One more sport added to my outdoor portfolio: mountain biking. Wonder how many bones this puppy is going to claim. Worth it. I kick-started the adventure by taking the puppy out for a ride to Lake Dispute, Queenstown. The fall colours were just mental!
A stunning day for a run up to Bowen Peak. Trails so beautiful and rugged you just want to keep going. Hopping and running on boulders and tussock fields makes you feel like a mountain goat!
Learning not to detach, coz I can’t get enough of it. I want more, and I’m greedy for it to never end.
Sunrise coffee from Coronet Peak.
I would have missed this if I hadn’t dared to face the bad weather that morning. High winds and a torrential downpour were forecast for the day, but when the weather cleared up, even for a brief second, it was just spectacular. Got to take those chances, because you never know. 30k along the Queenstown Trail and the Gibbston River Trail.
After 4 days of pissing rain, a clear blue sky day, and the clouds lifted to reveal the snow-capped mountains of the Queenstown region. I braved the cold for a run up to Ben Lomond, and Ben Lomond didn’t disappoint. It was frigid cold and the trails were icy and slippery near the summit, but the sufferfest was totally worth it.
On my way back from the summit, I stopped at the saddle to lick my wounds from a fall, as the trail was all iced up. A conversation started with a fellow tramper at the saddle, and after I explained what I do, the tramper said:
“This whole ultra distance running thing, it sounds crazy and mental. It just doesn’t make ANY sense, at all.”
I replied, “Exactly. That is why ultras are fun. They don’t have to make sense.”
We all go to the mountains for different reasons, but it becomes more epic when you share that passion in the company of friends who share that stoke.
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