I've been unexpectedly in rebuild mode, after the longest lay-off I've had since back in 2010 when I finished the Kiwi Brevet with a sore knee. After an ill-fated February trip to Melbourne with Sarah, during which time she steamed chin-first into some tarmac, I had my back go into spasm again, and for various reasons (not least, enjoying walking to and from work), it was almost ten full weeks between rides.
I was back on the bike finally at the very end of April, giving me just over three months to "get ready" for the Mongolia Bike Challenge in August - completion being the primary aim now.
A solid few days' riding over Queen's birthday weekend seemed like an ideal opportunity to see both where the fitness was at, and to give said fitness a bit of a helping hand. Even better, it enabled Brendan McGrath and I to finally get out of town together for a multi-day bike ride.
We decided to fly to Gisborne, and ride a four-day loop of the East Cape, before flying home to Wellington. Contingency for late arrival and/or slow departure on the Friday dictated an anti-clockwise loop. To reduce stress at the far end, we booked the earliest flight home on the Tuesday morning, giving us all of the Monday public holiday to ride between Opotiki and Gisborne, without the stress of a hard deadline.
Preparation went smoothly, though I found myself stuck in Auckland on Thursday, after very high winds in Wellington prevented a few morning flights from landing, mine included. Brendan and I kept ourselves entertained through the day by developing various contingency plans, though I finally got home at 9pm and was able to pack my own bike and gear.
Sarah kindly dropped me to the airport in the morning, and I enjoyed the flying-with-bike ritual of photographing it heading through the oversize scanner!
Brendan had reached out to Stephen Sheldrake, who owns the Avantiplus store in Gisborne, and he was very happy to help us out with storage of our bike bags (oh, I do miss the days of banging the rear end of the bike inside a large plastic bag and rotating the handlebars...). Not only that, but he picked us up from the airport, and helped us out with a couple of last-minute technical problems.
Brendan dropped and lost a bolt during bike reassembly, while about 1km into our ride, I diagnosed a fraying rear derailleur cable, and returned to the store for an emergency replacement - getting through the ride would be challenging enough without a snapped cable and single gear!
The shop was a nice place to hide from the downpour outside, but we soon ran out of excuses, and set off for the second time in an hour.
Our afternoon's target was Tokomaru Bay, some 90km up the road. After filling bottles and pockets at the Okitu Beach store, we were on our way proper, and due to the temperature and occasional rain, didn't stop much before reaching Tolaga Bay, at just over the half-way mark.
There, we took a short detour to check out the 600m-long wharf (the second longest in NZ after a whopper down at Tiwai Point, apparently), which we rode the length of without coming a cropper in the train tracks which run the length of it.
The store was a good chance for a snack, but we didn't pause long and were soon underway again. A short distance out of town, we passed a gruesome sight - a goat or sheep that had been killed on the road, and which was being slowly ground up by the traffic who presumably were unable to go around it. Fortunately, the climate meant we didn't have to hold our noses, and so only one of our senses was temporarily overloaded.
After a bit of a climb, we were treated to a fast down-hill run all the way into Tokomaru Bay, and after scoping out the 4-Square's closing time, quickly found our very cool accommodation, the old Post Office building, and now a very nice B&B.
After cleaning and warming up, we went out in search of dinner. Unfortunately, our excursion coincided with drizzle starting up again, and so we decided against a 3km return trip to a local pub/restaurant, and instead made do with takeaways and crumble. The two-course meal slid down very nicely indeed, and we managed not to get too wet - all in all, a great success.
The next morning, we woke to blue skies, and after a nice continental breakfast, we did a lap of the bay...
Back on the main drag, we popped to a lovely wee cafe for some much-needed coffee. I couldn't resist a pulled-pork pie, which was the first and best such pie I've ever had! By the time we'd finished there, the blue skies had also finished, and we set off in fairly dreary conditions again.
Not far up the road was Te Puia Springs - soon enough to stop for wardrobe adjustment, but far too soon for another coffee - a shame, because it was the last opportunity for some while.
The grim conditions didn't seem to bother either of us, thanks to great clothing (Gore shakedry jackets, in particular) but also our shared attitude towards bike riding. Traffic was light, so we were able to ride side-by-side a lot of the time, something we've both missed over the last couple of years due to incompatible commitments.
We took the turnoff into Ruatoria (or rather, didn't make the turn to stay on the main highway). Unfortunately, someone with a leaky gas tank had also been this way recently, and the rain had spread it around a lot making it hard to avoid. They'd gone all the way to the supermarket - our destination - and then gone back the way they'd come, just as we planned to do. Argh!
