really isn’t open to the public, but one of the guys knew of it so we jumped a fence and pushed our bike for a while. Once at the track it was a little over grown, but still pretty mint. It was steep as, to begin with but opened up nicely, which allowed you to huss it. The track was overgrown in some spots so it was bush/tree branch face slapping fun. Half way down Dave got a flat so we all waited for him to fix it. Once we started to ride again, I found I was done. I was tired and my focus wasn’t there. Up until that I was riding real well, but after I felt like I was just hanging on for dear life. I was happy when the track ended.

We rode until about 4pm, so it was a pretty full on day – 7 hours on the bike. We headed back to camp site and had a couple beers. After a couple we took down our tents, packed the vehicle and headed back to Christchurch.

Once back in Christchurch we dropped off Hubby and set off for Napalms place were we would be crashing that night. A couple more beers and it was bedtime. Today’s ride was the sketchiest, intense, extreme and fun ride of the trip. Day 6.. fuck`n eh!

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West Coast Mountain Biking: Day 5

December 11, 2010 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Just past those shrubs is the ocean. Falling asleep with the sound of the waves crashing in was pretty chill!

Woke up this morning cold and damp. Maybe it was because we were camping by the ocean – not sure, but it didn’t rain. Kind of felt like I was getting a cold as my throat was sore, but I just soldiered on. Cup of coffee and I am good to go! We pack up the batch, and then head of to Blackball to ride the other side of the Croseus track. You can ride both sides in the same day, but there is a hike-a-bike section for 5km a long the top ridgeline. From what we heard it was one hand on a secured line and bike on your other shoulder.. fuck! We didn’t have the time to do that, but I am sure it would have been intense to say the least. Maybe next time.

When we first woke up it was cloudy and grey, but as we made our way to the trailhead it was clearing and the sun was starting to burn down. Luckily enough most of the track was in the bush so the sun wasn’t as punishing as it could have been. You can ride up a gravel road to the trail head, but I would recommend driving as riding up a gravel road for a ½ hour.. sucks! We drove up.

On the way up to the top of Croesus Track. Everyday on this trip it's been one amazing view after another.

We prepped our bikes and headed on our way up. The plan like always was to ride-hike to the top of the track and bomb down. It took us about 3.5 hours to reach the top hut. We ran into a DOC worker at the hut and he told us that they just released some kiwi birds in the bush. Pretty cool, though we wouldn’t have a chance to see a kiwi since they only come out at night and are pretty elusive. After a feed and breather at the top it was time to drop the seat and fly!

This side of Croesus Track was pretty much all rock gardens! Sweet!

The track was rough and steep. It was pretty much all rock gardens. This would have be the biggest/longest rock garden sections I would have ever ridden. The other side was of the track (we rode the day prior) was not as rocky and rutted. This means you really have pick your line well and just giver hell! The faster you can push yourself the better! I thought it was a crazy ride yesterday, well today was going to be better. The ride down was fun as! Hussing it over huge rocks and hearing them bounce off your down tube was crazy. Feeling your back wheel bounce around and slide side to side was awesome. 45 mins later we are at the bottom of the track and it was time to get on the road to our next destination, Craigieburn.

We drove through Arthur’s Pass, which is a must if you are visiting New Zealand. Winding roads throughout the mountain range. Beautiful scenery everywhere! Half way there Mark noticed that the engine seemed to be over heating. We stopped to take a look and the rad blew it’s overflow. It was a hot day and climbing through the mountain passes took its toll on Marks car. Luckily we had enough water to refill and went on our way. It was still running hot but luckily enough it got us to Craigieburn.

Get off my bike you damn Kea!

While taking a look at the rad these kea birds were flying around bugging the hell out of us. These birds, look like a parrot, (must be in the same family) are attracted to anything shiny. They will pick the rubber right off your windshield wipers, actually they will pick at anything. I was chasing them around the car keeping them off the bikes – little bastards!

The Luge track at Craigieburn. Root infested!

Craigieburn is about 100km west of Christchurch and has a variety of track, from easy to advanced. We were able to camp there by a stream, another mint spot! We arrived at about 7pm, set up our tents and then started our climb up to the trail head. For this track you have to climb for about 45mins and then you can choose which track you want to ride. This entire trip we’ve been trying to get in 2 rides a day and successfully doing so. I thought we maybe pushing it today since the sun was setting as we were hiking up the hill. We decided to ride a track called the luge. It was a pretty awesome track. It weaved through beech forest and had some pretty narrow sections where you had to really make to get your handlebars through the trees or it could have gotten bad pretty fast. It was a super fun track to ride. It was fast and flowy and very easy to the speed up! We were at the bottom in no time. We headed back to the site to make some dinner. Once we were fed it was pretty much bedtime. Another great day on some amazing New Zealand trails! Day 5 didn’t disappoint!

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West Coast Mountain Biking: Day 4

December 9, 2010 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today we started the day with a wee bit of labour! One of Purples mates need assistance putting in this massive window, so after breakfast we piled into his van and shot over to his place. About an hour later we had installed the window and it was back to the house truck to take down our tents, prep for the days ride and collect our bikes. The plan was to ride the Britainna track and then head to Berrytown to ride one side of the Croesus Track.

