......apparantly. Next Tuesday.
Work and life has been mayhem the past few weeks, so its been a little while since the last post. Its just typical of this time of year, and in a few short days a nice relaxing 2-week holiday will begin.
Its been super hot right through December, so we have been making the most of it. Blake has become really animated lately, and using the Baby Sign Language to communicate with us in so many ways. He is really switched-on about it.
Roll on Christmas :-)
Boys fun aplenty!
Blake and I went for a ride in Scotts Concrete Truck on Saturday, awesome.
Sunday we gave Heidi a day alone to do....well.....girls stuff I spose. While we went up to Pukekohe to watch a whole bunch of Motor-racing. At first, Blake was pretty freaked-out with the noise, and everything going on so fast. But he got used to it and after a while started to enjoy things. We saw a crash, and then we went to the pits to see the crashed up car, very impressive. Blake got to see more Trucks in the pits, he really is into trucks right now.
I got to catch up with all my old Pre65 mates which was good, race report for them here ----> www.pre65.org.nz
Just finished a great weekend away riding my bike. Went on a roadtrip down to Wellington on Friday with 2 friends, caught the Interislander across to Picton to ride the Queen Charlotte Walkway with 40-odd others on the annual Vorb trip across this great track.
72km's of righteous singletrack, and 3 glorious days of hot cloudless weather awaited. The ride began with a water-taxi trip out to Ships Cove near the entrance to the Sounds, and spent the next few hours going up, then down to Furneaux Lodge. The 5kms of flowing downhill into Furneaux was epic, and left me with a grin I could not remove. A short lunch stop there, and then rode on another 12kms into Punga Cova. Again some more climbing, but some sweet rooty singletrack on bone-dry dusty trails into Punga was outstanding. Fortunately I had a heads-up so packed some togs for this leg, so finished the days riding by dropping bombs off the pier into the cool clear water, fantastic.
Sunday was a long day. I felt great from the start so set-off at what I thought was a good steady pace. Convinced that there must have been 10 riders or so from our group up ahead, I spent the whole ride trying to chase them down, exasperated at times that I wasnt catching anyone. Wasnt till I reached the final destination at Anakiwa that I realised why, seemes everyone was behind me, doh! So mostly a long lonely ride for me, not that it mattered, the scenery and the downhill sections were superb, and I was mostly thinking about my family back home, wishing they were here too. Another long flowy downhill through native forest into Anakiwa was one of the days highlights, although there were just too many to list.
It seemed a long journey back to Wellington, the feeling you get coming down off a high. But it wasnt quite over yet. The 3 of us had a good frind in Wellington offer to put us up for the night, then took us out to some secret singletrack north of Wellington the next morning. The ride known as 'The 3 Sisters', provided some of the most demanding technical downhill I have ever ridden, and called on all of my skills to negotiate safely. An overwhelming feeling of satisfaction on completion of the sisters - mega thanks Colin.
Scotty and Jeanette tied the knot.
Congratulations guys, on organising a perfect day!
(The honeymoon starts in 1 weeks time when we all ride the Queen Charlotte Walkway)
The 3rd year I have done this event, and each time I have loved it. This year it was a very laid-back and cruisy atmosphere. Which blended in perfectly with how my team was approaching the event. I had dropped back the intensity of my riding since the end of the N-duro series, and am now just riding for fun.
Our team was in the 3-person mixed division, and included my friend Tony (http://tonyj.vox.com/), and a work colleague of his, Michelle. I was late arriving and missed the start, but it was a beautiful, blue-sky day, so all was well. The course was almost identical to last years course, and although I was riding it Singlespeed this time around, found it easier, definitely have gained some fitness this year.
Highlight for me was riding 3 consecutive laps at the end to finish with a minute to spare.
The first one in quite a while, we had our friends Eddie and Mel up from Wellington, with their daughter Holly.
Didnt start so well for Blake who was struck down on Friday night with a nasty little tummy-bug. He came right by Monday though.
We visited the Tauranga Airport Museum on Sunday, to discover it was a special day there, they had the official opening for a war memorabilia museum out the back too, complete with an air-display with a Jet-plane, pretty cool.
On Monday, we also had a visit from Heidis brother Peter, his partner Gabrielle, and their girls, Laura and Erica. Blake had fun as the 3 of them all played with some toys together. Then in the afternoon we went up to Summerhill for a wee bike ride, and a BBQ with some riding friends. Pretty windy and cold, but I think Summer is just around the corner.
Apparantly that is the noise a Tiger makes, but we get to that later.
We had a great weekend. Started off well with Blakes first swimming lesson after the Holidays. He has always been reluctant to crawl along the floating mat, but this time he went like a man posessed. Then the next time through he really surprised us all when he decided that he could actually walk the whole length of it. Outstanding, and to rupturous applause from everyone, Well Done Blake!!!
In the afternoon we went for a bike ride down to the local park. I have let him go down the slide a few times before, but its always tricky when Im by myself to let him go at the top, then run to the bottom to catch him, so it was much easier with Heidi there. He had a few go's sitting down in the normal way, then I plonked him up the top, and he decided to crawl onto the slide - and took off down it face-first! No fear whatsoever! We did this another 5 or 6 times, the look on his face was one of ecstasy, he absolutely loved going down there face-first.
