Note To Future Self

More than a few of our faithful readers have let me know that they’re tired of the namby-pamby “oh look, we’re living in New Zealand” “we bought a car” “Anna and I are still talking to each other” posts. What they really want is near-real-time reports on my bike riding and the general awesomeness of the bike scene here in NZed. Happily, your day has arrived.

One of the key advantages to being a kept man and a house husband is that I’m finally free to squander by daylight hours in a manner of my choosing. Perfect for an aspiring lay-about and itinerant cyclist.

Since I had the foresight to bring a mountain bike, I’ve been focusing on the dirt side of the equation. Anna brought her road bike, and I have slick tires, so I can handle a little pavement, but it just doesn’t seem right to subject a mountain bike to that sort of public humiliation

The southern border of Christchurch is defined by the Port Hills, a rather imposing pile of former volcano, owned exclusively by the sheep of New Zealand, though they do seem to tolerate humans using it now and again. From Marburg world headquarters on the south side of the city it’s an easy 10 minute ride to the base of the hills.

Other than one main road up and over the hills (Dyers Pass Rd) and Summit Road along the spine, the Port Hills are almost all parklands, grassy swards and sheep paddocks. This makes them an idea urban playground because, heck, the sheep don’t mind you, and as long as you close the gate behind you, their owners don’t mind either.

The key disadvantage, naturally is that they’re the Port Hills. Before you can go down you have to go up. There are a number of well kept 4×4 tracks which ascend the hills with varying degrees of inclination (see earlier notes on Kiwi trailbuilding), mostly dirt and gravel and not particularly technical, but every ride begins with a brief reconsideration of the whether you should have had that second lamb and kumara pie last night.

Having achieved the summit, the hills are open to you thanks to Summit Road (that’s it above in the first picture) and a network of singletrack which mostly parallels the road and connects all the other good bits. The only downside, of course, is that the good bits tend to involve either very up, very down or a healthy combination of the two.

Despite that the singletrack is excellent and generally suits my fast-and-rolling preferences. The occasional rocky section provides a little interest. Thanks to the thousands of wooly lawnmowers working their way over the hills, the riding tends to be in the open, though there is some forest making a comeback. It’s been overcast (almost foggy at the top) this week, the hills could be a real scorcher in the middle of summer.

(looking down from the summit towards Christchurch — and the ocean in the distance)

The final challenge comes when its time to call it a day You can’t just follow any path back down the hill. Some trails lead to nice graveled 4×4 tracks back down to the base. Others lead to near-vertical double-black-diamond downhill racing tracks (yesterday, I saw a sign warning “Caution: 40 foot jump ahead” I didn’t investigate). With a little caution, the descent can be made safely.

It’s quite a privilege to be able to string together three-plus hour mountain bike rides out your backdoor. I suppose its more of privilege to be able to ride on a weekday.