Megaavalanche kit guide for 2010

Short kit guide for the Megaavalanche

Yourself for starters: Passport make sure you have 3months remaining, driving license, cycle license and a doctors letter written by you or your doctor.

Bike: If your only doing the megaavalanche and not the sprint then just take the 1 bike, in fact don’t even take your DH bike because you can easily ride the sprint dh track on 6inch travel bike.

Tires: Now this can the tricky bit do you take DH tires or XC well its up to you if your not bothered about rotational mass and weight then stick on the DH tire they will give you a little added protection but on the other hand if you want to keep your bike light keep rotational mass down then go xc with slightly heavier tubes. I personally go xc tires hard compound and have only punctured once or twice through the week.

Drive train: Going with a triple is the most common and good enough, its likely though you will come back with teeth missing or bent. A dual ring with bash is the best option, maybe a 28-36 setup or similar. If you feel you have the strength/power then maybe you can run single at the front with a chain guide possibly a 35T and a good 9 speed 11-34 at the rear. Or if you have the cash go for the new 10 speed rear sram setup.

Suspension: Air Shocks are fine maybe if there old have them serviced before going. Also make sure you check with the manufacturers base settings and set them up correct for your weight with all you’re riding kit on and tires pumped up to racing pressures.
Brakes: Needles to say a good set of stoppers are needed here and depending on how trigger happy you are will determine your rotor size and pad combination. I’d say, 180Fr – 160R if you’re brake efficient or 180Fr – 180Fr if you’re not so efficient and if you’re really inefficient then go for the big 203mm front and back. Get them bleed before you go and get some high end brake fluid put in, go to Halfords or similar and buy quality stuff it’s the boil up of the fluid that usually wipes out your pad to disc contact power Pads Organic in the dry and sintered if it rains..

Goggles: DO NOT WEAR SUNGLASSES!!! Reason being, when you want to get rid of them because there covered in dust, water or sweat, you cant! unless you stop and put them abay or have a lanyard attached to them, but then they will jump around hitting your helmet and body.

Essentials: Adjustable Seat posts: If you’re going for a good result then get yourself a gravity seat post enough said.

Water bottle rack and bottle: This is one component that is forgot about or not used by many riders because it’s too roadie or not cool. Well il tell you this it’s one of the best upgrades for your bike, having nothing on your back is great it stops you getting all sweaty and stops you being top heavy, keep the weight low and fill your pockets. Get yourself a pair of endura shorts or similar and you can carry everything you need in the pockets Pump, tube, repair kit levers etc. but carry a small backpack if you feel the need to just don’t over pack it, all you need are the essentials, you don’t need a workshop on your back.

Good multi tool: Essential saves taking allot of other crap.

Tire Levers: Metal tire, levers not plastic.

Energy Gels: Glucose and fructose based.

Recovery drinks: SIS Rego recovery all the way baby.

Indoor cyling Fitness For Beginners

Training at any time for most people can be a hassle, not only does it take up time but it hurts the next day and you end up walking around like you have soiled yourself for a couple of days, and that for most people is enough to knock the training on the head..
But,Its this sorness that we need to overcome, once you get beyond that Lactate build up (the feeling you get when your legs are heavy) and muscle cell repair it's rare that this will happen again unless you let your training slip for a few weeks. The reason for getting this muscle sorness is due to the muscle cells being ripped apart then rebuilding. Its a bit like evolution they try to evolve they rebuild stronger and try to protect against this happening again. This is an on going process that needs to be done a few times till your muscles are conditioned enough for cycling at your what ever level your trying to reach.

Below are a 2 programs for indoor training, they are very basic fitness programs that are there to get you going they are aimed at sorting out your Aerobic fitness levels and condition you enough to help move on to bigger things.

Before you start we will use a sytem called PE ( Percived Effort) Its a scale of 1-10 (1= easy and 10=V.V.Hard 100% effort) and you have to judge yourslef on how hard you are workin its a good way to motivate yourself as you can ask yourself how hard am i going could i go harder? For these programs i would try and get a percived effort of around 7. if your using a HR monitor this would be around 70% maximum hr. There are other ways PE can be used but i will tell you more about this at another time.

