New Zealand?
Have you been there? Well if you haven’t then it’s got to be on the list for biking, Plus lot’s of other things. Over the next few months Amanda & I are going to write about some of the big country ride we’ve done over the years traveling around the world. New Zealand has more to offer than any other country I’ve been too. Amanda, the cheeky little Kiwi chic knows NZ So well & what better guide to have to get you Lost! Only joking, she’s great in the big out Doors. Better than Me. Aj know’s her way around.
Aj is from the South Island, Nelson, which is almost at the top. Her mum lives In a Wee town of 10 or so houses, Called Upper Takaka. This is where we’re, going to start the first trail, right from the front door. Now one thing you have to know about NZ, is Hills, errr, BIG Hills & Mountains, No way on earth would I just use a single ring in NZ, Double and maybe Treble. Now I have to laugh when people say Snowden in Wales is huge…. Err No it isn’t. Our first hill starts right from the front door, & it’s Up Up Up, to about 850mt. We’ve just started at about 50mt, Lucky it’s road all the way up to the top of the Takaka Hill. With a good push we both can make it up to the top in just under the hour. When up the top. The views looking west over the Western Ranges ranges “Mountains” are just stunning, a bit like mini Alps. As soon as we catch our breath we have a little down before we make our turn left off road. But first we have a quick look at the Takaka Mummified Cow, yep Moo Moo decided to take shelter & got stuck & is now Mummified! Strange But true.
As we start our short down, you can see Nelson City over 100ks away in the distance with another mountain range behind it, that also has some amazing rides, but more on that later. The sea is just stunning Blue as the sun reflects. To my right, there is another Mountain range with Mount Arthur towering above, which forms part of The Takaka hill.
So we turn Left & the fun starts to begin, oh more hills to climb. Past a few houses with some of the best views ever, we’re now on a two wheel drive track weaving our way up to a Place called howords Hole. It’s a Hole! Yes A very Big Hole, I’m not too sure how deep it goes, But I know it’s a long way down, 600mt abseiling. But before we get to that we have to go through this strange forest. Where Amanda say’s they have one massive New years party, & Yes it’s Summer! Just think huge party, no one to wake, Only Sheep! We are in NZ, baarrrrrrr

I was a little worried about it being a longer travel bike especially as I race endurance and XC BUT having now ridden this for the last 2 weeks definitely have no worries but do have a huge grin on my face as this bike is really fast. It climbs extremely well would liken it to a goat and descends like a demon (if I let it ha ha) and I was really surprised at how fast the pickup speed is especially for a 29er I would almost say it nearly as good as the 26 for response a very awesome bike to say the least.

I must say a huge thank you to the guys at Freeborn as the frame only arrived 5 days before I was departing for Cape Town and they managed to get it all built up for me you guys ROCK!
I have my first race on 15 to 17 Feb. It’s a 3 day MTB race in the Ceres valley so whilst I may not be in full race fitness I am really looking forward to this one to help brush off the cobwebs.

Happy riding

Amanda

All photos thanks to Joolze Dymond www.joolzedymond.com
One Lap, One Rider, One Adventure, 100 Miles!!!
Friday 14th September saw me heading off very early in the morning to the Scottish boarders for the Montane Kielder 100, full of excitment and a bundle full of nerves. With a long drive ahead I took off early in the morning to try and miss alot of the traffic which I manged to do and arrived at my destination of Kielder forrest at 1.30pm in the afternoon.

On arrival to the campsite I found the grounds to be sodden underfoot but managed to find a fairly dry spot to set up the tent and then get the bike out for a quick leg warmer ride and a few short sprints to take the kinks out of the legs. I hit some of the single track up near the castle and did a fast hour spin whcih seemed to open the lungs up nicely. Breifing was at 9pm so had a few hours to get my head down for a wee rest and also get registered and get all my gear together for the morning as was an early start had to on the start line for 5.45am.

