Monday, February 19, 2007

Singlespeeding in Wellington

I brought my singlespeed back from our trip to Australia (see next post). Today, I took it up to Makara Peak to try it out. I didn't expect to get very far, and ended up being quite surprised! I flew up Koru to the skills area. I was going fast enough that I nearly came off the track going up hill. The track is just at the right gradient that if you keep your momentum up you can really fly. I had a little break and play on the skills area goodies before setting out again. The next section is pretty fast and rolling. Sally Alley went okay and before I knew it I was at the start of Missing Link. This track starts with a rocky decent and ends with a nasty switchback climb. I nearly came off in a spot where there wasn't much to stop me from sliding down the hillside. Somehow I managed to stay on the track and make it to the start of Aratihi. By this time I am usually pretty tired on my geared bike. I was still feeling okay, but I still had a 3km climb ahead. It starts out steep and then levels of a bit. I was puffing pretty hard and barley made the switchback about halfway along the track. A few more minutes of anaerobically grinding away saw me reach the top of Makara Peak. I was totally amazed. I didn't think I would make it without switching to a bigger freewheel.

Now we will have to see about Mt. Victoria........

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