Roxburgh Gorge Trail

Welcome to my blog about biking in New Zealand! Note that it's written in Swedish AND English, with the Swedish version first, followed by the English version in italic font. Enjoy your reading!

Sa... aven om jag namnde att jag inte haft mycket motivation till att cykla den sista tiden, sa tog jag mig anda ut pa en 44 km tur igar, fortfarande med Lake Onslow backen i benen. Jag har inte cyklat Roxburgh Gorge Trail pa sakert ett halvar, och det har var forsta gangen pa mitt nya vapen. Det var helt enkelt superroligt! 

Roxburgh Gorge Trail oppnade 2013, och gar fran Alexandra till Roxburgh, med vattentaxi nagra km i mitten. Jag har aldrig tagit vattentaxin, men det ar aven en kanontur att cykla fran Roxburgh till Shingle Creek och tillbaka. Stephen Jeffrey (som aven ar min sambos chef) och andra inblandade har verkligen gjort ett kanonjobb med att bygga trailen. Den ar otroligt valbyggd, den ar rolig och vacker och uppforsbackarna ar inte jobbiga, de ar riktigt inbjudande. 

Roxburgh Gorge Trail fortsatter som Clutha Gold Trail efter dammen i Roxburgh, och gar sedan anda till Lawrence (dar de har den basta glassen pa sydon). Jag brukar fortsatta Clutha Gold Trail till bron i andra anden av Roxburgh, for att gora turen lite langre.

Pa vag hem igar fick jag annu en gang tillfalle att gora molnnerden i mig lycklig, genom att beskada en fantastisk rosa/orange kvallshimmel over Roxburgh.

Jag kan absolut rekommendera Roxburgh Gorge Trail till den som ar intresserad av att cykla. Jag skulle dock inte ta med min 8-arige son, da det ar branta stup pa sidorna, aven om cykelvagen ar bred och lattcyklad.

Las mer om Roxburgh Gorge Trail har.

So... even though I said I didn't have much motivation for biking lately, I did another 44 km ride yesterday... still with the Lake Onslow hill in the legs. I haven't been on Roxburgh Gorge Trail for probably half a year, and this was the first time ever on my new weapon. It was fun as! 

Roxburgh Gorge Trail opened up in 2013, and goes all the way from Alexandra to Roxburgh Dam, even though you have to take a water taxi for a few kilometers in between. I have never taken the water taxi, but biking to Shingle Creek and back is a good entertaining ride. Stephen Jeffrey (by the way my partners boss) and people did a brilliant job building the trail. It is very well prepared, it's fun and beautiful and the climbs are not hard, they are constructed in a way so that they are very inviting.

Roxburgh Gorge Trail links up with Clutha River trail, that goes all the way to Lawrence (where you can get the best ice-cream on the south island). I usually keep on riding Clutha Gold trail to Roxburgh bridge, in the other end of Roxburgh, just to make it a bit longer.

I can absolutely recommend a bike ride on Roxburgh Gorge Trail for anyone who's interested in biking. I wouldn't feel comfortable taking my 8 year old son out there yet though, since there are steep drop-offs on the sides, even though the trail is wide and very easy biked. 

On the way home I had again the opportunity to make the cloudnerd inside me happy, by watching a beautiful pink/orange eveningsky over Roxburgh.

Read more about Roxburgh Gorge Trail here.

Hidden valley.

View of Old Man's range.

Roxburgh Gorge Trail.

Shingle Creek.

Roxburgh Gorge Trail.

Nice evening sky over Roxburgh.

Lake Onslow- a reboot ride

Welcome to my blog about biking in New Zealand! Note that it's written in Swedish AND English, with the Swedish version first, followed by the English version in italic font. Enjoy your reading!

