Spin and Beer it, latest ride info and photos

Hi All,
This is the spot where you can catch up on whats been going on and whats coming with the RTD crew.
Stories fill in at the top so for older ones scroll down.

Remember Spin and beer it Wednesdays 6.00pm and Saturdays 2.00pm (rain hail or wind)

9/12/14
Hi All.
Another couple of rides have passed.
Some random shots this week

Out and about for work and i came this awesome streamliner on a wall in Rongotai.

Pete, Pete and Francis at the top of Tinakori hill

Nice shot of Pete on the new Commencal

This is a cool shot of Wellington. Cruize liner in the harbour and Stadium (called the cake tin ) looking mint.

Dave, Stu (the fat one) Chris and John John

Looloo and I at the start of missing link Makara Peak.
She has Run all the way to here and back again.
Awesome little dog!!!

Greig B with his new carbon lovelyness.

We had to add a bit of Bling to the Carbon goodness.

New hope pro 2 hubs and Surly Rolling Darryl rims for the Rocky fatty.

Choose your weapon,
The bus for up to 5, the Hauler for 3 or a fatty to get your self to the best Wellington trails.
Chose from 8 bikes and 3 Tandems to get your self put there.


Cheers Pete

2/12/14

Hi All,
The new fat bike Hauler made a guest appearance at the Petone Christmas parade.
More amazing trails ridden this week as well.
We had a awesome run up Wainui hill and an out and back on Rata Ridge and a loop round Towai traverse and back along freewheel. It was then a full speed blast down the single track back to the bottom.

Buzzy chasing the fat bike.

The boys after the big climb up Wainui Hill.

Another Bloody import.
Irish Dr Peter MacSorley has also ridden from the UK to NZ. Pete met Peter and Alice along the way and have meet up again here in Wellington.
Team RTD kindly loaned Pete a fat bike for the afternoons outing, and Yes he loved it!!

Chris looking thoughtful. Should I get my new fat bike in Green??

A Happy looking bunch after the run back along the ridge.

Jason, He was smiling all day after his lovely lady Jo allowed him out for a ride with the boys.
Jase rode a team RTD Carbon 29er hire bike for the day. And yes, he loved it!!

Noel showing of the new Knitting

Amanda out and about on the Wellington waterfront for a Sunday afters ride and beer.

The Sea Sheppard boat at port. cool paint job

You guessed it, a Jug of Tuatara APA at One Red Dog.

Looloo looking a we bit tired after a run along the waterfront.

Till next time.
Cheers Pete

24/11/14
Hi All, another few weeks of riding has passed.
The team has taken possession of its new Rocky Mountain Blizzard fat bikes.
I have not had so much fun on a bike for a long time.

Pommy Pete, John John and I had a long ride out and over the hill to Red Rocks on Saturday.
The run along the ridges is very rocky and normally taken with care.
The 4.7 inch tires on the Rocky's just blasted over every thing.

This ride is available with 2 bus uplifts, bike hire and guiding for $195.00 PP
Allow 4 hours to complete the tour.

Noel and Chris had a ride on the fatty's. loved it.
Both of these guys are over 60 and are very hard to catch. Fit buggers.

John John and Pete heading up transient.

Pommy Pete chatting to Chris and co. This is what happens when you have one of the best Brewery's in Wellington at the bottom of your favorite hill. Beers on the trail.

Nice shot. John John exiting barking Emu into the mist.

This is what Wellington is all about. Amazing places and views to match.
That's the inter-island ferry going past.

Getting closer to the south coast. The track from here drops into a wicked piece of single track.
Happy to guide you if you are not sure where to go.

One tricky rock drop made easy by the fatness.
Pete having fun.

The run back around the coast is great fun.
Loads of seals to be seen (and smelt)

The second ridge in the background is the one we have just come down.
The opposite view from 4 shots back up the story.

Pete, Pete and John John.
3 happy campers with an hours ride back to the bus.
You would not think, that the weather back in the city was grey and wet but mint here.
Amazing.

Cheers
The team 

3/11/14,
Hi all.
Well the fat bike bug is going round the crew.
All who throw a let over the fat tired fun machines are lining up at the shop counter.
Keep an ear our as the team are getting a couple to hire and try out.

There has been lots of riding going on.
These photos are from our Saturday 3 Sisters ride.

Getting ready at the Whareroa farm MTB park.
Its a nice long climb from here.

Its a long way back down there.

Brent on his new fat bike and Starky chasing along.

These 3 gents know what to ride. Carbon rocky goodness?

Not sure why? The team having a laugh upside down.

Brent took it out for a test ride and then took it home.
The power of FAT!!!

 Starky with Francis looking on.

Sellens hav'n a laugh. Nup, its the pain of not riding for 2 months kicking in!!

Look at that. A 1973 Suzuki TS 185 with Tuatara apa in the bin.
Thats what i call awesome!

Cheers for now.
Pete

 





13/10/14
Well, out and about again over the last few weeks.
Daylight savings here in NZ allow for a longer ride's
Check out the latest photos.

The boys out and about in Belmont

The trig, the highest point in belmont.

Look at this view.
If you are reading this you need to get your self here with a tour with the team.
Absolutely amazing.

Here's an odd one.
Francis on his 76 Husky 175 riding up the driveway to the barn.

Kapiti island a ways in the background.

Miss Alice and Loo loo the trail dog, at one red dog.

Another ride on the top of Tinakori hill.
2 fast Poms in this bunch,

Francis,s idea of a short cut. not!!

Dave negotiating the root ball of a fallen pine.
Just shows how strong the wind can be.

The best reward ever.
A Jug of Tuatara APA at One Red Dog.

Cheers for now
Pete.

29/9/14 
Hi All.
Well done to the team for slipping over to 10,000 views on the blog.!!
But bugger, the time flies. 2 months has snuck past since i last got to add to the Spin and Beer it page.
The riding has been sweet, lots of wet Wednesday night rides.
The T23 29er movement is gaining momentum as well as the Fat bike fad.
Team RTD has had another fabulous day out with a group of 5 celebrating a birthday.
A sweet day of shuttle fun with some new welly tracks for all to sample.

Photos in no particular order 

Francis from J/ville cycles with the new shop Trek demo Fat bike.
Come and book your ride.

This is just awesome. Sun set from my balcony. Can you spot the wind turbines??

Another night shot. Who?

Mr Sellens I presume!

Greig and crew on Freewheel Wainuiomata

Loo loo the trail dog getting blasted by the Welly wind.
Wellington city and harbour in the background.

The mighty bus getting another work out.
7 bikes and 7 people with ease.
Book your group now.

Looks like the slippery bridge has John john and Starky in a little tangle.

Dave and Noel on the skyline trail towards Karori park.

Francis, Starky, Noel and Brent, Wrights hill carpark.
I think Starky must have to much energy.

Who is this dark shadow?

John john at baked beans bend.
The Richy 650b is treating him well, with lots of miles under the wheels.

Noel, with his happy face. LOL

The Saturday ride leaving from the Barn.
Loads of fun in the sun.

Cheers from Pete


29/7/14
Well, global warming is here. woohoo.
The winter weather here in NZ has been mostly warm. The last week of so has been wet and cold, but we have had a few stunning days. The riding has been great, with a broad array of trails ridden to give Pommy Pete a good look round.
Some random shots from the last few weeks,

Steel is real!! Johns lovely new Ritchey 650b. Look at those mint 40mm carbon rims.
This has built up into a sweet ride.

Johns old ride now joins the Team RTD hire fleet as a T23 single speed.
This is the bike to ride in the winter months. Contact us for a hire.

John showing us how its done.

The end of a ride at the Karori BMX track. Word is out that the track is getting a rebuild up to international standard again. looking forward to that.

Strewn, Francis and Pete with Dave, Starky and Noel in the background.
Heading up towards Skyline.

Pete did not believe that you could lay on the road in Wellington and not get run over.
He's looking a bit stressed as i fluffed around with my phone to get the shot.
No one was hurt in the making of this photo LOL

Who new that Tuatara sponsored the painting of telecom boxes.
First in with the location will get a free Tuatara beer from me.

Whats been happening at one red dog?
You need to pop down for a look!

Nice bike made from NZ wood products.

Pete and Loo Loo on the top of Mt Kaukau. Wellington is some where in the background.

Goodby to the El Camino. sold to make way for another.

What a lovely photo and a good way to sign off.

Cheers for now
Pete  

8/7/14
Hi All.
Another week and 3 more rides completed.
For those of you that caught up with the team RTD world tour (see the on tour page) I meet an English couple in Manali India.
Pete and Alice had left London and were biking to NZ for their honeymoon.
I am happy to say that after 22 months and 20,000 odd klm they have made it to NZ and are currently enjoying a Tuatara APA here at Team HQ.

Pete and Alice were busting to get out and about on our awesome trails ( I think i might have talked them up a bit! :)

Alice and Loo Loo the trail dog getting ready to ride Mt Vic.