On Sunday, we took a family trip to Hamilton Zoo. We didnt know that there wasn't Lions there, which we had promised Blake. But we had great fun watching the Tiger, and he was also fascinated watching the Chimpanzees getting fed. We were also lucky to see a Baby Rhino with its Mother. That was until Blakes hat dropped down right by the perimeter fence, and I scurried down to retrieve it. They didnt like that very much. I think he liked the Kea the best, I put him down right close to the cage, and he was really studying the bird walking backwards and forwards. The Kea made its loud call a couple of times, and Blake tried to copy the noise. Real cute.
20 weeks down, 20 weeks to go.
Take a look at the video. Is it a boy or is it a girl?
What do you think?
The Whaka. This is the name coined to the 5th and final round of this years N-duro winter series. At 100km's in length, its not the sort of ride you decide to do on a whim. Certainly for me, as a recreational rider, that enjoys the competitve aspect of these races, and seeing just how my body copes with being pushed, this would be exploring unchartered territory as far as time and distance went.
I made a concious decision way back in April this year, to do all the long courses in this series, and to do them all on my singlespeed, just for a challenge. As my training intensified, I also made a decision to quit alcohol and mince pies, in May. A harsh decision and not one made lightly. I think back about a year ago, at that time I would have not thought it was possible for me to go such a long distance at Whakarewarewa on a bike with only 1 gear.
Still, as the months ticked by, and with each round came a new and longer distance course, my resolve to keep the mileage up, and the abstentions away, so my belief in myself grew. Also, a little private battle within the series with my friend Shane, was playing out very interestingly. Going into this ride we had each beaten the other twice, so it was something of a decider.
We decided to make the weekend a family trip, and cruised into Rotorua on Saturday afternoon. I had such a great ride in the forest with Blake on my back in the backpack, and Heidi riding with us on her bike, it put me in such a positive frame of mind, as I continually dwelled on thoughts of the race on the following day. Then in the evening we left Blake with Uncle Scott, and had a casual get-together with a bunch of vorbers also doing the Whaka, over dinner in town. Everything just felt great.
It was an early start on Sunday, 8am to be precise. The mood at the start was quiet and sombre. I started easy, trying to stay at a pace through the first 60km, that would make the brutal final 40km achievable. The single track was fantastic, ranging from some primo flowing trail in the first 20km, to some sketchy muddy technical downhill stuff from 40-50km. Only 2 big climbs in the first 60km, and I gave them the respect they deserved by dismounting and walking some of it. I was surprised how energised I was feeling however, and began to look forward to the 60km pitstop.
It was great to have support from firends and family at this point, I alighted and sat down for 10 minutes, scoffed down some bread rolls, and away we went again. I actually hit a low point in the next 10kms, not really sure why, in my mind I knew the last 40km involved 3 huge climbs, and by now the sun was out and fatigue was setting in. Still as I swung into the trailhead at Billy-T, something changed, and I got the fighting spirit back. I had passed my friend Shane on the side of the road about 20 minutes earlier, battling with a mechanical fault, but I was convinced he would be back on the bike and I didnt want him to catch me. I later found out he had to pull out of the race at that point, poor bugger.
Fast forward to the final climb. I was walking while chatting to fellow rider and series sponsor, Gaz Sullivan, reflecting on a tough but good day, as I neared what I thought was the top, I got back on and pedalled in earnest. Only to discover that the organisers were going to make sure we climbed to the very very top of the hill, which I wasnt expecting. It just kept on going, I have never been right to the top before. Still, I actually pushed very hard all the way to the top, I didnt want to walk any more, and treated every rise like it was the last.
The final run down the road and through Exit trail to the finish was just epic. Fast, fast, fast. And the feeling of a giant weight lifting from my shoulders as I emerged from the trees and wobbled across the finish line, was incredible.
What a day, just brilliant.
Well the big day finally arrived, after months of planning, and days of housecleaning, it was time for Blakes 1st birthday party.
Almost all of his mates were able to make it, there was Max, Ethan, Dan, Bryce and George. Plus a whole host of relations from far away cities, Grandma and Grandad from Taupo, Uncle Scott and Aunt Jeanette from Rotorua, and Uncle Frank and Aunt Louise from Napier.
Blake is right into Lions at the moment, and has been hard at work perfecting his rendition of the Lions roar. This inspired us to create the Lion cake.
Safe to say it was a hit, he couldnt keep his hands off the icing before Mum even started to cut it up, and once it started to get sliced, he wasted no time in snatching up the first piece and tucking into it.
Of course, we had all his other favourite foods on hand, including cheerio's and macaroon biscuits.
When I presented him with his present, his first bike, he took to it straight away. First figuring out how to make the bell sound, and with a little prompting he surprised us all by showing us how he could make it move under his own power. He also worked out a rudimentary dismount, which should improve over time.
The next day we had another party to go to. His friend Rico had also turned 1. Rico had a slide at his place, and Blake loved it!
