GROOVING FUNGUS

Guess whose back? Back again?

2009-08-17T18:35:00.006+08:00

Wow...its been almost a year since I even LOOKED at my blog...and I'm wondering now why I stopped it? Lets just put it down to a year long hangover that is finally clearing....

So a bit of an update. I'm now living in Spain and working as a mountain bike guide, doing what I love with people I like....mostly...

If it wasn't for the crazy dead artist gay robot police it would be great.....

So I've ridden for 4-6 hours a day every day for the last six months now...and when you go from riding once, maybe twice a week to this kind off intensity your body does all sorts of weird things to compensate....when I first arrived in Spain I looked a bit like this....

A Christmas with my parents obviously contributing....

After two months of a life that consisted solely of riding and then sleeping and then riding and then sleeping and then...you get the idea. I started to resemble this guy..

I was exhausted all the time, I don't think I've ever been so tired. Fortunaltey my fellow guide, in his secon season suggested drinking protien shakes after every ride....and I must say it has been the miracle cure to my exhaustion....the only side affect is this....

I'm gonna need a bigger bike....

Bolivian Riding Powder

2008-09-10T14:42:00.001+08:00

So I only got one ride in during my tour of South America....but what a ride it was...

Starting at 4600 meters...yes that's right METERS and singletrack all the way down....

Most if it full-on poo in your pants stuff with plenty of exposure if you got it wrong...

What you can't see in this photo is the several hundred feet drop to my right...and the several thousand foot drop to my left....

Hence the clenched sphincter type body English seen below...

Despite being off the bike for about 6 weeks and more from luck than skill, I managed to keep rubber side down the entire time.

Hence the large smile on my face....

The following shots are from the "Ghost" trail that Cedric Gracia nailed in New World Disorder 6...

Of course Gracia may have rode it a bit more aggressively than I did.

Especially on the jumpy bits...

The best stuff was the huge blue sky and the feeling of endlessness experienced on singletrack at high altitude..

What really nailed it for me though was the beer at the end of the day......

A massive word to B-Side adventures in La Paz who hooked me up at very short notice...

http://bside-adventures.blogspot.com/

Great bikes, great people and awesome trails..

They also do the infamous Death Road ride, "the worlds most dangerous road"

This is for wimps though....ask them for the Freeride Adventure, only about 20 visitors do this trail a year and it is up there with my trip to Whistler...

The only issue I had was the Xtra Large full face helmet which obscured my vision and made me look like an alien...

I read in the lonely planet that a gram of cocaine costs as much as a beer in La Paz....

I reckon save your money and just ride your mountain bike there...

A nice surprise....

2008-08-01T13:33:00.001+08:00

After almost two months away and a with a pretty serious typhoon hitting while I was gone, I decided to check out the trail this morning....

Well the carefully planned drainage system held up pretty well with almost no damage whatsoever.

As a bonus the weather here is just beautiful at the moment...sunny days and clear skies...

I'll be up the mountain on my road bike this afternoon.

About 1000mts higher than this point..

Despite all the beauty in the world and the exceptionally good karma in my life right now...someone decided to slightly upset my day by leaving this on the trail...

This isn't the first time either. I've been left quite a few 'presents' while building the trail.

It was in full view of the trail entrance as well (you can see the road just at the top of this picture)

Riders BEWARE!

I'm not sure if this was a strategic placement to avoid being seen or to make sure that everyone else sees it!

All I can think of is that it must be some ancient Chinese custom...

"Take crap on trail, bring very good luck!"

I think I should get one of these bad boys installed....

I took this photo while trekking in the Andes'...

It was a big hole dug in the ground surrounded by a nice plastic outhouse...perfect for my trail...

Just got to work out how I get it shipped from Peru to Taiwan..

In the meantime....if I catch whose doing it I will tie them to a tree and leave them there until they look like this...

I'm Back!

2008-07-31T17:03:00.001+08:00

Yes I'm back..back from my 2 month summer trip that took me to places far and wide.

The highlight of which was a four day trek to this little old place.....

No this isn't a postcard...this is an actual shot taken by me on my phone...

But it wasn't all boring cultural type stuff...

I did manage to get some riding in...as can be seen here....

And here....which is Bolivia in case you were wondering....

Same trail that Cedric Gracia rode in NWD6....

He...um...might have ridden it a bit more aggressively than I did though...

Full update coming as soon as I get unpacked!

Ta Da! It's finished!

2008-06-08T10:52:00.007+08:00

After a mad rush involving blistered hands and a broken pick axe or two the trail is finally finished and officially open!