Pete and Alice on Mt Vic.
Pete is riding a T-23 single speed from the RTD vault. Alice has swapped the stokers chair on the tandem for a Jamis carbon 29er.

Pete looking the part of the Global cyclist.
Dave and Jody hav'n a laugh at my expense.

Jody passing a nice couple, resting on the way up transient. Look at the awesome blue sky.

Mr Niner, Chris Stark
Starky giving the carbon Niner a proper spanking.

Who would have thought! Wellington has a castle as well.
Pete stopping for a photo on the Cannondale T-23

Long Shadows at the radar Dome. Mr Niner, Francis and Pete enjoying the view.

What a nice afternoons ride.
Chris, Jody, Dave, UK Pete, Francis and John.

Back at the bus and ready for a cold one.
Cheers Pete


1/7/14
Hi all. More riding has been undertaken. As predicted, the camera is still a bit hit and miss.

Rain coats. getting ready for the longest climb in Wellington.
Korokoro to Belmont trig.

Dave looking ready!!

Heading up to the Dam

Nice new trail heading to baked beans bend

Some one has spent some money! The only way for that gravel to get there is by Helicopter!

A new bunch, Makara, with Jody, John, Geoff Lyall,  Dr Bob and Starky.

Starky and the Fat bike.

Makara Peak, in the last of the evenings light.

What can i say!!

Wellington at its best.
Cheers Pete

16/6/14
Hi All, Another update on the blog with a few more rides undertaken.
My new camera lasted 3 rides till i hit my head on a low tree and smashed it off my helmet. Bugger!!
I am back to the go pro, and on the look out for something else.
Random photos from the last few weeks.

The Team RTD Rocky MSL999. This bike has the 9 way adjustable shock position. I have tried it in 7 different positions and it works a treat.
I run the steeper angles for our usual riding as Wellington trails are quite tight, and open it up when shuttling. Awesome!!

This one is up for photo of the year. Francis warping it over the bridge.

Dave and John climbing the new fiber track to Horokiwi. Yes its steep and a long grind, but a sweet way to get to the top of the hill.

Francis, John, Noel and Dave at the intersection of the new Trig track with the old one.
New track looks very nice and will be a big climb when finished.

Who's that just gone over the bars and off the side of the track?
Must be Noel, Again!!

Hey Dennis, Noel is trying to get some tough scars like you. The beer certainly helps.

Look, 3 team tandems out and about round Wellington water front. A very nice Autumn afternoon looking back towards Oriental parade.

Francie and Sellens. More of Wellingtons trails heading up through the bush.
This is in the middle of the town belt. Turn back and its 15 mins to the waterfront.

Sellens normally looks like this, but i am not to sure which way he wants to go. if i follow his right eye i think its that way. LOL

John getting his BMC 29er over the pole gate on the way to Brooklyn.

Here comes the ferry from the South island.

John and Starky come to grief at the end of a very slippery bridge in Karori cemetery

Starky and Noel at the end of T3 Makara peak MTB park.

Francie, Starky, Noel and Brent at Wrights hill carpark.

Well its getting Dark and we still have a ways to go.
See you all in Wellington some time.
Cheers Pete
















2/6/14
Hi All.
Well the Queen Charlotte trip has been and gone.
6 Team members made the trip over to the south island  with a flatish sailing over.
the weather was not looking the best so we were all packed with winter rain gear.
Saturday had us at the Cougar line by 9.00 for an hour ride out into Queen Charlotte sound to Ship cove.
This was named by Captain James Cook as he beached his boat the Endeavor her when he arrived in NZ as well as the last place before he left.

Waiting at the Ferry terminal in Wellington.
Amanda, Dave, Stu and Jodi.

Saturday morning at Sue's. Starky getting ready to bust out the Fat bike.

Yep its wet! Our bags are being transported to our accommodation in the sounds so every one has too much gear. Mind you there is a bottle of port and whiskey in there somewhere.

Nick the boat driver loading our bikes on the cat for the trip out to the sounds.

The cat getting up to speed. Starky with Picton in the background.

Nick the driver stopped by a pod of Dolphins in the sounds and we had a great view as the played about the boat. Awesome to see.

The Ferry dropping us at ship cove. This is a very remote location with no one living here.
The Marlborough sounds has 3500km of shore line. Slightly more that the UK. There are 3500 batches and houses out here, most with boat access as the only way to get there.

Cooks Monument at Ship cove.

Nice shot of Amanda. Still smiling after pushing the tandem up a very steep first 1.7k climb.

It started raining after 10 minutes and pissed down for the next 3 hours.
That's how long it took us to cover the first 12k.

This is why we came here. Look at the bush covered hill, out in the middle of nowhere.
NZ at its Best.
 

Did i say that it was raining? Dave and Stu on the slippery clay track.

An arty shot of our native fern with a muddy biker in the middle.

Ferno lodge. A boat access only resort in the sounds. Jodi and Amanda looking like drowned rats.
The mighty tandem covered in it.

This is Moria. She is an angel, she took all of our wet and muddy gear and then washed and dried it at no charge, while we were able to sit in the bar and have a feed and a cold beer.
Truly the best service on the planet!!!

Because it took so long to get to Ferno, Amanda, Jodi and Pete had to take the ferry around toTorea Bay and Dave, Stu and Starky rode another 12k of single track to Punga lodge and a further 25k round to Portage bay.

Cooking Tea at the accommodation. Debrets backpackers in Portage bay Kenepuru sound.

you are here!

Torea saddle. The Maori used to push there Waka (canoe) over this hill from Portage bay to Torea bay. Other wise it was a 200k paddle. That's the track right there.

A panoramic shot of both sounds. Kenepuru on the left and Queen Charlotte on the right

Looks good eh, Sundays weather was much better.

This is very steep, like lots of the trail. Starky has the fat bike wound up.
Its amazing where this thing will go when normal tires crap out.
Stu can only look on and push.

There,s 70k of trail end to end.

Getting close to the end at Anakiwa. The last 12k is some of the best single track any where.

Jodi busting out the ginger nuts, with Dave looking a bit shagged. Its been a big trip!

We are there. Stu mounting the victory Dias.
Now only a 25k road ride back to Picton. Bugger!

Amanda and the tandem. only another 10k to go.

 Starky and Stu. Queen Charlotte drive on the right will get you back to Picton.

Picton again, what an amazing site. we are all shagged and in need of a feed and a beer.
We get a hot shower in and then have a 3 hour ferry ride back to Wellington.

Well we will do this again as its a truly awesome weekend away.
Thanks to my fellow team members for a great weekend.
Cheers Pete





19/5/14
Hi All,

The team is embarking on a South Island tour with a 2 day run over the 70k Queens Charlotte walkway and a 20k road ride back to Picton.
look out for some photos soon, as i have got a new camera and should be back up to speed.

Well another Month has past and a lot of rain has fallen.
We have had some very wet rides, with the tracks holding up well.
Wellington has a lot of clay and rock so the tracks mostly keep together.
Did i mention we have a lot of bush as well and lots of tree roots, so the winter skills are needed to keep the wheels down and the rider up.

 This is Dave and he has had an issue with the wheels down thing!

The best beer at the recent Hopstock beer brewing event in Wellington. 18 beers in 16 bars all using fresh green Nelson hops. Awesome.

Francis and Dave, on Wainui hill with some lovely Natural lighting over the harbour.
Wellington city is on the far side of the island.

Dr Rob-Bert-Son, at the Wainuiomata bike park. The Santa cruz getting a hose down.

John negotiating a digger on the new Belmont Trig track.

Noel, Pete, Dave, Francis and John heading up towards the wind turbine.
note the long shadows and its only 3.30pm

Dave in the late sun.
See the 2 giraffes in the background. Must be on a walk from the Zoo lol

Loo Loo, tasting the Tuatara APA at the start of an awesome Sunday session at One Red Dog

Wellington harbour entrance from Ataturk memorial. Not to Many get to this point.

This is me, trying to remember how to ride bike trials The Cannondale 29er is a well balanced bike and i can even go to back wheel.

Well, Cheers for now
Team RTD

20/04/14
Hi All,
Another few rides have passed.
I forgot to take the go pro the last 2 rides so not a lot of photos.
Ben has taken my camera on his O/E so i am looking for a new one.

The Go Pro is ok, but he moisture proof cover is not so and i lose a lot of good shots to a blurry lens.

The Bus and Fancie's van parked at the base of Mt Vic.

Down hill Dan Melink,
Dan has scored a job as the team mechanic for the Bergamont Hayes elite down hill team, competing in the world cup D/H races. Well done that man!!

Mt Vic tree roots, lovely!

Dave and the Intence carbon 650.

On our way to Mt Albert we loop past the fence to the Zoo.
Dave wanting to feed Brent to the Lions.

Brent heading along with the South coast in the back ground.
The weather is just holding off.

Brent, Francis, Barry, Down hill Dan and Dave stop for a break.

Still going up.

