We’re back – I have popped out of a bowl of rice in Wellington NZ! Yes, I am the guy that flies directly to a city that has a massive earthquake swarm the day after a 6.9 quake.

Not only did I exhibit a massive misalignment with Mother Nature, but its also the first time that the Dirty Nomad has headed into a wintery scenario, as its been a pursuit of summer up until now. The downsides? Freezing balls. The upsides? A whole new range of Rapha kit to wear!

The day got off to a shaky start, for real, I was woken up at 4am with a 5.0 quake, which is now not even something that gets the locals excited. I was therefore decidedly jaded after that and an overnight flight when my Wellington Dirty tour guide rocked up at 8am for the first ride of the trip:

You may remember me from such road trips as Dirty Nomad does Rots...

You may remember me from such road trips as Dirty Nomad does Rots…

Main man on the scene Angus was ready for a classic Wellington spin around the bays. It was also a chance to debut my new Rapha winter kit. I am not a fan of winter after years of tropical or summer riding, but if you want to smash winter in the face, then this is THE kit to do it with. Not only will you look fabulous (so I am told, a lot), but the kit is mega warm… Actually too warm, as I would find out later on (no, Rapha doesn’t sponsor this post… Yet…). As luck would have it, Welly turned on a calm, but brooding day:

Calm, but ominous...

Calm, but ominous…

Angus was quickly getting the hang of what how a Rapha porn shoot works, initially hindered by his lack of owning any items (not even socks, something Santa will need to fix for him), with some quick Artiste direction he was on the MF:

Head to toe... Its almost getting embarrassing... Almost..

Head to toe… Its almost getting embarrassing… Almost…

The problem with cold weather riding is when it heats up… Either through effort or sunshine. I had conveniently forgotten this aspect, that and along with the fact that once you sweat up a storm, it goes cold. Less than convenient.

After the bays cruise and the mandatory Flat White coffee stop, I pushed on solo around another Wellington classic, the Makara loop. Being a bit lumpy I had the chance to put some hurt into the legs to tweak the form ahead of the Singapore National Road Champs next Sunday. Form must be OKish, as there were a lot of personal records today around Makara, pleasing. Here is the standard Makara view looking out towards the coast:

Wind turbine anyone? 100% pure... Aside from the sound...

Wind turbine anyone? 100% pure… Aside from the sound…

The downsides of the hill efforts? Getting baked in my palatial winter kit… This is the mofo with these conditions, its either too hot, or too cold… A good advertisement for why summer rules. Not complaining though, it was a beautiful ride through the valley and I was stoked to be putting all my Italian and Japanese climbing miles to good use.

Into dirty old Cuba street to refuel after the 73km spin and it wouldn’t be a Welly post without a shot of the famous bucket fountain now would it? Here it is, accompanied by some Jazz Cats who were banging out not only some rather loud funky street jazz, but also all the themes and music from the Star Wars trilogy, unique…

Hipster HQ...

Hipster HQ…

Finally today, here is one straight out of the ‘Crank snapping monster’ file, our Melbourne affiliate sent through this shot of his efforts over the weekend. I like to do intervals to sharpen my form, but Mr B just likes to keep going until he literally tears the cranks right off the bike… Bravo chap:

Time to back off a few of those weights sessions...

Time to back off a few of those weights sessions…

One Response

  1. Josie

    I cant believe that you left Suz to go riding at 8am the first morning back in Wellington. Seriously dude????

    Reply

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