Jag har inte haft jattemycket motivation att cykla den sista tiden. For mycket PhD jobb, resande till och fran Christchurch och for mycket tid hemifran suger energi, och det blir inte mycket kvar for cykling. Igar tog jag tag i det igen, med hjalp av min cykelpolare BigT, och vi cyklade 41 km med 1000 m stigning upp till "Traktorn", pa berget med utsikt over Lake Onslow. Vadret var bra nar vi lamnade Teviotdalen, men molnen var laga och uppe pa berget var allt tackt av tjocka moln, blott och blasigt. Det var lite skillnad mot sist jag cyklade upp dar, du kan lasa om den turen i min post "Lake Onslow- an unexpected evening ride". Jag gillar det oforutsagbara vadret, det gor att jag kanner mig levande. BigT blir snabbare  varje gang jag tar en cykeltur med honom. Jag far snart problem att hinna med honom.

BigT hade tillstand fran landagarna att cykla ner pa deras mark, genom hagar med koskit och tjurar. Jag ar inte jattefortjust i tjurar sa det var bra traning for mig.

Jag jobbar just nu med moln och hur de formas i min PhD. Det var en perfekt dag for en moln-nord som jag att studera molnen fran bergen.  En bars sitter fint efter en cykeltur som denna, och jag kanner mig som en ny manniska igen.

I haven't had much motivation for biking the last few weeks. Too much PhD work and travel and being away from my son for too long drains the energy, and not much of it is left for biking. Yesterday I conquered it though, with the help of my bike-buddy BigT, and we did a good 41 km and 1000 meter climb up to "the Tractor", on the hill overlooking Lake Onslow. The weather was okay in the  Teviot Valley, but the clouds were low and up on the mountain it was all covered in cloud, wet and windy. A bit different compared to last time I climbed up there, read about it in my post "Lake Onslow- an unexpected evening ride". I love the changeable weather, and a bit of nastyness just makes me feel more alive. BigT is getting fitter each time I see him doing an uphill, I will soon have problems to keep up with him!

BigT had got permission from the farmers to go downhill through their land, crossing paddocks of cowpoo and bulls. I'm not very found of bulls so that was good training for me. 

At the moment I'm working on the formation of clouds in my PhD. This was a perfect day for a cloud-nerd like me to study the clouds from the view up the mountain. A nice beer is not the wrong thing to throw down the throat after a bike ride like that, and I totally feel rebooted.

No view of Lake Onslow today.

Some cool cloud formation far away over the mountains and Teviot Valley.

Alexandra

Welcome to my blog about biking in New Zealand! Note that it's written in Swedish AND English, with the Swedish version first, followed by the English version in italic font. Enjoy your reading!

Tillbaka i Alexandra- den forsta cykelturen bland mina favoritberg pa valdigt lange. Det ar stenigt och stokigt, branta backar och mjolksyra, valdigt folktomt och en fantastisk frihetskansla nar man val ar tillbaka pa den snabba slingrande stigen genom dalen som tar en tillbaka till Clutha River. Fotona nedan ar fran Maj forra aret, glomde kameran pa cykelturen igar.

Back in Alexandra- the first ride in my favorite hills for ages. It's hard work, it's rocky, there's lots of lactic acid (and a bit of pushing the bike) but it's the most amazing feeling of freedom and achievement once back down on the fast flowing trail through the valley leading back to Clutha River. The photos below are from May last year, I forgot my camera on yesterdays bikeride. 

Morning in Port Hills

Another nice, sunny morning-before-university-ride in Port Hills, the last one for this year. See you next year Ports!

Lyttleton Harbour.

St James Cycle trail - Pure epic in Hanmer Springs

Welcome to my blog about biking in New Zealand! Note that it's written in Swedish AND English, with the Swedish version first, followed by the English version in italic font. Enjoy your reading!

Antligen har vi gjort den! Jag har velat cykla St James trail lange, men inte ensam da det ar 60 km i avlagsna Alpinomraden utan mobiltackning. Dessutom ar det sa mycket roligare att gora det med vanner! Jag har turen att ha traffat vanner har i Chirstchurch, som dessutom ar valtranade och vill ta sig ut pa aventyr. Kate, Aleisha och jag lamnade Christchurch och korde mot Hanmer Springs tidigt pa lordag morgon. Vi planerade att sitta pa vara cyklar senast kl 9, for att vara sakra pa att hinna tillbaka innan det blev morkt. Ingen av oss hade cyklat St James tidigare, sa vi visste inte riktigt vad som vantade oss.