At the supermarket, we had a brief conversation with a young girl who was fascinated by our bikes and mission. I had my second pie of the day, before heading out into the diesel-slick again. About 5km up the road, it stopped abruptly - presumably this was where the tank had finally run dry!
We both had high-hopes for a coffee at Tikitiki, but as with Ruatoria, we left town disappointed. The weather conditions were constantly changing (from dry to wet and back again), so we were stopping often to reconfigure clothing.
Te Araroa couldn't come soon enough. and there we finally got our coffees. We had one for each of Ruatoria and Tikitiki's failures, and didn't rush them on account of a sudden downpour outside.
On the way out of Te Araroa, we swung past the largest Pohutukawa tree in the country (which makes it the largest in the universe, probably).
The heavens opened not long after, and as if the drenching from above wasn't enough, we rode past the largest puddle of the trip just as a car drove through it, drenching us from the side for good measure. Our jackets were impervious to both, impressively.
Not 10 minutes later, we climbed out of the bay only to look back and see weather conditions we only could have dreamed of when leaving the town back in the distance.
As the skies yo-yoed between blue and dry, and grey and wet, the wind had made its mind up to be in our faces pretty much the whole way from Te Araroa to our overnight destination at the far end of Waihau Bay.
It was dark by the time we got there, largely thanks to the grovel into the wind. We were booked into the Waihau Bay Hotel, and after a really good shower and a quick stretch, we shared a fisherman's basket before retiring for the sort of sleep that you get after a fairly tough day on the bike.
By virtue of running out of both energy and things to do the previous evening, and breakfast not being available too early on a Sunday, I managed a really long sleep. Brendan had made better use of the morning, not to mention the whopping SLR camera he'd been hauling around.
We made a short visit into the wee church at Raukokere. Being a Sunday morning, the local pastor was getting organised at the front, and seemed to pay us no mind. It was nice to be out of the wind briefly, and while I have not a single religious bone in my body, I do always enjoy sitting quietly in a church.
After a few minutes of quiet contemplation...
...it was time to roll out again.
We'd left Wellington a little over 48 hours ago, and it had been striking that almost everyone we'd seen since our ride had begun was Māori. It felt like a real privilege to be passing through this area, where the way of live is clearly very different to that in the nation's capital.
No one was making coffee at the macadamia farm, and the cafe as we entered Te Kaha was also closed. We grabbed a snack at the adjacent dairy, and were relieved when a local told us the Te Kaha Beach Resort would be open at the other end of town.
I was feeling a bit cold, so was keen to get stuck into a pie. Unfortunately, I failed to read the instructions on the pie-warmer, and only realised the plate under the pie was far too hot to hold once it was too late. I used my "wallet" (a bank coin baggie) to insulate my fingers, but of course it didn't like the heat either. While waiting for my coffee, I retrieved a roll of duct tape from my bike, and fashioned a repair of the rather large hole in my wallet which matched the large blob of molten plastic on the bottom of my pie plate... As far as on-the-road repairs went, this was the only thing needed other than applying chain oil.
Our only respite from the wind came when the road deviated away from the coast to cross the Motu River. The bridge was a few kilometres up the valley, and had been put in a perfect spot, given how long it would have had to be, had it been any further downstream.
After the crossing, the road hugged some cliffs for a wee while, giving us a bit of a break from the wind, and nice views down into the valley.
As Opotiki drew nearer, things started to look a little more familiar, and when we passed the Motu Road turnoff, I knew we hadn't far left to ride (I'd driven up the Motu Rd back in January 2018 with Sarah, Kaitlyn and Khulan en route to the Pakihi Track, and then ridden up there a few hours later to retrieve the car).
We'd arrived at the Airbnb Brendan had booked sufficiently early that we felt inclined to cook rather than eat out, but not so early that we had much down time before hoeing into a plate of pasta. Crumble and custard washed that down nicely, and by then it was well dark. I even had a hot bath before bed, and slept soundly as a result.
We woke to blue skies, which was great, but the sub-zero temperatures were not so nice. After breakfast at home and a couple of coffees out, we set off on our final day's riding - to close the almost 500km loop back to Gisborne.
In some ways, we were lucky, as the first 62km of the ride were all pretty much uphill. This both generated more heat and kept our speeds a little lower than had it been flat.
The scenery was very lovely, especially once we were into the gorge. The only downside was that we weren't getting too much direct sunshine, not that it was making much difference!
It was nice to see it in this direction - I'd been through almost exactly one year earlier on a TdF training mission, but the views were definitely better heading uphill.