Alarm goes off at 5am oh joy this is when you start to question what the hell you were thinking entering this race but once up and fed I was ready to race and on the start line for 5.50am and was in about the middle of the field so not a bad position to be in. Amazingly there were no midges at all due to the wind that goodness. The race started at 6.30am and we had a lead out vehicle for about 2-3 miles so made good use of this to get up to the lead bunch and then we were off it was a fairly brisk start and I thought I would push a bit in the first 20-30 miles to try and get a good start and see if I could put myself in the lead position for the woman. The start of the course was on open gravel fire roads which was good as it strung the field out a bit before we headed into some nice single track that had some short sharp ups and easy fast flowing downs, there were a few hold ups but in general most people were happy to move over where they could let you pass. I saw the 18 mile mark as we headed into a old slightly over grown rutted fire road and it was a long steady climb with a bit of slippery mud thrown in for good measure and this was were I felt really strong and passed alot of people including the leading lady so from their I just put my head down and also my foot down for the next 20 miles to try and put a wee gap between us. I got to the 50 mile mark and was still feeling good and fresh and had a good steady pace going and the people about me were awesome so had a few good conversations and at times I was playing leap frog with a few guys which is always fun. Just after the halfway mark we rode over a long boardwalk and by the end of it my eyes were starting to go funny but then it was a cool rocky section before we crossed the boarder into Scotland were we had a dude playing the bag pipes welcoming us to Scotland it was very awesome and sent chills down my spine. From here it was not far to the next food stop and by this time I was ready for some solid food and I was concerned I may not have enough food to get me thorugh the rest of the race so thank heavens they had some rolls there it must have looked very funny as I grabbed a roll and a cup of coffee and shoved the whole roll in my mouth ( just like scooby doo) with the coffee and headed off as fast as I could as at this stage didnt know how close the other ladies were so didnt want to hang around too much. This next section for me was the hardest as I had made the mistake of not eating sooner so energy levels were a bit low but put my head down and just peddled and sang to my ipod I had playing this was my saving grace plus a couple of guys who let me hang on their wheel when I was in no mans land on a forrest road with a head wind so a big THANKS to those guys. I got to the next pit stop and the tech support guys oiled my chain up for me while I put a bit more water into my bottle with the knowledge that I only had 22 miles to go and that felt damn good as I knew now that I was going to finish so off I head and started to feel stronger which suprised me again had a few guys around me for a chat for the last 20 miles and then I saw the sign I was hanging out to see LAST 5 MILES whoop whoop! pity ther was a bit of hill climbing to do in this as by this stage I just wanted to finish and the marshals at the top of climb said you have 3.5 miles of downhill to go YAY but as always I am not sure what they class as downhill but to me it seemed I was still going up for at least another mile then it was a lovely single track to the finish but by this stage my arms were knacked and I just had to hold on and hope I didnt fall off as could barely use the brakes but managed to hold it together and finished first woman in a time of 10.08.08 and 49th overall so very happy with that result and on top of it all found out I also set a new record time for Vet Female.

The weather was awesome and was a very well run event and would encourage you all to try this it has stunning scenery and the race has an awesome atmosphere and is one hell of an adventure and if your not up for the 100 mile they do a 50 mile course that is equally fun.
So now I have a few easy weeks before my next race an 8 hour solo so happy riding and see you out on the trails.
Amanda

Saturday practice was business as usual with all riders smashing out quick runs interspersed with bike set up. All riders made it through practice with the exception of Gareth Weston who went down going fast and was rag dolled down the hill. Saturday ended with more great weather, a couple of beers and a decent nights sleep.

Sunday turned out to be even sunnier then Saturday. Practice went well with no more major problems. Craig Taylor (Masters) was on a storming qualifier which until the last turn would have had him in second but a lost front end and a meeting with some course tape put an end to that. With no injuries we kept our fingers crossed for race runs. Russell Paver and James Kidd both put in solid runs coming in the top 20 in seniors. Both happy they had some more to give. Callum was on a solid run but somewhere along the line he hit his mech and as he go to the four cross jumps his lower jockey wheel split and sent his chain all over the place. He managed to pump to the bottom still getting a respectable time.

After a a quick clean of the bikes and a few bananas for the riders, race runs were under way. Nerves were high but all the boys put that aside to have Devinci / Haven’s best race result as a team! Craig put in a great run taking 5th in Masters. Callum put in a really solid run to come 22nd in Juniors which is no mean feat. Russell came in 7th and James 5th in Seniors. Amazing work. National Champs not only was the most important race in British Callander but also turned out to be the best too.Take a run down the National Champs track with Devinci/Haven Distribution team rider, James Kidd.

Practice went well for everyone with the course running surprisingly fast, although throughout the day the course became progressively more rutted, despite Dave Pearce’s relentless effort with an axe to resolve the problem.

