I hope that you have opened up this page to check on Pete and Dave's progress on their MTB tour.
Keep reading down the page as the story fills in from the top.
A big thanks to all that we have meet so far and that have helped us on our journey
Cheers Pete.
Hi All. This is the end of the Holiday blog for a while.
I will get to add some more photos as I go thru them and find a few more that are worthy.
I would like to say a big thanks to all the Awesome people who touched my life on my Journey.
India is an amazing place. I am going back, but will join the rest of the clever ones and buy or hire an Enfield.
You will still need your wits about you, but can cover the distances that will make the journey so much better. The People will still be the same, Same old freak show.
Now Its your turn!
Team RTD is alive and kicking. Its time for you to turn up in Little old NZ for a holiday of a life time.
Keep an eye out of the blog as I keep you up todate with whats happening here in NZ.
Cheers Pete
28th and home.
Hi All, Sorry for the big gap, but when I got home, i was over it all and i have just got to a point where i am feeling normal again.
The 3 days in HK were a blur, I spent the whole time in bed and made my self go out on the way to the airport on a open Bus tour on HK island. It was realy the only sight seeing that I got to do.
Its a amazing place, Massive with over 7m people living there.
A view down the skyline on HK Island. Mega big buildings and mega People.
Well. That's it for now. I will add a note on the front page of the blog when I add up more photos of the trip.
18th Hong Kong
Well my luck finally came to an end.
After my last post i went out for a wander to try and sort a bike to ride out to the F1 circuit.
I started to feel a bit unwell so went back to the hotel and quickly became worse.
I am not to sure on the cause, but i feel like i have virus, as my body feels like i have been run over by a bus.
I ended up sleeping for the rest of that day and was still in bed lunch time on the 16th.
As i was laying about, it hit me that i was actually leaving that night. I was due out on the 17th, only realizing 00.50 meant i needed to be at the airport on the 16th.
I had to drag my sorry ass from my bed and go and buy another suitcase, as well as get my box packed. I got my box back to my room to find the locals had mutilated it when they flattened it.
It was all ready stuffed when i got here but now it was toast.
All i could do was jam the bike in and tape it all together and hope.
I was so fatigued i went back to sleep to awake at 9.30pm for my taxi to the airport.
The taxi was a wee suzuki van and the driver was constantly on the phone. after 10 minutes, i got into him and told him to get of the phone. He started to argue that he was driving slowly so it was ok, but i let him know that it was my life and it was not up to him to put it in danger. He got the message and rung off. He decided to add me to the danger list again by speeding and dodging traffic as fast as he could.
Every bump was shit, every thing hurt. The drive was awesome tho as he drove well and we had a few near misses and lots of horn blowing. My last memory of India lol.
At the airport, i found they had a couple of machines that shrink wrapped your bags. I asked them if they would do my box. They said it was to big and i said it was not. I told them how to do it, and said i would do it if they would get out of the way and let me at it.
After about 5 of them turned up, they got it sorted. I now have a giant plastic package containing one bike.
I got spanked for 7kg over weight, it was 9 but the nice lady took 2kg of the total. That cost me $140usd.
The flight was only 5 1/2 hours. I could not sleep so arrived in a bit of a state. As we landed, the world fell out my ass, and i was the last to leave the plane as i could not get off the loo.
After clearing customs, i could not get more than 200m from the loo. I had to stay at the airport for a further 2 hours before i could risk the 1 hr bus ride to town.
Once we got going it was ok. I had absolutely no idea where i was going, HK is massive, so i was just going along for the ride. In the end i asked this couple where i should get off, and a nice Lady in the seat behind took me under her wing and escorted me to a nice little guest house she new.
I have been here since and have sleep for most of the 32 hours.
I do not feel any better although the ass explosions have calmed down.
I am close to the water across to Hong Kong island, so i went for a very slow wander to get you all some photo's
Its a bummer to be crook, but better here than some shit hole in India.
Well, this will be it till i get home. I left my uk adapter with Greg and my laptop is going flat.
All the best and see you at One Red Dog for an APA.
Cheers Pete
15th Delhi.
Every thing went well yesterday on the train ride back to Delhi.
I got up at 5.30 and ended up at the train station about 6.15am.
I got the bike paid for, and all set ready to go. I was originally told the bike would be about 1000rp ($20) but i ended up paying 140rp, about $3.
The train was good, 2nd class, the only issue was the windows were double glazed and they were very dirty on all surfaces so looking out was not the best. I ended up standing at an open door in the carriage and watched the world wizz by. The trip took about 8 1/2 hours.
I had just got a new book so i read that for most of the way.
The journey was very good. Acres of grain in the fields with people working the land.
All the towns had people hanging around the tracks. Every stop hawkers come on and tried to sell you food and drinks.
After getting my bike i was told i had to go to the office for a gate pass to get out of the yard.
There was at least 7 train movements as I tried to get over the tracks to the office.
A train spotters dream.
He was happy to be in the photo as they all are. I ask them all for 10rp every time they want to be in a photo with me, and they all laugh. If you took 10rp each time you could quite happily fund 1/2 your holiday.
Well, All good. I found my way back to the same hotel i started at and have found my bag i left, but not the bike box yet. The boy? is due in at 10.00am and may know where it is. If not i will head out in search of a replacement.
I have located the F1 circuit about 50k from Delhi so i may hire a m/c tomorrow and go out for a look.
The race is coming up at the end of the month so there may be some action to be seen.
catch u later, cheers pete
13th night time. the confuser says 3.50am NZ time.
I have just packed the bags and I am soon off to bed ready for a day on the rails tomorrow.
I am supposed to be at the station by 6.00am and its about 15 mins peddle away.
I have spent the day with Masa Singh again. I drove the rickshaw for most of our travels. It is a nice relaxing way to spend the day. From the out side the traffic is absolute kaos. Riding the rickshaw, its a breeze, you just head straight out into the on coming traffic and quietly head where you need to go, The sea opens like you are Moses and thru you go! Amazing!
I am quite sure Masa had a few moments, but he was happy to sit and talk me thru all the sites along the way. We went to a couple of really neat temples, one like a giant model town, with every kind of God depicted as a 1/2 to full size being. I had to go thru crawl spaces and mouths of giant tigers to negotiate my way around. really good fun.
I have also spent a bit more time with the boss of the hotel and his mates.
These guys are very rich and have a completely different opinion of India and the people who inhabit the country. They have nothing nice to say about the illiterate people whom they have to share the country with and as far as they are concerned would be better of with out them.
So, I will sign off and hope fully will find some wifi back in Delhi.
I hope to go and have a look at the new F1 circuit over the next 2 days so will try for some more photo's.
Not long now, woohoo
Cheers Pete
13th Amritsar.
Hi all. Its morning time and i thought i would thro up some random photos.
I am awaiting Masa to turn up and we are off to see some more sights. I will get my tickets sorted and then come back and pack all my shit back into the panniers again.
I am to lazy to look so you may have seen some of these before.
This is how you do it! white lines by hand. This was taken in the first few days on the bike.
I had passed heaps of tanker trucks that i did not know the cargo. Once in this town all became clear.
Roller shutter curtains ready for installation. Just about every shop in India has a shutter for the main opening. There are a gazillion of them.
Jogi's shop in Manali. A well organized tour and loads of fun.
sealed road.
Well, hope you like these shots. 9.45am so i will head out for breakfast.
Cheers Pete
Hi All, A good day today. For the first time since i left the hills, i have seen Blue sky, Woohoo!!
12th, Amritsar.
The statue of the maharajah. This little poor girl was hassling me for some money She grabbed onto my arm, so i lifted her up. she spent the next 15 min hanging from my arm as i hoisted her about.
She left me with a smile and did not ask for any money!
This lucky guy is on a promise for tonight. He even had a band to help him out.
Handle bar cam. I am hitting the gaps on the rickshaw.
Some one else is hitting the gaps, not. The rider was giving the driver an ear full when we went past.
A Punjab, dog. This fella has a scratch and win spot as well as a lovely bracelet. At least he did not chase me like a few other packs of dogs on my travel's.
The golden temple. It is amazing, it was a 3 hr wait to go inside. so i had a look around the inside walls. loads of people and huge gold fish in the water.
Note the lovely clean shaven man. I got the ears, nose and brows done at the same time with out even asking!! 5 different applications of face product as well as a facial massage all for 50rp. the best gig in India. Even Dave would like this, lol
Well, I talked the boss of the hotel into taking me to Maccas for Tea. I passed one on the way in and i knew that he would have a car.
So i have been their and had a big feed and back to the hotel.
All sweet, back tomorrow
Cheers Pete
Still Amritsar
Bugger, i was 2/3rds thru the story and the laptop did an update and i lost the lot.
The wifi is good this morning so i will add some photo's in stead.
driver. He asked me to launder some money for him at a bank so we spent the after noon cruising around. It was cruzy for him as i did all the peddling.
we ended up going to a couple of different banks. Some one had given Masa a $100usd note and he was sure i would get a better rate than if he presented it.
I was not sure if it was counterfeit or dodgy in any way and thought it would be a laugh.
Turned out ok and Masa was rapt. we got him 6000rp for his note.
I had had a chat with Amanda in the afternoon and she had said that James ( metservice) had said that india was in for a big storm. With in an hour a front blew thru and it started pissing down.
Masa and I sat in a tea shop for about an hour waiting for the rain to ease.
After the weather cleared a bit we went off in search of my hotel. The rain started again so we sheltered under the motorway bridge for another hour. The road was awash and huge puddles with lakes of rubbish. Just to the right the water had gotten into a main joint in a big power line and there was a huge fire works show for about 20min as the cables slowly burnt them selves apart. very cool!
Who would have though, i would have to pull the old rain coat out!
Masa is going to come back and be my guide for the day. This means that I will get to peddle him about, and he will give me the cooks tour of Amritsar. should be a laugh again
Well, a good story lost, but a few good pictures instead,
Cheers Pete
11th,
Hi All. Amritsar.
Well, another day has passed. The riding has been a mix of flat 2 lane roads and very busy towns.
The freak show continues!!
