by mummycreature
I'm at 19 minutes and 55 seconds.

My little animal never stays with me. Yesterday I went uber slow just to see how long the doggy stayed by my side, but it left me at the ruins.

Do you ride eratically. I usually only lose my pet if I turn quickly while sending it to do something, run into Miis or walls or jump off cliffs. The pets aren't too smart so you have to sort of lead the way for them. I think if you go too slow they will also leave you for a run and not come back. Sometimes they are tricky and show up later on. Keep practising with them and you will soon learn their behaviour.
That's not a bad time. Are you using cheats or just doing what you think is a fast route between balloons.

Hey mummycreature, you're only 5 seconds behind me so i guess we can start our own little contest taking up the rear of the under 20 seconds crew. I won't be getting back on the bike till monday as work calls for the rest of the weekend so don't be going too fast will ya, these ageing legs might just snap trying to keep up.

I too have some difficulty with those little pets, even my own cat, Ariel, still leaves me high and dry sometimes I got so carried away on my last outing that I forgot to call for the pet at the end of the beach and had to get the ball on my own, that cost me a few seconds The main ball I'm trying to perfect at the moment is the one after the volcano tunnel on the grassy middle ledge. I keep sailing into the fence, losing my direction and then having to peddle and steer like a madwoman trying to rectify the course, I must be losing a good 20 seconds or so there so all in all I should be getting close to the 18s.

I noticed the other day that I was getting the speed lines more than ever before without doing anything conciously different, so I'm assuming that with more practice the whole biking thing becomes closer to second nature and these times will come down more and more.

My next challenge is to run a good time without cheats but I've got to find a new route.

Hello Jvv, and 1dayfit.

I use the route that was devised by someone on here. Starting at the top of the hill, and ending at the beach. I always always have trouble getting the beach ball at the top end of the beach after the ruins. It does my nut in, because i end up cycling what feels like aaaages out my way, just to get back to the grass, sometimes i end up circling about. Yep, that bit's a total disaster for me, and I wonder if I can find my own route that starts from there instead, I'll let you know if i ever do.

Oh, Oh something I was going to say. Once, I managed to dive into, therefore drowning....hmmmmm, in the lake by the castle. You know the 3rd ball you go for if you are coming down from the hill, and when I reappeared, I was on the road close to the tunnel you need to go down to get back to, that's behind the waterfall, which was fairly helpful time wise.

If by erratic you mean, crashing into ramps, walls, tree's, rocks, Mii's, then yes. I just get too excitable.

Mummycreature, I think you are using my old route that starts at the green above the castle and goes down. This is one of those spots where surprisingly going up the mountain starting at Duckling Lake will actually result in faster times. Check out DiDi321 post at post3563.html#p3563 for the complete directions if you wish. Only thing I do different is the balloon above the manmade tunnel. DiDi gets it after the dry lake bed and I get it after going through the man made tunel before entering the beach area. I actually cut almost a minute off my time using her route. There were some routes in the 26.5 second thread that started at the end of the beach but these were abandoned quite quickly in favour of others because of cheats and death plummets.

I think the 15s are possible now. I found another jump this morning between the 2 greens on the mountain. Jump off where the Miis are clapping and you will come back in the centre of the last green. I managed to leave the mountain at 17:50 which should have given me the 15s if I had made it perfectly for the rest. Unfortunately that sneaky kittie, on the last balloon before the ruins, rested until I turned back and then popped the balloon. I missed the doing the turn after the tunnel well and the kittie stopped to rest on the ramp there. I had to get the balloon myself before the kittie caught up. One more run before breakfast.
Then again maybe not possible. Tried again and it seemed good all the way but only hit 16:15. Maybe I'm slowing down as I cycle longer. I wonder Kecsah if we follow the fence after the tunnel then near the bottom turned left to see balloon and sent kittie then sharp turn around might be better. mmmmm I wonder

That is a good idea, but will kitty do his job? When he does, it will work well, but sometimes I don't hear that pop, so hesitate or even turn back, and then he (laughs at me and) gets it.

It would be a shorter route and if you want to risk his capriciousness, it would save time when successful.

It may be just my imagination but it seems as I get better the kittie starts to act up more. Perhaps it is because I try to shoot it out a little sooner or (and I think this has some validation) I have a sneaky kittie. It really is aggrivating to have the kittie burst the balloon after you turn around to retrace your steps but there is no way to know (I think anyway) whether it will have popped the balloon if you didn't turn around. Oh well, practise, practise, practise. Couldn't break 16:15 today

Poor baby! Stuck in the upper 16s?

Well. I am learning some ways to shorten my routes, but messed up today when I tried to get the balloon above the man made tunnel. I missed it and had to circle around, or I may have improved my time. Then after the ruins I came out of the tunnel to try the idea of hugging the fence and sending the cat for the balloon as I cut off all that area, but I hugged it too soon and my cat bonked his head on it and apparently went unconscious because he never joined me again so I had to head left to get it myself after all. That took extra time, too.

What's the best route from the lighthouse to the balloon on the ledge near stonehenge? I used to cut through the village, but find that it leaves me up by the arch and I have to go all the way around to get up on the ledge anyway, so am trying just taking the dirt road which goes past the red brick bridge. There doesn't seem to be a shortcut.

I like the drop between the greens. That clearly saves time and is not hard to do.

I tried the fence hugging this morning also but don't think it will cut time, it took too long to see the balloon after the turn and there was too much distance to double back on. Oh well, gotta keep trying. After the lighthouse I cut above the ramp and above the village between the 2 trees on the other side of the path and go toward stonehenge rock and turn. Yes it is doubleing the distance but I can't find a shortcut. I tried and tried to go around the tunnel on the starting circle side and then jump up one of the the rocks next to the path to try and cross the dirt path to get the balloon but always crash into the side. Has anyone been able to make this jump? I am going to keep looking for jumps like the one between the greens even if my Mii complains about all the bumps and scratches. They should make cars like our bikes that can really take a lickin and keep on ticken, without even a scratch