Bruised Bum

Good times yesterday evening up at Forest Lake Park (or whatever it was called). As I rode through the twisting trails, up and down the forest hills, dodging the tree branches hanging over the track, I couldn't help but smile. It was quite an amazing experience which made me realize there is much more to riding than just roads. To explore the narrow trails along the south pacific felt free and challenging in it's own right. We first started out at the carpark and road into a large forest road...finding a trail to our left we hopped on and enjoyed the well-kept tracks...mostly gravel, some hard dirt, but it was fun no matter what. We came out a half hour later at the south pacific and road a trail along the beach. The sea breeze felt amazing and the smell of salt was in the air. I am still in awe of my good fortune, to go mountain biking and find a trail as such that we could ride along the ocean and watch the surf come in. The highlight of the trip was the remarkably steep hill I rode down...being scared of heights and falling this was a big accomplishment and I know that if I had been clipped in properly I would have definitely been able to jump the small hill that followed. The lowlight was the spill I took on the beachside trail in which I flew over the handlebars with little grace. It was a pretty hard fall on the gravel and I hurt my ass a bit...there's a nice big purple bruise sitting there now. Good times.

I think we are going camping this weekend with Erin and Tom and some of their friends (meaning we will be making more friends!) over to the West Coast of the Southern Island. And yes Kennedy, we plan to take a trip to one of the glaciers. I will let you know how amazing it is when I return my dear.

That is all the news from the NZ front folks. I'll probably be back with more later or on Tuesday.

-Cole