Just before the road steepened up for the final part of the climb, we were surprised to see a "COFFEE" sign. In Wellington, it's hard to be more than a few hundred metres from a decent coffee source, and we'd become accustomed to very limited opportunities. This came as a very welcome surprise, and it was quite the set-up, with fresh muffins (and sunshine) to boot.
By the summit, we'd climbed over 700m, most of it imperceptibly. Once over the top, a fast descent took us down into the headwaters of the Motu River, significantly smaller than when we'd last seen it a day or so earlier.
We had a short stop at the Matawai Camp cafe, and while sitting in the sun with our coffees and muffins, did wonder exactly how bold a massive rat was going to get - it must have been hungry to loiter so close to us (but luckily not so hungry as to attack!).
After Matawai, there were only a couple of short climbing sections, and otherwise it was a downhill run all the way to Gisborne. That said, we'd also picked up yet another stonking headwind, which at times all but negated the gravity-assist.
By the time we reached the outskirts of Gisborne, I'd chatted briefly to Peter Murphy (who was driving to Auckland and pulled a u-turn to say gidday) and Craig Hoskin (heading back to Gisborne after MTBing at Whirinaki and who stopped after driving past us). Stephen not only met us at his shop, but also drove us to our motel once we'd packed up our bikes! It was quite the social afternoon, all things considered!!!
Brendan and I celebrated the end of our ride with a meal at a nearby Indian restaurant (and wearing clothes we hadn't hauled around the cape, no less). We had a very early flight the next morning, which was only a little longer than the Wellington Airport bus ride I had to a stop about a minute's walk from my office door. The icing on the cake was that the motel had a free washing machine and dryer, so I returned home that evening without a single piece of dirty laundry.
Brendan had been great company (thanks mate!), and while the weather didn't exactly turn it on for us, it could have been a hell of a lot worse. The daily distances had been about right given the conditions, and we'd done well with accommodation choices and food options.
Most pleasingly, my legs were remarkably up to the task after only a month's riding in them post-injury. I've got more of the same coming up in just over a week, when Sarah and I travel to Taiwan for eight days of riding. Temperature forecasts of "10 degrees, feels like 3 degrees" are being replaced with "33 degrees, feels like 40 degrees", which is much more my cup of tea.
* * *
Nitty gritty: gear list (tried and true) // Day 1 // Day 2 // Day 3 // Day 4
I was back on the bike finally at the very end of April, giving me just over three months to "get ready" for the Mongolia Bike Challenge in August - completion being the primary aim now.
A solid few days' riding over Queen's birthday weekend seemed like an ideal opportunity to see both where the fitness was at, and to give said fitness a bit of a helping hand. Even better, it enabled Brendan McGrath and I to finally get out of town together for a multi-day bike ride.
We decided to fly to Gisborne, and ride a four-day loop of the East Cape, before flying home to Wellington. Contingency for late arrival and/or slow departure on the Friday dictated an anti-clockwise loop. To reduce stress at the far end, we booked the earliest flight home on the Tuesday morning, giving us all of the Monday public holiday to ride between Opotiki and Gisborne, without the stress of a hard deadline.
Preparation went smoothly, though I found myself stuck in Auckland on Thursday, after very high winds in Wellington prevented a few morning flights from landing, mine included. Brendan and I kept ourselves entertained through the day by developing various contingency plans, though I finally got home at 9pm and was able to pack my own bike and gear.
Sarah kindly dropped me to the airport in the morning, and I enjoyed the flying-with-bike ritual of photographing it heading through the oversize scanner!
 |
| Looks like I may have forgotten to pack the carbon fork! |
Brendan dropped and lost a bolt during bike reassembly, while about 1km into our ride, I diagnosed a fraying rear derailleur cable, and returned to the store for an emergency replacement - getting through the ride would be challenging enough without a snapped cable and single gear!
 |
| Dan doing all the hard work while Stephen and I "supervise"! Photo: Brendan McGrath |
The shop was a nice place to hide from the downpour outside, but we soon ran out of excuses, and set off for the second time in an hour.
 |
| Leaving Gisborne, bound for all those places |
There, we took a short detour to check out the 600m-long wharf (the second longest in NZ after a whopper down at Tiwai Point, apparently), which we rode the length of without coming a cropper in the train tracks which run the length of it.
 |
| Tologa Bay wharf |
After a bit of a climb, we were treated to a fast down-hill run all the way into Tokomaru Bay, and after scoping out the 4-Square's closing time, quickly found our very cool accommodation, the old Post Office building, and now a very nice B&B.
 |
| Tokomaru Bay Post Office B&B |
The next morning, we woke to blue skies, and after a nice continental breakfast, we did a lap of the bay...
 |
| Looking back towards Tokomaru Bay township |
Not far up the road was Te Puia Springs - soon enough to stop for wardrobe adjustment, but far too soon for another coffee - a shame, because it was the last opportunity for some while.