Following a dry night, the course on race day had gone from fast and loose to sticky and slow with the final grass straight turning bikes into what looked like strange victorian wattle and dawb machines.

After frantic jet washing and prep, first runs began with Monet Adams (Elite Women) flipping her bars in one of the huge holes that had developed in the root sections on course. Craig Taylor ( Masters) came down with a solid run placing him well in the top ten. Jack Chapman (Seniors) got down the hill but was caught out by another wheel sized hole. Gareth Weston (Seniors) put in a solid run placing him in the top 20.

After another marathon jet washing session, second runs started with Monet having a couple of moments but still grabbing 2nd in Elite. Nice. Craig had another solid run going 3 seconds faster, putting him 7th in Masters. Jack had another run in with a hole and was again ejected forwards from his bike. Still loving every second on the bike, I’m sure Jack will be back smashing out runs soon. Gareth had a couple of moments in his second run, so with his first time standing, this gave him enough for 22nd. New to the bike and the team, this is a great start and and I’m sure things will only be on the up from here.

After a bottle of brake fluid, countless pads and almost 1000 litres of water, Bala is over. An amazing course in the dry and a dangerous course in the wet. Roll on National Champs at Molfre next week!

Joe

With breakfast done and faffing completed, we got cracking at 8:45. No organised or escorted start today – it was a case of crossing the electronic start sensor and away you go. Today we were to start with a few road miles to get us into the hills proper – a section that would be our return journey too, and my mate and I rode with Darren and AJ for a couple of miles as we warmed up and got stiff legs moving again. Unsurprisingly, they soon pulled ahead and left us with the usual AJ cheery smile.

Before long we were in the village of Talybont and at the foot of the Brinore Tramway climb. This is a trail I’m familiar with, having ridden it a couple of years ago, on the ride that killed my Ellsworth Joker. It’s a very long, stoney but steady climb that I was comfortable with and even enjoying, but my mate was suffering with his back and a hardtail bike, so the pace slowed a bit.


All of a sudden we veered off the Tramway trail and headed steeply down a trail that I didn’t know. It was a wide track with big rocks, running water and ruts and a lot of rain debris and some quite tricky bends considering the high speed and amount of water around! It was a great descent, right to the valley floor, where the trail crossed a wooden bridge over the river, and climbed steeply up the other side of the valley on a tiny singletrack climb that was a real technical challenge. This trail then popped out onto a wide and picturesque fireroad that continued to climb out of the tree line.

At this point, Darren and AJ went past us, with another cheery wave. This confused my small ineffective brain as I thought they were ahead of us, but it turned out that they’d missed a turn very early on in the day and had lost a great deal of time, which was a shame, but they were still grinning (and moving fast!)

After a while there was a super fast winding fireroad descent, where I felt like a roady in the Alps – awesome fun, including the bend where I suddenly saw many skid marks and realised that I too was going way to fast as the bend tightened. I added to the collection of skid marks and just managed to stop the bike going over the edge of the hillside – great fun!

I then recognised where we were as the trail came out on the road, a road I knew to be a super steep and tough climb, as I’d done it before on the way to riding the Gap Road 6 years ago. Hey ho, I told myself I like the challenge of climbing, and got it done. The route then turned off back in a downward direction and into a whole different world of mud and both running and pooled water. This trail was an absolute scream to ride, much different to yesterdays muddy hell, mainly because of the downward gradient, and also the fact that there was a firm rocky base to the trail meaning speed! I got soaked to the bone, as a lot of the trail was a flowing stream, and my feet were frozen, but I didn’t care!

It nearly went wrong a couple of times as the speed increased, one time when I hit a huge puddle and went in over the front axle – sheer will power kept me out of that water! All too soon it was over, and the feed station appeared, where we took the opportunity to laugh lots, re-stock with food and drink, and then set off up the trail for more climbing.


From this point we were going high into the Brecon Beacons, a long long climb on varying paths. My friend’s back was really suffering by now, so this climb was taken gently. The scenery became ever more impressive as we got onto the ridge high above Talybont Reservoir and further onto a high level plateau. I know this bit of trail – the Joker died up here, it’s bleak. The weather had closed in on us a bit as we progressed across the plateau, through deep ruts and boggy trails, and for a while it was a case of head down and just keep turning the pedals.