Som bekant sa gar saker inte alltid som man tankt sig. Vi kom till Jack's pass utanfor Hanmer (dar vi planerat att parkera en av bilarna vantande pa oss da vi cyklat klart) runt kl 9, lite senare an planerat, och det lilla misstaget vi gjorde, att dra ivag i helt fel riktning (mot vad vi trodde var starten av St James trail, dar vi skulle parkera den andra bilen, men egentligen var vagen till Blenheim) tog oss ett par timmar extra. Det var ett maratonlopp dar uppe, och nar vi kom tillbaka till Jack's pass sa kunde jag inte saga sanningen till de som jobbade med loppet (de visste att vi skulle gora St James trail och undrade vad tusan vi holl pa med), utan sa att vi bara varit ivag och fiskat uppat vagen. Vi maste ju ha lunch. Jag vet inte om de trodde oss. Vi satt pa cyklarna kl 12.30, tre och en halv timmar senare an beraknat...

St James trail ar ganska kravande, med en del upp och ner  och en dros med floder som ska korsas. Den forsta delen ar en liten uppforsbacke till Malings pass, med hogsta punkt pa 1300 m. Darefter ar det en brant nedforsbacke till supervackra Waiau valley. Val nere gar stigen langs floden till Saddle Spur bridge, en ganska cool hangbro. Efter att ha passerat bron foljer nagra branta delar av stigen, med branta stup pa sidorna. Det gar en hel del upp och ner och ar ratt sa stenigt och bokigt pa sina stallen, bra att ta det forsiktigt med andra ord.

Nar man tror att man har gjort det varsta av trailern sa kommer uppforsbacken till Peters Pass som en glad overraskning (bara for att paminna dig om att inte bli for bekvam). Vi jagades av ett regnovader, och kom upp till Peters Pass precis i tid for att kunna gomma oss i Peters Valley and njuta av den superroliga, flodande sista nedforsbacken mot St James homestead och slutet av trailern.  Mountainbikers - vader 1 - 0. Ha!

 Kate ramlade av cykeln da hon forsokte ata och cykla samtidigt (inga skador, tack och lov) och aven nasan-fore i en av floderna som skulle korsas, sa hon holl for underhallningen (och visar att hon kor hart)! Annars flot allt pa bra, fantastiskt bra jobbat tjejer!

St James trail  ar en fantastisk, rolig, vacker trail med massor av blandad cykling. Jag kan rekommendera den for de med bra kondition och ork (atminstone om du vill gora den pa en dag). Jag kommer att gora det igen. Jag bara njot av varje minut. Hojta till om du som laser ar sugen. Jag kanske hanger pa!

Las mer om St James cycle trail har.

So finally we did it! I wanted to bike st James trail, but not alone since it's 60 km in remote back country area with no cellphone coverage. And it's more fun to do it in good company! I'm lucky enough to have met some awesome biking friends here in Christchurch, friends that are keen, and fit! 

Kate, Aleisha and I left Christchurch for Hanmer Springs early Saturday morning. The plan was to be on the trail at latest 9 am, to make sure we made it back before dark. None of us had done it before so we didn't really know what to expect. 

Well, things don't always work out the way we expect. We arrived up in Jack's pass outside Hanmer (where we planned to have one of our cars parked and waiting for us after we finished) around 9 am, a bit later than we planned. The little mistake of heading off in the wrong direction (towards where we thought would be the start of st James trail, where we would park the other car, but was actually the way to Blenheim) costed us an extra at least two and a half hours. There was a marathon race going on, and when we got back to Jack's pass we had to tell the marshals (who knew we aimed to do the st James trail and wondering what the heck we were doing) that we just had to go fishing to get our lunch. I'm not sure they believed us. We were on the trail 12.30, three and a half hours later than expected. 

St James trail is actually pretty challenging, with a few ups and downs and some river crossings. The first stage is a little climb up to Malings Pass, a high point of 1300 m. Then the trail descends to the beatiful Waiau Valley and follows the river to Saddle Spur bridge which is a pretty cool swing bridge. After crossing the bridge the trail is pretty narrow and steep in places with steep drop-offs on the sides. 

