THRILLS: Simples Jack at Skyline is actually a grade 2. PHOTO/GRAEME MURRAY SKYLINE
Maths was never my strong suit at school.
I got respectable enough marks in School Certificate and to get University Entrance accredited (anyone else remember those?).
However, by my senior year I'd lost interest.
Recently, I've also been experiencing a mild form of number dyslexia.
I helped out with some media at the Nzo Whaka 100 at Labour weekend.
Of course, it was Carl Jones' 4th consecutive win, not 3rd, and there are just over 3200 metres of climbing over the 100km, not 2500. At least, I got the name of the race right.
Go back a month. I wrote a column about the remarkable work Jamie Mead (MTB operations manager at the new Skyline Gravity Park) and the trail builders (Adam King and Chris Martin from Empire of Dirt) and their teams are doing on Mount Ngongotaha.
I mentioned that the entry-level trail at Skyline, Simple Jack, is a grade 3.
It's a grade 2. The good news is that this means novice and even beginner riders can enjoy the park. Check out Graeme Murray's photo for proof of that.
I guess I was scrambling around to think of a trail in the Whakarewarewa Forest that felt equivalent to Simple Jack. Although it's longer, Corners came to mind and that is a grade 3. One thing I am good at with maths is when it comes to value for money.
The least expensive option up at Skyline is a half-day pass for $55. Some riders are getting in over 20 runs in that time, which translates to ... not very much per run.
This includes a serene, comfortable trundle up the hill in one of the gondolas reserved for mountain bikes.
The most expensive option is a full season pass (think skifield passes). However, just 20 runs a week over a year equal very, very good value for your dollars.
If you are a member of the Rotorua Mountain Bike Club you'll also get a tasty discount on this (so join now: www.mtbclub.org.nz).
I've got one of those season passes. A combination of weather and work over the past month means I have had little chance to use it.
Labour Day was the 2nd anniversary of getting back on a bike for the first time after six months of illness in 2012.
It's my "re-birthday" and I received the best present possible on the big day. The bike I've been helping Jeff Anderson at Kiwibikes build over the winter was completed. Although I've been alongside the process all the way, it was still emotional seeing it finished.
My own personal Jeffson is where art intersects with engineering and design. I could hang it on the wall but that would mean missing the pleasure of cruising into town for a coffee.
It's a hybrid with a road style frame and wheelset, but with beefier treaded tyres, so it's good for tarmac, the hard-packed pumice around Sulphur Point, gravel roads and easier trails in the forest (maybe even Simple Jack).
The full story will be in the next issue of New Zealand Mountain Biker, out at the end of the month.
Taupō mum of two Emma Kettlewell was diagnosed with cancer a year ago.