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    • "Psycho Crossing" - Emma Bateup
      • Emma has done more big missions than most and her latest "Psycho Crossing" had her challenging herself in new and increasingly exciting ways. Emma has done us the favour of capturing the experience, don't worry if it doesn't inspire you to try it yourself! "When Jacob first mentioned his idea for the Psycho Crossing to me, I wanted in immediately. Riding to, carrying bikes across the Tararua Southern Crossing, and riding home. It sounded right up my alley. As the week drew closer, I started worrying about being able to keep up, there was going to be a lot of time on foot, especially going downhill, which my uncoordinated feet aren't great at. I wished I'd done some recent practice walking with a heavy pack, but it was too late for it now. Our team lost a few members in the final week and by the time Friday rolled around it was just the three of us: Jacob, Karsten, and I meeting at 6pm, excited and nervous. We rolled out and Jacob set a good pace up and over to Porirua where we stopped for dinner, agreeing that maybe we'd slow down a tad. We made our way up the coast as darkness fell, enjoying the smooth cycleways before turning up towards Otaki Forks. The moreporks were out in force, Jacob chatted back, and I unsuccessfully tried. We reached the trail around midnight and set about dismantling and attaching our bikes to our bags. At the time we (I) teased Karsten for taking longer to pack everything up, but it quickly became apparent that his setup was pretty bombproof and ours required tinkering with well into the next day. We set off up the hill and my calves were instantly sore, walking with a weight was harder than I remembered, and I realised how much slower than the others I was on foot. I made sure I ate heaps of snacks, knowing that my endurance would keep me going, it just wouldn't be fast. Jacob stopped a few times to change how his bike was strapped on, so I took the opportunity to get ahead. Unfortunately, this meant clearing all the cobwebs across the trail with my face. On the few downhill sections of trail, I was tripping on the bottom of my bike, but with the trail mostly climbing I decided to leave a change in position for the next morning. We reached Field hut after a couple of hours and stood outside talking quietly as we unpacked, as to not wake anyone up. After what seemed like ages, we thought to actually check to see if it was occupied. Upon finding it empty, we moved our gear inside and brought our voices back up to normal level. We pulled out sleeping gear and set up for a few hours of sleep. Karsten and I had opted for the comfort of sleeping bags but, to save on space, Jacob had committed to just an emergency bivvy bag, more akin to a crisp packet than a piece of sleeping gear. We'd been joking about waking everyone up with the crinkle of the bag, but now it was time to experience it. Good thing there wasn't anyone else in the hut. I was warm enough, but the sound of Jacob moving was enough to keep me from a proper sleep. The alarms went off after nowhere near enough time rested, and I sat in my sleeping bag feeling cold and tired while the guys got up and started packing. Eventually I made my way out of bed and getting moving made me feel better. We set off up towards bushline and were treated with the rising sun once we got out into the open. It wasn't long before the cloud rolled in and we all started getting cold, layering up to get to Kime Hut. We arrived to another empty hut and enjoyed/didn't enjoy a cold dehy breakfast, I don't think it would have been any better heated though. More layers were put on, by now I had everything I'd brought on. And after leaving I very quickly warmed up and regretted having my puffer jacket on. The following hours provided some stunning landscapes as we walked along the ridgeline, over Mt Hector. The cloud was hanging around, but we still managed to get a few views. What I thought was part of the Wellington Harbour was actually Kapiti Island. The ridgeline seemed to go on forever, but eventually we started descending off Alpha, hitting bushline again, and coming across the hut soon after. Reaching Alpha Hut made it feel like we were nearly done, despite only being about halfway through. We made the most of the hut, having a reset before the final section. We were grateful for Jacob’s decision to bring a cooker and enjoyed a hot meal while he had a nap, his lack of sleeping bag had made it too cold to sleep during the night. I’d walked the remaining section of trail a few years ago and remembered the trail down from the hut and up to Marchant Ridge being far quicker. My legs were protesting with the steep downhills but after a while along the ridge I started finding a groove that I hadn’t felt yet. I started feeling more confident and although it required heaps of concentration, I felt like I was keeping up better. I’d also given up caring about trying to skirt around the many boggy bits and went full savage mode boosting through the middle, with varying success. There were plenty of giggles when I’d hit a deep one and end up in mud to my knees. We knew that our friend Sam was coming out to meet us and when we bumped into him with 9ks to go it was a massive boost. We started the downhill off the ridge, and it wasn’t long before I had a meltdown after a certain song started playing through my headphones. That downhill dragged, darkness fell, and my knees screamed in pain. Once I started recognising the terrain leading to the next turn off, I became focused again, forgetting the pain and keeping a better pace up. After a while I slowed back down and had to stop for another cry and to eat, then resumed my focus. Both Jacob and I were pretty broken by this point, Karsten seemed to be absolutely fine. We split into two groups somewhere along here, with Sam keeping my spirits up for the final few k’s along and down the final downhill. The slick clay surface slowed things down and there were some savage steps in there too. I managed to stay upright and was ecstatic to emerge out into the Kaitoke carpark before midnight. I’d thought there’d be some tears of relief but had obviously used them all up already. Jacob and Karsten soon joined us, and we got our bikes built back up as the rain set in. It was decided that being midnight would work in our favour for empty roads, so we rolled along the main road to the Z in Upper Hutt. It was great to take weight off and use the legs in a more familiar way, but I was very aware that I hadn’t eaten much for a while, a pie from the Z sounded ideal. They were out of hot food, so water bottles were filled, and I made do with a stroopwafel to get me home. After a funny interaction with a local we got back rolling, taking the most direct way home. Thankfully the rain had eased off and with Sam sitting on the front it was a speedy trip back into town. I got home at 2am, had a shower and was asleep immediately. All in all, 150k cycling, 40k tramping while carrying a bike, and around 4000m of elevation. Just under 29 hours for the full loop, only a third of which was mildly unpleasant -- I’d call that a win. We all agreed that we wouldn’t do it again, but I’ve since learnt that there is also a Northern Crossing of the Tararuas. Might have put in some more time on foot first." - Emma Bateup