My motorbike riding friend came back and picked me up from the cybercafe and took me back to the hotel. I stopped in the bar for a bottle of kingfisher strong (no light) and had a bit of a laugh with the locals. One guy had a bottle of whiskey so we had another couple of those.
I managed to plug my phone into their stereo and played them some Basehunter and some ACDC.
They came back at me with some Punjab sounds, so it was a laugh all round.
It was about 75k to Amrit so a mostly boring ride, but lots of interesting towns.
I arrived about 3.30pm and went in search for a vodafone shop. My data had stopped, as it is a month since i got my sim. The lady said that cause i have a Delhi sim i cannot reload. Bugger.
I have found a very nice hotel, with wifi in the lobby. I got the room rate down from 1500rp to 1200, (about $25nzd) it is quite flash, except i now have the contents of 4 saddle bags spread all about the place so its not so tidy.
I have my washing out to be done, and I am in my last set of clean clothes, only a couple of days old lol.
Francis, here's a hot tip for the VMX you need a tractor tire on the front! I saw the dude ride away on this bullet. You would have been shredded if it hit you.
I am off soon to find a travel agent and sort out my train ticket and to get a feed for breakfast.
I have been able to read stuff as well as Amanda sending me a photo of her and the animals in front of the fire, so i see NZ is getting another cold snap.
Well i will head of now and add the days news later.
Cheers Pete
would be mean with a 572 in the back.
I will try to update, see ya soon
9th Somewhere??
After i left you yesterday, life turned a lighter shade of Brown. In finding the internet cafe yesterday, i was miss led by 2 guys who where showing me the way. No stress, cept i ended up riding for longer than i needed. (bum very sore after 5 straight days) This made me want to scoot town so I headed out of town at dusk and ended up riding 20k in the dark, till i found the next hotel. It was very dodgy and very exhilarating. Not to be done twice!
Since leaving Srinagar the evenings have been interesting.
Night 1 was at the car dealership. All Ok till the power went off.
Night 2 was in Ramban and i ended up haven a couple of beers. The big traffic jamb was going on all night so mt 1st floor balcony was ideal to watch the mayhem.
Night 3, I ended up going for a ride in a dudes car and having some H&S. After this i took a guys Enfield 350 for a hoon up the road, no helmet, sorts and jandels. It was cool and the bike went very well.
I would get a 500 if i was going to hire one!
After this the owner dropped me off for T at a restaurant. I ended up talking to some dudes that ended mixing my H&S with some Opium. It was very kind of them, but not really needed.
Night 4, Was my night ride. I ended up in a very dodgy place and off to bed.
Tonight, I arrived into town about 4.00pm and it took me 1hr to find a Hotel with any room.
I went all the way back to the first one i had passed, about 5 k before town and they had a room. Whoo!!
On Arrival, I went into the bar for a look and there were 3 dudes with Turbans sitting at a table. One gestured to me to come over and ended up drinking 1/2 a bottle of whiskey with them.
So life here, can change in an instant. Some times good and some times not.
So after the Singh's i needed to find some internet. To achieve this, i have now taken a very dodgy ride on the back of a M/C to get to this cyber cafe (indian speak)
Sitting on the back of a bike @ 60k with no way of seeing any thing is very cool, Not! I had just cycled this road and it was full of very big pot holes. I am yet to return, so that will be even better.
Today i crossed the boarder from JK to Punjab. All of a sudden my cell phone has some signal. I can now read Stuff again, so i am very happy.
Well one last 70k tomorrow and we get to Amritsar. I have a couple of days R&R and book the train for Delhi. Nice!
Cheers for now, pete
8th Samba
Hi All.
Well, as you can well imagine, I have been in the boonys for 4 days and have only now found this internet shop. I hope all is ok at home? I have not had access to stuff.co.nz, so i hope Wellington has not fallen into the sea!
I have been able to get a quick word in with Amanda so Newlands is still out of the water.
A quick overview, Last time i updated I had 75k of flat and an unknown climb to the tunnel. I stayed at the 75k mark at a wee town called Quazigund. I ended up in a hotel that was part of a small car dealership, so sat most of the night in the showroom fighting the locals for the remote to the telly. Its either Bollywood bollocks or Cricket.
The unknown climb turned out to be 19k, and i eventually got to the tunnels,s (one each way)
I was heading in when a police man pulled me up and said that i was not allowed to enter. So i asked him how i was going to go thru, and he just shook his head. I told him that he could get a jeep and the police could drive me thru and his head all most went right round.
I just waited quietly and then an older cop with lots of bling on his shoulder came running over and told me to go!! and pointed at the tunnel. It turns out that they were going to stop the cars for 10 mins and that i should hurry up. The tunnel was in fact 2.5k long, and full of very heavy fumes.
On the other side i stopped and had a rest, i waited for about 5mins till the trucks started to come thru.
As i am resting a cop comes over and very nicely instructs me that i have to go and see the commanding officer.It turns out that Sub Inspector Singh, likes to get little kiwi cyclists to his table out side for apple slices and tea. I had to sit with him for about 20min so he could practice his English on me. I managed to escape and all was well.
It turns out that i am just a traveling Freak show!! Every one wants a piece of you where ever you stop.
It gets a bit tiring to say the least.
The road for the rest of the day was mainly down, but there are sooooo many trucks, the road is stuffed and if you are climbing then, you stay to the left and eat dust. If you are descending then you use all of the road looking for the best line and you eat dust.
5k from Ramban, there was a accident that had the road blocked. There was at least 500 vehicles either side of the prang with no way of getting thru. When ever there is a blockage the cars overtake the trucks and you end up with 2-3 wide heading in one direction completely blocking the road.
I stayed in a hotel at Ramban and the traffic was still at a stand still in the morning when i got up. I slept to the sound of horns all night.
The next day i left Ramban with a 5k run down and then started a wee climb. This wee climb was 42k and took me 6 hours. It was a long day. Over the top a 40k run down to Udhampur. Going down is a lot of fun but more dangerous, as you are mixing it with the trucks at their pace. (most are limited to about 40Kph and struggle to go much faster)
Udhampur, is quite a big place, but very dirty.
The best part is after the tunnel, life changes and the Muslims are now out numbered by the others and there are beer shops again. I have been making a pig of myself and loving it.
Today I took a back road (65k) and by passed Jammu. Its another big city, full of temples ect, so to be avoided.
Samba is the town back on the main road. since turning onto the main rd its 2 lanes in both directions. The other thing is now I am out of the hills the temp has gone back up. Today's road was in very poor shape, but the low lying hills had some awesome views.
The down side is the air quality is so bad that most the time you struggle to see the sun.
I have 3 more days riding and am aiming for Amritsar. This will then give me a couple of days to chill and then i will take a train back to Delhi.
Not long to go now. I am looking to getting back. It will be good to give my family a cuddle, and have a beer with the boys. I am sure Amanda has a few jobs for me as well!
I have some awesome photos so hope fully some of you may wish to see them.
Tony and Billie, (Colorado) your CBB drink bottle that you gave me has had a staring role all on its own. I will gather those shots and email them across when i get home.
Mel, (Bend) your bottle opener has also appeared a few times, as well as being used a few more.
Well, i need to go and find some where to stay and get a feed. Sorry the above is a bit boring but its a bugger when the story backs up.
I am so filthy from all the dust, i need a shower (bucket and jug) and a cold beer.
Hopefully i can blog again tomorrow.
Cheers Pete
4/10
Srinagar still.
Well, this place is awesome and, as the locals say not part of India.
Jammu and Kashmir is at the very top of India bordered by Pakistan and China.
This is the place you come in the summer for the cool temps and in the winter for skiing ect.
The locals keep the place a lot tidier and cleaner than the other bits of India I have seen.
Its actually really nice.
Yesterday i was treated to a 2 hour long boat ride round the lake. A cold beer and some other local product had me well sorted. It was an amazing 2 hours.
Peter and Alice (English couple on way to nz) told me of their 3 day lake trekking adventure.
They told me that their driver stopped in the middle of the lake, smoked a heap of hash and then went to sleep for 3 hours. It made me chuckle as the lake is big, but not 3 days big. The boat man was taking the piss.
The carpet was awesome, silk on silk, smoother than a babies bum. I have been offered a commission on the carpet so if any of you have a spare 10k and want the best carpet, i'am your man.
Enjoying the ride. gotta watch those strong beers tho. they are very sneaky.
Even the little ones, enjoy a boat ride.
Not the usual stop off, but i had about 10min watching the man shape the wood for the deck on the Shikrie. All done with an electric hand planer.
Shikrie power, Hamid the man with the paddle.
He let me have a go after our afternoon cruising, I was totally useless. well, we did not crash, but ended up in the weeds for a bit. still we got back to the dock in the end.
Yousef the man. Nothing is a problem and highly recommended.
I ended up out on the bike for a few hours site seeing today. no major issues so,
I will leave the boat tomorrow and ride the 75k to the end of the plain. After this there is an unknow uphill and a 4k tunnel. I will aim for this on Sunday and have been told to expect a long down hill to Jummu. The over all distance to is about 330k so as long as the ass holds out about 4 days.
Again I am not sure how the wi-fi and stuff will go but expect the closer to Delhi i get the better things will become. After being fixed the wi-fi on the boat is the best in India so far.
I will have to have my last 2 kingfisher strong tonight. so may end up back on later.
Cheers Pete
3/10
Srinagar.
Hi All, look some photo's
I again decided that another day of the bike was called for and looked into taking the bus to Srinagar.
After learning the the bus left at 9.00pm and took 9 hours for 200k, i thought some thing was not quite right.
The taxi was $100 bucks and ended up taking 6.5 hours
As you can see from this photo, the road was not quite perfect. This bit about 20k is what they truly say is the most dangerous road in the world. The road actually splits and there is 2 roads up the same hill. I assume this is because one or both is usually blocked. Mostly single lane, rough as guts and trucks going both ways!! The taxi driver went part way down one road, stopped and had a look over the edge and decided to turn around and go back down the other one. Both looked dodgy to me!
You need to drill into this one, 3 guys tightening the new bolts on the bridge. one hanging on and standing on the big extension bar for more leverage. was over 100m to the river below. No rope or harness. Might send this one to Site safe lol.