Indoor cycling programs:by Jesper Bondo Medhus Training for Cylclists

Aerobic power 1 (50 minutes)

15 minutes – Warm up (increasing intensity)
5 x (4min high intensity + 2min low intensity)
5 minutes cool down

Aerobic power 2 (49 minutes)

15 minutes – warm up (increasing intensity)
5 x (40 sec. very high intensity – 20 sec. low intensity)
3 minutes recovery5 x (40 sec. very high intensity – 20 sec. low intensity)
3 minutes recovery5 x (40 sec. very high intensity – 20 sec. low intensity)
3 minutes recovery5 x (40 sec. very high intensity – 20 sec. low intensity)
5 minutes cool down

This program is also designed to increase your maximum oxygen consumption. You work with a slightly higher intensity during the intervals than in the previous ‘Aerobic Power 1′ program. You will also gain increments in your anaerobic capacity.
You can expect results after only a couple of training sessions. This program really rocks.

Enjoy

Indoor cycling programs:by Jesper Bondo Medhus http://www.training4cyclists.com/effective-programs-for-indoor-cycling/

Freecaster.tv: MTB - Freecaster.tv MTB World Cup 2009 DVD Trailer

Take a look at the trailer for the MTB World Cup 2009

Freecaster.tv: MTB - Freecaster.tv MTB World Cup 2009 DVD Trailer

Shared via AddThis

Kill the Bill, Fort William this weekend

I got home from work on tuesday and Steve Boyd calls me letting me know that there is a race on at FW this weekend so im entered and going up tomorrow for a weekend of getting soaked, muddy bruised and drunk. This should be a good laugh

KILL THE BILL ONLINE ENTRIES STILL AVAILABLE UNTIL TUESDAY 1ST SEPTEMBER AT 1PM AND ENTRIES AVAILABLE AT NEVIS RANGE ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON 4TH SEPT AND SATURDAY MORNING 5TH SEPT - CALL MIKE DIRECT ON 07921 453 033

Glentress Busy Trails

I got myself over to Glentress on Saturday, the first time in a long time that i had ridden there on a weekend. I couldn't believe the amount of people that place attracts there must of been over 200 people just there for the riding. You have every age group from 3year olds upwards.

The riding there is fun not the most challenging since they have made every trail about 4ft wide and hardpack, there are one or two bits that are tricky and technical but not much. The XC Back route is by far the best trail there and although its a slog up to the top its well worth it. The DH section after the mast is excellent it has little bits of everything. Its a trail that if you push hard you get the best from but if your not that great on a bike you can still make it down at your own pace without to much difficulty and you will have had a great time. The other trails spooky woods etc are great if your just getting into riding and even if you are good on a bike it can still be great fun, its just the fact it lacks the technical traits that make it a bit boring for people who like to push themselves a bit. And the other downside is the amount of people on the trial's at weekends (black route not included) you can get stuck behind people quite often and it gets a bit frustrating especially when you tell them your there ad they do nothing, your not wanting to spoil there ride just cause someone is ripping it up behind them but to just if they could acknowledge you or give you a signal to pass or something.

All in all it was great weather and its good to see people getting out the house families hanging out with there kids.

Morzine

Where do i start with this crazy holiday!!

I arrived on thursday afternoon after a long but comfortabile drive in Willy and Maurines (his wife) motorhome, we took turns at driving and sleeping and done the journey from my place in Berwick to Morzine in approximatley 20hours.

I was welcomed by Angela and Damiean the owners of the chalet where im staying, Chalet Adonis (http://www.morzine-retreats.com). They are both down to earth sound guys and they make your stay real comfortabile.

Next day i met up with my mates Callum, Ross and Bonga(Barcode). Ross had broke his finger a few days earlier so he could't ride his bike but Callum and Bonga were up for it so we all went up the plenny and spent the afternoon riding some secret tracks that branch of the plenny run.
I was riding clipped in on my DH bike, not for the first time but not something i do all the time and it was causing me problems on the muddy steep sections. I was struggling to keep the pace with the two of them down some steep off camber muddy sections, they were flying and it was hard work on these tracks.

That night i went to there campsite and met up with Willy and the boys, we decided to head out for some drinks as at my Chalet there were 8 girls staying and they were going for a night out to including Angela. The boys were well excited, so i met everyone in town that night. We headed to the normal haunts in Morzine and obviously got pissed. All of us apart from Willy and maurine headed back to the chalet for a few drinks, after a few drinks (time now about 3am) Ross decided to get in the Hot tub and that just opened the flood gates, 2 min later everyone was jumping in and booze started flowing. Everyone was having a blast and the lads were doing there best to get fired into one of the girls but they were having none of it. The party ended when Angela fell off the hot tub and banged her head off the decking.