When you think you've done the worst part of the trail, the climb up to Peters Pass shows up, just to remind you not to be too comfortable. We were chased by a rain storm but made it up to Peters Pass just to have time to hide in beautiful Peters Valley and enjoy the last part of the trail, a fast flowing easy downhill to St James homestead. Bikers - Weather 1 - 0. Ha! Kate fell on the gravel, trying to eat and bike at the same time (no injuries, thanks for that), and also face down in one of the river crossings, so she contributed with some extra excitement (and shows that she's charging)! Otherwise everything went smooth, superwell done chicas!

St James trail is an awesome, fun, stunning trail with mixed riding that I could recommend to those with a good level of fitness (at least if you want to do it in a day). I will do it again, I just loved every minute of it. Give me a shout if you too are keen, I might join you! 

Read more about St James cycle trail here.

The start.

Malings Pass.

Malings Pass with view over Waiau river. St James trail far down there.

Waiau Valley.

Waiau Valley

My bike, thanks for carrying me all the way :).

Saddle Spur bridge.

Beautiful New Zealand... Waiau river.

Peters Pass with rain chasing us.

Peters Valley.

The finish line, yea stoke!!!

Bannockburn Gutbuster 2015 - a buster for the guts

Nu forstar jag innerborden av namnet Bannockburn Gutbuster (vet inte hur det kan oversattas till Svenska, nat som far magen att vanda sig ut-och-in tror jag, det ar de tva bergen som ska cyklas over som namnet refererar till, inte omgivningarna for de ar supervackra). Det ar en riktig gutbuster bestaende av 75 vilda kilometrar fran Garston till Bannockburn, over tva berg (med hogsta punkt pa 1300 m), via supervackra Nevis valley, totalt runt 2000 m stigning over Hector mountains och genom delar av Remarkables nationalpark.

Det har aret stod hagel, motvind, snobyar och solsken pa menyn. De 25 floderna som maste korsas var ganska fulla av gardagens tunga regn, och vattnet var iskallt. Nevis valley ar helt fantastiskt, och det foranderliga vadret gor det bara annu mer spannande.

En av svarigheterna med ett langt, kravande lopp som detta ar att veta hur man ska fordela energin. Om man gar ut for hart i borjan finns risken att man inte har krafter kvar i slutet. I gutbuster ar det bra att ha energi kvar eftersom man ska over ett berg i slutet av banan, over Duffers Saddle. Det ar ett skapligt stort berg, speciellt om benen ar trotta.

Jag kande mig inget vidare de forsta 30 kilometrarna. Jag hade ett stort pollenallergiutbrott (ingen sarskrivning har inte!) veckan innan och var ratt sa trott och inte speciellt sugen att trampa 75 km pa en cykel i elandig terrang. Men jag hade ju sett fram emot det har loppet i ett ar (jag backade ur forra aret da jag kande att jag inte var tillrackligt tranad), sa att strunta i det var inget alternativ for mig. Jag hade ocksa krashen for tre veckor sen i minnet, och kande inte for att pusha mig sjalv for mycket.

Efter den forsta stora backen var jag trottare an jag brukar, blev omkord av en dros med folk, och blev ikappcyklad av min polare som ocksa gjorde loppet. Han sa till mig att ta en energigel och halla uppe vatskenivan, och det gav mig en energikick. Jag drog ivag igen och den sista uppforsbacken till Duffers Saddle kandes riktigt bra. Den sista branta nedforsbacken var snabb, och det var kraftiga kastvindar vilket gjorde att manga fick sakta ner dar.

Jag slutade trea i min klass, under fem timmar. Aven om jag rejsar bara for mitt eget hoga nojes skull (manga ifragasatter nog nojet i det hela) sa ska jag inte sticka under stol med att jag var stokad att fa pris igen. Jag ar supernojd att ha gjort loppet, och an en gang ar jag sa tacksam over att ha halsa och kondition att kunna gora det. Jag laste i en nyhetstidning har att "For de som inte cyklar sa ar tavlingen som barnhistorien "Vi gar pa bjornjakt och vi ar inte radda"". Den beskrivningen fick mig att skratta!