The road is always being repaired. Most rivers have old Bailey type, steel bridges and new ones are under construction along the road. These 3 guys certainly were earning their money.
See how i roll, India bus styles, bike on the roof, luckily room for me inside.
The bus ride was fun and quite a good way to get about. This bus was in good nick and the driver sensible as he went along. Unladen trucks on the ups have a bit more grunt so we were 2 and 3 wide on some bits as they all go flat out going to where ever they go.
Which one has just taken the mouth full of tobacco with the white powder mixed in?
Quite a funny bunch.
The road from Srinagar to Leh, is probably better in the wow factor than the Manali Leh road.
Its a bit shorter and you do not go over 4100m but the scenery and the road has more of an impact.
Stopped for lunch here. How does rice with runny mutton water poured over the top sound? oh don't forget the bit of mutton bone from the pot, fatty with no meat! I am amazed that my guts is still in relatively good shape.
This is one sweet bit of road. Greg Butters would be able to double most of the bumps they were so big. That edge leads to a 500m plummet to a rocky grave (I can say that now I have past it)
I did have a wee peak, but did not see any wrecks at the bottom.
After the drive we ended up in Srinagar. The driver drove the last 1,1/2hr on the phone one handed.
I had to just sit there while he tooted his horn and passed every thing blind on the wrong side of the road.
Part of the many phone calls was to hook me up (unknown to me) with his family friend that owns 4 house boats on Dal lake.
It was crazy back in a big city, They should do a fast and furious 7 here. The locals would just spank them for close contact driving. These guys get with in inches of each other at speed. Its worth the price of admission for sure!
The Indians love there cell phones and every one has one while driving. I saw a guy yesterday with 2 going at the same time!!
There is a lake 28k around and about 3m deep. Fill of weeds and stuff. Quite cool tho.
This morning I was taken to a glasses shop as I left my lovely $2 shop ones in Kargil.
After this i was taken to 2 lovely gardens (why??) and then to Oh! Uncles carpet shop!
Uncle ran a Co-op of villages and sold the carpets that they made.
I must say they were stunning, Kashmir silk carpets that were absolutely mind blowingly good.
They cost upto $8000nz but as i explained to the uncle, its a bit hard to get the grease out of them when they are in my bike room.
Wow, we had to get the Wi-fi man in to fix a cable, but it works sweet now.
got to go as I am off for a shakara ride (long boat)
Cheers pete
2/10 Still Kargil.
Bugger, Seems like Kargil is a Muslim town and no one sells beer! Who would have thought?
The town was dead as soon as it got dark. The choice of food is very limited here as well so it was off to bed early. I found discovery channel on the telly in my room so i know a lot about man vrs wild. lol.
The bus apparently does not leave till late tonight to Srinagar so i might pay for a taxi for the 200k drive. will be about $70 bucks, but this will give me another day off the bum.
Cheers for now,
Pete
1/10 Kargil
Hi All. I did my 100 k yesterday (think is was about 96) and made it to Khalsi. It was not the best of days and i had a couple of wee sandpit moments with the toys all about the place.
The ride was mostly down hill, not! A nice run down hill from Leh for 1/2 an hour and then you climbed for about an hour and a half, then wizzed down some switchbacks to the village by the river. Nice
It was then a repeat to the next town, loads of switchback ups and then a run down hill.
From the 60k mark the road followed the river with undulating climbs and falls.
All was good till 2.00pm and the wind came up. The last 10k had me pedaling down some decent declines in lower gears just to keep moving. Bugger!
The little village had a population of about 1000 (Guess) but about 100 flies per person.. It was not pleasant sitting still anywhere.
The only accommodation was very poor by any ones standard, so life was a bit grim. Oh, by the way, the power went off for most of the night. Joy!
I made the best decision on the trip so far and took the bus today. The 2 climbs where awesome, the most amazing rocky gorge that you can imagine. They were also fu-ken long and i would have been shagged trying to get anywhere anytime.
Since i have strapped the luggage back on, the forward momentum has more than halved, also causing some of the aforementioned sand rash.
To top it off, an old war injury that reoccurred on the 2nd day riding in India has got to the point that, its just a pain in the arse (groin to be exact)
The 2 previous times this has occurred i have needed a course of anti bollocks to get it sorted.
I am not sure, if i want Dr Patel hav'n a look down there so will see how it feels tomorrow.
The little 24 seater bus that picked me up, was full with a group of Migrant road workers. You come across 20-30 people working in random spots along the way and I have been informed that they are poorer people from other states that come into the mountains during the summer to work and feed the tribe.
Some where chewing tobacco, with a little white powder mixed in to see them thru the trip. I watched the guy behind me make up a brew and after about 20min he was happy as Larry. (not sure who Larry was but still a happy man)
The driver was very good, my bike and 5 bags stayed on top and i am sure most of the wheels were on the road most of the time.
I have found a nice room in Kargil for a 1000rp so I have enough in the budget for a couple of bottles of Kingfisher light! nice!
Thanks to Brent who got my hint and sent me an email. Its good to catch up.
Its a bugger about the cheating robbing yanks in the yacht race. Still, NZ in the news again can't be all bad.
Well no pics again, as I am in an internet cafe.
Might be the bus again tomorrow, so that should allow me to end the day with a better fly to people ratio LOL.
All jokes a side, India is an amazing place.
Catch you soon. Cheers Pete
29th, Leh
Hi all,
Sunday night here in Leh, Some guy is giving it a go on a megga phone with some night time prayers. I think that all in the town are required to listen, by the volume that he's praying.
Leh has been with out power for the last 36 hours, Life goes on it seems. A few business have gen sets and are able to carry on as usual, others close there doors when it gets to dark to see.
The place that i am at has a gen set and they run it from 7.00pm till about 10.30pm.
I have just figured that if i sit outside on a balcony (in the cold) i can get a wifi signal.
I am not sure if it will allow an update, but we will see.
Yesterday it was cold and wet all day and today cool and overcast. The sun has come out showing a big fresh dump of snow on the local hills (mountain,s if you like!)
I spoke to a french lady who has been here for 45 days and these were the first cold day she has had.
I have had the evening meal with Till and Joanna the last 2 nights. We have just swapped photos, from our cameras so i will have a few more to show you when I get home.
I finally got my washing back minus a glove, Its one of the old pair so no stress. I am packing up tonight and heading off first thing tomorrow, towards Srinagar. This is about 440k and i am hoping to get there in 5 days. In theory the road drops from 3500m to around 2000m, but have 1 x 3800m and 1 x 4000m pass to go over.
The Leh - Srinagar road is supposedly in very good nick as it is a very important to the military.
The evil Chinese live just up the road, and the army may need to go and sort them out.
Today i was feeling shagged and even had a wee nana nap. Heading out tomorrow into the great unknow on my own again has left me a little anxious as to what i will find. A local man called Raj has been very kind and given me the lo-down, so it should be ok.
I need to complete about 100k, but the road is sposed to be all flat and following down the vally.
The only issue will be if the wind gets up.
After this, 2 days in the mountains again and then a 2 day run hopefully down hill to Srinagar.
I am not sure on the wifi thing along the way, but should be able to find some somewhere.
Other wise i will be of the grid again till the end of the week.
I hope the weather clears for the 2 passes and then i imagine on the other side i will be back to the 30deg plus days.
From Srinagar, its about 630k back to Chandigarh. I am not sure if i have time to get back to Chandigarh, but if i do it will make it a nice round journey.
Well, thanks to all that have kept up with the blog, I hope that the words are not to dull.
Love to all,
Thanks Amanda and Gee for all the kind words and support, as it is what i look forward to when i find some wifi.
lastly, i had a bit of fun this afternoon feeding a bunch of Donkeys. There are a dozen or so that wander about town. They were hanging around a fruit and veg stall, so i asked for some apples.
The dude suggested that they would want cabbage best, but they did not.
I got some apples and they were all over it. I was their best mate for about 5 minutes, and luckily still have all my fingers lol!
Well all the best, I will try to upload this and hopefully it will work.
Cheers Pete
20th
Hi all. The blog did not upload properly so i have lost most of lasts nights words.
I was also expecting to read that Team NZ had one the sailing, but now i will have to wait 8 days to find out.
Its a perfect day here, such a lovely place and one you should all try to visit some time.
Well wish me luck, I will see you on the other side.
Love to Family and friends
Cheers Pete
28th Leh
Hi all, Made it woohoo.
We arrived yesterday (27th) after 8 days of solid riding. The trip over was everything you could imagine and more.
I am glad that the group thing worked out as i would still be out there if I had tried to ride it by my self.
I will not be able to to do a day by day as the wifi here in Leh is even worse that Manali.
We managed to complete the journey in the planned 8 days. The longest day was about 87k and the shortest was just under 50k. The road had 5 passes. 4 are on my map and the other one i will need to find the name off. The Rohtang la @3975m, the Baralacha la @4883m, the Lachalang la @5065m, and the biggie the Tanlang la @5330m.
Each day we started out and the road crew would drive ahead and wait with a packed lunch. We had our feed and then they drove off to the designated camp spot and set up the tents.
Yogi from Manali was our tour guide. He was the master planner and the trip went off with out a hitch.
Till and Jo-anna (couple) and Sarah from Germany where my riding partners and Yogi rode as well so there were 5 on the road at a time.
Yogi and Sarah (couple) set the pace most days as they had ridden the trip before. Till and Jo-anna who started the trip on short notice, did an amazing job as it was one of the harder trips that you can do.
The first day we headed up Rohtang, and stopped 2/3's of the way up. This was a decent ride up 1200 vert m. The next day we went over the pass and had a very rough 25k down. The road was rougher that going up the gorge at karapoti.
The charge is on town slicks so it was a bit of fun keeping it all together and in one piece.
This really needs the photos to help the story along,
Over the next few days we camped and then rode and had lunch. Sounds like a walk in the park!
Day 3 was very cold. It snowed off and on for the afternoon and we did not know if this was going to be the end of the ride. It was very dark and cold for the night. I have a cool photo holding a stainless bowl of frozen water, in the morning. Luckily it had fined up and we headed out into a nice day.
One day 4 we headed up a section of road called the gates. 21 switch backs that just went on for ever.