This is Wellingtons main athletic ground

Brent and Dan, heading back up Mt Vic.

Nealy back at the Bus. More Mt Vic goodness.

Cheers Pete











 

31st March.
Wow, how time flies.
There has been plenty of action over the last few weeks.
The weather has improved a bit from the very average summer that we have had with some dryer weather and calmer days. Still not a lot of sun.

  

This is picture of A&E Noel after a wee high speed spill on the road.
Luckily it was not as bad as it could have been and after a number of stitches and a week of the bike he is back in the saddle.

These are the lovely Paparangi Angles that sorted Noel out and got the Ambo driver on the scene in record time.
Thank you very much!!

This is Chris, Noel and Francis providing the light for a night shot.
This was taken on a new track from Horokiwi that runs down to the northern suburbs

Greig, Renee, Jason and Craig from Black Yard Racing unloading from the bus ready for their first ever run down Jail break.

Black yard and Team RTD getting ready for a 3 hour assault on Belmont.

The style and the gate! Renee showing the boys how its done.

Greig taking a splash at pace after a long run down a mostly unused trail.
Lots of long grass and unseen grenades making life very interesting.

The team were out and about completing Wellingtons Craft beer tour.
16 bars and 2 brewerys.
we completed 12 bars and the brewery's with 4 more to go next week.
Dave will add some more shots on his beer page.

If any one can tell me where this picture is, i will shout them a beer from this bar.
I wonder if the RTD sticker is still there??

All the best cheers Pete









 

17th, Saint Paddys day

No Luck getting all the shots up last week, so I will try again with some more.
We had an awesome ride up and over Tinakori, up thru the Cemetery, along Skyline and down Johnsons.
Dave and I had a run down Bull Run, plus some other random shots from the last week.

A selection of the crown at the polished rockers M/C event at the brewery

Tuatara by the Gallon

Starky showing off his new NZ Cap.

Dave, Francis, Strewen, and Sellens. Have a Laugh cause Sellens is still feeling good here.
It does not last. Lol

Brent Showing how its done!

Peter and Dave did a run of Bull Run on Sunday.
A view back over the Hutt from Belmont regional park.

No Rain here, Not!!

Loo Loo, getting a ride in the El Camino.

Who is the old Fokker? Did 3.29 at Karapoti this old bugger.

Saint Paddys day jandals at the dog.

Cheers Pete

10/3/14
Hi All,
Another awesome weekend.
Lots of riding undertaken.
I have been with out my camera for the last month so I have grabbed some shots from Dave's camera, so some random shots from the last few weeks.

Johnson's Hill, Francis, John, Pete and Noel.

The team with Clive (red helmet) after our awesome (rotoreahu??) ride in Rotorua.

Bugger, the server has gone bung.
back later.




4/3/14
Karapoti.
Well that big ride has been and gone for another year.
Francis has just completed his 24th in a row.
Noel, Pete, Francis, Kotw and Quin, Strewn and Billie all made it out for the big day.
It was a perfect day and the track was the fastest its ever been.
The winning time of 2.07 proved that.

Jason Mc was the first to the bus. Big ups to Jason as he has put in a lot of hard work preceding the race with M J to get the course and venue up to its usual high standard.
Pete stayed out at the river for the night ensuring a prime spot for the bus.

Billie getting ready for her first 5k Karapoti. Strewen doing the Guiding.

Kotw (Jason) and Quin getting ready for a blast at the 20k.
Quin needed a pole onto Jason's bike to keep him in check. He knows that dad needs a helping hand some times!

Johnathon and Simon Kennett. The Tandem has failed!!
The should have hired one off Team RTD

The wet at the bottom of the staircase

Its a wee bit of a push up the hill.

Some of the clever ones washing their drive chains at the creek at the bottom of Big ring Boulevard.

Back across the river at the bottom of Dopers.

Ken Lui at speed on the Uni.

The river and home.

What a nice sight. Home after 4 hours.

Cheers Pete










25/2/14
Well a month has passed and lots has happened.
The team has been visited by Dennis from the UK and Christian and Rafael from Switzerland.
These lucky guys got to head out and sample the trails.
Dennis had a couple of moments and left some skin around the place.

The team has just finished a long weekend away in Rotorua.
We had a 4 hour ride in the Red Woods, a 4 hour ride in some of the best natural trails out towards   Te Puke with Clive and then a 2 hour blast on the W2K trails in Taupo.

This is Dennis, and this is how we roll.

Noel, Al Heine and Francis with Den in the background.

Neil Miller our Beer guide and Guru taking us thru another beer tasting.

Rafa and Christian at the Mt Vic look out

Prince William and Lady Kate with baby George at the sevens.

Petes new ride. MSL999

RTD in Camp in Rotorua

Dave, Brent and Pete, Redwoods Rotorua.

Jody and Brent, after a 4 hour wet ride. Awesome.

Cheers for now
Pete








25/1/14
Hi All,
Sorry we missed last week as Amanda and I rode up around the East cape on the motor bike for the long weekend.

Saturday dawned dry and warm with a bit of the usual wind.
Peter, Noel, Dave, John and Francis set of from Johnsonville cycles and headed up Mt Kaukau for a run along skyline heading towards Johnson's hill.
From there it was a run down and then up and over Tinakori hill and off to O,R,Dog for a beer.

Dave and I were looking forward to catching up with Jason (from Texas) whom we had ridden with on Monarch crest when we were in the States.

The start of our shop ride from the shop.

The start of the Old Coach road out towards Ohariu valley.

Look who's got a new bike then. Dave has a new 27.5 Intence Carbine that was finished 15 minutes before the ride started. lovely.

Francis on the 27.5 Rocky with the City and Harbor in the background. The regional Council has added these bike friendly grates so you don't have to climb the fences. Nice!

Typical Skyline. Open and grassy. This bit can get very windy and riding across here can be some times impossible due to the wind.

Noel (green helmet) and John riding up one of the tricky narrow Zig-zag climbs.

John a 20 year cycling veteran trying a fully suspended MTB for the first time.
The Demo Rocky getting another outing with the RTD crew.

Francis dropping down a tricky section lower in the bush.

Jason, Enjoying his first taste of Tuatara apa at One Red Dog.
Jason was telling us that they have just built a new Hypermarket store in Texas that has 50 beers on tap.
When you are doing your shopping you can have a beer or 2 to help you with your decision making. The trolleys have drink holders so you can still pluck from the shelves with 2 hands.

Well, all for now, as i plan a trip to that shop right there!!

Cheers Pete

11/1/14

Hi All.
Well finally we have had a few wonderful days weather.
Saturday was nice so we decided to have a sift round Mt Vic and then a short road ride across to Miramar and a few loops of Jail break and back to Mt Vic.
It was so very nice.

Rob, in the very dappled lighting on Mt Vic.

Phil after crossing the road on Mt Vic

Dave kindly avoiding the pedestrian as we ride around the harbor.
The hills in the background to Daves left is our destination.

Francis and Rob riding thru the cutting.

Look at that sky, you can't beat Wellington on a good day.

What a nice man. (Dan?) driving for his mates

The pump track has grown up and is now very impressive.

Francis, Phil and Jeff? Its good to see the over 30's out and about.

Cricket anyone? A game on Kilbirnie park. on the way back to Mt Vic.

Cheers For now
Pete

4/1/14
Wow, look at the date.
A new year and another quality day for a ride. Well it was another day, not so flash in the weather department.
The new year here in Wellington spells the start of some longer rides,
At the start of March each year, we have a 50k mountain bike race called the Karapoti classic.
Francis who has just turned 54 is the record holder for the most consecutive races completed in a row.
Something like 23 or 24.
He never trains for the race but we notice our rides getting longer and harder with lots more hills and a lot more hike-a-bike.
Here are some photos of Saturdays ride out to Red Rocks from Aro Street and back up unhappy valley.

This is the top of the Tip track. We have climbed for an hour to get to here.
 If you are completing Karapoti then a climb or 2 up this track is a must. It is very steep and long.

Francis, with Dave coming out the end of Barking Emu

Head south they said. It was a very windy day, so you had to keep your head down in places.

Its not often you see Francis pushing up a steep pinch. He was blown off his line!

Grade 4 , a bit like a 1 black diamond in The UK

Dave on his way down.

Pete having fun in the water.

From the bottom of the decent, its a 3k ride back around the south coast to the road.

A wee rest at the visitors center and then a road climb back to the top of Aston Fitchett and a single track blast back to the car.

Catch ya next week.
Pete

30/12/13
Hi All
Well Christmas has come and gone and one day till the New Year.
Francis, Stu K and Pete managed to get out for a couple of rides. We completed a run up to the wind turbine, around the fence and down Deliverance and back up salvation and over wrights hill.
Tuesday saw us blast up Wainui and have a quick spin round the trail park in the rain.

Francis and Stu have ridden both rides on 2014 650b Rocky Mountains.

Is there a tunnel thru the bush? Looks like it!