The next day we were all rough and i had promised willy i would take him out on the bikes, just as i started fixing my bike the rain started pouring down and i was well pleased as it to heavy to go riding and my hangover was to bad to be on a bike.

That night we went up to Lake Montriond to watch a fireworks and laser light show, the Fireworks were amazing and there must of been around 300 people there. They had bands playing Dj's on and most important beer tents, it was like a mini festival. We were up till 5am drinking again but i was up at 9am to take willy out on the DH bikes. Ross lent willy his bike and pass and we headed up. Willy was great on the bike I took him down the Plenny run and he made it no worries, 52 year old and he is going faster than some 20year olds.

later on i met up with the lads and we let willy crack on with his own thing on the bike. We headed of on some more tough tracks and yet again i was finding it hard to keep up.

The rest of the trip was all about the riding although i was still having far to much booze and late nights but it was worth it. The lads left on wedensday and i had 1 more day to go. I headed out riding with Damiean and then later on met up with Willy who tried to ride again but his shoulder was to sore so he headed off. Damiean and I met up with an MSC team rider Calum and we done a few runs of the pleny then went to the Super morzine and done some trails up there. Next day im on the flight heading home.

So glad i went on this trip i learned a good few things from it..

Morzine

Im in Morzine, France at the minute im off riding in 20min so il tell you all wat i've been up to the last few days tonight.

Full British championships DH results 2009

With Peaty wiping out on the last corner and Danny hart being beat into second place after crashing by .03 seconds the weekend held some of the best racing i have seen this year so far.

http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/zuvvi/media/bc_files/mtb/British_DH_Champs_results_2009.pdf

Megaavalanche Trip 2009

This report is a bit late but I thought id post it up anyways so anyone thinking of going can get a little insight into one of the most lung busting and leg aching rides you will do in your MTB life’s.

On this trip was Steve (Icycles) Deas, Martin (Bart) Nairn and myself Dave (The Weapon) Emery.

After month’s well days of meticulous planning the trip was under way, setting off from the far out regions of Peeblesshire at the ridiculous time of 01:30am Sunday the 5th July.
We had set the van up so one of us could sleep while the other two sat in the front one trying to keep the driver awake and vice versa as none of us had had any sleep. Steve took the first stint of driving which lasted about 45min and he pulled over at the border saying he was too tired to drive; it has to be the age. Bart took over and we were on route again heading down the A68 to Newcastle. The sun started to come up about 2hrs into the drive this wasn’t good for the guys in the front as it made you feel like you’re all nighter should be over and it was time to hit the sack but no we had another 6 hrs of driving to go till Dover. Bart nailed about 2-3 hours of the driving then I took over for about the same amount of time. Then after 5 hours of sleep we got Steve up and he drove the rest to Dover probably about 1hrs worth. We got the ferry over to Calais and stepped onto French soil about 14:30, the sun was shining and it was hot and muggy perfect conditions for driving to the south of France with no AC and 3 sweaty guys in a van.

The French motorways are great, you have to pay an arm and a leg for them but you get to where you’re going fast. I think the toll roads or Peage cost about €100 but in comparison to the UK we drove approx 700miles in same time it took us to do 400miles on the wonderful British road system.
We took turns driving all the way down but Bart took the brunt of it. We got to Grenoble about 20:30 and that left us approx an hour and a half to go one hour to Bourg d Oisans the small town at the foot of the famous climb for the Tour d France from there it’s a 30min to drive up to the mountain resort of Alp d Huez, this climb is awesome and the record for it is 28min on a road bike which until you see it and drive up it you can’t describe how any human being could achieve this without a massive dose of drugs and a jet pack.
We had planned to meet up with my friend Jammy and all his pals who had been there for a week training and riding the tracks around the Alp d Huez area.
We finally arrived at the Freeride bar in Alp d Huez at 10:30 totally wrecked from lack of sleep and service station food, our journey had taken us 22 hours. Bart and I would be lucky if we had managed to get 2 hours sleep the whole journey, Steve managed we think about 7 hours spending most of his time in the back of the van.
We stayed with Jammy for about 25min but the lack of sleep was getting the better of us so we had to go so we could get the Tents set up and get some sleep for the following days riding. With the tents finally erected and 40 pegs bent into arches after trying to smash them into the hardest ground ever we shut the tent door and slept until the next morning.

