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#3509079 7-Jul-2026 09:24

I still get out pretty regularly. The Thursday night Rabbit ride does get cancelled if its too wet but I think its only been cancelled once or twice this year. Hoping to get out even more now that my wife has bought her e-bike. Its much more fun when she's coasting along at +25km/h and I can get some good exercise in on my analogue bike.

Definitely no riding today. We've had 25mm of rain in the last 24hrs and we're expecting another 25mm in the next 24hrs.

geoffwnz

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#3509088 7-Jul-2026 09:30

mudguard:

geoffwnz:

Anyone braving the damp outdoors to keep their bike moving?

I don't think I've ridden mine since the Faultline "duathlon" in April. But the trainer is getting plenty of use on Zwift in the garage.

Despite thinking I'd never wear the tyres out on that frame, there's rubber powder under the front wheel where it's scrubbing as it moves a small amount in use. So I'll just keep rotating it from time to time and see if I can connect the eventual flatspots in the tread. ;-)

At any rate, there's likely to be more old tyres than it can keep up with coming off the outdoor bike.

I had a dumb trainer and wound up using an old commuting slick. But I did notice fine bits of rubber creeping up the wall.

I have a Kickr now which is much nicer from that point of view, no smell of warm rubber or a wheel that need periodic tightening against the flywheel.

I rode quite a bit outside last week, Auckland had an amazing run of weather. I'm doing the Whaka again this year and Garmin has been screaming at me to start doing intervals again..

On the Kickr also, so it's only the front tyre.

Also doing the Whaka100 this year. First time at that event so should be interesting. Zero expectations other than it'll be hard work. :)

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#3509092 7-Jul-2026 09:46

Chch has been extremely dry, even with this weather system currently we only got 23mm of rain so far (just enough to enable track building). I went up on Sunday afternoon and did a 20km loop (250m elevation) from home. Running beautifully quick & dry (bike & trails). May try get back up again this sunday, so nice to come home with a completely dry bike no mud or drama.

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mudguard

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#3509093 7-Jul-2026 09:47

geoffwnz:

Yeah, even if the weather is good enough, most trails are likely to be pretty messy.

That said, I did the Cougar trail half at the Tokoroa Cougar MTB park on Saturday. Other than being a sub zero start to the run, I'm very keen to take the bike up there at some point. Some very nicely made trails that we ran on, and I'm assuming plenty more that we didn't use as they wouldn't have been so good for running.

I've only heard good things about Cougar Park. I've ridden Te Miro a few years back, was not my cup of tea but it may have changed since then.

On a wider note, if I was the mayor of struggling small towns I'd be sinking ratepayer money into dedicated mountainbike trails. Need to be loops though! Take Ohakune and build a trail park above town so that people can stay and ride.

I think it's Blackball at the start of the Paparoa trail that thought the mountainbikers would be a big boom for the town, but because it's the start point everyone just leaves a car instead.

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#3509096 7-Jul-2026 09:56

mudguard:

geoffwnz:

Yeah, even if the weather is good enough, most trails are likely to be pretty messy.

That said, I did the Cougar trail half at the Tokoroa Cougar MTB park on Saturday. Other than being a sub zero start to the run, I'm very keen to take the bike up there at some point. Some very nicely made trails that we ran on, and I'm assuming plenty more that we didn't use as they wouldn't have been so good for running.

I've only heard good things about Cougar Park. I've ridden Te Miro a few years back, was not my cup of tea but it may have changed since then.

On a wider note, if I was the mayor of struggling small towns I'd be sinking ratepayer money into dedicated mountainbike trails. Need to be loops though! Take Ohakune and build a trail park above town so that people can stay and ride.

I think it's Blackball at the start of the Paparoa trail that thought the mountainbikers would be a big boom for the town, but because it's the start point everyone just leaves a car instead.

Ruapehu really misses a beat here - they could be the North Island's answer to Queenstown in the summer (and the lengthy autumn and spring seasons), with lift access and fabulous alpine riding.
Amazes me that neither side of the mountain has been used and the towns aren't pushing this.
The idea of Turoa being the new Coronet Peak is making me weak at the knees...

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mudguard

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#3509097 7-Jul-2026 10:00

Handsomedan:

Ruapehu really misses a beat here - they could be the North Island's answer to Queenstown in the summer (and the lengthy autumn and spring seasons), with lift access and fabulous alpine riding.
Amazes me that neither side of the mountain has been used and the towns aren't pushing this.
The idea of Turoa being the new Coronet Peak is making me weak at the knees...

I think the issue for Ruapehu is that the terrain is far far gnarlier under the snow cover than say Coronet Peak, which is generally wonderfully, tussock covered dirt. But I agree, that mountain, with some vision could be a bike mecca in summer. Trails to and from Whakapapa to Ohakune, loops etc.

The best thing about mountainbike trails is that compared to most other infrastructure, they're quite cheap to build.

Edit. I should say I've not been up Ruapehu in summer but just going off my partner tells me who until recently held a lifetime pass.