The first track of the day was Britainna which was an old mining trail as well. This track we were abel to ride most of the way up and like the bridal path track from the day before, bomb down! It was a good ride and a great starter for the day. It was all single track, so it was pretty enjoyable! After hussing the track we headed off to Berrytown. Here we were going to meet up with one of Purples mate, who also lives in a housetruck. On the way to Berrytown we stopped for a swim to. Mark was keen to jump off the bridge, even though he didn’t know how deep it was.. not a good idea! We asked a goup of people sitting on the beach if it was deep enough to jump into and they thought so. That was enough for Mark and he then calmy jumped off the bridge. Now the water wasnt that deep and he ended up jamming a two on the bottom, but luckily that was it. Being that none of us had showered in three days we all went for a swim – I am sure we were pretty rank after 3 days of hard riding! Maybe that is why we were getting those strange looks at the grocery store ehehe

After the swim we continued on our way to Barrytown. Barrytown is a popular stop for many travellers. All that is there is a pub, but a lot of the tour opertors stop there for then night. I beleive they have a dress up party there, as the walls are covered in photos of travellers dressed up. We met up with Purple at the pub to have a beer. It went down way to easy so before we ordered more we decided we best get up the hill for the 2nd ride of the day. We had to meet up with Purples mate, Pears who lived just down the road. He has an amazing piece of property over looking the ocean, backed onto the mountain! He also lived in a housetruck. Pears is a character! He had long brown dreads, was rocking jean stubbies (stubbies are short shorts) and gum boots. A couple years back he had a stroke and lost feeling to one side of his body, yet he can still use it, he just cant feel anything. We unloaded our bikes and then headed to the trail head. We were able to ride the first bit, but then it got to steep so it was once again time to hike a bike. This track was super narrow, unlike all of the mining tracks we had been riding, very rocky/mossy and rooty with sharp corners and steep drops off one side. You definitely didn’t want to go off the track because it would have been a hell of a fall down. I was pretty nervous pushing my bike up this track, just seeing that there really wasn’t a lot of room for error. The track demanded all of your attention. We decided we would follow Pears as it was his local track. I think he felt the pressure to huss it, as Mark was on his back tire. I find that when I have Mark following me I tend to open it up a bit more. I think it is the feeling of being chased that really gets you going. Not even 2 mins into the decent Pears caught a branch that was sticking out on the track to the thigh, sending him through the air kart wheeling. Insane crash! Luckily since he has no feeling on that side of his body he was able to pick himself up and keep riding. Now if that were me, I would’ve had a mean Charlie horse and would have most likely laid me out for the rest of the trip – it was a crazy crash. Once back on the bike it was a fast, technical single track ride down to the bottom. It is funny how the nerves disappear once you start riding. You just focus on the track and huss it. All of the obstacles that you were worried about before become a blur and you just sale over top of them. This track had been the knarliest of all the tracks so far. Mark was keen to hike back up again, but I was knackered and happy that I survived riding it once. I was not going to push my luck. We headed back to Pears housetruck for a cup of tea. There we took a look at his leg and it was already starting to bruise and was swelling. He still didnt feel a thing!

A batch by the sea.. not to shabby

That evening we were going to be staying at Hubby’s mates batch by the ocean. This batch was cool as! The ocean was a stone throws away and you could hear the waves crashing in. You couldn’t have asked for a better spot. I was camping since Hubby is one mean ass snorer, I was opting for the tent. It was cool laying in the tent hearing the ocean – definitely something Ive never experience before. Day 4 was sweet! Croseus was the best track so far. The trip has been pretty full on so far.. 2 rides a day, cant ask for much more!

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West Coast Mountain Biking: Day 3

December 6, 2010 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Charming creek has everything; tunnels, bridges, waterfalls, huge trees the whole lot!

It was another early morning. We were all a little worse for wear because of the beers the night prior, but that just the way it is on the West Coast. After a feed we loaded up Purples black van (think A-Team) and decided to ride a track called Charming creek. It is a pretty chill ride. It takes you over suspension bridges, through tunnels, under rock faces, around huge trees and waterfalls. The track is all old mining trail. I guess they used to mine coal in these parts and the old rail track is now a cycle/walking track. If you do end up walking this track it has lots of info and old machinery a long the way to give you an idea of what and how it was used. Pretty cool. This really wasn’t an overally challenging track, maybe Grade 3, but it was a decent warm up to the day.

My rock'n ride! The bike handle everything the west coast could throw at it.

The real challenge was going to be the bridal path. We had to drive up the mountain and into the clouds to get to the start of the trail. We decided to just do shuttle runs as everyone was beat to hell after Kirwans track and to tired to peddle/push back up. Now this track is a walking trail and it is not supposed to be ridden on a bike, but we kinda ignored that. We met the group of riders we ran into on Kirwans track and after showing them the start of the track they packed up there bikes and bailed with out even attempting to ride it ahaha. This track is Purples backyard so he was quite familiar with it. He was all geared out, which kinda made me a little nervous. I was thinking ‘if this guy is wearing full gear and it is home track, maybe I should be rocking gear’, I didn’t have any gear so that thought quickly passed. The sheer steepness of this trail was intimidating! There were two corners that I didn’t even try to ride. Both were all rocks covered in moss with a quick right hand 45 degree turn and if you didn’t make the turn, it would be a whole lotta hurt. Only Purple attempted to ride them and he only made one corner successfully. There was one section of the hill that totally washed out from a landslide. I guess Purple an and a mate cut a path across and strong a rope so you could hold that in one hand, your bike in the other and then inch you way across this tiny track. You definitely didn’t want to slip here as it would have been a long way down and something would have gotten broken and I am not talking about the bike. Overall the track was great! Being that it was an old gold mining track it was about 4-5 feet wide so you could really fly! The corners were a little sketchy, but you just had to watch your speed coming into them. There were a couple spots you had to get off and cross a stream/rock boulder garden or where a tree had fallen across the track, but overall it was an amazing trail. We shuttled it 4 times and then we were beat.

After the ride we hit up the grocery store for some grub. We ate like kings – 3 roast, heaps of veggies and even deserts. Of course the beers were flowing once we got back to the housetruck and we ate fairly late, but another epic day. The rides just keep getting better and better. Day 3.. wicked!

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