Monday we got up nice and sharp and headed to the shops to get some breakfast and have a coffee then we got sorted with our lift passes from the main gondola station. We then started putting the bikes together and sorting ourselves out for the days riding ahead, Steve was faffing on with his bike and almost every person that came over new him and he was talking to them for ages so that delayed us even more. Me and Ed another mate who is camping next to us went up to the to the first gondola station and done a warm up run down the Gay track of love (named that because it’s an easy track to ride but everyone loves it). Eventually at 12:00 Clive my mate from, well everywhere really he is like a little piky always on the move, met us and we decided to have a coffee while Steve was getting ready we waited for 2 other guys then we would head up the mountain.
Once everyone was ready we made our way up on the gondola to hit the trails. Monday is a kind of get used to the place day and if your entered into the Sprint DH race on the Wednesday is the only day you can really get to yourself.
The riding was good rough, technical and fast everything you need to have a good day on the bikes we went down allot of single track then made our way up to the start of qualifier to have a look at the conditions and ride the track. The day finished off about 17:00 with a run down the gay track of love then we got some shopping from the local spar shop, I spent €48 and had nothing to show for it, these mountain towns just rip you off.
After fixing the bikes up we got Fed had a few beers then it was time to hit the sack.

Tuesday was practise day on the DH bikes for the Sprint at a place called Oz en Oisans you can get there easy from Alp d Huez by either cycling down one of the single tracks or taking the lifts. We took the qualifier track down to the Oz lift station and collected our race boards for the Sprint DH. They stager the practice runs into odd and even numbers to try and stop the lifts getting rammed but it doesn’t work and people still queue up regardless. We must of got about 6 runs in I had 4 crashes Bart had a couple and I think Steve got down cleanly the whole day.
At the end of the day we headed up on the lift back to Alp d Huez and went up on the gondola to the middle section of the qualifier we had a great run down with no crashes or mechanicals.

Wednesday was an early start and over to Oz for the Sprint DH your number on your board determines where you start the race and I was quite high up so I had a late start about 10:30 but it’s good to get there early so you can watch everyone else coming down. You get 2 timed race runs then if you make the top 50 out of about 350 you have to race a third time in an event they call the super cup. The course was super dry and dusty and the first riders down were setting 5min plus times after about 45min the times started to creep below the 5min mark and the real fast guys were well below the 4min 30sec mark. I posted a 4:43 Bart a 4:45 and Steve must of had a problem cause he came in at 5:15 no not in the afternoon that is min and sec’s (he’s not going to like that). The second run I never went up because I had buckled my front wheel, Bart and Steve went back up though Steve posted a 5:08 and was not happy, Bart punctured up top and his race was over. Overall Winner on the day was Chris Kovarik with Fabien Barrel in second.

Thursday was sign on day for the mega avalanche you do this down at the sports centre in town. We all signed on and after falling out with each other for trivial shit Bart and I headed up to go and do a full lap of the Mega avalanche course Steve went with 2 other guys later on that day. The route itself starts out on the glacier of Pic Blanc at a height of 3200m and drops down into alp d huez then you traverse around the valley and drop down the other side finishing of in Allemont at a height of 720m. We had a lot of fun up on the snow and took a few pictures then headed off the snow onto the single track, IL give you a brief rundown of the course from here.

You go onto the single track which is rocky dusty and steep. Once on this section there is almost no chance of overtaking as it’s too steep either side, this section runs for about 2-3miles and when you’re stuck behind people it becomes annoying because it’s one of the best single tracks in the place and you constantly get stuck behind people who won’t move. Once clear of this you climb up this short section and Alp d Huez comes into view, this is one of the toughest climbs on the course, it’s a good place to pick up some positions on race day though if your fit enough and your bike is still in one piece. Dropping down into Alp d Huez is good fun it’s mostly downhill with a few short climbs. After this your onto the traverse, this is a new addition to the course and in my opinion its wank you can’t get passed people and it’s not at all challenging. After that disappointment though you ride some amazing downhill sections wide-open and fast with good corners, you then enter the woods and your lungs are bust open with about 4-5 short rolling uphill sections one after the other but again after this brutal section is over you head onto some amazing single track steep, technical, rooty and rocky it’s got everything to keep you interested, one lack of concentration on this section and your mince meat as your going that fast and you’re not far from the edge. By now you’re not far from the end and it’s much the same all the way down to the end bar one little road climb about 100m long. You cross a bridge sprint along a road and that’s it, the course is approx 17miles long. Once there you can get a free bus back up to the Oz chairlift and make your way back to Alp d huez.

