Introduction to a punter

I'm a recreational cyclist, living in Lower Hutt, New Zealand and riding road and mountain bikes.

I used to mountain bike as a university student in the 90's, riding tracks around Dunedin - Flagstaff and Swampy Summit, Signal Hill, and the dirt back roads of the Peninsula. I had a pretty basic rigid steel GT Timberline, not a flash bike, but I got to some cool places and enjoyed myself. In the late 90's I got more into running, did a pretty slow Otago Harbour marathon in 2000 or so, then some trail running - the inaugural Pulpit Rock pursuit stands out as a highlight, as does the Three Peaks race over Flagstaff, Swampy and Mount Cargill. The bike was left to commuting duties. I kept the running going after moving to Lower Hutt, and ran with Hutt Valley Harriers for a few years, did a couple of half marathons and some more trail running, and kept riding to work.

After some long-running injuries made running increasingly frustrating, I turned back to the bikes for endurance sport. After finally riding te old GT into the ground as a slicked-up commuter, then riding a stop-gap Healing 10-speed for a while, I got an entry level road bike three years ago and went road riding, including some club racing with PNP. I'm enjoying that, love heading out for an Akatarawas or Makara loop, and still learning things every time I go racing and get smashed by C-grade.

The new thrill in my cycling life though, is mountain biking again! A crew of volunteers has built the Wainuiomata Trail Park, a mountain bike park just over the hill, and so I've bought a mountain bike again, in order to re-learn how to ride singletrack and get amongst it. I got the new machine on Saturday afternoon and have so far ridden Sunday morning, and Monday and Tuesday lunchtimes in the trail park. I'm starting to get the hang of keeping it moving through the tight corners, learning how far I can trust the bike with its huge floaty tyres and suspension fork and trying to recover the balance I'm sure I used to have. This blog will record some of my road and mountain bike riding, as well as anything else I can think to add. If I can convince my ankle to play along, there might even be some running again!