Mmmmm, New bike kit. Rocky MSL 770 Carbon. Nice

The Predator  proof fence round the Karori Sanctuary.
Stu grinding up the climb.

What interesting gloves you have? New Rocky looking good.

Is it the bike or is it Stu that's finely balanced?

Wheres my Rocky?? That's right, its still on the boat.

A water splash on Deliverance

A jump over to Wainui. Note the change in bush?

Not to many photos from this ride. A ride in the clouds.

Cheers Pete

22/12/13
Well, Getting back into the swing of things.
We had our last Saturday ride before X-mass, heading for a run over Tinakori hill and then down Mairangi and School boys.
A loop round Johnson's and back for a run down Datsun and off to ORD
Those that rode on Wednesday night were feeling the effects of a big ride and it took an hour to get the legs freed up. This ride is 80% tight single track and some of the best riding in the country.

The Boys, L-R Rob, Dave, Noel, Pete, Francis, John, Strewan

Heading up the hill to Tinakori.
We are 5 mins from premo single track.

Look at that lovely green bush

The winds blowing a gale. You can all ways find a sheltered bit of trail

Now you see him, Now you don't
Rob sliding down into the start of Datsun.

Francis scoots along the gap. Vert bank one side, 10 foot drop the other.

Nice trail, a bit of wind damage evident.

Ride able for the skilled.

Merry X-mass to all from Noel

Have a nice X mass break and safe riding.
Cheers Pete


16/12/13
Bugger, how time flies.
I  had been sorting out my India photos and the blog slipped thru the gaps.
I have had a week off and 2 rides so I will through the rides in together to get us back up to speed.

This is the end of the world as we know it.
Francis and i rode to the end of long gully and up to the end of the road.
That's the South island right there!

Looks a bit closer from here. The ferry ride takes 3 hours to get from Wellington to Picton.

Francis on the 26' Commencal with a 650b front wheel.

Long Gully road looking back towards town.

If you can see far enough you will see Kaikora.

Dave getting ready to ride Eldson bush in Porirua

A nice board walk on the way to the climb

A view from the road on the way up Colonial knob

Well, must run for now, more to come
Pete

23/11/13
Hi All, ride no 3 (well a shuttle really)

We just had the best Spring day here in Wellington. Saturday was Awesome!!
Francis was away with Dave Fitter Welder at a round of the NZ VMX (vintage motor cross series) so we took the opportunity to head out in the bus for a Shuttle day.

The first run was down Carparts and Transient from the wind turbine carpark.
This is a 25 min run down one of the most flowing and fun trails about. Its starts about 1/2 way down the hill. The harbor entrance is in the background.

That's the rest of the hill, (Hawkins hill) with the radar dome at the top.

Stu (foreign correspondent) had returned for a break from his super yatch and joined the fun.
He is having a breather on High-bury fling after doing the roller coaster jump track.

The bus all loaded at the bottom and ready to cross town to Jail break.
Must remind Noel to put his hat on LOL. Stu, Dave and Starky behind driver Pete.

On the way down Aro St we stopped in at the Garage Project brewery.
After filling a couple of 1/2 gallon vessels and trying out some of the brews we hit the road.
The nice hosts at the brewery gave the Bus some new adornments.

Dirt jumps and a pump track at the top of jailbreak.
The local track builders have done a awesome job in this part of town

What a lovely day and look at those hills!
Starky, pushing thru the lush spring grass, with the harbor and Tinakori hill in the background.
Behind that is Skyline, which you can ride along the full length of the tops.

Starky and his Jet Niner.
A little off camber turn with a few roots thrown in. Lovely in the dry, not so in the wet.
Every one loved this trail.

Wish you were here??
End of a great afternoons riding. The team enjoying the garage Project beers and a mint Sunny afternoon.

One of the best days of 2013 right there!
Cheers Pete

16/11/13
Ride No 2 Wainui.

Hi All,
Well another week has passed.
The bus took us to Wainuiomata on Saturday for a ride on Rata ridge and  a loop around the new mtb park.

Bikes and bus at the car park. Francis and Dave, Sellens lurking round the back.

Dave on the start of the climb. Native NZ bush all around. This track is steep and a granny gear climb for 20 mins.

 Brent weaving his way thru the foliage.

Most parts of the world are going for very wide bars. Here in NZ, it still pays to keep them under control as there are lots of tight bits.

Getting up towards the top, lots of hike a bike.

Yep, That's the trial right there! Rideable if you are having a stellar day!

Francis dropping down thru the beach trees. lots of cool roots on this section.

Doesn't look it, but this is steep. Dave getting a bit loose.

A typical pole gate. the boys show the proper technique.

Lots of cool trails here. A credit to the local Wainui team.

Brent has a little cramp in his finger. We have crossed from Rata ridge to the trail park, Seaview and Wellington harbor in the background.

Free wheel trail. Rock and clay, tight and fast, awesome views.

Heading back down, Dave rolling by.
Most of the down hill is awesome and to fast to stop for photos. You will just have to join us to see for your self.

Some board walk over the wetlands at the bottom. This is part of the beginners loop.

Back out the bottom and back to the bus for a beer.

Well, that's Wainui, for ya. This is only a couple of trails in the park. You can ride here for 3 hours easy and that's with not having to go to far.
Cheers Till next week.
Pete

Hi All,
Back in wonderful Wellington and back on the bike again. After sampling all the trails In Canada and the states that Dave and I rode, and Wales and India, You cannot beat riding 3 hours of Wellington single track and a blast down to the Dog for a beer.
One thing that Tony from Colorado back Country bikers asked Dave and I was, did we ride on grass?
Well we do have a number of trails that have grass!
Over the next few rides, The team will aim to cover Wellington and surrounds as best as possible and I will add some photos to show you what we have got to offer.

Well here's a shot of Wellington.
The brown bits are were we live and the green bits are where we ride. The biggest hill we ride up is Belmont trig @ 456m. Our local hill Mt Kaukau is 445m.
Most of what you can see in the photo is hills and we spend a lot of time going up and down. The only really flat bit is to the pub and that is still down hill. The pub (One Red Dog) is about 3m above sea level.

This is the local BMX track that has been turned into a DJ park.
This is in the middle of the western suburbs and is a favorite starting point for our rides.
The following photos are on our recent ride starting and finishing from here. (yes the jumps on the right are very big, and No i, cannot jump any of them!)

From the BMX track we ride up hill through the Karori cemetery heading to Johnson's hill.
Brent is out on one of the hire bikes, as his one is a pile of poo and needs to go to the dump, lol.

Dave and Brent with Ngaio in the back ground. Wellington is a very green place!

Some duel use tracks, no skids please!

The top of Johnson's hill in the background, heading down towards skyline, (the main trail along the ridge)

Here's one for you Tony. Grass and lots of it. Way over the back you can see the Harbor and the Wainui hills. Lots of tracks over there to!

This is the Karori end of skyline. The track runs for about 10k from Johnsonville to Karori. Its either single track or grassy farmers track. On a nice day the views are amazing as you can easily see the south island, and all around the city and hills.

Karori park.
This pine plantation has a heap of single track trails as well as having hosted the national down hill series a number of times.

Brent 2/3rds of the way thru a wheelie all the way up Burrows Ave. He got right to the top ( 250m) and had an awesome dismount that really impressed the lads.

Wrights hill,
The NZ native bush covers this mighty hill and many of the best rides in Wellington will use one of the many trails in this area. The bush allows for dappled lighting that can be hard on the eyes. The trails are rocky and have numerous tree roots. A 20min granny ring climb in this area is not uncommon.

Brent again, climbing out of a gully, not to far from home.

The good stuff,
Brent, Francis, Pete and Dave enjoying a Tuatara APA.

Well for those who get to read this, This is a typical Wellington ride. This was about 3 hours and we climbed for about 800m.
See you again next week,
Cheers Team RTD



27/7/13
Hi All.
This is the last posting from NZ for 3 months as Dave and I are heading of to Canada and the States.
The weather in Welly has been mint for the last week, so the boys had an awesome ride from the shop, Up Kaukau, along skyline, down thru the cemetery and up and over Tinakori hill and back to J/ville.

Pete showing of the new Team RTD traveling kit. Got to get it all stretched in the right places lol.

The turn off from the Old coach road heading towards Kaukau.

Boys with Wellington in the background.

Dave gaining speed. Skyline from the top heading west has been graded with all the rough bits cleaned up.

Single track in mint condition for winter. The cows must be walking on another track this year!

Starky and the Niner.

Starky, Noel and Francis, We started from way back over there.

Warp factor 9 Dr Sulu.

Francis just before he plummets down the bank.

The traffic headen back up the gorge to J/ville

Back at the shop for a beer woohoo!!!
Cheers Pete

20/7/13
Pete and Dave are heading of to Canada and the States next week so the ride was planned to end with a beer tasting  at Central Wines and Spirits and then a meal at One Red Dog.
 

Brent, Starky and Dr Bob getting ready at the shop. Mighty Tandem in the bus ready for its outing.