After doing the whole route which took about 2-3 hours just taking our time that was us for the day we headed back to campsite and took it easy as the next day it was the qualifiers.

Friday morning we got up and done some final preparations for the Qualifiers Steve was first away as his qualifying number was in the 600’s that means he was in the 3rd qualifying group each qualifying group holds 200 riders and there were 8 qualifiers. Everyone knows what time there qualifying run starts and you’re not meant to get on the lift until near that time but yet again you get guys going up who’s runs won’t start for 3 hours and they make the queue for the lifts massive by queuing ridiculously early and some people miss there runs because of this.
Bart and I managed to get a lift up to the first station. If you are on the gondola this is where you get off and have to cycle along a dirt road to get to the lift that takes you to the start of the qualifier. I got up to the top just in time and got onto my start line right at the front of the pack. I had Kovarik, Hart and Absalon right next to me talk about pressure. The euro music sounds and the 5 sec board goes up then you’re off. I had a crap start after one of the officials tried to stop us for a false start on one of the ends of the row a few of us slowed down a little then when we realised no one else was we got back up to speed. The first few corners are amazing you’re shoulder to shoulder with some of the best riders in the world gunning for a good position before the 1st lift station. You cross over a small snow section and then pass the lift station, you need to be in a good position now or you could find yourself stuck behind a slower rider with nowhere to overtake... I and a few guys behind me had this problem some guy in front was a poor downhiller but good on the straights so he would pull a little lead on the small straights and then hold you back on the rough sections and there is nothing you can do until your clear of this section, you may get lucky and he will fall or you may just get the squeeze on a corner if you’re lucky. Half way down this top section I hit a small kicker and my foot slipped off my pedal and I fell onto my seat I never thought nothing of it until I tried to start pedalling I then realised my seat had broke off and fell in between my frame and wheel. I had to stop to get it out and lost a few places. I got back on and carried on until the end where I finished 28th out of 200. I wasn’t happy but I had qualified for the main Mega race (only the first 45 of each group qualify for the main mega the remainder go into the mega promo) Steve and Bart also made the main mega finishing higher than me, Bart had finished in 12th place which was an amazing achievement considering his shit fitness. Later that day we done some short rides met up with some friends and had some pizza and pasta.

Saturday If you’re not racing in the Mega promo you get the day off and can have a lie in before you spend the day sorting your stuff out for the next day’s race. Nothing much went on today we just drank coffee ate food and tightened bolts.
Steve, Clive and I went up to the second lift station just to have a light run down and check everything over, I was lucky we did this as my rear brake hose bolt came off and i lost all the fluid which means no brakes, I ended up hitting this steep section before I realised and was picking up allot of speed, all the fluid was pissing out I had tried to ride it out but it was too rough so my only option was to bail out. Clive took me down the ski piste as it was too rough to go down the normal route with no back brake. I got down headed to the Hope trade stand and they sorted my brake out for me.
We were all ready for the Mega avalanche now and after getting a crap lasagne meal we got an early night.

I know this sounds like we never went out with all these early nights but we did have a few jars most nights it was just the price of beers was so expensive it was €18 a round.