As the roads got up and over 4500m i needed to stop every couple of K,s to have a breather and get everything back together. This worked out best and I was able to top all the climbs in one piece.
Riding the bike with out the extra 20odd kg,s of luggage was awesome.
We only passed one rider going the other way over the 8 days and he was struggling along, poor bugger!
There is an amazing amount of wind blowing thru the valleys and thankfully in our direction for the first 7 days. So, if any of you keen cyclists are going to complete this ride keep this at the fore of your mind.
My trusty camera started playing up along the way, so i have some very poor shots that i need to delete. The little motor that controls the zoom starts to have a fit and the shots are all fuzzy..
So far i have over 400 shots of the Manali to Leh ride so i hope that one or 2 will be amazing.
As some of you may have know, I have been peddling about with a small portion of my Mothers ashes. I have been taking Jean on holiday since she passed and i had planned to give her a wee sprinkle at the top of the Tanlang la.
I am very pleased to be able to say that I achieved this and it was a very emotional moment.
I am sure that Mum is happy atop of the world, a truly inspiring place to be.
I will try to get a couple of photos up. Its terribly slow.
I will be in Leh for a couple of days so some more to come.
Cheers Pete
19th Manali Last day.
Hi All. Well today is my last day in Manali as my newly organized cycling group leave for Leh 1st thing tomorrow morning.
I have been here since Sunday night (now Thursday) and i have been asking around regarding cycling partners for a trip over the hill.
This has now worked out with a German couple arriving into town to do a tramping trip. The Male (Till) had broken his small toe 2 days ago so they recon till will be able to ride instead and want to ride to Ley.
This will have, a Driver, Guide (riding), helper (riding) Cook, 2 x Germans and myself.
The trip over is planned for 8 days so we will see how we go. The others are all riding very cheap Trek 4000 bikes that have done a few miles.
Check out the local road signs.
I was asked and played a couple of games. you flick a bigger disc against the discs of your colour and have to punt them into the corner pockets. good fun.
Cheers Pete
17th and 18th Manali,
Hi All, I have just come back to add some words to the pictures that i got up yesterday.
On my way into town I meet an English couple Pete and Alice who are 12 months into there honeymoon bike ride to NZ. They have ridden down thru Germany, Turkey and all the "starns" and a short flight to India. They are heading off to Nepal shortly and hope to pick up a custom thorn steel tandem frame for the rest of their journey.
They have kindly swapped my seat post for Alice's, as hers is longer and mine long enough for her bike. This has allowed me to get my seat at the right height for the hill,s to come. Awesome!!
I have now been able to join a group of 4 other riders in a supported ride over the hill. This means a driver, guide and helper , as well as 3 other riders and the cycling guide.
This also means that its less than 1/2 the cost that I was originally quoted and only a few dollars a day more that my $50NZD (daily) budget. The ride is planned for 8 days, but it may snow at any time, so could take a day or 2 longer.
This new group is not leaving till Friday so this gives me another 2 days to relax.
Well I am all most a local. So many people coming and going.Talking to the locals, this is the best time of the year to be in Manali.
The place has a busy, but at a quiet pace vibe to it.
I am staying in old Manali. This is up a very steep and narrow road at the base of the hill on the side of the valley.
There is a temple near the top and lots of local holy men.
There are hundreds of 1/2 finished buildings that I have seen during my ride to Manali.
It looks like they all start with a rush and then the owners run out of cash, not sure!
There is food every where, you can never go hungry or loose any weight in this place.
The cafes and restaurants here serve very nice food, I am eating chicken ok and mostly veg and bread type food. Don't tell Aran from Tolsi, but I had the best butter chicken last night ever.
Its totally different and very nice.
Speaking of bikes, every one wants to tour India on a 350 Enfield. There are heaps of them.
I have some photos not yet loaded showing how much stuff people load onto them.
Greg, I went into a new bike dealer and had a look around. they are nice bikes twin spark heads and the gear shift now on the left. I have seen quite a few 500's getting about so they are also a reasonable option.
I have seen a couple of groups of over 6 bikes getting about, Mostly Indian tourists tho.
The bridge to old Manali. After crossing the bridge you turn left and head up the steep hill.
Most of the tourists in Manali are from Israel. I had a chat with one lady last night and she said that there have been these people in India for hundreds of years, and the modern Israelis come to all parts of India for their holidays. Its strange to here them speak.
I did'nt stay for the whole performance but assumed that these guys would have had it all sorted in double quick time.
Well we have a nice day here today so will head out on my bike this afternoon for a ride round and get some more shots. The day temps are around the mid 20's and cooling off at night. Real nice
Cheers Pete
Hi Team.
Thanks Dave for the post. I am certainly missing having a MTB ride.
The only beer that i can find is either Kingfisher Light or strong or this brew called Godfather @8.2% Its not that nice and never cold enough.
I dream about getting to the dog for a jug of APA!
Well the last few days riding have gone well. I averaged 85k for the first 3 days with a 40k run up the valley to Manali. The road is very interesting, i passed a couple of big dams and rode thru a 3.5k long tunnel. The tunnel was part of a big hydro scheme as they had dammed the valley and had to get the road thru the hill.
There was very little light in the tunnel and the traffic was still 3 wide in places all with there horns going flat out. I had my flashing lights on and rode close to the side, so no issues.
I rode on till i came to Kullu. I found a nice hotel, clean and tidy and reasonably priced. a few beers were consumed and a good nights sleep had.
Due to my bike issues leaving London i ended up forgetting some extra brake pads for the Charge.
I have pads for the Foes, but not the same. there is a bike chain in India called Firefox bikes, so i tracked down the last shop in India at Kullu.
The shop was shut as it was Sunday. As i stood looking at the shop this random guy came up and whipped out his cell phone and rang the owners of the shop that lived above.
2 Brothers came down and we had a chat regarding pads. the bike has Avid Elixr,s and the only pads they had were Shimano. So with a decent file and an hour of my time i had fashioned a set of pads that fitted.
i got 2 sets one i have not yet modified that will sort me out for a while.
The last 20k up the valley to Manali was a bit steeper and a lot cooler. When i got into town i had to dodge a big thunder storm with a heavy rain shower and the temp dropped very quickly (felt like a bout 10 degrees) Its at that stage that my summer bike kit that i had been riding in 33deg 2 days ago did not seem up to the task.
I am staying in old Manali, a couple of k,s up a narrow and steep road. Nice place, tourists have been coming here for years so its nice and funky.
I had a few beers with an English couple who have been riding there bikes for 12 months and are heading down to NZ. Maybe another 12 months. They have arrived over from Ley, so i have had a good chat regarding the best way to get over. One of the owners of the bike shop is a guide and has all ready taken 3 trips this season. The general opinion is i am to late to try to ride it alone, as the tent citys are starting to close as its getting very cold.
I have an option to take a jeep over to Lay (2 days) and continue riding from there or I can be the El Presidente and organize a crew of paid helpers. Apparently i need a Driver for the jeep, a guide to put up the tent and a cook for the meals. Sounds good to me LOL.
I am getting some pricing so will let you know what I decide. The Poms said that this was by far the best idea, as it can be life threatening up there if it all goes bad.
I will have to buy a new set of local clothes to suit the climate so that will be fun.
I have my washing in being done at the moment, so i will be a new man by the end of the day.
I will be able to get another blog in as they have lots of internet cafes. Not sure on the photos tho. When i leave for Ley i will be off the grid for 8-9 days.
I got to sample some of the local Health and Safety equipment last night. All good and a bit of a laugh.
Will catch you all later.
Cheers Pete
Hi Pete,
Pleased to hear things are going well and you are surviving over there. From the sound of things I don't know if you are safer on the bike or in a bus, all sounds very dodgy. Just thought I would get in touch as you probably don't look at Facebook. Had a good ride in the sun today through seton nossiter to Belmont Trig, Baked Beans Bend and up through the quarry and back to the shop for some Tuatara APA, tastes as good as ever. When I get things sorted I will put up some pics to remind you what you are missing. Keep safe and stay out of trouble.
David
12th On the bike
Hi All. I have just arrived at my digs for the night and am in the managers office using his confuser.
Probably the only one in town.
Ive only been here an hour and the power's gone off once, so if this ends suddenly you will know why.
So, to fill you in till now.
I had a Driver pick me up and we headed 250k up the road to Chandigrah. He has a suzuki swift so it was a bit of an effort to get the bike in the back seat. He was about to get a months pay in one day so he was very determined to get it in. It was a very cool drive, traffic was manic, very entertaining. Just sit quitley as you enter an intersection with 200 other vehicles, all trying to get thru at once. The louder the horn, the better you'll go.
Luckly he let me out by the only bike shop in India, so i was able to by a lock and top of my tires with a track pump. Now, I put 70psi into them, (swable??) the same brand that Dave likes, these are 700X40 puncture proof city tires, cost an arm and a leg so thought they would be up for 70?
I started out of town mid after noon to get about 5 k and the tube exploded and blew the tire off the rim. Amazing as Greg has 2 bent spoons from me trying to get them on!
So i fitted a new tube and went another 10 k or so and parked it for the night.
I needed to sort the wheels out as the front spokes were like wet noodles and the back wheel had settled with a bit of a wobble.
So, a room for the night with the required bartering was 1000rp (about $20) a meal 100rp ($2.00) with a bottle of water (20rp) and a beer 750ml (150rp) had me sorted.
The couple in the next room were having a domestic most of the night, till some one got the big slap, (5 infact) and then it died down to sobbing and quite,i am really sorry noises. He still did not get a shag as I would have heard that to.
Today I hit the road about 9.00am. Duel carrageway for 63 odd k's. road was good, intersections very interesting. Just look straight ahead and keep going. They have this awesome ability to see all so they all miss you. Not by much in a lot of cases!
I was spinning along quite happily, a bus was in the far lane passing me doing about 50 when a fucken heard of water buffalo burst thru the shrubs on the median strip with in 20 feet of the bus.
The locals were moving the stock from one side of the 4 lane to the other and just spanked them with there sticks to get them accross, with out any thought for the vehicles on the other side of the road.