Before too long, we arrived at another spot I knew, and that caused a big lift in my spirits – we were about to head up onto the Gap Road section, and, the weather gave us a break and cleared. As we began the climb up to the col, the views up to Pen-y-Fan just got better and better. I love it in this part of the world!

We got the climb done and stopped for a brief moment at the col to take in the breathtaking views, which were now all around us, and looked down at the trail we were about to tackle – the infamous Gap descent.

It starts really rocky, with huge boulders strewn around, and gradually gets a bit smoother, and a lot faster. I love it – and got some serious speed up, managing to bunnyhop the large waterbars/ trenches and keep the speed up – definitely the highlight of the weekend!

At the gate at the bottom of the main descent, we took a turn that I didn’t expect, down a really narrow trail with overgrown bushes either side – so much so that you could barely see the trail in front of you, which contained many large rocks, it was an amusing a tricky trail, especially with the tired body objecting, and I passed a guy having a serious sense of humour failure – literally shouting out what a ridiculous trail it was – a very funny moment, as I squeezed by him. The trail gods then added running water to increase the bonkers amusement, before exiting the trail onto a road, and a perfect spot to look back at where we’d come from.

From here, it was a more or less flat run to the finish, across various fields, o country roads and along the towpath of the canal, before rejoining the outward trail for the last 5 miles or so back to the finish. These last few miles were a fun sparring race between us and a group of South African guys, until a puncture for one of them saw us safely beat them off.

I collapsed in a joyous heap over the finish line, with a huge sense of satisfaction and achievement that I’d got through this epic adventure unscathed, that the weather had been reasonably kind to us and that I’d loved every second of it. I will be back to do it next year!

Big Daddy

A while later there was an ever steepening road climb, that reduced a few riders around us to walking (no way I was going to walk on a road climb on a mountain bike, pride you know…) the climb continuing into a stepped and tricky path that eventually had us all pushing for a while, until we emerged out of the tree cover and onto a grassy hillside and into the mountains proper.

The weather had dried up by now, and the first hints of sunshine had appeared as we headed down again, into a valley floor, before turning a corner and seeing where the route went next… Up. Severely up – we could see a line of riders carrying their bikes up onto a beautiful ridge top with stunning views all around. After a brief fuel stop, we set off on the challenge, trying to ride as high up as possible. I got perhaps half way, and then it was a case of bike on the back (as learnt in the Alps last year) and hike up to the top.

The view from the top was awesome and inspiring, and I took a few moments to drink it all in, and appreciate where I was.

All too soon, it was time to crack on. The next section of the route eventually took us across a high plateau, which was rutted, muddy and boggy. All of a sudden a squally storm blew in, and visibility disappeared, the wind howled and the rain was horizontal. The riding became really tricky, and I realized I wasn’t enjoying this bit. I slipped and slid forward as best I could, and as the trail started to head down I got some speed up, then crashed heavily, getting crossed up across 2 ruts and landing in the bushes. I crashed twice more, but no damage done, except a few bruises, I reined myself in, told myself to concentrate and managed to get through this section, which finished off by heading down steeply and off camber, where it picked up a road section and towards the feed station.


At the feed station we took a 10 minute break, stocking up on energy drink, food and bars, and giving the legs a breather. My new Ellsworth Epiphany was working like a dream – easily the best bike I’ve ever owned – climbing superbly and a real loon on the descents, plus being really comfortable for long days like this.

On we went with the day, now a big, long drawn out climb, first on a fireroad in the trees, then along a mountain valley trail, which wound its way for a long time up the side of the valley and on towards the col, It was a punishing climb that gradually got steeper, with a final switchback sting in the tail, up to the cheeriest marshal standing right on the top in the windiest spot in Wales.

Over the top and down a fantastic rocky descent, open and fast to start with, then a really steep stepped section that I was really chuffed to clear – the joy of a seat dropper! The sun was shining again by now as we went down to the valley floor, then climbed again, continuing for several miles and making good progress, despite a fair bit of mud.