Sunday we were all up at 06:00 and it was freezing, the weather was looking good for the day and we were all nervous about the race ahead. You get given a queue time to join the lift and for the first time everyone seemed to obey it. Bart was away before Steve and me because he had qualified a few rows ahead of us Steve and I joined the queue and made our way to the top of pic Blanc. Once up there you can feel the tension in the air. They start putting you onto your rows and then it’s not long till the race starts. Once everyone was on the line ready the music went on there was 3 helicopters flying about and it just made you even more nervous. The 1min to go board went up then the 30sec then the 5sec..... GO!!!! the race was underway, I was running with my bike and so was Steve who I could see just in front of me I tried to follow him but was getting hit by rocks sliding down under my feet, once round the bottle neck start it was down a short rocky section and onto the snow I crashed about 4 times on the snow and almost quit but then Steve and a guy from Dirt mag Rob Brakewell passed me and I thought fuck it I’m gonna catch them that’s my target. I caught Rob after the single track, his chain had snapped I think so that was 1 down next was Steve but he’s a strong rider and I thought he was off as I couldn’t see him. We got off the downhill and climbed the small but tough climb up to the plateau half way up I saw Steve and started pushing, I overtook him and on the way past tried to give him words of encouragement but could hardly speak let alone breathe. I made a few places up here and on the start of the traverse where I could, but it was so hard to overtake on this singletrack. Hitting the downhill section I took a few more places, it was so dusty it was hard to see where you were going at times. Into the woods and onto the rolling hill sections there were queues of people pushing up and there was nowhere to go apart from wait your turn. Some guy was trying to force his way through and on the second uphill section he tried to get a run up from the short down of the last uphill bit jumped off his bike but jumped to far and went over the edge everyone was laughing as he tried to scramble back up and some guy kicked his bike over the edge, I never saw him again. There were people all over the route repairing their bikes and picking themselves up from falling, its crazy the amount of people around you. The last little climb which is on the road for about 100m then drops back into the woods this was where I spotted Bart and I flew past him laughing, he had broke his entire front crank and his chain was bust. When I crossed the finish line I had done a crap 1hr18min, now for a 16.8mile course this was rubbish but what the hell we had all finished and we had all had an amazing time. We talked about the race all the way home that day/night and we are still going on about it now. [The End]

Its been a while but im back

I have not posted much since my return trip from NZ. I had a great time met great people and the mountain biking was great.

I'm heading off to Alp d Huez, France today to take part in the Megaavalanche race which is a moutnain bike enduro epic with approx 1600 riders covering 32km of some of the best terrain you could imagine and add that with some of the best scenery its a winner.

Steve Deas, Martin "Bart" Nairn and myself are heading off from peebles,Scotalnd at around midnight tonight and we excpect to get to Alp d Huez about 11pm sunday night. First thing monday morning it will busy busy!! collecting lift passes and sorting all the gear out for the following weeks riding.

On the the wedensday we have the Sprint Avalanche in Oz en Oisans its a timed DH race seperate from the Megaavalanche there will be some big names there so it will be a tough race. I think there will be around 300 riders and only the top 50 go through so fingers crossed

Keep posted through the week or better still subscribe to my posts and keep an eye on how we are getting on..

Waitomo Caves

Thurdsday 29th Feb 2009

The Waitomo caves are situated on the West coast of New Zealands north island just below Hamilton and about a 3hr drive from Auckland. The company there runs caving trips for visitors and they get you all suited and booted so you can tackle the caves, see the glow worms and jump off underground waterfalls.

I got there at 13:00 and was due to go on a cave trip at 14:00 but decided against it when i realised it was $200, I'm not a tight arse but I just thought this was a bit much for what they were offering, (much like many of NZ's attractions) so i left the caves and headed for my sisters in Auckland arriving there around 18:00.

My time in New Plymouth

Sunday 22nd febuary



I Arrived in Picton around 5pm and found a campsite to stay at the owners wanted $36 pn I said to the guy no way and laughed then he started chatting to me in this totally gay voice so i thought Il chat him up a bit see if he can get me into the campsite for any cheaper, I was telling him the usual stuff like where id been where i was going and then all of a sudden he said look you cans stay for $18, I thought bonus it worked then i thought oh shit I hope he ain't put me somewhere near where he stays..... but then a woman walked in and she turned out to be his wife so there was no way that i was going to get chatted up or pulled or anything by some guy thank god for that.
The next morning i got myself sorted with some food and just relaxed until my ferry was due.
After the crossing i hit the road and headed for Waitara near New Plymouth to stay with a friend of the family, Tony McCourt and his wife.I arrived at Tonys on the Tuesday morning. The 2 days i spent there we went out in the fishing boat and i caught my first fish, i managed to catch 3 Snapper and a fish that was about the size of a Salmon but can’t remember its name, We also had 4 or 5 dolphins decide to come and play with the boat as we were cruising along so that was a good experience. At the end of the day the fish got prepared for dinner and that night we all went out in New Plymouth to the Billy Conolly show that was on, it was a good night although Tony’s wife who is from Siberia was struggling to tell what he was saying and the only words she did seem to pick up on were CU*N* and FU*K so i don’t think she really enjoyed it.
The next day we went to Dawson’s Falls but on the way stopped off at an event New Plymouth holds every year called Americarna, its an event where American car lovers can bring there cars along and show them off to all who come along. After seeing some amazing classics we headed off to the water fall and looked about the Taranaki District before heading for home and eating the fish we had all caught the day before. I was dissapointed i neveer got the chance to climb Mt Taranaki which i had planned to do and i never got any shots either due to the low cloud on the summit.