Now my bet is the bus driver now has brown undies. he did his best to miss the cows by pulling sharply into the lane next to me, the back of the bus was just passing me, when a big truck plowed straight into the rear quater of the bus. Bang. The whole lot ended up 6 feet from me, the front of the truck was stoved in, the contents of its rad spreading over the ground. the driver jumped out and started to scream at the bus driver (with the brown undies) and he was screaming at the cows and it was just a lot of screaming.
So I quietly took a few photos and went on my way. The road was down to 1/2 a lane , but this will be a normal day for these guys.
So you know, i am traveling with a dodgy paper map, A lot of stopping and asking is required to ensure i am on the right road. All very good fun. The paper map said that i had an 86k ride to my final destination for the day.
All was going swimmingly till i got to a point with roughly 15k to go. (the road signs give distance, but they, very up to 20k between signs)
The air quality here is very poor. Heat hase and loads of heavy industry pumping out vast amounts of smoke makes things bad. (the one bennifit is the sun cannot get through so i am not to sunburnt)
It was at this point that i could see some huge hills looming in the smoggy distance. Fuck i thought and fuck was right.
The last 15k took me about 4 hours to climb up this poxy hill. A constant strem of trucks, cars, bikes all heading up and down at the same time. No issue passing 4-5 vehicles round the out side on a blind corner, just toot your horn. Works every time. Well not every time looking at the number of vehicles smashed and pushed to the edge of the road.
They have a few road blocks along the way to check on the loading certs of the trucks. I stopped for a while as i was slowly dieing from the heat and observed the local cop placing the 100rp fee from the trucks into his pocket. (I asked him how much they pay, and he smiled and said 100)
So now I am at the managers desk of the hill top Tourest inn. It just started raining over the last k as well. My legs are toast, and they put me on the 2nd floor. Bugger.
Not sure what tommorow will bring as the map looks like lots of squiggles, so this must mean loads more hills!! Wonder what time the bus goes past???
I am going to try and be sneaky and load some photos. If they are here all good, if not you will have to cope with the poor spelling and the words.
Cheers Pete
10th Delhi India.
Hi All. I have been unable to get the wifi to work in the hotel so I have borrowed the confuser from the travel desk so this will just be words.
The flight from HK to Delhi was very good.
I had a window seat with no one else in the seat next to me so a wee bit more room. Really nice meal, nicest yet. The trip thru customs was a breeze, no one bothers with a bike in a box. The bike box it self is now shagged and probably not fit for the trip home so i will have to try to sort it out when i get back to Delhi.
I had to pay top dollar for the taxi ride to the hotel. Bike box to big for regular taxi! The trip was fun, loads of vehicles of all shapes and sizes on the road and every man for him self. The driver had a few issues finding the hotel, so with lots of help we finally made it. We made it to a hotel named the same as mine but the address and phone number was not. After some time it was decided that we were in fact in the right place but the details were for another hotel owned by the same guy.
I got off to the room and its fine. clean to a point and mostly every thing works. Its taking a bit of getting used to but there are at least 3-4 people for every job. They all want to help at the same time so its a bit hard to know who to deal with. The one with the best English is all ways the winner.
I had breakfast and then down stairs to find the travel lady from home has booked me for the wrong month explaining no record of my booking. I headed out for a look around. This place is better than the circus. People, vehicles, dogs every where. The is a constant noise of car horns and bike bells going off all the time.
every thing and every one is using the road at the same time and the horn is the universal sign off i am coming thru.
The temp is supposed to be about 32 but its not to bad. I am still covered in sweet, but i don't feel so bad as the locals are sweating as well. I went to a Bollywood hairdressers and had a haircut and a shave. Guy did a mint job, but when he was on his 2nd application of facial product and reaching for a third, i called it quits.
I look lovely!!.
Mel from Cog wild in Bend had kindly sent me a lot of info on India, so when i viewed lots of guys walking around holding hands i new that they are just good mates, not really good mates if you know what i mean!
I ended up in Connought place which is the middle of Delhi with lots of western shops. There were lots of well dressed people so i guessed that this is where you come to spend your money.I chickened out and had Makkers for lunch, even tho the patties in my big Maharaja burger, could have been made from any thing.
I have paid for a new sim card so hopefully that will be sorted before i get on the road tomorrow.
I have traveled by Tuk-Tuk as well as bicycle rickshaw and am still alive.
I have booked a taxi for 250k drive to Chandigarh to get me out of the Delhi madness.
The train will not take my bike, and i don't feel like strapping my bike on the roof of a bus as i haven,t even ridden it yet and don't want it stuffed.
Well cheers all. a day of travel tomorrow and then onto the bike.
Cheers for now. Pete
9th, Hong Kong airport. This will be fun as all the words on Blogger are in Chinese.
Hi all. Another long flight. Had a nice couple next to me to talk to so made it a bit more pleasant.
Sunday morning at Gregs was all about getting all the touring stuff in the big air NZ bike box and the Foes in the new box that i got with the new bike.
I packed the bag Amanda gave me as hand luggage this time and kept loading the box till it was all in.
I loaded it into the van and set off mid afternoon heading to drop of the van and then onto Heathrow.
Their pick up is just out side Heathrow other side of the M4, so no real issues.
I caught the shuttle bus to the terminal, and after a discussion with the driver who was keen to charge me 3x single fares to cover the bike ($27nzd) we settled on the standard fear of 4.5quid.
Once at Terminal 3 it was an 8 minute walk to get to the checkin.
I was dreading the check in as i had no idea how much the bike weighed and the best that i could find out was it would be about $20usd per kilo over 23k.
After partially checking in a nice man came and helped me weigh the box. 30.3kg strewth.
So back to the desk. When given the weight the guy never battered an eyelid and gave it a sticker and sent it on its way. He is sending it all the way to Delhi, woohoo!
That just saved me some cash.
Also when i purchased the Cooker, the dude (Chris) filled out a VAT form and said that i could claim the VAT at the airport. Greg said that i needed to take the bike to customs before i checked it in so the could confirm the purchase.
As i walked pass the customs area and saw the line over a 100 deep, I flagged that as a waste of time and carried on thru.
On the other side there was another customs spot with a very short like so i took a punt and had a go.
I gave the nice lady my sad story, and said the bike was all ready on the plane. She went out back and when she returned she gave my receipt a stamp and sent me on my way. That's now in the post so hopefully i will get about 140quid back. Bonus!
So now I am sitting in the terminal waiting till my plane goes at ten to eight.
Its about 5 1/2 hours and i get in around 11.00pm Delhi time.
Its going to be fun trying to get the bike and box on a Tuk tuk into town.
7th.
Hi All,
What a difference a day makes.
Yesterday, i awoke in the van out side of the pub and all was good. The rain had held off so i decided that another ride in the park was called for before i headed back to Greg's.
Colin the Scots man was keen so we headed out and did another 3 hours.
As a side line, the RAF obviously have to much cash, cause they were flying circuits thru the valley in their fighter jets all morning, very cool.
The mighty Foes last hurrah!
Well after the ride and a quick shower, it was a long 7 hour drive back to london, down the M6 and the M1 and round the M25. The whole 170 miles there was not 1 spot that the traffic was not nose to tail.
Well, This morning Greg and I watched the Rugby and i got some washing in.
After the game I shot down to the local bike shop to pick up my tires and the tools ect that i had ordered for the next bit of the trip.
During the tire change I had a quick look over the bike only to find the Famous Foes Crack in the swing arm. Bugger!!
Well that started a quick rethink and a walletectomy all at once.
Back to Gregs for a google on bikes and stuff in India vrs buying a new bike here and leaving the Foes for a boat trip at a latter date. Talk about a pain.
KOTW (Jason) is soon to be my best mate as i have returned to steel is real!!
The only bike shop with any sort of off road bike this side of J/ville had only one choice.
A steel 29er with a very average build, but no cracks.
After a lot of deliberation, i am going to ride it as it is. I have spent the afternoon trying to fit a carrier to a bike with no mounts. I have changed the grips and fitted some padded bar ends, changed the tires.
If i run into any major issues I will ditch the bike and just go to the pub.
Al, Where's that new swing arm i asked for 3 months ago??
So Greg, Milton (Ori's brother) and I are hv'n a few beers and then out for a few more.
Big day tomorrow, as need to get packed and off to the airport.
I had a call in with the airline regarding over weight baggage. I believe that I will get a royal spanking by the baggage lady tomorrow and may be a bit sad for a few days.
Well, Thanks to all that I have meet here in the UK.
Another amazing place. The riding in Wales is awesome, totally different from the states, and I can't say the one is better than the other, just totally different.
Next time i get to blog I should be in New Delhi. Wish me luck.
Cheers Pete
5th.
After leaving Makkers last night I had a long drive on some very narrow back roads (welsh for main road) and did not get to where i wanted. I pulled over in a layby and hit the hay. When i woke it was bloody 9.45am. I new this van was going to cause me to sleep in. The van ,s 12v charger does not work so i turned my phone off so it would not go flat.
That had me a late start for my ride. Bugger!!
Me after a big day out.
After my late start, i headed out to the trail park and paid my car parking and got sorted.
I headed out to their amazing skills area. This is better than most MTB parks
I ended up with a puncture at the skills area ( the small block 8 is now a no block 8 after all the riding) I got a new tube and a gas bomb from the trail center shop , as well as another new rear rotor and set out for a 38k lap of the Beast trail.
The beast is made up of all sorts of trail. Lots of gravel road, man made single track with jumps, Stone roman roads and generally rocky single track. This 38k was a lot harder than yesterday, and makes me think that the k count yesterday was not quite right.
Open at weekends the place is chocka, I caught him out waiting for a delivery and walking his dogs.
I have had my 2nd off today. I put the camera on video and started this stony trail and was flapping about and caught the front and down i went. Its on camera so will be worth a laugh. Dave has a shot of the other so I expect that he will put it up at some stage.
Just went and went. Reminded me of Tims old dog Sharky.
Well. As you can see I have landed on my feet again and am off to have a good night.
So far Coed Y Brenin has exceeded my expectations of Mtb riding on this trip.
Y Peth mwyaf arbennig
Cheers Pete
4th of September.
