Posts

Kahurangi 500 - Shit the bed, I did a ride!

Image
Unnecessary Preamble As is standard in a New Year, I was feeling reflective and wondering what I might do to improve my life in 2026. After four pretty torrid years, where we've spent about a quarter of that time in hospital, I was very much in need of a clear and obvious reason to get back into cycling. Cue endless youtube videos, and the rash decision to book flights to/from Nelson to coincide with the opening of the Heaphy Track, at the start of May. I was crossing everything I could cross in the hope the weather would hold for me, and I'd booked accommodation in Murchison and Karamea. I'd decided to tackle the Kahurangi 500 route, in what I'd suggest is the best direction (Clockwise). Watching youtube videos of extremely fit and capable people riding this loop make it seem relatively trivial, and with the hype train in top gear, I was locked and loaded.  I did a bit of chicanery with the route, necessitated partly by my Nelson origin and destination, and partly out ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Longest Day 2021 - French Pass

Image
With a few years of doing *other* stuff (renovating a house, getting married, having a baby boy, getting another on the way, etc) I've been pretty low key on the cycling front - it's been a good chance to chill out a bit, physically, but even that comes with penalties like being fat and unfit. So, what better way to counter my new found girth than to get back to the bike? Thankfully, I have two days a week where I can be in my office in the Wellington CBD, which gives me 4 x 25km rides each week without even thinking. Add a couple of short lunchtime loops or hill sessions to that, and the odd longer weekend ride, and it starts adding up to a pretty healthy amount of cycling. With the sense of fitness returning, I thought it would be a shame not to take advantage of it over the summer of 2021/22, and penciled in two rides - the Longest Day, and a revisit of the 2012 Kiwi Brevet course. Initially, I'd been keen to try a loop out of Blenheim for the Longest Day ride - out over...
Post a Comment
Read more