Thursday 28th August

A wonderful night for a ride. Hubby, Twopot, Geez, Abba, Tinkerbell, FatBoy and The Dreaded one met at Rubberjaws. We took off on a street sprint to the Silverfoxes. We owned the road. Silverfox was running late due to having a haircut (the bottom one in the middle it was). We then set off up Hackthorne Rd. Nice steady pace and everyone was showing signs of improvement. They must all be sneaking off to do extra rides. We stopped up at the jumps area in Vic Park and then went up the top section of K2? The steep 4wd throught the gums. Soft and damp. Most people dabbed, Dreaded one ran up. You can see why the tracks are closed in here, water everywhere and mud. Got to the road above and rode around to the start of Huntsbury. Only 4 people on the singletrack and 1 fell off when the yell went up to get off the closed track. A quick blast down Huntsbury, one good dab by Fatboy. We then hit the tarmac and got home in good time.

Tuesday 26th August

No Ride but a few lovely beers were consumed at Rubberjaws. Lotsa of MTB talk and we all watched some awesome footage of MTBing on DVD. Sometimes the rain does have an advantage, except the next morning sucks.

Sunday 24th August

Well what do you know. It was raining again. A hardy crew met at Rubberjaws for a ride anway. Rubberjaws, Fatboy, Tinkerbell, Hubby, Geez and The Silverfox decided we would head up Mt Pleasant Road as we need it for training. At first the drizzle was not too bad but it got worse the higher we went. Fatboy led the way with a good turn of speed and all the others chased him up. At the half way point we discussed options and it was decided to get onto Major Hornbrook, head down then up Canon Hill and back down towards the Heathcote Valley. This is a ride that Geez and Rubberjaws did on Thursday for some training. We then headed around the side of the Tamaki Village and onto the single track around the back of the Heathcote river. Muddy and slippery. The have done some work around here and some of it is now formed track. We then continued around the river back to Rubberjaws to finish by 11am. Good all round ride but getting cold towards the end. it looks like we will be on the rowing machine on Tuesday.

Tuesday 19th August

Another ride another lot of track closures that go with it. We met at Rubberjaws and headed up the Rapaki. A good size group. Rubberjaws, Tinkerbell, Mellonfarmer, Twopot, Silverfox and a guy called Marcus. Nelson caught us halfway up and we met Abba and Helmutt at the top. Track got wetter as we went and eventually quite a bit of snow laying around. It was very chilly. We hit the road with the snow piled each side and lots of gravel on the road. The blast from Castlerock to Bridal path was f...in cold. We kept on going and got sorted just before coming down Mt Pleasant Road. Brain freeze all the way down, it was cold. All cruised back to Rubberjaws with Mellonfarmer shooting down Linwood Ave at the junction. Good ride. Lookin forward to some dry singletrack by Sunday.

Sunday 17th August

What a ride. Great weather and good company. Rubberjaws, Geez, Tinkerbell, Silver Fox and Abba headed off up the Rapaki at 8.30 on a mission to go plant trees at Orton Bradley Park with Trees for Canterbury. A couple of us were feeling slightly under the weather from a bit much booze. An excellent pump up the hill was followed by the first single track in a while. Witch Hill was open so most of us rode this. Still a bit wet and slippery in places but awesome to ride. We then slogged up to Castle rock for a quick blast down to the top of the Bridal Path. We all put on jackets and extra clothing as the breeze was bitter. Blasted down the Bridal Path, brakes smokin' and smellin by time we hit the road. Down to the ferry we went where we met Mighty Marie and Helmutless Mark. A quick cruise over to Diamond Harbour on glassy smooth seas. A scenic ride around to Orton Bradley where we spent the next 1.1/2 hours planting in some soft ground. We were aiming for the 12.30 ferry and had to pump hard to get back to the ferry. poor Tinkerbell was starting to feel the beer and bourbon seep out of him by this time. We headed up to Evans Pass which is such a steady cruise and then the high speed run down to Dot Com for refuelling and the photo. We then took off for that long slog home. Well for some it was a slogg.

Thursday 14th August

Only 4 of us last night for the same ride as last Tuesday. I hope the tracks dry soon!!! Rubberjaws, Tinkerbell, Silverfox and Abba plowed up the Rapaki. Wind up our rears in the top section. It was cold at the top so jackets on and off we went. Coming down from Castle Rock to the top of the Bridal Path was a shitter. The wind so strong it was blowing you way off your line. Kept pumping around and down to Dotcom for coffee. A shame that Hotcross Buns was not on duty. Slogged home from there although Abba seemed fresher than when he started. Looking forward to Sundays ride to the Planting at Orton Bradley Park. Only 8 weeks to the trip.

Sunday 10th August

A cold morning met us as we got together at Rubberjaws. Rain and snow followed by a hard frost does not make for great conditions on tracks so we discussed our options before setting off. A good group gathered including, Rubberjaws, Fatboy, Tinkerbell, Mellonfarmer, Silverfox, Twopot, Geez, Hubby and English Mark. We rode up Rapaki until the turnoff past the gate half way up. We headed up to the top of Montgomery Spur. The photo shows the top and the team. Riding in the snow with a bit of slush was quite enjoyable. met anther dude on a Switchbacker so Mellonfarmer was happy. We headed back down to the track and headed up. At the bottom of the last climb we saw a group of riders gathered around a body. As we rode past the body was a guy who had obviously faceplanted in the conditions, was alive but obviously not well. We carried on and then watched the Westpac chopper land to take him away. We carried on up then around the road to the top of the Farm Track. Lotsa snow up there. We rode the ridgeline above the track making our own track down the hill. it was awesome in the snow. As we got down there was a lot more slush but no accidents. All in all a good ride, lotsa fun, a bit of mud and completed by a coffee at the end.

Tuesday 5th August

Finally a dry night that we could ride up the hill. Fatman, Tinkerbell, Geez, Rubberjaws, Hubby, and English Matt rode up the Rapaki. A bit of a grunt for most of us due to the lack of riding and especially the lack of hill riding over the last couple of months. The track is pretty rutted and loose due to all the rain. When we got to the top we were pleasantly surprised by how mild it was. All the top tracks are closed so we headed towards Evans Pass along the road. Good push with most of us standing in the pedals some of the way. Finally we had some downhill from the top of Mt Pleasant to Sumner. A good run for all and some fun. Stopped at Dot Com for coffee and then rode back to Rubberjaws. Good push and we were all pleasantly stuffed when we got there. Looks like the weather will hold out for most of the week and we may even ride Sunday if it does. Might even get some single track in.