New Years In Spain

Ok so it's been a couple of weeks since my last update. And tonight's one will be brief as the hangover is not. We've finished building the first loop at Big Heads which offers a reasonably relentless climb of a tight twisty trail littered with rock, once you reach the top you are at the highest point on this side of the property. The trail then meanders across the top of the rock slab and into a cool techy trail down the slabs and with a few short alternative with various challenges to keep things interesting. The weather has been absolutely awful lately so we haven't been able to get in as much riding as we would like but we did manage to fit a quick blat around the trails at the compound in the rain on Thursday. It was quite good as most of the trails have been built in the summer so it was good to see where drainage would be needed. And a really good test for my new clip shoes and pedals, I've always been a little sceptical about riding in clips as I like to get my feet off when I need to, but I have to say the first impressions of riding with clips was certainly a good one, the extra control in the less than ideal conditions was amazing. Times when I would usually drop a foot for extra balance I found myself instead pedalling and finding more grip than usual. So the next few weeks will be spent riding on them every chance I get and starting the build up towards the New Zealand National Champs in Dunedin the week after I get home.

Well this is the 1st of January here In Portugal so yesterday we thought the best thing to do on new years eve here would be to leave :) so we packed up and went off to Badajoz (Badahos) in Spain. the architecture is superb and everywhere you look there is more history just waiting to be uncovered. But we weren't there for the history, we were there to party so a quick stop to find accommodation and pick up some beverages to get things going. Things kick off pretty late in Spain and there was little action on the streets till after eleven. Everything went off with several bangs and everyone had a ball.