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geoffwnz

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#3509103 7-Jul-2026 10:25

mudguard:

Handsomedan:

Ruapehu really misses a beat here - they could be the North Island's answer to Queenstown in the summer (and the lengthy autumn and spring seasons), with lift access and fabulous alpine riding.
Amazes me that neither side of the mountain has been used and the towns aren't pushing this.
The idea of Turoa being the new Coronet Peak is making me weak at the knees...

I think the issue for Ruapehu is that the terrain is far far gnarlier under the snow cover than say Coronet Peak, which is generally wonderfully, tussock covered dirt. But I agree, that mountain, with some vision could be a bike mecca in summer. Trails to and from Whakapapa to Ohakune, loops etc.

Edit. I should say I've not been up Ruapehu in summer but just going off my partner tells me who until recently held a lifetime pass.

It's also in a National Park so, somewhat more restrictive as to what can be built or done on the mountains.

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#3509106 7-Jul-2026 10:41

geoffwnz:

It's also in a National Park so, somewhat more restrictive as to what can be built or done on the mountains.

Yeah that's a good point. Though I feel the impact of a singletrack trail snaking it's way round it's flank is far less of an impact than ski infrastructure or the Chateau!!

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#3509107 7-Jul-2026 10:48

I'm salivating at the idea of a trail like Rude Rock/Hot Rod being built on Ruapehu.

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mudguard

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#3509143 7-Jul-2026 12:55

geoffwnz:

On the Kickr also, so it's only the front tyre.

Also doing the Whaka100 this year. First time at that event so should be interesting. Zero expectations other than it'll be hard work. :)

Oh missed this one. I've been mixing up bikes the last few years so tyres are lasting a long time.

The 100 is next level. A friend did it last year, never again, crashed early and busted front brake. Rode back out to DNF and Shimano installed a new one instead. So he a did a Whaka 108 in the end.

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#3510869 13-Jul-2026 09:28

Got out for the first time in a while on a solo mission at Woodhill Bike Park.

Loving the way they've developed this park to have elements of both a Bike Park and retaining the forest Trail Centre elements it's famous for.

It's just nice to get out after being sick for a couple of weeks and the weather being so good.
The conditions out there were amazing. It was more like riding in Rotorua than Woodhill.

10/10 experience and great for the mental health.

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mudguard

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#3510893 13-Jul-2026 10:40

Handsomedan:

Got out for the first time in a while on a solo mission at Woodhill Bike Park.

Loving the way they've developed this park to have elements of both a Bike Park and retaining the forest Trail Centre elements it's famous for.

Yeah Woodhill used to get a lot of grief around the country for it's trail network. But it shows what happens when you get the pricing right. They have the money and the riders to constantly build new and maintain trails.
Look at Nelson. I think it has the biggest club membership in the country with 3000 members or something. But it's only $50 per year (last time I looked). That's just not enough money to actually do anything with. Whereas a Woodhill membership is seven times that. It's still not even 10% of what I pay to play golf.

Edit, Nelson pricing is $65 to $100. But that's spread all over the city's trails. I'm not picking on Nelson, but if all that money was spent at one spot (say Cable Bay for example) it would have a massive impact.

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#3510976 13-Jul-2026 13:04

mudguard:

Handsomedan:

Got out for the first time in a while on a solo mission at Woodhill Bike Park.

Loving the way they've developed this park to have elements of both a Bike Park and retaining the forest Trail Centre elements it's famous for.

Yeah Woodhill used to get a lot of grief around the country for it's trail network. But it shows what happens when you get the pricing right. They have the money and the riders to constantly build new and maintain trails.
Look at Nelson. I think it has the biggest club membership in the country with 3000 members or something. But it's only $50 per year (last time I looked). That's just not enough money to actually do anything with. Whereas a Woodhill membership is seven times that. It's still not even 10% of what I pay to play golf.

Edit, Nelson pricing is $65 to $100. But that's spread all over the city's trails. I'm not picking on Nelson, but if all that money was spent at one spot (say Cable Bay for example) it would have a massive impact.

I Think you're right.
At $350 for an annual pass or $18 for a casual day pass for the average punter it's priced right.
I'm up there about the right number of times to warrant an annual pass, but as I like to go to other places as well, I tend to just pay as I go and it about evens itself out.
BUT - the pricing and the volume of people that go through there gives them the income to pay trail fairies to spruce things up, maintain and build.
It's far better these days than it was even 4-5 years ago.

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#3511103 13-Jul-2026 19:32

Not really allowed to ride my bikes now for health reasons, at least for the next six to eight months. So have taken to planning and doing all those little, one day I’ll get round to it, upgrades.

Surprising how much time one can spend on gear sites.

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#3511105 13-Jul-2026 19:49

I had a good run between March and mid June, thanks to being made redundant, before the weather turned to shit.

Having a job now so I’m not too annoyed at the constant rain in Wellington but it’d sure be nice if it rained Monday/Tuesday and stayed dry till the weekend, instead of the usual Thursday/Friday rain just to wet the trails for the weekend.

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