Hoo rah! Everyone have a beer and toast the Fungus...

Here are some photos of Arron trying it out for the first time....

This is just after the entrance at the top (where the trail merges with an existing one traversing the hill)

Rock section

Rock turn (that took me two weeks to carve)

Root section (this will be sweet after a bit of erosion)

Dog sitting section

Trail hog dog

Good views

Some nice rapid switchbacks

My first full bench...all those months ago...

And a drop or two...

Not sure of length yet, I reckon it's just shy of 750m. Total height (BIG guess here) 100-150m.

One person..ME...(with a bit of help from Arron)

Around 10-15 hours a week for six months. Entirely hand built except for the bamboo section that was cleared with a weed whacker. (I still had to dig out the bloody roots with a hoe though)

I saw five piles of human excrement, four snakes, three stray dogs, two lost hikers, numerous lizards, toads, frogs and even the fresh remains of a large rodent sliced clean in two by a hawk.

Three hoes, one rake, three pick axes, one sledge hammer, two saws, one rock and three wood chisels....oh and a petrol driven weed whacker. (used once prior to oil prices and a stubborn refusal to start)

Big thanks to James, his GPS, complete disregard for personal safety and the power of his mighty legs.

Plus all the support from friends and family (you know who you are) Your encourageent made me keep digging when I was thinking "y'know this was a really stupid idea"

Dedicated to Gucci the dog for keeping me company, compacting the tread and 'testing' the trail...

Go ride!

Whacked Off!

2008-05-27T23:59:00.018+08:00

Fellow Mountain biker Dan was getting a bit fed up with how long it is taking me to finish my trail. So he gave me this...

Which is a petrol driven weed whacker...

It turns this...

Into this....

Then using the 'tools of the trade' Which are these...

Liberaly apply what my Mum calls 'elbow grease' and you get this...

Add a bit more elbow grease and eventually, you get this....

Which is all well and good, and Dan's donation has made life a bit easier...but I really wish he had given me one of these....

Anyone got a spare one hanging around?

Make cup cakes not war....

2008-05-27T23:59:00.017+08:00

Unless it involves shooting your freinds.....

...and training with Taiwanese Special Forces.

I could tell you what I'm doing in this photo....

...but then I'd have to kill you.

More Fashion...

2008-04-29T23:42:00.004+08:00

So yes, this is a blog predominantly about my obsession with mountain bikes but I have been known to watch, and just recently, even play a bit of rugby...

I attended a Rugby dinner a few weeks ago where sporting paraphernalia was auctioned off for charity (To raise funds for a former Taiwan club Rugby player who was disfigured in the Bali bomb)

I coveted one item in particular, these....

My finger is touching not only Johnny Wilkinson's shorts, but (gasp) Johnny's signature.

I havn't washed it since...my finger's looking a bit manky too...

The shorts were auctioned to a drunk Australian stock broker for NT$150,000. Who after completing his successful bid went to the stage and tried to set light to them...

Fortunately he was stopped before the forty or so Englishmen in the audience could get out of their seats and waltz on his Matilda...

In the end the fellow Englishman modeling the shorts purchased them from the Australian for NT$120,000..

Which I guess proves that Ozzies are not very good at 1) losing and 2) maths...

Fashion.....

2008-04-28T17:29:00.007+08:00

Cyclists are not known for their taste in clothes. In fact it's pretty hard for anyone to look good in skin tight lycra...

As a Mountain Biker though one has a myriad of options available when 'hitting radical singletrack dude'

One can wear baggy shorts to hide unsightly bulges, a helmet to conceal hair loss and protective armour to cover pale, skinny legs...

Here is our model Victor demonstrating this season's MTB look....

Notice the elegant lines when viewed from behind...

Sporting more convetional looks are, from left to right...Mike, Johnny and Peter.

Three guesses where Johhny is from...

Our final shot displays our models in their natural habitat, clearly indicating untapped talent in the art of looking simply fantastique!

Scooter-ville

2008-04-14T15:16:00.008+08:00

Taiwan has 23 million people....and about 400 million scooters....

One of those scooters is mine....

This one in fact...

Yes I know..for an internationaly recognised mountain biker I don't exactly look very cool on this thing....

But Im not a sure if a Harley would make me look any better and its a much cheaper way to ride on the awesome mountain roads of northern Taipei..

Overall, being a skoota boy (TM) totally ROCKS!!

And it's a lot safer than driving...

He was lucky to walk away from this one. You can't see it in this picture but if that tree hadn't stopped him the car would have plunged a few hundred feet...

