Tour of the Wairarapa

Sunday we and several of our friends participated in the Tour of the Wairarapa a 100km cycle race/ride thorough the wine growing region east of Wellington. The course was mostly flat with a few hills and rolling sections. It is pretty nice countryside and very green - this is still a slight novelty for us after being in Canberra for the last few years.

The course went from Masterton to Martinborough and back in a figure of 8. The weather was wonderful and we all got slightly sunburnt. Fortunately it wasn't too windy and we even had a slight southerly pushing home. Helen managed 100 km in 3 hours 25 minutes, averaging 28 km/hr, while Aaron was very kind and rode with a friend of ours who hadn't done any group riding or a road race before and Aaron and Kathryn finished a little after Helen.

The main surprise was how bad everyone was at climbing the few little hills that there were on the course. Surprising considering Wellington has so many hills and I don't know how they avoid them..

Setting off at the start

Cats!

We have recently acquired two beautiful cats. Mifi is a grey Abyssinian X with tabby stripes on her tail and back legs. Safi is a Cornish Rex X Burmese and is a creamy white and "Apricot" or ginger in colour. They are very entertaining and already have nick-names - "Princess" - because Mifi loves to be the centre of attention the whole time and follows Aaron around, and - "Fluffy butt" - because Safi is much fluffier and fatter and does tend to leave quite a bit of hair around - so Aaron will have to start vacuuming a bit more often. They are 10 years old - so they are fairly mellow and sleep a lot of the time!


Mifi (Princess)


Safi (Fluffy-butt)

Last Days in Arizona

My last few days in Arizona were filled with biking. Tuesday I did a big loop up on National and and Mormon.

Wednesday, Stan and I went out to Mesa and rode the Hawes trails. I didn't ride here much when I lived in Arizona, as there weren't many trails out there. Now it has become a pretty awesome place to ride. We rode this trail called Twisted Sister, which twists and turns down a slight hill weaving in and out of staghorn cholla and creosote bushes.

Thursday, I had to get one last ride in even though I was feeling pretty tired. I decided to do a quick run out to the helipad again. Climbing out of one of the washes I managed to get knocked off balance and couldn't get my foot out in time. I fell over on my hip and elbow creating some nice scratches and bruises.

Friday, I packed up my gear and headed to the airport. I had a really easy trip back home and even managed to sleep most of the way.

Tombstone

Stan's Wedding

Papago Park

Catching Up

The last few days have been filled with random things. Sunday I went over to my cousin's for dinner. Monday I went for a ride with Stan around South Mountain. Tuesday I ran a bunch of errands, including getting a quick service for my bicycle. It was beginning to show signs of all the abuse it has been receiving lately. It is running beautifully now.