Blown away

Here's how it should be: no-one descends for free. Downhillers should be made to ride to the top before being allowed to come back down. On a hardtail. The descent is the reward. Ya don't eat ya greens, ya don't get dessert. I thought of this while suffering like a dog again while climbing to the Peak today. I'll approach Parliament about it this week.

Anyway, we had another good day today, did a few tracks we didn't do on Friday, such as Upper and Lower Leaping Lizard, a new track to get back up which is pretty ordinary, which we dubbed "Dying Hedgehog" coz we found a little spiky fella on the trail and he looked a bit worse for wear. From the peak we railed around Zac's Track (the one Christian freaked on) then back up to the peak and across Ridgeline. It was blowing a gale up there, but it's a real fun trail, challenging and flowy with a few little drops and some rough corners. To finish off we did SWIGG/Starfish, which is the perfect way to finish a ride. The pain of the climbing was soon forgotten, and even celebrated, on arrival at the carpark.

We then went for a drive around, out to the Makara cemetery where my Grandad is buried, then down to the harbour for a beer and snack at the Mac's Brewery. Mmmmmmac's! Tried their 'Hop Rocker' Pilsener, a fine beer. The wind on the harbour was nearly blowing us off our feet, and these kids on scooters were getting blown along at about 15kmh! Then it was up to Mt. Victoria Lookout, spectacular views of the city in all directions. I really like Welly. Houses built on the sides of sheer cliffs, steep hills all round, just a good feel to it. If only it wasn't so windy. On the way back home, we passed a backpacker's hostel... I screamed out "EEEVVVVAAAAAAAAAA", but she mustn't have heard. Wind probably.

Tomorrow we'll probably stay closer to home, and do the Rimutaka Incline and MikiMiki trails. If my legs have stopped aching by then.