Wellington Peaks Race

"So how many peaks do we visit?"

"Nine."

"Oh. And we ride them in any order we like?"

"Actually there's eleven."

"And we have to be back here in under six hours?"

"Go!"

A simple idea with minimal organisational requirements. Starting and finishing at the fine establishment that is Revolution Cycles you take any route you like so long as you snap a selfie at the top of each noted hill-top as proof.

A happy bunch of 30 or so regular and less regular Wellington cycling misfits took off in all directions.

My cunning plan to ride my single speed with cyclocross tyres began to unravel as I fixed my first puncture at the summit of the first hill. At least I had a nice view as I feverishly hammered away with a stupidly tiny "emergency only" bike pump. Back on the road and a few peaks later I started to feel somewhat hazy. I finished all my food and drink and felt a little better. There's quite a bit of "flat" riding between hill tops and my one gear was never quite right on the flat or the uphills this day.

Keeping it classy at the Mt Vic trig

Nearing the 3 hour mark I found myself at the bottom of the tip track, not only out of food but also out of water that I'd been cunningly restocking along the way from various garden taps. A less fuzzy brain would have sent me up through Brooklyn and a dairy stop for refreshments, but I was set on going up the tip track. On a good day when fresh I can happily climb this hill in a little over 20 minutes, today however it took nearly 40 minutes of mostly walking. And it was hot with the gentle southerly held back by the hill. I had visions of those cliche desert scenes with buzzards circling above me in the midday sun. Actually they were just seagulls from the nearby rubbish dump but I wasn't going to let facts ruin my desert hallucinations.

'statue bro?

I'm pretty sure it's a bad sign when you start planning in careful detail all the goodies you are going to ingest when you get back to base. Luckily the next food stop was only one hill away on my current trajectory. I lay prostrate on the grass outside the dairy at the bottom of Karori. I poured most of 2 litres of chocolate milk and six Cookie Time biscuits into my wilted body and slowly started to recover. The world came back into focus and I found myself surrounded by about twenty disappointed ducks, not a crumb had been dropped. Feeling much better although slightly bloated, I bolted up Makara Peak, my final summit for the day.

Arriving back at Revolution Cycles I was greeted with smiling faces, pizza, and beer! Choice. In a little under 5 hours I'd traversed Wellington and done some cool riding. A few new trails and some I hadn't ridden for nearly 20 years. I'd travelled about 70km and climbed about 2500 metres. What a fun event, cheers!