Speaking of dying, despite skootaring (TM) being great fun but ultimately not very cool....

You still wouldn't find me dead on this....

Or this....

No...THIS is what I am saving up for....

Yangminshan

2008-04-07T18:37:00.009+08:00

I have finally managed to properly venture out and about into the mountains behind us...

And they are actually rather high! This is Cising at around 1500mts.

Notice the semi active volcano type thing....

....only a few kms from our apartment.

This certainly makes me sleep soundly at night...

Further out towards the coast the views are quite spectacular...

This valley is a short 30min drive from our apartment.

Notice the trail following the river that will just HAVE to be checked out on another trip...

However..not all is good.

The nearest beach to us is 45 mins away, has great surf and could be beautiful...

But it is so badly polluted it's embarasing....

After seeing such beauty in the mountains this really upset me and I can't understand why the local Taiwanese don't do something about it?

The good old bad old days....

2008-03-21T13:11:00.007+08:00

I have just transferred all my photos onto Picasa which is quite a neat piece of free photo software from Google.

While going through my old photos I found some great shots of Malaysia that I believed to be lost. I have only posted photos of trails and machines recently so I thought it would be a good idea to provide a reminder of what mountain biking is all about....

I love berms...even small ones...

There arn't any wooden skinnies in Taiwan....I miss them....

What I don't miss though is crashing at regular intervals....

Looks like this is gonna hurt!

Yup...sure did!

Ooooh Machinery!

2008-03-19T11:00:00.005+08:00

So the Taiwan Bike show has been and gone.....

Unfortunately I got the dates mixed up and was busy kickboxing so I didn't get to go.

Fortunately I know people who did and the general comment was that there wasn't many bikes but lots of nice machinery to see...

Such as this...

..and this....

Not really sure what these machines do but this bloke was getting excited about them....

What is it with Taiwanese and their toilets?

Apparently there were entire stands full of things like handlebar stems, and inner tube valves....

This wheel design looked interesting though...

..but best of all this bloke....

Who is current president of Taiwan (although there is a general election this weekend) said...

"We want to make Taiwan into a bicycle island with over 10,000 kilometers bike paths; a Bike Day and an Bike Museum"

So maybe there's some hope for dedicated for mountain bike trails.

Can't wait to see the museum full off spoke nipple machines though....

More trail building

2008-02-25T14:28:00.006+08:00

Being gainfully unemployed has led to me working on the trail pretty much full time.

Well OK, maybe not FULL time...but I'm up to about four hours a day before I get too knackered to carry on.

So far I've built more than 1/2 km and reckon I have at least another 500-600 Mt's to go until I merge with an existing trail about 40-50 mtrs above my current position.

Things were pretty slow going for a while as I had to cut a lot of full bench into rock to make the trail follow the saddle up. I also had to put a switch back in and build no less than four retaining walls.

This section is all finished now. Although its steeper than I would have liked, it drains well and makes for good riding....

Now that I am at the top of the saddle the going is much easier and I'm making good progress. In fact, I have a well defined process.

First of all the trail is walked and marked (there are white ribbons tied to trees in this photo)

Then the trail is cleared...

Then the trail is cut...

Then after triming, compaction (using our dogs fat arse) and a few days to let the soil settle there is the final test....

....the dog run....

If our dog doesn't want to run it..then the trail isn't finished...

Tomorrow I have this lot to clear....

It sure beats working for a living.....

Trail Blarzin!

2008-02-13T22:28:00.004+08:00

Well its been raining pretty much solidly for 10 days now....

The trail has been holding up well though and the wet weather has made cutting bench and carving sandstone a whole lot easier...

Of course the rather excelent condition of the trails is mostly down to the fact that I am religously following IMBA's 10% rule wherever I can...

So this is too steep...

and this is just right....

Crap Food!

2008-01-28T16:42:00.001+08:00

Litteraly...

last week we went to a resturant where seats are old toilets and the tables are bath tubs...

I played it safe and went for the curry...

This lady loved it!

And for desert?

Georg....without an 'E'

2008-01-25T16:35:00.000+08:00

This is Georg (without an E)

The poor fella can't even spell his name right and will do anything for one of these.....

He will do this...

And this.....

For a Mars bar I reckon I may even be able to convince him to drink this....

Trail Blazing....

2008-01-18T15:52:00.000+08:00

Despite it being the world's capital for bicycle manufacture there are no 'official' mountain bike trails in Taiwan.

The roadies are well catered for with big mountains and quiet roads, the casual riders are also represented with over 100km of nice, flat (and boring) asphalt bike paths around the city.