I left Tony’s about 10:30 on the Thursday to make my way to the Waiatomo caves then onto Auckland. I had a really good time here and look forward to visiting them again in the future.

Some random photos of my trip

This is a selection of my favourite photos from my NZ trip

The West coast has to be one of the highlights of my trip even though i done it super quick and it rained torrential the whole time i was there.

I cant really describe how nice it is so IL put a couple of photos on and let you see for yourselves.

Its now Sunday 22nd Feb and I'm waiting for my ferry to the north Island which is tomorrow at

Heli Biking and my last 2 days in Queenstown

Wednesday 18th

I got up at 6:15 so that i could get over to Wanaka (1hr drive) for my Heli Biking, the chopper departed at 09:00 and i was meeting Dan (the Guide and owner of Freeridenz) in Wanaka then heading out to the heliport to catch the chopper. On arrival we sorted out the bikes and gear then Dan and his mate headed of with the bikes so they could be underslung to the start point of the Riding then the chopper would come back for Myself and 2 others that were biking that day.
The Chopper took us up to about 6000ft and the descent would take 2-3 hours. The weather was great ad the views at the top were unreal, the track consisted of Dual single track 4x4 tracks and some grass areas all was good ad the morning went well. After the riding we were all treated to a pub lunch and a beer which went down a treat after the ride.
Dan invited me to go riding with his mates at one of the NZ National DH tracks at a place called Snowpark, i was well up for that in the mean time e had some things to do so he took me to some of his local trails in Wanaka and i played about there for a while until he was sorted. He rang me and i meet him at his house and also met an Irish lad called Rob from Dublin. We headed out to Snow park and rode the track for about 2-3 hours, the course was amazing tight steep long and technical everything you need in a DH track. At the end of the night i stayed at Dan's and Rob went back to his pad.

Thursday 19th

The next day Rob ad i had arranged to head to Coronet peak just outside Quenstown to do some DH riding and Dan with his mates would meet us later. Coronet peak has a chair lift and is open from 11:00 - 19:30 there are 3 courses a 2 intermediate and a real good DH track.
The DH track was a bit cut up after they had held one of the NZ South Island Nationals there the weekend before but it was still good. I tried to jump the canyon or gully jump and had made it but i think i was going to fast and landed way down the bottom of the steep chute and was promptly ejected from my bike as it bottomed out i got up and could not believe i had walked away with only a couple of scratches and a bruised leg, the rest of the day went well i only done the jump once more and just left it the rest of the day as it kind of messed up my head a little.
Dan and his mates turned up and we just stayed till the end of the night on the track then we all said our goodbyes and i headed back to my campsite hoping to see them again in the future.

That night i headed round to Aerons house and had a few beers with him, Eric, and Karen, and just relaxed til about 2am then i headed to bed. I went round to Aerons house in the morning as it was pissing with rain and said goodbye to Karen and Eric and made my way to NZ's West coast.

Queenstown

Well i have spent the last week in Queenstown with a couple of trips to Wanaka and i have had the best time of my trip so far i have been on the drink with 4 Germans who were staying at the same campsite and we went to a drum and bass night and it got a bit messy as we never got back in till 6am but its all good. The the next night we all had a barbe and got pissed again before they all left for the fjords.

I met up with a lad called Aeron who is a friend of a friend. I went round to his Gaff after he invited me which is just 2min from the centre in Queenstown and had a few beers with Aeron, Eric(HisCanadian flat mate) and a girl called Karen who is his best mate from home and was over visiting all of who are sound people.

After a few drinks we headed into the centre of town for a good sesh. We were all drinking the local beers and ended up staying on a beer called Ragglers for most of the night as this was one of the best, it was a real good night and i ended up staying at Aerons place as we had a few more Bevvy's when we all got back to the flat. The next day Aeron had to go to work so I went to Wanaka with Aerons mate Karen i wanted to check out the Heli Biking over there so hung over we both headed out to Wanaka. I loved Wanaka the place is so chilled out its situated right on Wanaka lake and its an awesome place, we wet into the main centre to get some food and chill out then we headed to the lake front and just sat about getting burned of the schorching sun.

