No surprises

I went for a mountain bike ride on the weekend. I love my mountain bike. It's a Giant XTC, a bit more cross-country than the full-suspension bikes that my riding buddies are all throwing around, but from my experience it's about the closest thing that you can get to a BMX and still be riding a mountain bike. A sweet, sweet ride. Even though it was technically a training ride I didn't see the problem with inviting a few extra people along, so The Lawyer and I started off with a nice ride down the Hutt River Trail to get warmed up, before heading...

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28 Mar 2016 ECNZ , enduro , family , hills , maintenance , mountain biking , thoughts , time , Wainui , Wainui Trail Project 1 comment

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Keeping it ticking over

It seems to be the month for it! 3000km have come and gone since I purchased my bike and it's time for some scheduled maintenance. I'm relatively happy about this. It's not going to be overly cheap, but apparently this isn't a cheap hobby (although a quick Google for 'expensive hobbies' returns plenty of lists which 'cycling' is not mentioned in. Perhaps I should take up Aviation?) Throughout the rigmarole with the strange noises coming from my bike I've become more conscious about the wear and tear on the bike. The idea of losing brakes,...

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21 Mar 2016 fi'zi:k , Kiwivelo , maintenance , mechanics , noises , Shimano No comments

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Squeaky Noises

In the middle of the country there is very little noise. The wind in the trees, a babbling brook, the occasional farm-related animal sound far in the distance, and the peace only being broken by farming equipment trundling along. Cars occasionally whoosh by, but for the most part it's just the sound of heavy breathing, and rubber on tarmac. I love this landscape of sounds. It's peaceful. It's one of the reasons I am here. The sounds I am not expecting are from something on the bike going 'plink', 'plink'. Creaking noises. rattles. The...

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14 Mar 2016 Capital Cycles , Fulcrum , Kiwivelo , mechanics , noises , sanity , Shimano , wheels , wheelsets , Wheelworks No comments

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264 Days to Go

It's been a hard week. Not because I've actually done much, but what I have done has been hard. Heck, I was away for the weekend at the Otaki Kite Festival, didn't take my bike, and my legs were still hurting when I came back. My Top Secret Personal Trainer has me climbing hills on the way to work most days, and I'm pegged to go out for 2-4 hour rides each day on the weekends. My week-day morning rides conveniently extend my commutes so I can spend time with the family in the evenings. These rides are all about detours; and all of those detours...

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7 Mar 2016 commute , commuting , hills , progress , thoughts , training No comments

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