Amanda out for a blast on the Cannondale. Check out the skinny cyclocross tires.

The boys had started from the shop, Amanda and I had driven the bus to town and were on our way up to the wind turbine and then back down on the single track.

The Tandem went as far as the Emu's, Pete trying to make friends.

Turn left to long gully and right for carparts extension. Emu in the background.

Visitors to Wellington checking out our bush clad hills.

Dean from Central City. 8 kegs of Craft beer on tap to keep the boys and girls happy.

KOTW sporting his RTD beanie, others sporting a glow.

Good to see Nigel out for a beer. Old School J/ville rider and a legend.

Cheers Pete




 

     
14/7/13

A wet ride in Wainui and this week a ride and then our going away drinks thanks to Dean @ central city wines and Spirits.
We then went over the road to One Red Dog for a mighty feed and a jug or 2 of Tuatara APA. the very best beer in the world.

 Wainuiomata trail head. Strewn, Noel, Francis, Dave, Pete and Rob

Rob in action dodging those pesky trees.

Lovely Blue healer out for a run with the boss.

A room with a view. Petone with Wellington harbour in the background

Lining up for the return run down Touwai traverse.

Francie and the Merlin. This Ti hardtail has been providing service for 15 years and its still going strong.

Cheers Pete







 
7/7/13.

Well what a week its been.
Wednesday night had us out for a windy ride and then onto One Red Dog for a beer and the draw of the tour sweepstake. Stu Koo's was the winner on the night, drawing the best of the best.
Dave will have the names out to those that entered. Send him a thread and he will send you out the list.

Saturdays ride was for me in Chch. This weeks photos are a quick look about Chch and the local trails.

Unpacking the bike in Chch Airport. This company will store your bike box at the airport.
Land. get your box, unpack and ride away. all good!

Friday. A 40 min ride to McLeans island had me hammering the figure 8 main trail in the purpose built MTB park.

Figure 8 layout with a cool overpass.

20k ride down the Waimak river to Kaiapoi had me home for the night.

Saturday morning and in for a fuel stop. Foes getting a shake down for the big OE

Halswell Quarry and up Kennedy's bush to the Summit road.

Matt and the Niner having a rest. Chch in the background.

That's Lyttelton away in the distance. Matt getting ready to hit Worsleys track.
This area is now owned by the Chch CC and they have allowed a number of very good tracks to be built in the area.

I did ask her name, but it all went blurry when she said she was from Sweden.

Matt spanking the single track that follows the summit road. All the big corners were paved like a roman road. Volcanic rock gardens every where. a very sweet trail.

Heading down the Bowenvale single track. watch out for the sink holes!!!

A long ride home took me through the Square.

Sweet as, cheers Pete












29/6/13

Hi All,
A shorter ride this week.
Pete and Dave had to slip away to Sinitta,s 21st so a ride on Te Ahumairangi Hill was planned.
This awesome hill has a number of tracks along and around it.
The ride started out from Tinakori, with Pete, Dave, Rob and Francis in attendance.
A week out from the storm, we were amaised at the number of huge trees that where down and blocking the trails.

Te Ahumairangi Hill. In here somewhere.

Getting ready to hit the trails

Dave said that if we had to dodge 5 trees we were going to the pub. we would have been there within the first 5 minutes.

Dave with Welly in all its glory.

This tree had a base 5 m round and left a huge hole. A portage was required to get around it.
The track here will be out of action for many months.

Traffic jam at yet another tree down

The top, woohoo

Did i mention big trees. This one blew up the hill. A little bird tells me that the track will get sorted out better than ever.

Francis looking for the clean line.

Dave and Rob. More track damage.

Cheers Pete

22/6/13

Hi All.
Thursday Nights storm has left wellington a bit of a wreck.
Dave and Pete braved the elements on Saturday after noon and had a sift round Makara,

Stacie and friend had just been for a ride. They gave us a heads up regarding all the downed trees.

Pete and Mal. Mal got a leave pass from home and was heading out for a bit of track clearing.

A little bit of water under the bridge.

Sally ally. Dave looking drenched and we have only just started.

The place was like a river. Water flowing down all the trails. The bush was shattered, Lots of leaves and branches down.

The first tree that we found down was a big one!

Did we mention water!

There is a track under here some where.

Same here.

Another tree down. Pete sneaking thru.

On our way up to ridge line extension. the water was blasting down the road.

Big Thom,s Torrent

Back home.
It was so cold and wet we keep down to the lower trails. We were soaked in 5 minutes.
A quick change and of to the Pub

Big ups to the ladies at One Red Dog making sure we were watered and fed.

Cheers Pete

15/6/13
Saturday proved to be a bit warmer than it had been.
We had a new rider (Brian) out for the first time. We headed out from karori Park, Up the hill and down Deliverance. Up to Makara peak and out Varleys and Wahine.

The team on wrights hill

Tony taking the photo, out for a walk with his lady. Good lad.

Noel getting a hang of the roots.

Friends out for a blast, the start of the missing link, Makara Peak.

Brian scooting along.

Francis at the top of Aratihi.

Usain Bolt Ely. Dave wondering, What next??

Wind turbines in the background.

A nice afternoon out for this lucky rider.

Cheers Pete







8/6/13
No Wednesday night photos this week.
Saturdays ride was up to the turbine and out and down Jawbone. Back up the road and down carparts to Aro st.

The chariots of choice.

A Local enjoying the out doors and a nice beer. Lucky man!!

Brent haven a wheelie good time.

Time for a rest, Francis, Noel, Brent and Dave.

One of the old school boys out for a blast.

Heading up barking Emu. Track is in good condition.

Top of Brooklyn looking back towards the airport.

Jaw bone, Sellens on the commencal.

Dr Rob/bert/son starting the gravity race from the end of the airstrip in long gully.

This is how the gravity race finished. Sellens in the lead and Noel 2nd. Who shouted the beers?

Getting dark again. The clever ones still have their lights from Wednesday.

Cheers Pete


1/6/13
Wow, another mint day. We parked at the Sanctuary and headed of up Highbury fling and then carparts and extension, and then round the fence to wrights hill.
Deliverance and then up salvation back to the scout lodge and the cars.
Timing was perfect as it was getting very dark by the end.

Dave and Liz just about to head out. Bus looking lovely.

Look out every one!! Noel is coming thru.

Heading up from Ashton Fitchet. Harbor in the back ground.

Carparts.

Heading down the road towards long gully. Dave chasing Francis.

Noel blasting by the predator proof fence.

Francis, Dave and Noel.

Back at the bus and of for a beer.

Cheers Pete

 25/5/13
Awesome ride this week.
Had Paul and Erica, turn up for a ride. BMX track. Skyline to Varleys, Vertigo and down Live wires.
Scout lodge and home

 Francis, Erica and Dave, Karori cemetery.

Francis, Paul and Erica. Mint single track hidden in the Wellington Bush

 The team showing a bit of style!

Why we love Wellington. All this only 15 mins from One Red Dog. Woo Hoo!!

Paul hitting a cattle grid on skyline.

Getting ready to blast Vertigo. The best track in Makara.

Paul, haven a laugh. Maybe Francis on the swing?

Cheers Pete


17/05/13
Hi All,
Had a mear with the uploads last week so here they are.

A shop ride from the shop. on our way to Belmont trig from J/ville.

One of many water splashes in Seton Nossiter park. Dave in action.

Nothing like a wee portage thru the gorse to warm you up. Does this look steep? Ask Noel.

Been here a few times. You can't beat the trig on a good day. Starky, Dave, Pete and Noel.

Mint, some new single track. This track will bi-pass the stream from Baked beans bend.

Cheers Pete





11/5/13
Hi All, another week and another couple of rides.
Photos in no particular order but all in Wellington.

 Dave at the start of Wednesday nights ride, getting sorted.

Dr Rob-bert-son looking like he hav'n a good time. Out on his newly built single speed that weighs in at a smidge under 21 pounds..

Pete with the city in the back ground from Wrights hill.

L-R Pete, Francis, Dave, Sellens, KOTW Jason. Top of Tinakori hill.

Wellington has heaps of cool inner city tracks. Dave and KOTW hitting up a a tricky section on TKh.

KOTW, showing off his new robotic hands.

Mr Sellens. borrowed bike, borrowed lungs. still got the skills to spank all.

Dave in his new Endura top on a tight bit of trail. Awesome day, but very cool.

Jason and a single speed. I wonder??? Lovely afternoon sun sifting thru the trees.

Top of the hill, Who was the photographer??

lovely Sarah. She took the time out of her busy schedule to take the  awesome photo above.

Who is this?? is it the fat yak??

Cheers Pete

4/5/13
Hi All,
Another week has gone by.
Another random selection of photos. The weather was mint for the weekend, and i managed to get 3 days of riding in. The Saturday ride had a mix of new (to me) trails south of town.
A run from Mt Vic and around the south coast and back for a run down north face (Mt Vic)

Hi All. Meet James. He is the nice man in the coffee van at the bottom of the gorge. You must stop in as he  can get a quality brew out in double quick time.