    • Wellington Bike Swap
      • Love hanging out with your friends and piles of vintage bike parts? Then you would have loved the 2024 Wellington Bike Swap! More

    • "Grompage" 2023 film festival
      • Get Lost Cycling are proud to have hosted the inaugural edition of GROMPAGE™, Wellington's premier mountain bike movie festival 🔥 GROMPAGE™ is a celebration of Wellington's riding and creative talent. All videos were submitted by members of the local riding community and prizes were awarded for "best riding," "most creative edit," and "people's choice."

    • Custom "WRAD" hardtail - Spoke magazine feature
      • We've been big fans of Spoke magazine since we were teenagers so we jumped at the chance to feature in the latest issue. With a fresh hardtail courtesy of Matt at "WRAD" bikes we took the opportunity to look back on the build process and discuss the reasons for and against going custom. "Being surrounded by bikes day in and day out I've developed some pretty strong opinions about what works and what doesn't work when it comes to modern bikes. I've been able to put most of my ideas in to practice with off the shelf bikes but when the opportunity presented itself to get a custom bike built locally I couldn't say no. We've seen some shocking custom frames come through the shop from some very highly regarded builders so we've learnt to be cautious, but having Matt (Wrad bikes) based locally put those fears to rest. Who is WRAD? Matt Ward is the man behind Wrad (We Ride All Day) bikes. He's worked as an engineer for the last 6 Years and in that time has worked as a Manufacturing Project Engineer, mechanical CAD designer and is currently the Production Manager for FTN Motion. Growing up riding dirt bikes means Matt has always been keen on going fast on two wheels and living in Wellington meant it was only a matter of time until Matt gave mountain biking a go. 6 years ago he took the plunge and with his dirt bike background he found himself drawn to faster paced downhill riding where reliability is more important than weight and the bikes are ultimately built to send. This is reflected in not only his current steel bikes that he builds but also the first frame he built out of bamboo. Bamboo also served as the inspiration for the Wrad logo/headbadge as it is not only a deceptively strong frame building material but also a Pandas favourite meal. The headbadge is reflective of Matt's approach to frame building. While a head tube sticker ultimately does the trick it really doesn't compare to the Lazer cut bear that graces the front of every Wrad frame. Brazed on and sitting proud of the head tube, the head badge gives of a sense of permanence which is a welcome change from the disposable culture that permeates so much of mountain biking. Frame building, regardless of method, is a specialist pursuit which requires a very specific range of tools as well as a suitable workshop. Not being afraid to get his hands dirty, Matt took the initiative and built a frame jig as well as the workshop which serves as the Wrad headquarters. Not having physical space to install the workshop was proving to be a challenge but fortunately a colleague came through and Wrad is now perched in his workmates backyard looking down over the Wellington harbour. Currently WRAD is still a side gig, and Matt thinks it will stay that way for at least the rest of this year. He's enjoying seeing it grow organically, slowly gaining a reputation for the right reasons without needing to force it. Having spent time with Matt and seeing his approach to frame building I have no doubt that we'll be seeing more Wrad bikes out on the trails soon. Concept behind the bike The bike that Matt built me is a reaction against super high performing modern bikes which excel in one area at the expense of everything else. Despite these bikes being great fun in the right circumstances I knew I wanted