Wales woohoo
When i went to pick up the hire van, They had a new VW like this one but with a full set of seats.
It was bling in black with nice wheels. I asked them to take the seats out and I was off. No such luck, it was seats or nothing.
So, this was the only other van they had. Mint till i opened up the back. Fully plyed out and not a beam of light getting in any where. So, i get to sleep in the dark 24/7.
I am currently in Port Talbot at Mackkers. I was all sorted to do the blog from the very nice pub after my big ride, till i noticed that the van had a very soft rear tire. Off to town to find a tire shop and get the puncture fixed.
So I have missed the nice pub and now are in Mackkers as they have wifi, only its so slooooow that the photos are a bit of a pain.
I have had an awesome ride completing, two trails at the Afan (pronounced Arvan, as f's sound like v's in welsh) trail center.
Nice trails, 2 loops with a healthy climb in each and nice flow-ey descents. Its basically 2 rides with a pub in the middle for lunch. Nice!! Nice weather as well. was supposed to be about 46k, but nothing like Karapoti.
Most of the climbs were on shingle road with single track side-ling around the hill.
Note the house's glued to the side of the road. The roads were very narrow between the houses.
There was a very long section of boardwalk round the back of the hill, that has been made of untreated pine, and altho only looks a few years old is now unride-able as its all rotting away.
These guys welcomed me in last night just after 10.00pm.
Richard owns this lodge with 17 rooms and a very nice bar. The place is all set up for the mountain biking tourist. The main trail runs along the bottom of the lodge and Richard has his own dirt jumps and pump track as well. I will add all the contact details when i find them, but this is a sweet place to stay.
Richard is one of the 5 guys that started building the trails in this area 20 years ago. He was also Pro Moto-crosser and switched to the dark side.
Richard works with the 2 trail centers (either end of the valley) and supplies knowledge, maps ect for the local tracks.
Top man, with no complaints when he found me sleeping in his back yard. LOL.
Amanda just got home (NZ) yesterday, so I bet the electric blanket is on full!. Give my cat a big cuddle please!!
Well, I have to go. These photos have taken an age and I have a 2.5-3 hour drive north to Coed-y-Brenin. This is supposed to be the best park in the UK, so it will be my mission for tomorrow.
Stay warm, Cheers Pete
Awesome Cheers Pete
3rd
Hi Dave, Hope that you had a sweet flight home. Bet you are wrapped up??
Well after a few beers and a big feed at Greg's i hit the hay early planning to try and beat the traffic out of London. I was on the road by 6.45am and out the A23 to the M25 and a right turn had me heading towards the M4 and Wales. The traffic was ok till we got close to the M4 and Heathrow and then it turned into a giant carpark. How these people can do this every day is beyond me.
When i finally got to the M4 and started heading away from London, the traffic on the other side heading in, was at a standstill for at least 5 miles. Bugger that!!!
I drove on and over the Severn bridge heading to the newly opened (10 days) Bike park Wales.
After the council spanked me 12pound 50 ($25) to cross their bridge. I drove on to Merthyr Tydfil.
(Ask Keith Webb for the correct pronunciation)
This Bike park is a private MTB park in conjunction with a few local business that has opened near
Merthyr Tydfil.
The park has a 5 day a week shuttle service (not Tuesdays when i am there of course) and 6 permanent down trails, plus a XC up trail and a couple of family trails. They have 5 new big transit vans and trailers that go all day. There are expansion plans on the table so this will end up as an awesome MTB destination. In good traffic about 3 hours from London.
Nice tables out, only missing a beer shop!
Francie, this is the one you want. Real nice to drive with plenty of grunt.
I collared Chris in the car park and he reluctantly LOL agreed to take the fat lazy Kiwi for a couple of runs.
We had to ride up the road, (25 min climb) and then we had a choice of the down's.
2 blue, 2 red and 2 black trails.
The blue trails (easier) are wicked, with concrete smooth finish and huge burms that you can absolutely rail.
Team RTD sticker is on the back of the till.
Awesome day, had a few issues getting a sim card for my phone and getting it to work, but i will add the number tomorrow, when i find it.
Off to Afan trail center tomorrow to ride the W2 trail. Aprox 48k with lots of climbing and some big downs. Supposed to be up high for a while so hoping for some nice views.
Weather is mint, about 25C today and meant to be the same till the end of the week .
Cheers Pete
2nd of September London.
Hi All.
Well as you noted, The USA trip has come to a timely end.
There was a few little chores to sort on the last day and then a trip to the airport in the van and then off!!.
Amanda and Merilyn and the van
The dude from the car wash (Jesus) that Dave and I had cleaned our bikes at had shown an interest in purchasing the van. This deal fell thru so I spent the next day trying to give it away to all and sundry.
All of the car washes that we came across are hand clean places. The cars go thru on a big chain about 30m long and get sorted along the way. You can see the suv in the rails.
I had decided that the only thing was to drive to the airport and remove the plates and walk away!
After leaving the ladies, i drove to walmart to get a screwdriver and a pair of pliers to get the plates off.
As i waited in line in line i saw a lady waiting to purchase a new tent. As there was one still in the van, i stepped over the isle and offered her our tent that would save her $40.
On the way out, i asked if she in fact may need a van to go with the tent.
So after a few phone calls our wonderful van had found a new home.
It was all a bit of a rush. Thanks Tracie, She gave Dave and I $200 for the van. Half of that went on the taxi fare to the airport, so I own you $50 bucks Dave when I get home.
Currently I am at Greg's in London .
More shortly.
Cheers Pete
31st
Bugger Its home time for Dave.
We have had a quiet day. Sorted out the van this morning, cleaned up all the mess. packed up the bikes and our lives.
We headed out for a drive and ended up in Santa Monica. The day was nice and warm, with heaps of people about.
I am in Ihop trying to get the photos up but its to slow, so i will have to find another place tomorrow.
I have just dropped Dave at the airport, and its a bit sad to see him off.
We have had an awesome time, with no issues.
Dave is a very good traveling partner and i hope that he settles in at home with out any issues.
We have been checking the metservice app and it looks like he will be straight into the woollie's, as soon as he gets home.
I have one more night here in LA with Amanda and Merilyn, and then its the sunny uk for me LOL.
Once again, a big thanks from Dave and My self to all the people that have helped us on our way.
If your photo has graced out pages then you are the ones that have made our trip such an amazing time.
We invite you all for a free bed and a cold beer, any time that you can make it to New Zealand.
Remember that my full contact details are at the bottom of the home page.
This blog will carry on, one El Presidente in NZ and one still on tour.
The fun never stops!!
Cheers again Pete and Dave
30th
Hi All.
Sorry for the missed days, but we have been driving and socializing and have been staying at places where the wifi for me has been bad.
Interestingly, some places, Dave gets ok wifi on his ipad and i get nothing and other times its the other way round.
We had one more day in vegas, Dave and I went out to the Las Vegas motor speedway for a look around. Massive place with a massive Nascar track, full size drag racing strip, and a series of road circuits. 11 different tracks in all.
There was a outfit that had 12 super cars for hire. We went in and had a look.
I went to hire a Merc sls amg for 5 laps @$250usd, but came unstuck with footware. i had my jandels on and they did not have any shoes my size. I was keen to wear my mtb shoes, but they were not.
I paid $100 and got 2 laps in with a pro drift driver in a 2012 corvette. Brent you would have done a better job!!. Good fun tho. You could drive a lambo adventador for $500 for 5 laps. it was only about 50sec a lap, so expensive motoring.
We then took the girls out to Hoover dam and then back to town, where we said our good buys.
We had been talking to the foreign correspondent (stu from nz) who was in San Diego on his big gin palace. We set off for a 550k drive down south to catch up and have a tour.
On the way we drove thru the Mohave desert. we stopped for some gas at a little place and man it was hot. it took the temp record out right. It was so hot driving, it was cooler to sit in the van with my window up!! It was like a sauna. The van just kept on trucking.
Once we dropped out of the hills, we encountered lots of Freeway. 4 lanes in each direction all the way. at one stage we had 10 lanes going into an interchange. Now as you can imagine, this was all fill of cars and trucks.
We ended up at stu's boat and then out for a few beers.
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Stu, kindly gave us the grand tour, better than any 7 star hotel. Normally has a crew of 16.
If you are thinking of buying one like this, Stu said it costs aprox 10% of its value per year to run. Got a spare $13.5M. The boss also has a couple of Bugatti Veyrons as well, so no sweat.
We took a tour of this old aircraft carrier. Really good. This ship had up to 4500 people on her at any time. The lower decks are not very tall and you had to walk round with a bit of a stoop to get around.
The on board doctors dealt with a lot of head clashes!!
This is the Greenwood corvette. The worlds fastest corvette, that raced at Le-mans back in the day.
Well, sorry for the delay but mostly back up to speed. Loads more photos to come.
We are now off to Jensen-usa, the big internet cycle shop, that is just down the road from where we stayed (funny that).
We have to pack the bikes today, as Dave is off tomorrow and me on Sunday.
Will update before we go.
Cheers to all.
Pete and Dave.
27th,
Hi all
I have got my days a bit muddled, but we are now in Vegas.
We have had a good night out last night, With Amanda and Merilyn. We went down to Fremont St in the old end of Vegas and watched the show and have a few Mi-tie's to dink. Awesome.
Dave and i both wanted to go and shoot a gun so we found us a gun store and some guns.
The AK47 is one mean and powerful weapon.
Well, the WiFi here is very slow so i need to go and find Dave.
Try to finish it later,
Vegas beckons woohoo!!!
25th,
After another big drive we arrived in Hurricane and got our selves sorted for a ride at Gooseberry messa the next day.
We got a $60 motel and settled in.
On the drive we encountered another massive storm, with serious rain and hail. The rain was so heavy that cars were stopping on the hard shoulder.
Also at the motel, was a group of 6 Kiwis from Napier in a car and 2 couple's from Tauranga on Harley's. It was good to catch up and share the knowledge.
Quentin, Jordon (from over the edge bike shop Hurricane) and Dave, after the boys had just signed Dave's mag. The Lads feature in an article about Goosebury and Dave had the mag in the car.