This is Vikram. As you see he is the giver of beer. Tolsi J/ville, the best place to dine.

Look who's got a new helmet then, and yes that is real gold!!

Its funny who you find wandering the hills. Barry Wallington sends us on our way.

Tim and Rose out walking the dog.Tim and Francis, I saw it first!!

Time for a rest.

The last of the evenings light. My most favorite view in the world.
Cheers for now.

27/4/13
The NZ Single speed champs woohoo.
They say there's no i in team but the trip up to vegas for the SS, was only me.
No Problems. An over night at Brents on the way had a bit of panel work going on with his old ute and Miss Julie had a couple of bottles of fizzy wine (read 4) ready to wash the dust down.
After getting on the road early, this is the sights that you get with an early run over the desert road.

 I arrived in Rotorua and headed out to the forest for a quick look about.

I tagged onto a group, including Gaz, Rosara and a few others. Gaz is the president of the Rotorua SS association so it was like being out with Royalty.
 After catching up with Starky and a nice meal in town, it was all go for the next day.

7.00am getting ready for the big day.

Team RTD members taking the ritual pre race glass of champagne.

The day warmed up nicely with Lances team including these lovley nurses.

The SS is an awesome event with 90% of riders getting into the dress ups.

Some took clothes selection a little lightly. Garth looking on, probably why he went so fast knowing that G string man was chasing him.

Some of the assembled ready for the start.
It was a 500m run back to where we had left the bikes to find that they where not in the same place that we had left them!

This guy did a full lap (10k) on a 12 inch bike. I followed him for a while to see the big crash but it did not happen.

There are 3 of these lovely ladies, their wings wafting along in the wind.

What dreams are made of. a beer after the first lap of a ride, and look at the beer wenches, just lovely.

Jodi and Scuba Steve (Wayne) finishing. Scuba steve did 2 full laps (3 plus hours) fully flippered.

I couldn't leave this one out.
Cheers Pete












20/4/13
Well, as it says above, we ride rain hail or wind. Saturday had lots of the rain stuff happening and Makara was the place to be.

Dave, Noel and a Scottish Dave and Emma enjoy a chat at the pylon at the end of missing link.
The weather gods decided to let up a wee bit as we started our ride on Saturday there were a few cars in the Makara car park, showing that there are a few hard core riders getting ready for the winter season.
This Lady was out and about marking the tracks for the X-terra run held on Sunday.

Another wet and muddy crew stopped waiting for the stragglers.

Looking back towards the south coast, and yep that's water flowing down the track.

After heading up to the top we swung back and over towards Leaping Lizard for a run down to Nikau.
Dave had a puncture so buy the time we sorted that it was getting gloomy, so we completed Missing link down and then a run back to the car park down lazy fern.

This is what riding a single speed does to ya! If your are wondering where my helmet is, its attached to the Camera lol.

Dave and Emma from Scotland. Dave recons that this was like a sunny summers afternoon back home.

Remember to check out the notes from the single speeds next week.
Cheers Pete

13/4/13
We had a great ride Wednesday night, but I had a bit of a fail with the Camera.
Saturday we headed of to wainui for a blast.
We completed a loop of the trail park before we headed of up towards the top and over the road for a run on Rata ridge.

Pete, Dave, Noel and Francis getting ready. The day was damp so we were looking at getting into the bush asap.

Getting ready to head into the Wainui bush

Noel looking over the new table on Freewheel.

Noel again. note the sticky clay stuck to the tires. The first wet ride in ages.

Usual suspects

Noel skipping thru the gate at the start of Rata ridge.
We had a big rain shower just as we hit the start of the last climb and it got realy dark so we turned around and had a blast down the wet roots, back down and back to the trail park carpark.

Back at the car park one of the lads from the Eastbourne crew showing his wounds after a man vrs a tree incident.
Another mint ride out.
See you next week.
Cheers Pete











6/4/13
Hi All,
Two rides mixed together this week.
Dave and I had a blast up the Roller coaster and down the long run to Aro St on Sunday and Clive joined us for a ride on the following Saturday with Francis, Dave, Zac and Pete

Dave on Barking Emu

A couple of lads sorting an issue with a puncture.

Dave on Car parts extension. a nice ride and not all ways down.

Pete getting a bit of rear wheel swing happen-en.

If you ride bikes then you need a van. 4 in a row at the BMX track.
This is a very central spot to start and finish your ride from.

Dave and Zac on skyline heading towards Makra

Francis with Peter and son? chatting at the start of Northface. Francis passed on some friendly advice to Peter regarding Disc brake maintenance on his bike with cable discs.

Pete with Matts new Niner Jet 9. Pete had completed a brake rotor upgrade (bigger each end) and was taking the opportunity to try out the Niner.

If you like a bike that climbs well and handles like its on rails, then you can't go wrong with a Niner.
This bike has been spec'ed well and ride shows it.

Clive and Francis inspecting the WW2 defensive trench dug around Wrights hill.

Its getting a bit dark, but Pete's lining up a bridge.

Well, with daylight savings gone its time to dust of the lights and get ready for the winter riding sessions to come.
Remember now is a good time to have the bike serviced ready for those wet rides.

Ever thought to turn your bike into a single speed for the winter? It will save you a heap on worn out components with the benefit of improving your strength and skills.
Cheers Pete.


30/3/13
Another Awesome day for a ride in Wellington
Pete, Dave and Francis set out from The BMX track in Karori heading out for a big loop,
We headed up thru the Cemetery on our way up to skyline.

Heading up the trail towards the the top

Francis getting the Commencal over one of the many fences.

Once we hit skyline, we headed of to Makra peak. (its way over there under the cloud)
The run along skyline from this point is nice. All of the steep climbing is back the other way towards Mt Kaukau.

Dave heading down an open bit of skyline.
As you can see the track is open and fast, Makra peak top left.
At the end of this trail you enter the pines at the top of Karori park and cross the road and up Varleys heading towards the peak.

Dave heading past the start of Vertigo. We will loop around Zac's and T3 and will return and down this most excellent trail.

Dave looking back over Karori towards Wellington harbour..
The marker on the left is for T3 and the right for North face.
I highly recommend T3 and Vertigo as a cool way to the bottom. The team have cleared T3 and it is the best that I have seen it. If you can ride this trail dab free i will buy you a beer!!

Pete cleaning the skink.
Note down the page a few rides ago the difference now the T3 has been cleared.

Francis scooting over the wiggly bridge.

Pete on the See Saw at the end of T3

Francis and Dave just past the corkscrew bridge on Vertigo.
After This we headed over and up Salvation and then down wrights hill and back to the BMX track

Heading round Wrights hill

Rest stop by the Predator proof fence thats rings the Karori sanctuary.
After all this riding the next stop was to buy a nice cold beer and sit round and contemplate the world.

A couple of like minded cyclists got to the beer shop before the boys.
These two need to join the crew for a spin and beer it session!!
Cheers Pete


25/3/12
The team was out and about this week.
Pete and Noel had a fun day Sunday getting in a race in Palmy with the locals hav'n fun in town.

Pete looking relaxed (hung over after Julies 50th) getting ready to smash it on the single speed.

Julie Sellens, Brent's better half reaching the wonderful age of 50 years.

The track at the top was a bit, well ??

The long and the short of it!

Colyton, looking west, from Brents castle.

Brent with a new 86RC. This model is a stripper sold with out basic accessories ready to have a cage and go racing.

Cheers Pete





20/3/13
Hi all ,
This is a special day as Noel gets to ride his new (for him) Carbon Commencal.

Noel looking happy in the late evening light.
The ride up to the dam and then round Marcos trails and back out was a blast.
Lights needed again as daylight savings draws to a close.

Noel, Francis and Chris at  the edge of the dam.

Looking back across the dam, plenty of water going over the falls after 2 days of much needed rain.

The boys lurking in the native.

Cheers Pete




17/3/13
Well we have had the opportunity to get 3 rides in this week.
With no fixed order i will add the best photos from the week here with a short commentary on each.

Pete, Noel, Francis and Dave (hidden) getting ready for a ride from the Karori BMX Track.

A quick stop off out side Zealandia, Wellingtons bird sanctuary. Noel could not find any birds that he liked.

Noel and Pete after riding up the roller coaster at the Brooklyn turbine.

Sid got collared into taking the photo. Thanks mate,

Francis and Noel heading up the road to the top of Jaw bone.

A group of local lads getting ready for the big down.

Looking back at the top section of Jaw bone. Dave and Noel just visible.

 Noel making sure the young lads get to the trailer ok!

Dave competing in the gravity race down long gully road. No peddling allowed. Pete all ways wins cause hes got the most ballast!!
Francis on the Rocky demo heading down mr X towards deliverance.

A panoramic view of Wellington with the first rain in 3 weeks.

On Mt Vic heading over to Miramar for a run on Jail break. The main roads closed for the annual Mt Vic hill climb car race.

