...couple of amazing winter's days for riding in Welly. Sunday, Josh, Karl and I headed out early for the big loop to
Makara, climbing the steep Scout Hall switchbacks, down the damp and slippery
Deliverance, then up to the Peak and down again. Josh wasn't sated at the bottom of SWIGG, so headed back up for another crack, while Karl and I climbed back up
Salvation and dropped back into town via the way we had earlier climbed.
Today the city was shrouded in fog until almost midday, then lifted to reveal a perfect sunny day. Me and Caleb headed out with the lunchtime crew, which consisted only of Sparrow, Ant and Steve. We rode the tar up to the top of Ngaio Gorge, bringing back
memories of my old commute when I used to live in Khandallah.
Then we were in the singletrack, technically not really were we should've been. The boys cleared a fallen tree while Caleb snapped pics for the upcoming SPOKE article.
Some more road climbing up to the back of Tinakori Hill was followed by technical singletrack with slippery roots and leaf mulch covering the damp soil. Following Ant, I put my foot down on the side of the trail, only to be sucked into a thigh-deep abyss while Caleb cracked up behind. My first thought was "shit I hope there's no snakes down there", before I rememberd which country I was in. The snakeless one. A cruise back through town taking in the 'sights' topped off a great way to spend a lunchtime.
...couple of amazing winter's days for riding in Welly. Sunday, Josh, Karl and I headed out early for the big loop to Makara, climbing the steep Scout Hall switchbacks, down the damp and slippery Deliverance, then up to the Peak and down again. Josh wasn't sated at the bottom of SWIGG, so headed back up for another crack, while Karl and I climbed back up Salvation and dropped back into town via the way we had earlier climbed.
Today the city was shrouded in fog until almost midday, then lifted to reveal a perfect sunny day. Me and Caleb headed out with the lunchtime crew, which consisted only of Sparrow, Ant and Steve. We rode the tar up to the top of Ngaio Gorge, bringing back memories of my old commute when I used to live in Khandallah. 
Then we were in the singletrack, technically not really were we should've been. The boys cleared a fallen tree while Caleb snapped pics for the upcoming SPOKE article.
Some more road climbing up to the back of Tinakori Hill was followed by technical singletrack with slippery roots and leaf mulch covering the damp soil. Following Ant, I put my foot down on the side of the trail, only to be sucked into a thigh-deep abyss while Caleb cracked up behind. My first thought was "shit I hope there's no snakes down there", before I rememberd which country I was in. The snakeless one. A cruise back through town taking in the 'sights' topped off a great way to spend a lunchtime.
5 comments:
Wow,you guys really are crazy,especially the bit where you put your foot in the hole and thought it was full of snakes,ha,ha,ha.I rode through a deep puddle yesterday and shit myself cos i thought there might be a shark in it,but then realised i wasn't riding in the sea!!Crazy Bro!!
Yeah we're wacky! And everyone knows there's no sharks in Australia, only aligators...
In Australia most people are well afraid of snakes. And with good enough reason. If you step on one accidentally you might well be bitten. And that has consequences. Perhaps that is why Australians even in snake free countries such as New Zealand can’t relax in long grass.
Because we live in a house in Southern Australia with a largish garden near a river, snakes are frequent visitors. If they are about the house we try to kill them. But if they are down the river end they will just go on their way. One of our dogs was bitten by a four foot tiger snake and had to spend the night at the vets. Because he was a big dog he survived.
However snakes are protected species in Australia.
The most common Australian snakes that people come across include: (Click on the name for more detailed information)
Lance has lots of snake problems.... he's always trying to strangle his trouser snake... a small species, with extra-scaly skin.
I do not like snakes. I lived in the South (North Carolina) and I never got used to them. There were copperheads all over the place. They will usually just make you sick. I cannot imagine dealing with the variety in Australia.
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