How far can you ride this.

Ive just in the last week got my Surly Pugsley bike. It is something else.
Just learning to ride it has been a blast. You cant attack anything especially hills!!!. Dial up a gear sit down and grind away.
What surprised me is that it isn't that much slower than my single speed go figure.
Made my way up the knob and down my usual trails it just goes.

Now I'm thinking how far can I go on this baby. I pulled out of the Brevet later in the summer because of over commitment but now I'm looking for something to do on this fatty .
I did three laps of the loop on it with the dogs today and it was no problem at all. So the planning starts I want 7 to 8 days self supported summer adventure. So time to hit google earth watch this space.

ZOOM ( or coping with a lack of talent)

Rode my brand new Surly Pugsley today. Ive been thinking of buying one since i read Jill Homers book "Ghost Trails". Then a few months ago a friend got one and after riding it for point one of a second I knew I had to have a fatty.
I built it up yesterday and had a small ride around the point twice. I learnt that a heavy bike is not for attacking climbs but for relaxing and winding your way into up and over things.
Today's ride was up Colonial Knob and down the reservoir single track then through the hospital walking track and back to the Bay.
It is like nothing Ive every ridden before the bike stops at nothing , i rode over mud tree roots sand, rocks and swamp grass. it just goes on.
My lack of mountain biking skills are hidden by the bikes ability to roll over all in its path.
I dont normally get to excited and name bikes but.... this thing is so cool it begs for one. So Zoom it is cause it sure dosnt zoom, but Fat Larrys band sang a song called Zoom . I grew up around the time it was popular and the double meaning makes me smile every time i say it.

The Art of living with Dogs

" We yean for the company of dogs because they return us to an ancient way of life, vanishing now. It is the power of the natural world to reacquaint us with our quiter selves, the part now buried alive in the nosie and glare of modern life and the habit of nonstop connection with others" Martha Sherrill

This is an extract from the book Dog Man.

Since the age of eighteen I have had a dog in my life. Dogs draw me away from humans and into a world of trust and love that is pure and so simple. The trust has a way of redefining values you seek in others, but so often found in that bond I have with my dogs.

Slow down day Fuck the Clock

Got up real early Paced coffee pot gas, cheese and bread. Loaded the dogs and drove to Otaki forks. We got there just as the sun was breaking over the hills.
Not a sole on the river save me and the two pointers. Broke out the burner and brewed a coffee.
The air was cold but crisp at times like this that you understand the need to slow down and appreciate life's small gifts. Time is such a imposition on what we do it runs our life and places demands that seem to take over. The obsession with timetables schedules and making deadlines has such a detrimental effect on our lives.
For a short half a day time didn't mater. I walked fished, talked to the dogs, sat looked, smelled and tasted my surroundings. Time at this point was reduced to nothing simply gone totally worthless. I cant explain how good it felt. but I know theres a point to the saying.
FUCK THE CLOCK

One whole Year!!!!!!!

Its been some time so what happened ? Some things never change. The weather has been the same for most of the seasons save for the winter Snow for the first time in many many years.
My new job is so cool. 2 to 3 days a week no stress who could ask for more.
Sally ran the Rotorua marathon.
The mushroom season was shorter and quite different this year heaps more flat and not to many buttons.
Ive raced my bike more and even won.
Ive found cyclocross and man is it fun. Fun that hurts but you cant stop wanting more.
On the wood front Ive invested in a large cross cut hand saw so the fire wood now takes longer but is way more quieter and a lot more satisfying. Also purchased a very classy axe hand made in NZ. It fits perfectly and is an enginering work of art. Every thing from the handle to the finish is faultless.

Oh and yes i didnt look backwards this year and am in a way better space.

So house is in order now looking for the next big adventure Ive got the smell of one but too soon to say keep you posted.
H

Southern Turnaround

Took the ferry to Picton last Tuesday. I had in mind a wee trip to a mates who lives in Refton on the west coast. The weather report wasn't too good on the morning i left but hay if you stay at home due to forecasts you guarantee fine weather don't you?. The afternoon was a steady ride to the Wairau Valley tavern for the night. What a place open fire, empty bar, great meal and tucked up in bed by nine. (hard living hard parting traveller oh yes).


It rained hard all night and was still at it in the morning. I rugged up and pushed on into a building southerly ,it will blow out by lunch time i told my self. I made slow progress uphill and into a southerly wind , did I mention the hail I had to stop each time a hail shower hit as it was too painful to ride into it.
By eleven I was nearing Tophouse cold to the core. I stopped to shelter again when a road worker pulled up, he gave me a drink of Milo but I spilt most of it from shacking to hard. I couldn't stop from shaking, so I started looking for shelter but there is nothing there. The rain and hail was getting heaver and the water was flowing across the road in small steams. The hail would cover the road in a instant making it very icy to ride on, so I pushed on . Just around the next corner was a ford the water was too high to cross so I stopped and shook in the middle of the road dumbfounded and not wanting to admit defeat. Finally i turned around and retraced my journey back home. Lesson, "sometimes the weather reports are right"!!!

Wood Pigeon

After waiting for a service guy to come and fix our stove, and have him not arrive. I kitted up for the Knob loop. The day was cold real cold still and no rain first day since who knows when.
Climbed the same double track as Sunday, at least it was kind of dry. Up past the old cattle stop I watched a wood pigeon try and balance on a half metre high broom bush. It didn't work so It hopped about a metre up the road to the next broom bush and tried to land then perch. i almost stopped riding from laughing at the crazy birds antis. Just when it couldn't get any funner a second pigeon appeared and tried the same some times in the same bush. They were not worried about me as this was all unfolding track side. a native wood pigeon is the size of a large hen. I think they had been feeding on Miro berries in the bush across the gully this makes them appear intoxicated. the choice of a spindly broom bush as a perch for two full grown wood pigeons is and intoxicated choice.
The ride was a great 42 kms, very cold and the road return was in heavy ran yes the one day drought has broken.!!!!!!!!!