 Red track is jail break, One of the best in Town, Repeat offender (Purple) takes you across to Conviction and then up and along to Bootleg and back to the top. There is a new trail being cut down the middle ridge that is rideable now but needs a bit more work. Look out for info on trail building days.

Pete on the mighty Commencal 29 AM tackling a tight left.

Well, lots more riding happening,
Cheers Pete












 9/3/13
Saturday again.
Another beaut day.
Dave, Francis, Pete and new guy Glen out for a blast.

Glen gets to try out the new BC rocky 29er

We re road some of the tracks from Wednesday night and finished with a run across Highbury fling and down Transient.

The boys at the bottom of Tranient, Glen on the Rocky, Pete on the RTD single speed, Francis on the Comencal 26AM and Dave on his Intense. All looking in need for a refreshment.

Francis leading the way down Aro St

Guess where? The best place in town for a Tuatara APA One Red Dog.
Ride safe Pete

6/3/13
Another Wednesday night  Awesome!!
A Wednesday night ride with Nick from Jamis, Dave Zac, Alex, Ben Noel, Dr Robertson, Francis and Pete.
The slow ones took the bus to the top and the fit ones rode up.

Nick hav'n a wee rest on the log down Datsun.

Noel, Dr Bob and Ben peeking. What an amazing view over our City.

The end of another run, getting ready to load the Bus.
 

3/3/13
A Sunday ride!!
Pete and Dave had a short blast up Makara peak.

Dave at the start of Leaping Lizard
A loop down from Leaping Lizard on the new link track to nikau and then back up and down T3 and Vertigo.
T3 is nearly fully gorsed over and needs a trim, Vertigo was mint.

The skink on T3. Adam and Richards first ride on this trail and Adam nails the skink. Nice.

Lower vertigo, Adam on a tricky entry into the stream. Harder than it looks.

Dave, Rick and Adam on Vertigo.

Cheers Pete





2/3/13
Karapoti weekend.
The big race is here again.
Francis was heading out for his 24 time (Legend) Noel was hitting out in the over 60,s and Dr Robertson was looking to smash the 3 hr mark.
KOTW Jason was also on hand to add some flavor to the event and represent Team RTD

Francis sorting out his kit ready for another assault at the Karapoti.

Amanda, hav,n her first ride out for a while on the Team RTD J/ville tandem.

Long time J/ville rider and Uni cycle king Ken Lui, enjoying the pre start.

Dr Robertson looking relaxed. A 2nd sub 3 hour time to come shortly.

The view from the bridge. Yes the main crossing is deep and full of big marbles. Lots of people ended up hav,n a swim before they even made the start mat.

Wheres Wally? KOTW (Jason) looking splendid in his RTD Kit.

All the boys finished and had a ball.
Will try to load the Videos at a latter stage.
Cheers Pete


23/2/13
Wednesday night Spin and beer it.
We had a nice wee group heading out for a Wednesday night ride with new comers Ben and Dyno joining Pete, Dave, Francis, Noel and Chris for a short pre Karapoti warm up on Makra peak.

The team and the bus, out side Karori Park.

We headed up the main trail into the park with Dyno enjoying his first time out on a proper MTB bike. Dyno had hired the RTD Rocky Mountain for the journey and was hav'n a ball.
As we change into Autumn the evening light is changing so we decided to do a half loop upto the start of missing link and then across to JFK for a blast to the bottom.

A cool shot of Ben warping space and time!

Dave and Dyno in the last of the awesome evening sun.

A fun and fast ride to the car park was had by all and a few Tuatara APA beers tucked away at cafe 162 in Marsden village on the way home.

  
16/2/13
Another perfect day in Wellington.
We decided to have a ride from the shop and head out to Colonial Knob and back.

Phil and Dave getting ready to leave the shop

Ron, Mike, Phil and Dave overlooking J/ville on the old coach road.

We road out from J/ville over the Old coach road out to the Ohariu Vally intersection. From here we headed up Ohariu valley road looking to pick up the track thru the pines at the back of the tip.
There is a large amount of road works being completed, to allow the construction equipment in for the new wind farm to be brought in. Some one has build a new single track up the hill. Is is a very cool track.

 Rob, Pete, Francis. Mike and Dave at the start of the new single track.

Some sweet single track action

From the end of the single track there is a steep portage up to the open paddocks.
From here we went up the paddocks to the top of the hill.

Its a long way up there!! and that's where we are going.
this way up to the top is lots steeper than the road so its a good grunt.

Phil pushing up a steep pinch

A well earned rest at the top. Grenada north in the back ground.

Elsdon bush looking down towards Porirua.

There,s a track in here some where!

Rob with Mike lurking in the back ground.

 Francis hav,n a snack of native bush after a closer inspection of the foliage!
After leaving the knob Dave Phil and Pete headed back to J on the road and Francis, Mike and Rob went back round the valley.

Here,s Phil sneaking home thru a short cut.

Well another cracker ride, if you read this and are keen, call us for details for Wednesdays ride.
Cheers Pete





10/2/13
Catch up time.
Hi All, I hope you have had a read of the Tiger blog. It was an awesome trip.
Because of this I have missed a couple of the latest rides so in no particular order I will add some of the better pictures. 

Noel, Francis and Paul on top of Tinakori hill

Pete, Ben, Francis, Paul and Dave on Belmont trig

The top dam with plenty of water, Korokoro track

Francis and Noel, on a very high part of skyline that we don't normally get to.

Pete looking like he needs a beer, with Noel looking like he wants to get going.

Looks like we have made it!! Tuatara beers at the dog

Paul and Dave negotiate the stream down from Baked beans bend.

Ben heading home from the dam, after his first big ride

 Dave

 Starky

 

and Noel

Pete repairing a broken chain, to much power!!

Dave on Mt Vic
Enjoy for now, Cheers Pete








4/1/1
Mikimiki.
Pete and Dave have been talking about riding the Mikimiki track in the Wairarapa after reading the ride report in Dave Mitchell,s  Mountain Biking North book of 34 Great North Island rides.
Francis and Starky were both keen and a trip was planned.
We attended our good mate Stubbsie's wedding on Thursday night and had the ride planned for first thing Friday morning.
We had the bus loaded up and on the road by 9.00am and picked up Francis in Petone at 9.15am.
We cruised over the Rimutaka's and thru the smaller Wairarapa towns and headed out towards Mount Bruce.
The turn off to the start of the track is on Kiriwhakapapa Rd. After 5 k's we had a short stop for a mob of sheep that the farmer was moving.

 Note Grandad out in front looking for a new lady friend.
After another 2-3 k's of tarmac and 3 k's of gravel road we got to a neat Doc camp ground at the end of the road.

Daves bum in the foreground and the shelter with the biggest table in the world out back.

A rest stop in the beautiful bush.

Now when we started the ride the sign indicated that it was 7.8k to the other end of the trail.
The Mikimiki track is an old timber tramway that operated from about 1903 to the end of WW2.
My first thoughts were, it was a long way to come for a short ride. After a few meters down the trail the track started to soften in places. The soft patches turned into small bogs with a couple needing a dismount to skirt around. the track then started to climb and become more technical.
My thoughts on a short easy ride had changed by this point.

This is Starky at speed, he was so fast the camera could not capture him.

The top of the saddle, down hill from here.
The latter part of the climb became very technical and a lot of fun. Francis and Dave were hav'n a ball and Pete was getting in some more walking practice.
We then hit the down side with the track flowing out in front of us.
It was not long before we hit the main stream crossing.
After a bit more of a blast we poped out into the open and onto the shingle road to the other end of the ride.

   Starky blasting thru the trees.

The doc sign at the end of the Mikimiki road.

After hav'n a bit to eat we headed back towards home.
The climb back seemed a bit shorter and the last bit of the climb a wee bit more rideable.
Doc has built some nice bridges over the small streams but care must be taken over the 3rd one in.
This bridge when approached on the downward side (first leg) is very narrow.
Pete managed to hit both sides of his bars at the same time, bars at 700 wide and Starky ended up with one very sore and bruised little finger after collecting the end of the bridge.

The photographers being photographed. at the Mikimiki road end

The end of an awesome ride.
The ride in both directions with an excursion round the 1.2 k loop at the end was 16.6k (taken by Daves GPS) and the ride time was 1.49 on the bike with a total time of 2.5 hours.
This is an awesome day out, 2 hours drive each way (bus time) a bit longer on the way home as some one wanted a beer??

Cheers for now,
Pete and Dave.











2/1/1
Hi All,
The First Wednesday spin and beer it session for the year.
Hi All, Pete Dave and Dr Rob/bert//son set out for a Mt Vic hoon and sift after a big day after New years.

Another crew sifting Mt Vic. These boys were worn out and needed a rest!!

The RTD team had a good sift around the tracks smashing the dry and dusty conditions.
We had a quick blast to the summit and then headed out to the North face.

