prepping the body for the Dakota 50

Headed up to the high country with my buddy Dan for a bit of a ride before the Dakota 50, which is 4 weeks away.

Anyways, we headed to Leadville to the LT100 course.
Cunning plan - ride the first 25 miles of the course, turn around and ride back. As the race is an out and back and we'd therefore ride half the course (50 miles for the math challenged!).
Turned into an epic ride as Dan had one mechanical after another. Could be because his wrench has been away all summer! Enough to say his 27 speed bike ended the day with maybe 2 speeds.




Dan atop the powerline climb from the Hagerman pass side just as the rain starts to fall. At this point Dan has realized that his large chain ring has a ding and his rear gear cable has broken. We've rigged it so he has a 2 by 1.




Out running the thunder and lightning that buzzed all around us - do not be mislead by the blue sky. There really was thunder and lightening!




At the bottom of powerline we opted for the ride back to town by the road option, rather than head back up and over.
We got some good miles in and Dan now has a bit of a bike fix ahead.
Goose returns from NZ tomorrow

cheers
Lynx

quick visit to Vegas

Can't say too much, 'cos everyone knows "what happens in Vegas......"
So, Red rocks




Holmes rocks his Harley on his birthday!

Summer jolly over for another year!

Well not really a summer as it was winter - so did we really have a summer jolly?
Great trip down south to catch up with our southern hemisphere friends and family. Great to see you all.



Got to see nearly everyone and rode through a good amount of mud.
Love the North and South Islands of New Zealand, the western Isle has a slightly different feel to it!
If you get a chance go visit. Don't be put off by the rain!
Thanks to all who fed, housed and entertained us on our 'summer jolly'
Next time could you please do something with the weather!
Cheers, Goose and Lynx

final trip north

We left Feilding together for my final trip up the island before flying home. Goose had another couple of weeks before returning to the nest! Headed to Napier to spend a few days by the coast with the hope of finding the needle in the hay stack - warm/dry weather in NZ. Fat chance the night time lows 1-2 degrees and the daytimes filled with rain!



We did land up on a great campsite just north of town. The views first thing in the morning/last thing at night - great. Rode just up the road in the Eskdale forest. Once again, the rain made it just a bit too slippy under rubber. Had the same issue at Pukeora Hills east of Napier on our journey over. The trails look like they would be fantastic in dry conditions. Hawkes Bay MTB club has spent 1000's of hours building and maintaining these trails.



Finally got round to eating some famous green mussels. Found a small Tapas bar in Napier marina. Lovely!




Stopped off in Taupo for one last ride there. Amazing the difference the soil makes to the ride quality. Rode the W2K trail around the south part of the lake in the afternoon. Knocked out a quick 30ks before another final visit - this time Rotorua




Rode some of our fav trails there before gunning the trusty camper van north to Auckland for one last time
Goose's l'il bro, Steve, wanted to try the local hot spot - Woodhills MTB park. So he took a personal day and we headed there for a good few hours. Nice riding in the week as not too busy. W/e on the other hand can see upwards of 1000 rides spread over the 150ks of purpose built trails. Nice finish to the trip. Good to know that two of Goose's brothers are now keen bikers and that their kids could be following them!