Longest Day Ride 2011

It wasn't long after last year's effort that I decided I would do it all again this year.  The Longest Day Ride is an annual 'event' that was invented by Tama Easton as a damn good excuse to take a day off work to ride bikes from sunrise to sunset and an excellent way to raise money for Arthritis New Zealand so they can help and support people like Tama who suffer with arthritis.  This year the team raised over $4000.

Doggone good.

I rode my bike again. At Vegas. Again.  This time around it was a mid-week flying visit whilst the kids were in preschool.  Luckily for me I had a new set of internals in my geared hub so I would have the luxury of gears to help me along.  But really, the most special thing was that Megan was coming along with her dog Bodhi.

I'd never ridden trails with a dog before and I have to say that I wish I could do it every time, all the time.  It is, to put it simply, so doggone good!

VegasSS

I like it, like it, yes I do!  It had been far too long since my tyres had shralved volcanic earth in Vegas.  An invitation from Megan to join her and a colleague Vicki for some shuttles was too good to miss.

After a little sifty ride at Pukete on Monday, I was looking forward to getting in some quality riding in Rotorua.  The only problem was that my bike needed a bit of work done first.  My rear brake wasn't working properly and felt quite soft when I squeezed the lever.  Suspecting air in the line, and without enough time to book it in for a re-bleed, I adjusted the lever reach and pad contact to allow me to brake without the lever almost touching the bar.  I didn't bother test riding the bike, just squeezed the lever in the workshop.  That'll do.

Riding (yes!)

I've kicked off my riding again with the R&R Sport 30th Birthday ride.  While I'm "between jobs" I figure I should take these opportunities for weekday rides.  R&R was offering a goodie bag and a 30km or so ride up the River path to do a lap of the Pukete MTB track, then back down the river path and back to the shop.

Where's my bike?

I did a running race.  Yes, going fast without a bike.  Okay, so I don't go very fast without wheels, but I did it all the same.  Megan asked me to do the City to Surf run with her, but I said "no thanks", that the 5km Surf to Surf would be a big deal for me and that I wouldn't want to pay to run such a small distance (can do it for free anywhere, really).  So it was never marked on the calender... until I won two free entries to the damned thing!  I offered my spare entry to Megan and we signed up for the 5km Surf to Surf.

RAD

I went for a hoon with Megan at the Hamilton BMX track one morning.  It was so much fun.  The day was beautifully sunny with not too much wind.  The track was mint - newly asphalted berms made it quite a bit quicker and easier to maintain, or gain, speed through the turns.  I was having quite a bit of trouble with the third and fourth straights, where my legs would get tired and I'd find it hard to bend them to pump through the rhythm sections.  My legs just wanted to stay straight and I'd be getting bucked around instead of smoothly pumping and flowing over the rollers.

Committed

I went along to the Hamilton Mountain Bike Club AGM to listen to an amazing talk about the construction of the Pureora Timber Trail.  The guys from DOC did a very interesting presentation including the conditions encountered during construction, the huge and impressive suspension bridges, and a brief bit of history of the area.  Inspiring stuff and another ride added to my "To Do" list.

Velo Espresso night racing series

The Hamilton Mountain Bike Club "Do It In The Dark" night racing series ran for about 12 weeks over winter.   10 races in total - held in some atrocious weather - plus the final "finale" event.  The final was held in the parking garage behind Velo Espresso in Garden Place.  Andrew and a team of helpers had laid out the most awesome and sketchy looking skills and obstacles course, utilising recycled timber, pallets and even a couple of trailers.  The wall ride was pretty impressive and quite tricky to actually get up onto to 'ride'.  It was tight, but speed was your friend.

Winter hibernation

Spring is here at last and I am slowly emerging from hibernation.  I didn't intend to slow down so much over winter, but for whatever reason it happened that way.  Now I need to claw my way back to some sort of appropriate fitness level to cope with riding more often.  I guess just riding more often should fix that.

The next few posts will be a bit of a catch up on the last few months happenings...