I got myself sorted with a Helli bike ride and was well looking forward to the next day. In the late afternoon we headed back to Queenstown with a quick stop in Cardrona to look at NZ's oldest hotel.

Mt Cook trip

New Bit Added

I arrived in Mt cook about 18:00 on friday the 13th,I stopped at a two lakes on the way Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki to grab some quick photos. The weather was rubbish with low cloud and drizzle but the drive over was stil good as the mountains were always in view and the lakes en-route are the brightest blue lakes i've ever seen.




That night i had a look about then found a nice camp area to make home for the next couple of days. After sorting out the camper i headed for a quick walk around the area but with the weather being bad there was not much to see i took a few snaps and kept my fingers crossed that the weather would change for the better the next morning. I went into the Mt Cook Edmund Hillary museum and that was well cool seeing all the old cars, planes sledges and general equiptment they had to use back then, I also got to watch my first 3D movie a movie about how the Mt Cook area was born and flights over the mountain, ice climbing from a 1st erson perspective plus a few other things in the Mt Cook Cinema it was a great movie and spacey as hell it felt like you could actualy grab stuff i was tripping. I never thought 3D movies would be that good but this was amazing. After that i headed to bed. When i woke up the weather was much the same so i decided to go for a walk along the Hokker Valley and see the glacier. The walk along was about a 8 mile return and was easy not many hills but still a good walk.










After my walk the Marco and Andre turned up so we decided to go climbing along the valley for a bit then in the morning we would climb up the muller hut route. That night we just had food and drank beer.

Saturday 14/02/2009
Woke up about 9 and had some brekfast the lads got up a bit later and then we planned the walk half way to the muller hut which is at approx: 1700m we walked to 1318m from approx: 600m. As we were getting ready to go the van next to us started moving back and forth making a squeaking noise, this van was about the size of a rascal van a tiny thing and im sure you can imagine what was going on inside... Then all of a suden the back door opened on its own and everyone in the carpark was laughing there heads off at this couple. The couple just closed the van door and carried on about there business .
The weather had been great all day so i managed to get alot of pictures of Mt cook and the surrounding area. Later that day i said goodbye to the lads for the final time and set a course for Queenstown, this would be my last place before heading up the West coast of both islands and back to Auckland.

Christchurch

My last 2 days thursday 12th and friday 13th in Christchurch were wet ones so no biking got done as they don't let you on the tracks when it rains as it wrecks them so i met up with the marco and andre on the thursday and we just hung out around town. We ended up going to the local leisure centre and going for a swim, jacuzzi, sauna etc and that passed the afternoon, That night they left for Mt cook via Lake Tekapo were they would stay till friday morning. I stayed in Christchurch for one more night hoping to get 1 last days biking in before i left but i woke on te friday morning to the sound of rain smashing of the tin roof of my camper van..Not to worry though as i had a plan B and it was to go to the Antarctic centre and take a look around. I payed $48 to get in which i tried to haggle down cause i thought that was a bit of a rip off but it was either pay it or piss off so i payed it. Once in i thought the place seemed pretty cool i reached the penguin enclosure at feeding time so i was buzzing to see what a penguin was like ( for no real reason i was just wondering how big they were as i had been told they are as big as 5ft) when i saw the penguins they were about 1ft high i was well gutted and they fedding bit was crap so that was a waste of time. I headed of to the storm room, every 30min for about 4min storm conditions are re-created in this room and if your brave enough you can go in and feel what its like to be in a wind and snow storm at -18 this place was ace i had good fun in there everyone else took off when it started getting to cold. After that there was just a few boards up around the place and some musem bits but for $48 i wont do that again. When i came out it was still raining so i decided to head to Mt cook.

Photo Links

This link will take you to all my photos...Enjoy

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/mtbdownhiller?feat=email

The first 6 albums are NZ there will be more to follow

Mincing about Christchurch

Just a quickeeeeee!! Went biking the other day and went climbing yesterday, had real good fun at the biking but it was way to hot, i think 35.C... 

Yesterday i went climbing and was there from 10:30  till 19:30 then with the lads it was class we then headed to the pub for burgers and beer later on we all camped up on the mountain...

Today its been raining so im not allowed to ride my bike, the trailbuilders here close the tracks in the wet to stop them getting busted up.....

Off to Mt Cook tomorrow, looking forward to that..