something that wasn't locked in to one style of riding and had different characteristics depending on the build. A classic Jack of all trades, master of none type situation. I also wanted to minimise cross over with my other bikes. I think there's a lot of value in having a range of bikes which all fulfill a specific function with minimal crossover. My previous hardtail was (too) deep in the lower/slacker/longer camp and I found that I would mostly ride my full sis rather than getting bashed around. Design process I spent hours agonising over the bike on bike cad before realising I'd practically designed a rigid Norco Fluid. After years of watching bikes getting rowdier it felt weird designing a bike that was steeper, shorter and higher than my previous hardtail but it also felt like a natural response to the pendulum swinging as far as it has. I had a few ideas that weren't able to make it to fruition (frame bag beer fridge), and other ideas which allowed me some flexibility with geo numbers (sliding dropouts). I leant in to the freedom presented by building something custom so the extra top tube, high standover (for maximum frame bag storage) and rack mounts were luxuries that set the bike apart but also make it that much more fit for purpose. Matt was happy for me to lead the geometry and he chimmed in when things weren't viable. Having someone local who understood the brief was invaluable and validated my decision to work with someone in the same time zone rather than outsourcing the bike from overseas. Delivery and build Once I'd made up my mind and committed to the final numbers the bike came together remarkably quickly. While Matt was busy cutting and glueing tubes I finalised the rest of the build and tried to make sure it was ready for long days in the saddle as well as Wellingtons notorious weather. In predictable fashion it was a short notice build before embarking on my first trip with the bike. Despite the time constraints the initial build went as smooth as it could and the fit and finish on the bike was as good or better than anything from a large manufacturer. I also took the opportunity to get a set of custom frame bags made by Auckland based "Paper roads" which added to the functionality of the build and allowed me to maximise the storage capability of the bike. Ride After picking the bike up from Matt I managed to get a grand total of two shake down rides on the bike before riding it 1500km from the Queen Charlotte sound down to Milford Sound. Despite some initial apprehension about riding a brand new bike the length of the South island it turned out my concerns were unfounded and everything went off without a hitch. With the tour behind me and Wellington Winter in full swing it's fair to say that it's achieved what I wanted from it. While it's not as capable as my full suspension trail bike, nor as fast on the flat as my gravel bike it slots in perfectly in-between as a do anything, go anywhere adventure bike. With xc tyres it makes my local grade 3/4 trails interesting while still being ready to be loaded up with bags for a quick overnighter if the mood takes me. Working with Matt and being able to see my bike come to life from concept through to design and fabrication has been incredibly rewarding. The quality and finish is as good as anything I've come across from much more established builders and I've ended out with something that suits my needs perfectly in the most self indulgent was possible. I'm the only person that this bike needs to work for and that's exactly how I like it." Words: Koen Greven Photos: Lewis Ferris

    • Sound to Sound 2023
      • The "Sound to Sound" is an annual bikepacking event running the length of the South Island of New Zealand. A few of us took on the challenge in March 2023 and have done our best to summarise our experience below: More

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