A change of plans

So this weekend didn't quite go to plan. Aside from the weather (which was pretty average on Saturday and Sunday), my poor hubby managed to catch some type of stomach bug on Thursday which left him feeling rather crook the next day. So crook in fact that I headed home early at lunchtime on Friday to make sure he was OK and we didn't have to take him to the doctor or A&E! (Read Scotty's account here..)

Saturday rolled around and Scotty hadn't had much sleep the night before and was still feeling pretty ill so it looked like the Rotorua trip was off. Quite luckily however, we had a couple of friends up in Rotorua for the Wide Open Product Launch, so after a few text messages, I found someone to bring my Santa Cruz Nomad frame + Fox forks back to Wellington - thanks Ricky!! :) In the meantime while Scotty was lying on the couch (but feeling better, or so he said!), I finally headed out for a ride that afternoon - a 1.5 hour MTB ride up Makara Peak (with the company of Don and Hugh Macleod), of which it started off relatively fine, then drizzled, then rained harder and harder. By the time we reached the Peak, my jacket was soaked right through and clinging to my arms. It sure made the descent down Zacs/Varleys/Wahine rather chilly! Brrrr!!

Scotty was feeling a lot better on Sunday so we hit the shops and did a bit of window shopping, then stopped by at Ricky's to pick up my new frame and forks. I was supposed to go on a 4 hour road ride that day but there was a rather strong southerly wind around and I wasn't particularly feeling like battling it, so we stopped by the video store on the way home and I got myself the first season of Grey's Anatomy on DVD. Wind-trainer + episodes 1 to 4 of Greys = around a 3 hour training ride out of the wind and cold :) Sweet.

While I was busy watching Grey's episodes, Scotty was stripping my Heckler for parts, and building up my Nomad:







Today was the last day of the Long Weekend, and the weather decided to play ball. Lovely blue skies with a slight breeze. Scheduled for a 1.5 hour recovery ride, but with my new toy all built up, I just couldn't resist taking it for a ride, so off we went up the local trails at Makara Peak.


I've only ever ridden single pivot full-suspension bikes before (Santa Cruz Superlight, and my Nomad's predecessor, the Heckler), so was curious as to how the suspension would feel in comparison. Wow. That thing is AWESOME! No pedal bob on the uphills with the Fox DHX Air rear shock, stiffens up and accelerates nicely when you throw in a harder pedal stroke (caught me by surprise the first time it did it!), and descending on it is an absolute breeze! It was pretty much point and shoot all the way down Ridgeline! I'll admit that I had my doubts about the Nomad (mainly the asthetics), but screw how it looks - the bike rides so well!

I did discover a couple of things the bike can't do at the very end of my ride - it can't turn sharply on gravelly corners (weee! slide! ouchy fall..), nor can it swim across creek crossings (pedal pedal... rock uh oh! bike stops.. Celia topples into creek sideways), but those were faults of the rider not the bike! I really can't wait to ride this bike more and more! :)

Hmmm. So what else have I been up to this past week? Well, I've been playing around with the new Makara Peak Supporters website and organising stuff for their 10th birthday party this weekend. Should be good for a giggle. I also went out to Eastbourne on my road bike for the very first time earlier on in the week. Got to the end of the road and realised that I'd been there some 15-odd years ago with my family! Wow that brought back memories. Also stopped and checked out a cool little waterfall and the Wahine memorial stone.




I'm scheduled for an "easy" week of training this week. The fourth round of the PNP MTB Series is this Sunday and I haven't had a chance to check out the course yet - eep! From what I've heard, it's got lots of climbing/pushing, and is quite muddy and wet at the moment. Let's hope for some good weather this week, especially for the Makara Peak Supporters' 10th birthday party on Saturday!