Tuesday 5th April

Was wet all day, nearly all tracks closed and even McLeans would of been pretty soggy so a Road ride was called. I had Bugs, Silverfox, Big Tex, and the Cook arrive and we headed off to Mellonfarmers where we were joined by Tinkerbell and Dozer. We oohed and aahed about Mellon's new road rider and then headed along river road. Our streets of Christchurch are just so broken arsed. It does not show on any news broadcast how bad it is out there. I was riding on the right hand side of the road and the left hand side was at shoulder height. Sewer pumps everywhere with broken and empty homes. As we road down Locksley Ave I counted only 2 inhabited homes out of over 60. The new pathway is a stop bank as the river either is higher or the banks are so much lower. The stench of the river was bad. As we neared the Avondale bridge the tar sealed track was so broken and in some stages it was only the seal left with no earth underneath. Back around Avonside Drive with the same problems. Huge rents in the earth, new and raised stop banks. At the eastern side of Kerr's Reach we saw a house that was on an angle. The structure looked fine but one side of the house was off the ground by a good metre. We continued and as we got further the track were crossed by huge wheel eating cracks. The Cook got a snake bite in one of them. We ended at Pomeroys for a round of drinks before heading home. I can not say the ride was nice because it quite a sight out there.