Then, we got to the traverse around Llangorse lake, and the true low point of the whole trip to this point. We followed this path that quickly became a soul destroying wade through thick muddy ruts that were regularly interspersed by deep puddles. I lost my sense of humour at this point, as I got fed up with getting on the bike to ride, only to have to dismount 100 yards later, then on again and off again. We spent about an hour trudging through the mess, until eventually we got to another steep climb, which took us above the worst of the mud and to great views of the lake and surrounding hills. Time for a short breather…


We could feel the home stretch by now, although we weren’t sure exactly how long we had to go, we knew we’d completed the last big climb of the day. We were up high again, and although the sun was shining on us, we could see there were squally storms on the hills all around, so we didn’t hang about as we crossed the plateau and into a fast open descent of the hill.

All that was left now was a few miles on the roads, before a final short climb into the forest we time trialled in yesterday, and a fast fire road descent into the campsite and across the finish. A totally epic day of riding, completed in just over 6 hours, and apart from Llangorse, I loved it all. The scenery, the trails, the organisation was all top notch. As I recovered, I saw Darren and AJ, all showered, tandem cleaned and feet up – they’d handsomely beat us, a great effort from them. All that was left was to eat and eat and drink beer, as we all regaled our stories of the day’s adventures, before retiring back to the tent to catch up on some sleep, before another day in the saddle, this time Brecon Beacons and the piece de resistance, the Gap Route.

More to follow…

Big Daddy

So, I got signed up and looked to forward to baking in the sun, riding dusty trails across South Wales. Hmmm. I convinced a good pal of mine to join up too, I discovered that Darren and AJ were bringing the tandem and my trusty Dad also signed up to come as a supporter for the weekend – all good! The premise of this event was an approx 15k time trial in the Glanusk Estate woods, next to the campsite on the Friday evening, followed by 2 big days of riding in the mountains. Officially not a race due to using public paths and roads, it would still be timed.

For various reasons I hadn’t managed to ride as many long rides as I had hoped as training, and as the weekend approached I got more and more anxious about the appalling weather and ground conditions, what tyres to use and if I could even get round roughly 70ks each day in the Welsh mud!

The morning of Friday 29th dawned (my birthday) and after receiving the coolest present of a motorised technic lego truck (still a big kid me!), Dad arrived and we set off up the M4 to the hills.

We were among the first competitors to arrive at the event village, and had plenty of time to settle in, find ourselves a tent or two and set up chairs in the sunshine.

Once my pal had arrived, it was time to head over for the time trial, at just about the time it started to rain again!. The course consisted of 2 laps in the local woods – pretty much a fireroad climb, followed by a singletrack descent. I had decided to approach this event not as a race, but survival, although this approach lasted all of 20 metres, as I cranked it up the hill, which got progressively more sloppy and muddy. There was a steep soggy section which everyone was pushing up, then a tricky section of ruts filled with water, followed by a fast more open descent and into the singletrack which flowed very nicely, eventually dropping out onto a superfast and tricky (due to the forest machinery tracks) fireroad finish.

I was happy enough with my progress on the first lap, but knew there was room for improvement – knowledge of what to expect is important! I completed in a time of 40 mins, placing 28th out of 180, which I was happy enough with considering the deteriorating conditions.
Then it was time to make use of the lovely hot showers, the bike wash and then head to the main marquee to devour vast quantities of the inclusive food and free beer (bonus!) and listen to the rider briefing for day 2, before heading to bed to listen to the rain beating down on the canvas, and fret about what tomorrow would hold. I did not sleep well!
Stayed tuned for day 2 and 3 reports…
Big Daddy

Saturday practice was almost a joy with a few light showers and a little wind to keep the midges at bay. Devinci/Haven were represented by Dave Duggan, Gareth Jones and Callum Thornbury. With no injuries or mechanicals throughout practice Saturday, was almost a dream day.

The beginning of race day brought a little more rain which, for some, got the track moving a little quicker. Gareth had a puncture which sent him over the bars and his thumb into a hole. After some attention Gareth broke the beam in quali and came back down the chairlift in the hope his hand would be better come race runs. Callum qualified 17th with a clean run and Dave qualified 16th with a couple of moments.

With a break in the rain Callum took his race run coming 20th. Not ideal but still a solid run. Gareth tried for a quick time but hampered by his hand had to go easy by half way down. Dave had his run in the heaviest rain of the weekend and was held up by a red flag. Getting to bottom of the hill he went straight back up for a re-run in slightly better conditions and came in 14th.

After fearing the worst, Glencoe ended up being a good weekend on a great track. I don’t think I spoke to a rider who was not loving the track.

Joe