Rotorua Postponement Ride

Ride 2 of the Toru de Waikato triptych was planned to be my first go at the Ngutunui Time Trial loop, but without the "time trial" aspect. After finally succumbing to a rather heavy cold I had only just started to feel better by mid week leading up to Ride 2. I decided that instead of delaying my recovery with a hilly ride on exposed hill tops and ridges, postponing the Ngutunui ride would be the prudent choice.

So, what to do with the day after 'booking' it out with the family as ride time? Ride, of course!

Toru de Waikato - Ride 1: Karioi

I was pretty nervous about riding around Mt Karioi near Raglan. I don't know why - it's only 45km or so of hilly gravel roads and there's really nothing to be nervous about. But I guess my lack of riding, below average fitness, and a bit of an iffy feeling all week had me doubting my abilities.

Stay Metal

Nothing much

In the last couple of months nothing much has passed under my wheels. My bikes have hung in the garage, caked in mud and grime, cobwebs and dust. Life has been moving on. The kids have been growing bigger, faster, louder. My Aunty passed away after a brief battle with cancer. She is dearly loved and sadly missed, definitely not forgotten. I have been busy doing "nothing much". Just life, rolling on. I have been on a handful of rides, all of which I enjoyed immensely.

What to do in Queenstown?

This was the question I asked when I found out I had the chance to go to Queenstown for 2 days with all flights and hotels paid for. Andrew had to go to a conference and the wife/girlfriend/partner/significant other was invited too. A rare opportunity indeed, I jumped at it. I asked if the grandparents would mind taking the kids for 4 days (3 nights) in a row and after the initial shock wore off, they kindly agreed to take on the challenge.

Scarlet Skulls - Hipster 100

I decided to skip the last rescheduled N-Duro race to ride the Hipster 100 in Hamilton. It's a track event for any kind of bike (and any type of rider) to be a part of. I think it originated with a race to see who could knock out 100 laps the fastest. Thankfully, the race format was slightly different this time around...

Rev 40km, 2011

My one road race of the year is done and dusted. The Rev 40km is part of the Rev Cycle Festival held in Hamilton once a year. I didn't have the chops or the bike to take part in the 120km race, so signed up to do the 40km again.

Last year's Rev 40km was my first go at riding at an event (some call it racing) on a fixie. I survived it and had soon pledged to do it all again this year. My usual partners in crime (let's face it, rolling up to a road race on a fixed gear cyclocross bike wearing mountain biking shoes breaks quite a few of the rules), Megan and Michelle had signed up too, but then Michelle ended up being a late scratching (get well soon). So 3M's became two and we departed from home and rode down to the race village. We arrived in time to see the start of the Solo120 race, and then another start, and another start, as they were sent off in waves.

Summer N-Duros 2011

I've done two out of the three N-Duro races on offer this summer and I reckon that will be it. There are two reasons for this: 1. I want to do some other rides; 2. I've run out of N-Duro Money. Riding in a minority class throughout the N-Duro Winter MTB Series netted me three $50 vouchers to use with N-Duro Events. Actually, I'm pretty sure I entered the first winter race using a voucher won during the previous summer series! I've done pretty well out of the N-Duro series that's for sure. Unless we're talking about performance and results.

The 25k short course was more than enough trail for me to bite off and chew on. I had wanted to try the long courses, but so much extra climbing (compared to the 25km course) meant I would run out of legs far too early and be reduced to wobbling to the finish. That goes against the mantra of: have more fun. I wanted to enjoy myself.

Summer Solstice 2010

On the longest day of the year, I decided to join with several other riders across New Zealand and embark on an all day ride. Tama chose to couple his ride with a fund raising effort for Arthritis New Zealand, and those efforts are ongoing at the donation page. I had a small hitch... well two small hitches; Oliver and Ella. I had to drop them off at childcare in the morning before I could start riding, so I wouldn't be starting at sunrise like most other participants. Andrew had kindly reshuffled his working day to pick them up in the evening, so I had a clear diary through to sunset and beyond, if needed.