After a little time off from hucking, my cankle is looking more like an ankle again, so that means it is time to ride! Today, I joined up with some friends for a sweet morning/afternoon of dirt surfing and river-fording, it was an excellent time.  The sun was blasting, the smiles were wide, and I got to see a little bit more of eNZed!  One thing I am going to be proactive about in the coming weeks, is getting out and about, and exploring some of the nooks and crannies in the hills.  Having a social circle finally is proving helpful in this endeavor, as riding with friends is always a better time – and it helps when they know where the secret stashes are!
Today’s ride was a 13.5 mile haul up/across Coronet Peak, down into Arrowtown, and back out.  It was a riot out on the trails, and I was continually in awe of the variations in topography we journeyed through in such a relatively short distance/time span.  The descent off the peak was a steep affair, which emptied into a flat catch basin that the trail crisscrossed while following the wandering path of a large stream.  The various crossings of our watery company were actually the more nerve-wracking moments for me, as I was the caboose of the bike train and the water was misty with churned up muck after six other riders had blasted through before me, and I couldn’t see what I was about to roll into – dicey!

Some locals and some pros – down here, it’s all high fives and no egos.

I did my best to ride at about 70-80% in order to preserve my poor ailing joints, and in even though I wasn’t riding at a “race-pace” speed, it was still a great day out among the trees and tall grass.  It was definitely an interesting learning experience in terms of how to dial back the intensity of riding while not spacing out and crashing; often not pushing it leads to lethargic riding and lazying thinking, and in turn crashing tends to happen.  But, I think the dull ache of the almost-an-ankle-again was reminder enough that it would be to my benefit to not have an unplanned departure from the bike.  With that said, I did find myself sprawled among jungle-like grass after an unexpected section of muddied ruts made themselves known…at least the grass was soft.
Unrelated to today, I have finally procured a new computer after my poor workhorse laptop start to show signs of needing to be finally put out to pasture.  While it has served well, and may still have some life left, it was time to bring in a newer, fresher machine.  That also means I can edit photos again, so this blog will finally be graced soon with non-Instagram photos!  Keep an eye out for a post in the near future featuring some proper shots!