We were advised that if it started to rain the road quickly became a bog and more than a few had had to spend the night waiting for the road to dry out.
Awesome fun, no climbs, but lots of tech and cool bits of rock smoothed and formed by water.
The ride out to the end of the messa was awesome. We were not prepared for the staggering views that we were to come across. This place takes the most spectacular award for the states.
Well, there are so many good photo's it hard to choose.
We headed back to the shop and dropped of the bike and and thanked the guys.
It started pissing down just as we got back so out timing was near perfect.
Cheers Pete and Dave
23rd,
Now really its the 24th but as you may have worked out, the wi-fi thing is still very hit and miss, and i am all ways a day or 2 behind trying to get back onto a real time footing.
After leaving Crested Butte, yesterday. we stopped for lunch in Gunniston. This is back on h/w 50 and the road we needed to take to our next ride.
The road took us back past Fruita, so we popped into Back Country to see if any one was in the shop, other wise we were going to sticker up the front door.
Well,,,, Tony and Billie were at home so we invited ourselves in for a beer and a chat.
After a few, these wonderful people invited us home for a beer and offered us a nights accommodation. We ended up hav'n a great night.
Any one that is heading up I70 should pop in and meet Tony at the shop. He will set you up with a new Yeti and show you to the best trails around.
We hope to see then in NZ in the next couple of years, and the beers are on us!!!
So back to yesterday.
We started off relativity leisurely and tried for a wifi. No luck so we set off to Mt Crested Butte to the MTB park with the chairlifts. We were looking to get in 3 hours in the park and then back on the road.
These guys had a stand and a pile of tools out side the shop and allowed Dave and I to give the bikes a wee tune up.
It looks like i have lost some weight in this photo LOL
On a big bike with some Kiwi H&S, May-be!! Not on holiday mode (soft!!)
Foes B29. Got a new rear disc rotor today, They are not so good when they turn blue.
We have only seen one other Foes and that was a very old FXR. The dude loved it, just like me
Our bikes have had a spanking, if you are ever going to do this trip, bring your big bike!!
Well almost up to speed again. Got some traveling shots that I may add later tonight.
Just spoke to Amanda, who is back from her Caribbean cruse, and we will catch up in vegas in a few days. Sound like a boat trip is a lot easier on the body than a bike trip.
Cheers to all,
Pete and Dave
Hi All,
Dave and I have had a bit of luck, we have meet up with Jeff in Crested Butte and Jeff has put us up for the night in his mates condo.
Jeff was one of the guys that we road with on Monarch Crest, so we ended up in a real bed with a real shower ect. Cheers Mate, that was just the ticket.
We went out for a big feed and in the morning, a great breakfast. Jeff then set of for a 23 hour drive home. 23hours!!!. For all non kiwi' 23 hours at home you would get to see the whole country with change.
After breakfast Dave and I went to Big Al's bike shop and did a bit of needed maintenance.
A new seat post cable, front der cable, 2 new sets of brake pads, for me, Dave had a new seat post cable and rear tire. (Francis, The Zee/Saint pads with out the fins became very noisy in the caliper and i had to swap them out)
Crested Butte, is a bit like Queenstown. The houses are very very flash, the shopping area older like Arrowtown but much nicer. The costs are also like Queenstown!!
Mt Crested Butte has a couple of chair lifts on it and also a mtb park with a lot of trails so we are off there tomorrow.
On our list of top trails is the 401 in Crested Butte. Thats why we are here.
There were massive mountains all around. Truly epic.
These deer are just wandering about with out fear from anything. Wouldn't last 5 minutes at home.
On the drive back we ended up with 3 major thunder storms with lightning, all around the mountains around us. The locals are non to fond of them and get out the way quick smart.
By the time we got back to our digs it had started to rain. Rain! who would have thought, after all these hot and dry days on tour.
21st
Dave and I had driven of to Silida for a ride of Monarch crest the next day.
We stayed at a run down motel for the night and went into town for a feed.
This time of year Deer come down from the hills and wander around town eating peoples garden's.
We saw 2 haven a feed and pulled up not more than 2m away. i have a photo on my phone.
Peter, Lisa, Dave, Jeff, Lisa, Eric, Matt Karen, Tony, Kurt, Barbara,
A crazy bunch from Texas.
Here we are, getting ready to head out. We are at about 11000 feet and have a climb of about 1000 feet to get to the high point of the ride. (3600m)
The trails are great. Sweet single track, open and smooth with vast views in all directions.
It didn't take much of a climb to get the heart rate spiking so there were lots of oxygen stops in the early part of the ride. the ride back was 54k, and not all down. This is rated as the number 3 trail but should have been 2 over Fruita.
It was at this stage that the sky was turning very dark with thunder and lightening going on very close to us.
This gave every one the hurry up as apparently, being caught up here in a storm is not much fun.
Its daily occurrence this time of year.
This was the loosest bit of trail and caught most people out.
Its been a long ride and we are all feeling it.
Dave and I wish to thank this amazing bunch of people. we both had the best time, and will always remember our Monarch crest ride .
Cheers Pete and Dave
20th.
What a night last night was. We had been out for a short ride, that turned into 2 hours and then ended up in a nice mex restaurant called Amanda's Fonda. (The fonda thing is a type of small eatery)
So after a couple of beers we hit the Margarita list and got a wee bit tiddly..
A 6 pack of J/D rtds finished off the night. @11.00pm when I tried to get some photos up, it had all turned to custard with a very slow wifi.
Next day we were up early and of to catch our shuttle to the top of pikes peak.
We had arraigned to catch a lift up to the top of Pikes Peak
Both Dave and I experienced some altitude issues as we got to deal with the height.
I felt a bit dizzy-er than usual and a bit light headed.
Awesome very tech ride 21k single track to the bottom.
There are loads more photos from this ride and all are amazing.
We will need a photo night for this one.
Off to Silida now so catch you later
Cheers Pete
Now sorry, but this was due. 3557 hits on the RTD Blog
I bet that no one new, but 3557 was the magic number, that when attained , Dave and I could get on the piss.
Lucky that it happened when it did. Now, My old and best over 60 year old friend Noel.
Please excuse any spelling mistakes, but those that read the last blog could usually tell the time vrs/ beers routine and get thru to the real story.
Dave and i have found that not riding our bikes and drinking more and earlier in the day has more benefits, than riding.
I am not sure if more pictures or more words is required, tonight so here goes.
The actual present is now and I will try a backwards thing and see how I go.
See all those kegs. This bar has 96 tap beers and they are all the best in the world.
Neil and Dean would love this place. Falling Rocks tap house Denver.
real cool place with lots of real fighter jets.
They also had this star wars original X wing fighter that is a 3/4 version used in the making of the movies. There was only 1 full size x-wing made .
We are now in Manatou springs in Colorado.
We have scamed a lift up pikes peak for tomorrow, 4200m fuck yeah!!!
Will try to report back afters, but will probably be shagged.
Cheers Pete
17th again,
After leaving Fruita, we headed up I 70 on our way to Denver. The trip was about 250 miles (400 k) and as you guessed its was very hot. The van was awesome and wizzed along, no issues, ( we now have 2 doors running zip ties tho lol)
The I70 up to Denver is a trip worth the drive all on its own. the road was amazing with raised concrete bridges for miles at a time.
We went over 3400m going over the Vail pass and 3200m over the lovelock pass.
The ski resorts were huge and very flash. The ski runs drop straight into town.
As we were a bit late getting to Denver we were unable to find a camp ground so have picked up motor inn.
Its a day off today so will have a sift around town and maybe drive down to colorado springs tonight.
17th
Hi all
Yesterday afternoon we had to take the van into the garage as it had sprung a major oil leak. We went into a garage with a young lady as the sole person and asked her if we could pop the van on the hoist to see if we could find the issue.
After we had the van looked at, we went to the local bike shop and talked the owner into suppling the beers and we had quite a session.
They sell and service new bikes as well as a fleet of hire bikes and Kevin runs back country cycle tours.
Started the day early with breakfast and a ride with Tony from Back country biking.
We headed out to the local Fruita trails that are rated as No2 in the states on single tracks.com.
Tony had to get back to the shop and we needed to get the van sorted, so the ride was a short one.
Dave and i headed back to the camp and did a load of washing and then had the van sorted.
The mechanic, man was a bit skeptical, at my diagnosis of the issue after i had looked at it the day before, stating that a new housing would be needed.
I encouraged him to pull it off and sure enough, the O-ring had gone hard. The local parts shop had a replacement and $66.00 later we were on our way. woohoo.
More to come. Just of to Twin peaks for a beer. (like Hooters)
Cheers Pete
16th.
Hi all.
Big bad news on the earthquake front. Sorry G. I tried to get a call into you and failed.
Amanda, has keep me up to date. All our best to friends and family. We are thinking about you all.
Its a bugger that we are stuck on the other side of the world, stinking hot, cold beers, amazing trail, no earth tremors. We are feeling for you!! LOL.
Dave had a day off, and I woke with the sparrows, cept there are none here.
I headed of for a 3 hour ride that turned into a fu-k i am going to die and be buzzard food 6 hour ordeal.
The tracks are local and similar to Moab, being open and exposed,
I meet a number of people on trail and had a cool time chatting.
Lady and the dogs had it sorted.
Well, Davie had a cold beer and a lot of cold water for me at the camp. Thanks Bro.
We have just spent the last 2 hours with Tony, Kevin and Billie from Colorado backcountry biker.
They have lubricated us and listened to our wonderful tails of sheep and endless single track.
Tony has also agreed to guide us on the other world famous Fruita trails in the morning after the promise of a free breakfast. Top Bloke.
We are thinking of those affected buy mother Nature and wish you all the best.
Love you all, Peter and Dave
15 Moab and now Fruita
Hi all
Another day has sped past. We started of this morning with a run on the famous slick rock trails and then a wee look at the arches national park.
After, we set out for a 200k run thru the heat of the afternoon to get to Fruita.
Both Dave and I have drunk so much water today and are still dry as. Lucky we have found a nice establishment that will feed and water us as well as supply the required WiFi.
Just so you know, 35 degree days are fu-ken hot. The air is dry and it sucks the life out of you.