There is also an amazing amount of hiking, but they have mostly been built on fall lines and as a consequence have hundreds of concrete steps to navigate.

Taipei is surrounded by mountains so the potential is enormous. The trails we do have are pretty awesome, but there isn't many of them and we have to climb on the road to get to them...(via Starbucks though)

So, as a member of the gainfully unemployed I find myself with rather a lot of time on my hands.....and I have decided to do something with those hands...

Here's a few photos of the trail I'm currently building just at the back of our apartment....

This section will eventually be a berm leading into another one just off camera...

Straight bits are also needed though....

And I've got a retaining wall or two to build...

The idea is to create 2-3k medium difficulty loop so that riders just wanting a quick blast don't have to climb for an hour to get on some dirt...

Watch this space for updates....

Helen's

2008-01-16T15:18:00.000+08:00

More photo's from the guys.....

This is a trail called 'Helen's'. So called because of a coffee van thats normaly parked at the top of the mountain. He ussualy waits for the roadies to come through, but the MTB trail head also just happens to be a few hundred metres down the road.

The trail is super gnarly....ive only ridden it once and scared the crap out of me....I decided that I needed 1, A full suspension bike and 2, Larger balls before I would be able to clean it...

Fortunately the trail building bug is alive and well in Taiwan and the guys managed to make at least one section of it more ridable for the rest of us...

Happy New Year!

2008-01-06T19:38:00.000+08:00

Well we are back in Taipers after an awesome break in New Zealand. We had the chance to stay in a place on the East coast of the North island. Bream bay in Ruakaka.

Which isn't too shabby as you can see...

We stayed up on the hill overlooking the beach...

I have a bike in NZ and took that along but alas no riding.It appears as though farmers don't want you riding on their land for some reason....

It was still all good though. The weather was awesome and the food and wine up to the usual Kiwi standards.....

I have came back very relaxed....but with a resolution to go on a diet...

The really awesome thing...which I guess I should mention is that we have just bought a house about 30 seconds walk to the beach....

I guess I will just have to force myself to go back at some point...

Like...er....tomorow?

I've had enough!

2007-12-24T20:18:00.000+08:00

I've had enough of mashing dérailleurs...

I've had enough of leaking suspension...

I've had enough of falling off....

I've had enough of being slow...

Apparently, this is the answer to my problems...

A fully rigid, 29" size wheel, single speed....

I can get myself one of these for not very much money courtesy of my bike shop owning father in law...

Wot do you reckon?

HOT or NOT?

Taiwan bike park....

2007-12-23T19:50:00.000+08:00

Taiwan has lots of bike paths...

Tarmac pavements where one can safely cycle around the city....

The problem is, when you want to pop into the local for a bit of a pee jo (Chinese for beer)...there is nowhere to leave your bike...

Me and my mate James have come up with this idea....

Except we want to use real children...any one out there that can provdie some?

Foghorn Leghorn

2007-12-20T12:48:00.000+08:00

While I was safely tucked in bed with massive hangover on Sunday, a few intrepid explorers had made the decision to make an 'exploratory' ride up to a local legend known as 'Fisherman trail'

I honestly had every intention of going and I'm not a mathematician but an early start plus a late night multiplied by several Taiwan Beers equals a very bad sum...

I knew the ride was going to take around six hours and included a ride up to Helen's...which I think is an elevation of about 800m give or take....and that was only halfway up...

At sea level the weather was beautiful, a clear crisp day and when I emerged from my hangover at around 11:00am I was full of regret for not making the effort to go...

And then I saw the photos.....

And then I heard about the stairs...

Six kilometers of them apparently...

And then I heard about the view from the top...

On occasion, the absolute best thing to do is stay in bed....

Mmmmmmm.....Yum!.

2007-12-12T12:27:00.000+08:00

I'm just back from China! My third visit in two months, doing my consultancy stuff...glad to be back in Taiper's and looking forward to Christmas in NZ.

Most of all looking forward to NZ food....

Which is a bit better than the food in Suzhou...this taken from a menu...

I passed on the dog for obvious reasons but this was served without any announcement...

Not quite sure what this was actually.....Milly says she has seen something quite similar before.....but in a slightly different colour....

Suggestions anyone?

I Miss Malaysia....

2007-12-01T15:20:00.000+08:00

Despite being able to scare the crap out of myself whenever I want here in Taipei...

The trails on Bukit Kiara rock, and I miss them...

This is Pat filming Mike...music courtesy of Tom Petty...