There was a big tree down over the main track so we had a wee portage to get around it.
This is a very steep and rooty section of track best ridden in the dry. The boys love this on a wet and windy wintery night.

Dave and Dr Rob/Bert//Son over looking the very best of Wellington! By this stage Dave is all ready asking, is this the way to the PUB??

Here's Dave hitting a big fan of roots on the mighty Intense.

After the wee sift on Mt Vic turned into a 2.5 hour ride the boys headed of to Regional's for a fill up of the Tuatara APA Flagoon (Old school half G (Gallon)for those not old enough to Know!!)

Now, this is a photo from the Archives (read Tautara trip) but I have agreed to have this published to pad out the story and to show the proper  use of a Tuatara flagon LOL.

The next trip on the List is an away game to Mikimiki.
Look up the results soon.
Cheers Pete and Dave.







29/12/12

Shuttle afternoon

Hi All.  After a Friday night of rain and a damp morning we decided that we would take the bus and shuttle for the afternoon.
We had our foreign correspondent Stu in attendance and Dave has decided that Zac can have a go on his intense. We headed off to Te Ahumairangi for our first couple of runs,
There has been a couple of trees down towards the bottom of Datsun and a bit of track work is taking place.

Zac sizing up the Intense.

Stu, Dave and Zac

Next on the list, we headed off to Denton park for a couple of runs of Highbury fling and then down Transient.

Well, only a short story this time and u guessed it we headed of to the dog for a glass of the wonderful Tuatara APA
Cheers Pete

25/12/12

The RTD annual  Christmas day Mt Kaukau ride.

This is a picture of Mt Kaukau taken from Johnsonville cycles car park.

Hi All, Dave and I had planned to have an afternoon ride to Kaukau to burn off some of the food that only Christmas day can bring. After not seeing middle management Phil for a while we spotted him the day before xmass and reminded him of his duty to Mountain biking.

At the start of the Old coach road , Pete, Dave and Phil

We suggested that he could drag his carbon Jamis 29er out and he could carry the chilled  bottle of Lindauer special reserve to the summit for the 2 El Presidente' to enjoy.
It just so happened that X-mass day was the warmest that we Wellingtonians have experienced for a wee while so the ride up Kaukau was going to be tough.

Time for a rest stop.

Luckily with Phil carrying all the heavy stuff and Dave loaded with the plastic glasses, it was an enjoyable (Hot) climb to the summit.

The view to the South Island looking over Makara valley and Cook straight.
After a couple of wee walking bits we managed to get to the top, With the perfect weather and no wind the view from the top was awesome.

The reward!! The boys enjoying that cold wine after the climb to the top.

While we were at the top, Keith and DJ showed up after making the walk to the summit and enjoyed a drink with us.
After an enjoyable rest we made our way (carefully)  back to the bottom and on our way home.
Have a good one,
Cheers Pete



22/12/12

The Christmas ride with Pete and Dave 
Saturday was the last chance for a group ride before Christmas, but as in other years the festivities get in the way and every one had something on.
Pete and Dave decided to get a quick early ride in and headed off up and over Tinakori hill heading for a track called school boys.
The weather was very warm with a bit of humidity about so there was a few beads of sweat to be found.
The tracks were perfect after a bit of rain on Friday as we headed up to the water tanks at the top of the hill.
The down hill run was awesome on one of the sweet trails and then a wee road run to School boys.

A view back towards town with a cruse boat at the wharf.

From School boys we headed over to Brooklyn and completed Highbury fling and then down Transient.
There were a few riders out and about so the down hill speeds were kept in check as we weaved our way down to Aro St.

Some helmet cam action on the wooden bridge on Transient.

After a quick check of the time and a calculation of time vrs number of beers required, we headed down thru town and onto the dog for a well earned beer.

Dave heading along the water front heading towards the pub.

The Dog was quite for such a nice afternoon. The ladies were quite happy about this as they said that the last 3 days had been crazy busy with all the end of year work do,s
We had a Tuatara or 2 and then set of back to the car for the trip up the hill, home.
Best wishes to all the team for x-mass and we hope to see you all out in the new year.
Cheers Pete and Dave
Team RTD



15/12/12  Backwards and the Tip track.

Hi All,
Saturday we had an awesome ride doing what we call the circumnavigation of Wellington backwards!
Dave, Francis, Noel, guest rider Brent and I set out from Thorndon and headed along the waterfront heading towards Mt Vic.

Getting ready, Francis on the new Commencal AM26
There was a cruise boat in, so lots of people walking and enjoying a mint wellington day.

 Heading up to Mt Vic and Dave posing for a nice view over Newtown

 We headed up Mt Vic and along to Mt Albert and then around to the tip track.
The weather was fine but a wee bit blustery with all having issues on a couple of corners on the tip track.

Noel wanting to own the AM29, Brookland and the harbor in the back ground.

After reaching the summit, we headed down barking Emu and into carparts, then onto Transient and down to One-Red Dog for a well earnt beer.

Noel still contemplating that nice new bike. Note the empty Jugs! Francis and Cathy contemplating the sale price of teenagers LOL

Britt, one of the lovely One Red Dog bar staff with Dave in the back ground.

After a couple of wet ones we all headed home ready for another day.

Cheers Pete





9/12/12 Tuatara Brewery ride and tour
Hi All,
The team has just had a wonderful day out riding in the Western end of the Akatarawa's finishing with  brewery tour of the Tuatara brewery.
We parked up at the new visitors center at McKays crossing and headed up to the end of the sealed road and then up Perhams rd towards Titi rd (this is known as Big ring boulevard)  

Starky, Dave, Noel, Rob and Kotw with Pete on helmet cam.

We had set out to ride the Three Sisters, but as usual we wasted to much time getting there and got lost on the way. We all had a good work out and as we were booked at the brewery @4.00pm we had our priority's set.

Crossing the stream at the end of the sealed rd.

After a slow climb (for pete) we turned and raced back down the hill back to the bus.
I must say the up hill track from the carpark is one of the better beginners trails in Wellington and would recommend it to all. Its still a decent climb, but the gradient is only 2-3 degrees, so a very good trail.

 Noel on the trail

Keith the Welsh dragon driving the bus.

Back at the bus we packed up and had a cold one from the chilli-bin and then off to the brewery.

We are always keen to get Tuatara under the belt so we were quite excited to get to the tour.

Rob, Dave, Pete, Noel, Keith, Chris, and Jason,

Keith, I think he likes this place!

 Dave had spotted a couple of very friendly Tuatara girls and ordered every one out side for a team photo.
After the tour was over and we had started to settle in, Francis and Doctor Rob/Bert//Son turned up to help with the beer drinking.

It was a very good day out, and the Brewery a nice place to spend a couple of hours at.
We will be heading back so keep an ear out for the date.
Pete



3/12/12
The team had a bus load heading of to Taupo to compete in the 83k Huka Challenge over the same weekend as the Taupo road ride.
Pete, Dave, Jason (kotw) and Starky (Chris) set off on a road trip in the bus to get to Taupo for the big race.
With differing amounts of training under the belt (should read different types of training (read beer drinking!)) The boys set of with great enthusiasm for the trip. Kotw (King of the world) was first into the carbo loading with his first beer under way by the time we got to Levin.
With a change of driver at 1/2 way Pete and Starky slipped a few beers in and all was mint by the time we got to the digs.
Keith (the Welsh Dragon) and Hit Girl Jo had the place sorted for us and it was time to get ready for the big day. Off to bed by 10.00pm   and up at 5.45am, ready to get down town for a 7.15am start

Some of the opposition, Starky ( in the Westpac top) will sort them out!

As we were expecting to podium we slipped into the 4.15-4.30 slot to let the Pro,s smooth the track for our assault.
We had to keep an eye out for Jeff Lyall and Peter Reynolds as they were lurking around looking at beating us to the first beer stop.
We had loaded Keith and Jo up with those most important Tuatara beers ready for us at the 30k mark.

See Dave checking the beer level in Petes engine and Kotw checking which eye is the best one to use as he's seeing double with both of them!!

After some encouraging words from the supporters at the 30k mark we blasted off to the tracks in Craters of the moon for a further 40 odd k's before we would get back for another beer, (tough day that!)
After another refreshing drop from our sponsers, we headed back to town with 8 k's to go to our rightful position on top of the podium.
As those who know us will understand, we had to hedge our bets as to who would get to the top step, so I had Starky slip away into the lead to ensure that the team would be well represented.
Dave, Kotw and Pete set up a solid platform for a grand team finish, slipping into the finish in an out standing time, a shade over 4.00 hours (3.10 over 4 hours to be exact LOL) Starky had an out standing day with a well placed 5.08 and Shane the panel beater with a 5.40.

There were trees here when we stopped but Pete let a wee one off.

Well, that was it, no first place, we did not win the car, but got to share another beer with RTD member Jody at the finish so off to the digs for a BBQ and a hot shower.
All and all a very good team trip away and we will be sure to be there again next year.
Cheers for now
Pete