Whakarewarewa Triptych

One, Tahi - Solo
With the start of the new year came my realisation that I was about to become a "school mum".  My days would get shorter as I would be dropping Oliver at school at 9am and returning to pick him up by 3pm.  This would undoubtedly put an end to my sneaky mid-week rides.  This prompted me to take a last blast to Rotorua on Friday 13th January.

Thankfully, the fact that it was Black Friday didn't even enter my mind (I may have predisposed myself to having some kind of disaster).  I dropped the kids at preschool and hit the road, with overcast cloudy skies ahead of me.  Rotorua was cold and the car temperature gauge told me it was 17 degrees. By the time I was kitted up and ready to roll, the sun had broken through.  I started at Long Mile Road and headed up the hill to Genesis.  I was rolling solo today, so had chosen to rediscover the Core Network Trails.  Genesis was nice, if a little boring.  There was a little bit of overgrowth to contend with, but the track was in excellent condition.  Recent rain had left a lot of wet leaf litter and pine needles on the trail, washed into piles that sometimes made things bumpy and slow - kind of like riding over a sponge.  I was climbing pretty well today and seemed to clear all the bigger climbs only to get caught out on the easier bits by a patch of soggy pine needles or fallen branch.

Into the sunshine

I did the full loop of Genesis and then went into Challenge.  The section of Challenge that heads downhill parallel to Nursery Road is one of my favourite bits of trail in the Core Network - it always brings a smile to my face and I always try to go faster than the last time.

I did the full loop of Challenge too - back up the hill to Radio Hut Road.  I was wishing for a couple of handlebar mounted scrub cutters for one long (and not very well used) section of trail, but getting a few scratches on my arms just added to the experience!

I shot down that nice downhill section of Challenge again with a quick "gidday" to the mum and dad that were lining their tot up on his tricycle at the top of the hill (so cute!) and then headed into Dipper.  I was getting pretty tired by now and had realised my mistake in not eating enough before I started riding.  Dipper was a blast, although fairly wet with some deep puddles.  I was covered in mud at this stage and decided that it was due to riding too slow - the mud was flicking up onto my legs, instead of out behind me.  I rode through the last section of Tahi and onto Rosebank.  Rosebank was in super tidy condition and I really enjoyed the ride through here.  I opted to walk across the logs at the stream (that hole in the stream bed is pretty deep!) and headed out to Waipa Carpark.

After a brief stop for a banana I carried on through Tahi and Creek, skipping the last section to ride straight out to the road and onto Piglet.  Pig Track was pretty good - with a well worn line that was easy to see when looking up the hill.  I spun up the hill, taking it easy and hoping to ride the whole climb, but lost traction on the corner within sight of the top.  So close.

Cicadas were here

Not my favourite place to ride

From here I rolled out to A Trail which was its same old smooth buttery self and despite my tired legs I really enjoyed the flowing swooping curves on the trail.  Tickler was a whole different story.  What a mess!  I didn't like the track at all and regretted heading up that way.  I had no choice but to keep moving forward. I was pretty knackered now, energy reserves were at zero and every little climb felt like a massive effort.  Tired and weak, I rolled out onto the road and took another break.  I had plenty of water, but I needed electrolytes.  I had my last gel and hoped it would be enough to get me back to the car.

Dragon's Tail was my trail of choice - I haven't really felt the love on Be Rude Not To since it was rebuilt, so prefer to ride the other way down.  From the exit of Dragon's Tail I headed into the bottom part of Be Rude Not To (the bit in the trees) from a short link on Red Tank Road.  I think a lot of my dislike of Tickler and Be Rude Not To comes from the fact that you are not riding in trees, but are out in the open.

I did a bit of gravel road riding following Nursery Road back up to Radio Hut Road for the fourth time to head through the Exit trail back to the car.  I was pooped and took a wrong turn down Exit, ending up facing a gnarly descent full of roots and ruts.  As I was dismounting to walk down it another rider passed by on the 'right' track with a rather befuddled look on his face!  I could only manage a sheepish grin before getting back on my bike to ride the rest of the way down.  I had 30 kilometres under my wheels.

The aftermath

Back at the car I washed down and packed up before hitting town for some food for recovery before I drove home.  I was back in Hamilton at 5pm picking up the kids from preschool.  My Last Blast was over.

Two, Rua - Duo
Or was it the last blast?  I had thought I wouldn't get another ride in at vegas before school started, but fine weather and a husband that was keen for a ride meant we packed up the car on Monday morning to head back over to Rotorua.  Again, it was a case of dropping the kids at preschool before booting it out of the city.

Fitzgerald Glade - zoooom

It was nice to have company along for the ride and this time I wanted to show Andrew the trails Out The Back.  We parked on Hill Road and rode up to the shuttle pickup, arriving just in time to load our bikes on the trailer and jump on board the bus.

At the top, we unloaded and backtracked down Tawa Road to Moerangi Road to ride up to Splitz Enz.  It was a bit of a brutal warm up, to do a long gravel road descent followed by a long gravel road climb.  We made it to Loop Road and out to Split Enz for a photo op.  Andrew agreed that it was a 'really nice trail' after I commented that it was my New Favourite Trail.  I was pleased that as a 'sometimes' mountain biker (even less frequent than me) he did not feel out of his depth and he was enjoying himself.