Tack sa mycket Bren Dyer Photography i Cromwell for fantastiska bilder (kolla in fler foton pa hans facebook sida)!

Now I know the meaning of the name Bannockburn Gutbuster. It is a gutbuster of 75 wild kilometers from Garston to Bannockburn, over two mountains (highest point 1300 m), via beautiful Nevis valley, a total of around 2000 m climb, into the Hector mountains and through parts of Remarkables national park. 

This year had hail, headwind, snowflurries and sunshine on the menu. The 25 river crossings were a bit full from the previous days rainfall, and the water was icing cold. The Nevis valley is a fantastic place though, and the changeable weather makes it even more amazing. 

One of the difficulties with a long, demanding race like this is to know how to distribute the energy. Going too hard in the beginning might mean that you don't have much energy in the end. In Gutbuster it is good to have energy in the end, since there is another mountain to climb in the end of the course, over Duffers Saddle. It is a rather big mountain, especially big when the legs are tired. 

I didn't feel very good the first 30 km. I had a big pollen allergy the week before and was pretty tired from it, and not sure if I was very excited about 75 km in rough terrain on a bike. But I had looked forward to this event since last year (when i backed off because I didn't think I was strong enough for it), so there was no options for me. I also had the crash from three weeks before still in fresh memory, and was afraid of pushing myself too hard. 

After the first hill I felt more tired than usual, got passed by too many people and after 35 km a friend of mine who also did the race caught up, told me to eat a gel and keep the water levels up. He really gave me a boost and some positive energy. I took off again, and actually the last hill up to Duffers Saddle felt totally okay. The last steep descent was fast and the sideways wind was gusty, and I think most people had to slow down a bit. 

I ended up on third place in my category, just under five hours. Even though I do this only for my own entertainment and fun (some people might question both the entertainment and fun part of it), I must admit that I'm stoked to get a prize again. I'm so stoked to have done it, and once again I'm so grateful to have the health and fitness to be able to do it. I read in a Cromwell news that "To non-riders, the event sounds more like the children's story "We're going on a bear hunt and we're not scared"". That description cracked me up!!!

Thank you very much Bren Dyer Photography in Cromwell for the great photos (check out more photos from him on his facebook page)! 

The startline. Photographer Bren Dyer Photography.

The last descent. Photographer: Bren Dyer Photography

Cromwell in the background. Photographer: Bren Dyer Photography.

A part of Alps to Ocean trail- Lake Pukaki, Mt Cook

Sist jag korde upp till Christchurch fran Roxburgh for att jobba med gruppen dar jag gor minPhD, sa tog jag tillfallet att stanna vid vackra glaciarsjon Lake Pukaki, nara Mt Cook, for min forsta lilla men harliga (och lite skakiga) cykeltur sen krashlandningen jag gjorde for tva veckor sen (jag skrev om det aventyret i min senast post Coastal Classic in Taieri mouth- a very eventful event). Jag cyklade nagra kilometer pa Alps 2 Ocean trail som stracker sig hela 312 km fran Mt Cook till kuststaden Oamaru (mer info om den trailen har). Den delen jag cyklade ar valdigt lattcyklad och valdigt vacker med en harlig utsikt av Mt Cook. Den har dagen var solig och en perfekt dag att ta sig tillbaka upp pa cykeln, och vilja cykla meeeer!!!

During my last drive up to Christchurch from Roxburgh to work on my PhD, I took the awesome opportunity to stop at beautiful glacier Lake Pukaki by Mt Cook for the first little but very nice (and a bit shaky) ride since the crash I did two weeks ago (I wrote about that adventure in my latest post Coastal Classic in Taieri mouth- a very eventful event). I biked a few kilometers of the Alps 2 Ocean trail, which stretches 312 km from Mt Cook to the coastal town of Oamaru (more info about the trail here). The part I biked is an easy, flowing trail, and very scenic with a nice view of Mt Cook. This day was sunny and a perfect day to get back up on the bike, and wanting more!!! 

Lake Pukaki with Mt Cook in the background.

One of the peaks of Mt Cook.

A part of A2O trail.