The right way to use a sunny Sunday

Recently the first (hopefully) annual Wellington peaks points race was held. The format was simple: starting from Northlands, competitors had to get to the top of nine of the bigger hills in the central Wellington region and back to the start, taking photos at the top of each mini-mountain. The fastest person to do so was deemed winner. The course was up to the individual, as long as they stayed away from areas legally marked no riding.

Officially there were nine locations check off: Tinakori Hill, Mt. Kaukau, Johnston’s Hill, Makara Peak, Wright’s Hill, Hawkin’s Hill, Mt. Albert, Mt. Crawford, and Mt. Victoria. However, I thought I’d add a tenth, and I liked it so much that I spent most of the day there. This location is known as the hurt box and it isn’t very scenic.

The day started a mixed bag. I woke late after a night out. However, conditions were perfect – the sun was shining and there was no real wind to worry about. I haphazardly sorted out some gear and food for the day, took a last (and first) glance at a map, and set off to Revolution to register. After registering I chewed the fat with some of the others silly enough to enter, including the inestimable Andy King, who deemed me a worthy riding buddy for the day. The important things done, I looked into breakfast. The Four Square offered a nutritious solution in a sausage roll, a cookie time, and an iced coffee.

By now it was getting close to starting: so close in fact, that I was caught eating sausage roll far from my bike when the race began. Shovelling lukewarm pastry into my mouth, I was soon away riding towards Tinakori. The climb up to Tinakori was one of the steeper of the day, and it became clear that I was going to be in for a bad time physically.

This was because I was on my trusty single speed, a bike which was going to be less than optimal for most of the day. However, when you have a fleet of one you work with what you’ve got. The problem was that it meant I was always in the dog – and the gear ranged from whimpering puppy to angry wolf over the course of the day.

Anyway the driveway up to Tinakori was steep and demanding, but eventually conquered. It was mentally good to get one of the peaks ticked off so early. In the same vein, Andy and I went after the big sucker next: Mt. Kaukau. Knocking this off would be a big mental boost.

The ride there was fairly uneventful except for almost buying the farm in a nearly unseen water rut coming off Tinakori. Our navigational skills weren’t particularly flash so we ended walking up the Simla road track to Kaukau’s summit. This may not have been the most exciting way to get there on a bike but it was a beautiful track. On the way up we saw some of the fast boys heading back down (on foot), they were smashing it. It’s harder than you’d think to push a bike for that long and we were both grateful to reach the top, calves burning.

After a quick bite it was on to Johnston’s via Skyline walkway. This is a track I had never ridden end to end, to my regret. The track is stunning on a clear day, with amazing views in all directions. I found bits of it pretty tough on the SS though. We saw one poor guy who had put his derailleur into the rear wheel. It was great to see lots of people using the track for all kinds of reasons, but we did have one old codger demand we get off the track – he looked like he would have pushed us off if we hadn’t moved. This wasn’t enough to ruin the day, and we soon made it to Johnston’s.

Next we moseyed along to Makara, avoiding the downhillers. Varley’s was hard as always but I found myself riding most of it, only forced off through poor lines around a couple of switchbacks, a great improvement from last time I had been those ways. From here it was up the 4WD track, with a couple of sad hikes thrown in for me. Makara signalled a peanut butter and jam sandwich and a banana.

(Imagine a photo of me holding my bike up and grinning cheesily on top of Makara here: unfortunately the photo didn’t come out).

We both agreed that single track would be more fun down, and were soon heading to North Face. Andy easily rode away from me and I just enjoyed myself all the way down to the car park. We regrouped and headed up Salvation and along the road to Wrights. At this stage I tried to wind the pace up a bit as we headed around rollercoaster.

We hopped off rollercoaster after a sustained descent and got onto the gravel road, then got onto the sealed road leading up to Hawkin’s. This is a hell of a climb but I managed to grind through the whole thing. After summiting Hawkin’s, I felt like the back was broken for this ride.

We headed down Tip track, which I had never done before. On the rigid SS, this was a bone jarring experience. In some ways I was pleased when Andy’s chain came off into his guide as it gave my wrists a break. However it was soon back on and we headed towards the bottom, and out to the coast on our way to Mt Albert.

The ride on the road involved me sitting at a pace just below spinning out, which was far from the break I needed. We headed up Houghton Bay Rd to Mt Albert. At the top we ran into the Revolvettes, who soon sped off towards Mt. Vic, and also a cyclocrosser. The three of us then shot off down the other side towards Kilbirnie, the CXer quickly dropping us on the road.

From here the ride's a bit vague as I was feeling it. We decided to take the road up to the prison entrance simply for time, although we cut out the middle section by going along a walkway with some stunning views. Reaching the top, there was only one possible way down: Jailbreak. It was riding awesomely and we both had a blast smashing down it.

With only one peak left we were both feeling pretty shattered and again took the road option. In Miramar we again ran into our CX friend and rode together along the main road. He split from us as we up through Haitaitai to the summit of Mt. Vic. The little pinch right at the top nearly had me vomiting, but it felt glorious to knock off that last peak. Our CX friend ran into us at the summit again. We cruised down some of the tracks towards town and idled round the bay, enjoying the sun.

However, we still had one climb to go: the ascent into Northlands. I think I made the call to go up Garden Rd, a decision I quickly regretted. Approaching the top I tried to give Andy a little race, but we both didn’t have much left, and slunk into Revolution to finish in a time of 5:16.

It was an incredible feeling to be done; this was one of the harder rides I have been on. I celebrated finishing with an ice block and a fresh up. It was great to meet some new people and catch up with others I hadn’t seen in a while. Andy nipped home and got some beers too, which was the perfect finish to a tough day. Lynskey also stopped by fresh from a shoot and harangued people with still-warm goat legs. He was good enough to give me a tow up into the hills to my house, where we had more beers and pizza while I tried to avoid moving too much.

The event was excellent fun and in great spirit, highly recommended to anyone looking for a good time and a tough challenge. A big thanks to Andy for riding with me, you rode strongly and made it look easy when I was breathing so hard I was nearly losing a lung. Also, cheers to Asher for putting it all together, it has all the makings of a classic Wellington event. Bring on next year!