We both are missing a nice cool southerly lol
The forecast is for 35 tomorrow and 36 on Saturday.
He is a High school PE teacher and fit as a buck rabbit. (a bit like Chris Taylor)
Now, with the slickrock trails, we had no preconceived idea's as to what we might find.
I know that the 4X4 guys hold it in high esteem, and we witnessed a few jeeps getting about.
As suggested, the rock is supper grippy and you could, ride it all on your very best day.
That was not today!!!
Cheers Pete and Dave
14th Moab
Hi all, as suggested Dave and I got up at 6.00am this morning to head out for our first ride in Moab.
We had organized a shuttle to take us to the start of, the whole Enchilada.
This trail is rated as the 4th best in the states and is our first big ride.
The trail is rated as a single black diamond and is about 30 miles long.
We were up and away by 6.20 and headed down town to find a feed.
We then we headed over the road to meet with the van and our 5 fellow riders that were heading out to the trail.
The town of Moab is surrounded by huge red shear cliffs of what looks like sand stone. Massive in all directions. I had no preconceived idea of where we were going so was supprised to see that as we climbed up out of town the red cliffs made way for lots of green and then up into the forest.
As we were heading up the hill Dave's GPS kept ticking by the meter's and after we had passed 3000m things were starting to look ominous. At this height we saw lots of deer sifting about, so was very cool.
At a very cool 3100M Kyle stopped and let us out for our ride.
Now as Dave and I are professionals, we did not have a map of the trails!! Kyle then told us about the
4 mile 300m climb we had to do before we even got to start the run back home. As you can guess, Dave and I were busting to hit that climb (not) and at this altitude found the pace a little slow.
The trail off the top heading down was steep single track and very cool. The temp was also cool aprox 15deg. We both had a good run, Dave's rear brake went away for a while but came back after a wee rest.
The trail was single track for a while as we descended into Rock country. Still had a decent downward flow at this stage.
The trail just keep on going and going, and the temp kept going up as we descended closer back towards the bottom.
We are just having a beer and then off to see some arches.
See you later Pete and Dave
13th morning.
The blog below was completed at 2.00am this morning as we had driven all day and then lost an hour as we went over the date line. its now 9,00am this very same morning and Dave and I are feeling very tired. This being on holiday is very hard work.
Because we are in the hottest bit of the states, we will need to start our rides at 6.00am to avoid the heat so should have some good blogging time over the next week or so.
We have stayed at the holiday inn and the wi fi here takes the new world record for speed so i will throw up some random photos.
Top Bloke.
We only got to see him as the GPS send us down a random drive into a very surprised mans house.
Top of the world is aprox 2000m.
Cheers Pete
12th.
Our first big drive.
We left Bend this morning and got as far as Orem, just past Salt Lake City.
According to the confuser its just over 1100k's. A shit of a long way.
The vans going mint, getting 668k for $95 USD. about 18 MPG in NZ terms
Well, tomorrow we will head for Moab. this will be like no other riding that we have done.
6.00am starts to try and beat the heat of we will be buzzard food.
Catch you then.
Cheers Pete and Dave
11th
Hi All.
I think its the 11th so I will go with that for now.
(Sunday) we went for an early ride with Paul and a few of the Bend crew.
Out early and then back to watch the downhill world cup at Mont St Anne on telly.
Very exciting racing with a big rain shower as it got to the last 12. Gee Atherton had had a fall in qualifying so was down in 14th and was on the hot seat when it started to rain.
The number one qualifier just piped him, the only one to do so.
WCC you need to open your eyes a bit.
Cheers Pete
10th.
Hi All, same gig, just moving days.
After our long drive, including fierce winds, rain, lightening and thunder we made it to bend.
We stopped and had a wifi gig with out to much luck so headed straight to Paul and Erica's.
We have been set up at Paul's mates house, as he is away for the week.
Paul and his mates sorted us a shuttle and we went out for a 33 mile, (read that right 54ish k/s)ride and then back for a beer.
Cheers Pete
Hi all.
Last note we had arrived in Sandy Oregon.
Friday morning we had a feed and a blog and then made our way out to the Sandy Ridge trail system that Paul from bend had pt us onto.
Joe took Dave and I over a number of new trails. As we move further south the tracks are flattening out and becoming more like home.
We promised Joe a beer so he pushed us all the way to the bottom.
9th.
Hi all.
Dave and I have had a long drive yesterday from Vancouver down to Sandy Oregon.
We caught up with Rob again and his lovely wife made us the best home made burgers for our tea. Rob has a wealth of trail knowledge that made Dave and I's visit all the better. Cheers Bro.
On the way back from Squampton we dropped Garners beer spray back. Luckily we did not need to use it.
The drive down to the boarder was good.
We took the main peace arch crossing to see the arch, but is was not to spectacular.
The dude that first checked us out was cool.
Had a chat about bikes and he did not write to muck on our card.
We then had to drive round the back and go into the building for a stamp.
The boarder stuff were doing things in their own time and it took ages.
there were about 60 people in there and 1/2 of them got their cars inspected. I saw one dude pull his blue rubber gloves out and he took a older mum and dad out back for some pat down lov'n.
Buy the time we got to Gresham, and had a feed, it was getting late and it took over an hour to find a camp. We got ranger Chris out and he let us into the park.
Well, this is up to the minute stuff. The wifi is either feast of famine.
We have come down to the Wrapitude cafe for breakfast. Mt Hood is a massive volcano(about 3700m high) just down the road from Mt St Helens that blew up all those years ago.
some more shots from Whistler
Cheers Pete
7th again
All for now.
Cheers Pete
Hi all.
Just arrived back in van from Whistler.
Caught up with Dan and we have had an awesome time.
We are parked out side the future shop so I will try for some photos now.
7/8/13
Hi All,
Whistler.
Been out and about town. what a place. just F--k-ng amazing.
Caught up with Dan, and Dave and i are going riding with him tomorrow.
We have been and ordered the best D/H rigs that money can buy and we are of to the top of the world (highest we can go) in the whistler park.
We had a ride round some of the local trails to day and Dave rode the 5 foot high double teetor toter
(sea saw) and is the man.
Whistler is like no other. you should all plan a visit. sorry no photos, as altho there is free wifi, it sucks for band width and is slow,
I will get some more photos up in a day or so. 12.20am and should be asleep.
cheers Pete
5/8/13
Hi All,
More delays with the Wifi and to much beer drinking has lead us to Mc Donalds for a breakfast and a blog.
We have had a 2nd day on the shore, more amazing tracks and stunts. At the end of the day were hav'n a fer beers in the car park and attracted quite a crowd.
We were invited round to Robs place and ended up staying for an amazing meal. Rob is in the fish business and we had a big feed of Salmon.
Rob is an old school rider and told us stories of the shore and the guys that pioneered the trails.
Now, on the way to robs, we had a little chat with a police man, that liked the look of our van.
He kindly pulled us over with flashing lights ect to have a wee chat. something about going round the turn at the end of the road in the wrong direction.
Dave did some fast talking and we were off. Still laughing about it.
From here we hit up CBC. Really big track, lots of really crazy stuff.
Rob is coming up to Squamish this morning to take us out on some of his favorite trails.
We are then heading up to whistler to catch up with Dan and another couple of days up there.
Brent, all the big Chev/ford/dodge trucks were spanking the Toyota tundras for size and muscle, untill today. We saw a V10 petrol tundra today, nice.
The weather has been sweet. yesterday was 25ish and caused a bit of sweating on the trails.
Both Dave and I's riding is improving with every ride. The trails are very challenging, riding at about 80% skill level all the time. We have figured that the single black diamond trails are doable, the double blacks have bits that fit into the o-my-god category and require a dismount.
Yesterday we had our first day riding at Squarrmish. More amazing trails. We had a night at a local camp ground and had a blast with some of the other campers.
Our impression of this area, is like queenstown on steroids. Everything is huge. The shear size of the terrain just blows us away.
After a long day, Garner allowed us to shower and do a load of washing.
The photos have been uploaded by Garners Wi fi and we are nealy back on track.
Last night I rung thru to home on my Vodafone sim after my local one crapped out.
I will get into a shop tomorrow to sort it.
Hopefully we can get some coverage in Whistler and keep bloging.
Cheers Pete
Cheers Pete
2/8/13
Hi All.Sorry for the missing days on the blog, but i have been having issues with connecting to the net on all the free wifi sites we have tried.
I am now sitting in a shop similar to noel leeming, as I have had the nice man explain my issue.
(Not the same issues that you have me pegged for Strewan)
We have had a great time so far. one night in the city. walking down to the main shopping area, we went thru an area i can only describe as K road in auckland with lots of people begging and sleeping rough.
We were able to go and see an amaising fire works display on Wednesday night. 300k local people were out and about.
Thursday we went on the skytrain and bus 50odd ks out to the country to buy the van. Van is in awesome condition for its age and so far has not missed a beat.
Ed and Bonnie are very nice people and helped us out with all the paper work ect. $553 dollars for reg and 3 months insurance was a bit hard on the wallet, but at least we are mobile.
We moved over the bridge. (Vancouver is the town of big bridges) to the north shore and went to walmart. Got a tent and a pillow and a Li-low. We are now full on campers, although Dave so far has got to sleep in the van.
We had our first day on the bikes yesterday and rode 37k up and down Mt Fromme. Amaising trails
with lots of the old original North shore stunts still in place. There are a number of new trails that are a lot more flowy. The trails mostly are paved with k's of hand placed stones and lots of sawn skinnies not to high of the ground. There are lots of skinnies to far of the ground so we ride round these lol.
I can now see why these guys get so good at this stuff. The rock is very grippy granite and the wet logs are amazing and also offer more grip than you could ever believe.
31/7/13
Pete and Dave hit the road (plane) and we are on our way.
I might need another before the trip is thru.
Every thing that you buy has 1 or 2 taxes on it. The 2 glasses of beer where $5.00 each ($10) and then there was a 10% tax as well as an additional tax that brought the purchase price up to $11.50
We are off to see a spectacular fireworks show tonight, (if i can get Dave awake and off the couch)
and then we are off first thing in the morning to get our van and get mobile.
Cheers till then.
Pete