Gratuitous Split Enz Entry Photo

Onto Pondy DH where things start out real good and then just get plain old nasty.  The open section was very rutted and I made the mistake (?) of turning right down the hill instead of riding down the 'steps' onto the road.  We both had a couple of "oh shit" moments coming down the hill where we could choose multiple lines and sometimes got it wrong.  Somehow we both rolled through some big ruts and holes and made it out alive.  Perhaps the Haro Mary 29ers had something to do with that?

Pondy New is a bit of a grind, but I know it's worth the effort to keep pushing on to get to the top.  Andrew was still enjoying himself, despite starting to feel pretty stuffed.  We carried on and into Rollercoaster, taking the 'other' track on the eastern side of Ring Road to connect onto Reservoir Road.  Up the road and back to the Shuttle pickup for a discussion on where to go next.  We decided to ride up Spring Roll and Sweet n Sour to get to the top of Red Tank Road.  Andrew was pretty much done at this point and did well to suffer his way riding and pushing up the hill.  We stopped for a while in the shade for another snack and a bit of a breather.  I was doing much better today with some Nuun tablets in my Camelbak.

Refuelled, relaxed, happy

Down Dragon's Tail (have I mentioned I don't like Be Rude Not To?) and at the bottom I sent Andrew along the road for a break, while I continued on through the short hill climb section and out to the Tank.  With options of 'road' or 'trail' to get back to the car, Andrew opted for 'trail'.  I think he likes it!  We cut into Be Rude Not To and through Mad If You Don't before sidling along Puarenga Trail back to the car.

With 22 kms under our wheels we had plenty of time to stop for a late lunch before heading back to Hamilton to pickup the kids.  It was a great day out and a nice way to spend some time together.  I just hope we don't have to wait too long before we can do it again.

Three, Toru - Trio
If good things come in threes, then this was it.  Megan invited me along on her work ride to go do some evening shuttles in Rotorua.  It was always going to be a late one, but leaving Hamilton half an hour behind schedule just sealed the deal.  Seven people, two cars and some car shuffling to ensure people could get back home afterwards meant we missed the first shuttle up the hill.  That just gave us time to fill up our bladders while others of us emptied theirs out.

Full trailer and 1 or 2 bikes in the bus too

It was Megan's birthday, so it was a perfect way to spend an evening with her.  Our first run was down Jumps and then Corners.  It's a good way to warm up and get back in the groove of cornering, pumping, and maybe even jumping.  My legs were jelly after the first 500m!  I think it's my body's way of saying: "what the hell?!"

Megan continued to beat herself up by taking a diver over the bars after catching the side of a rut.  I didn't even know she had crashed just behind me and could have ridden on without knowing had it not been for the very quiet and slightly muffled sound of "ugh" that made me turn my head.  There was Megan, face down in the dirt, legs behind her with feet in the air and still clipped in to her pedals.  Stuck.  I ran over and unclipped her top foot (the foot on top of the tangled pile of bike + Megan) and lifted the bike free.  She rolled over and sat up.  A quick analysis, consisting of me asking "are you alright?" and Megan reckoned she was good to go.  Sweet!

The birthday girl was now sporting a fat lip (from pedal v. face when loading her bike into the ute - she picked her bike up and caught her wheel on the bike rack - KAPOW!) and a fine dusting of dirt over most of her right side.  When we got to the bottom and she cleaned herself up, Megan discovered new garkage on her hand.  Battle scars are cool.

Mary waits...

Our second trip up the hill was so we could get an easy ride up to Split Enz.  It was 7:30pm by now and the light was starting to change and fade.  Us three girls (me, Megan and Vicki) split off from the boys at this point while they rode Billy T.  We didn't muck around and got up the Moerangi Road climb as fast as we could.  On Split Enz we could see the trail pretty well, until we rounded a corner and got a face full of setting sun.  These moments of temporary blindness made things pretty exciting - and scary.

That view

We carried on through the Pondys etcetera, picking up a wayward rider who'd lost his riding buddies somewhere along the way.  We we pretty happy to make it back to the shuttle pickup in one piece to wait for the rest of our crew in the half light.  The forest was getting pretty dark and the mozzies were out in force, flying into us in a frenzied state.

Birthday muffin-cake (Photo stolen from Megan's farcebook)

We stopped long enough for me to present Megan with her little birthday cake that I had carried around with me all evening.  It was a little worse for wear, but still tasted good.  Thanks for sharing your cake, Megan. :)

Just as we decided to go back to the cars to wait for the boys, we spotted them riding out of Reservoir Road and down Hill Road.  We took off after them - and past them - for one last blast back to the cars.

I was tired and happy after a not-too-long ride with some great riding buddies.  High on the list of priorities was food, so we headed to Burger Fuel where I inhaled a Burnout burger and a really yummy Phoenix Honey Cola.  Homeward bound at last.  I crawled into bed just before midnight with a smile on my face and a head full of singletrack sensations to fuel my dreams.