The grim conditions didn't seem to bother either of us, thanks to great clothing (Gore shakedry jackets, in particular) but also our shared attitude towards bike riding. Traffic was light, so we were able to ride side-by-side a lot of the time, something we've both missed over the last couple of years due to incompatible commitments.
We took the turnoff into Ruatoria (or rather, didn't make the turn to stay on the main highway). Unfortunately, someone with a leaky gas tank had also been this way recently, and the rain had spread it around a lot making it hard to avoid. They'd gone all the way to the supermarket - our destination - and then gone back the way they'd come, just as we planned to do. Argh!
At the supermarket, we had a brief conversation with a young girl who was fascinated by our bikes and mission. I had my second pie of the day, before heading out into the diesel-slick again. About 5km up the road, it stopped abruptly - presumably this was where the tank had finally run dry!
 |
| Not the best pie of the day, but a good one nonetheless |
Te Araroa couldn't come soon enough. and there we finally got our coffees. We had one for each of Ruatoria and Tikitiki's failures, and didn't rush them on account of a sudden downpour outside.
On the way out of Te Araroa, we swung past the largest Pohutukawa tree in the country (which makes it the largest in the universe, probably).
The heavens opened not long after, and as if the drenching from above wasn't enough, we rode past the largest puddle of the trip just as a car drove through it, drenching us from the side for good measure. Our jackets were impervious to both, impressively.
Not 10 minutes later, we climbed out of the bay only to look back and see weather conditions we only could have dreamed of when leaving the town back in the distance.
 |
| Looking eastward, and running out of land quickly |
It was dark by the time we got there, largely thanks to the grovel into the wind. We were booked into the Waihau Bay Hotel, and after a really good shower and a quick stretch, we shared a fisherman's basket before retiring for the sort of sleep that you get after a fairly tough day on the bike.
By virtue of running out of both energy and things to do the previous evening, and breakfast not being available too early on a Sunday, I managed a really long sleep. Brendan had made better use of the morning, not to mention the whopping SLR camera he'd been hauling around.
 |
| Sunrise at Waihau Bay. Photo: Brendan McGrath |
Breakfast was solid, which was just as well, as so too was the wind - it would be in our faces pretty much the whole day. The sun was out, at least, but it was far from warm.
 |
| The Waihau Bay Hotel, just before 10am roll-out |
After a few minutes of quiet contemplation...
 |
| Photo: Brendan McGrath |
We'd left Wellington a little over 48 hours ago, and it had been striking that almost everyone we'd seen since our ride had begun was Māori. It felt like a real privilege to be passing through this area, where the way of live is clearly very different to that in the nation's capital.
 |
| An old ambulance and a well manicured lawn |
I was feeling a bit cold, so was keen to get stuck into a pie. Unfortunately, I failed to read the instructions on the pie-warmer, and only realised the plate under the pie was far too hot to hold once it was too late. I used my "wallet" (a bank coin baggie) to insulate my fingers, but of course it didn't like the heat either. While waiting for my coffee, I retrieved a roll of duct tape from my bike, and fashioned a repair of the rather large hole in my wallet which matched the large blob of molten plastic on the bottom of my pie plate... As far as on-the-road repairs went, this was the only thing needed other than applying chain oil.
 |
| Te Kaha marae |
After the crossing, the road hugged some cliffs for a wee while, giving us a bit of a break from the wind, and nice views down into the valley.
 |
| Looking up the Motu River |
We'd arrived at the Airbnb Brendan had booked sufficiently early that we felt inclined to cook rather than eat out, but not so early that we had much down time before hoeing into a plate of pasta. Crumble and custard washed that down nicely, and by then it was well dark. I even had a hot bath before bed, and slept soundly as a result.
We woke to blue skies, which was great, but the sub-zero temperatures were not so nice. After breakfast at home and a couple of coffees out, we set off on our final day's riding - to close the almost 500km loop back to Gisborne.
In some ways, we were lucky, as the first 62km of the ride were all pretty much uphill. This both generated more heat and kept our speeds a little lower than had it been flat.
 |
| This was about as cold as it got... |
 |
| Brrr... |
 |
| Did a U-turn for this one |
By the summit, we'd climbed over 700m, most of it imperceptibly. Once over the top, a fast descent took us down into the headwaters of the Motu River, significantly smaller than when we'd last seen it a day or so earlier.
We had a short stop at the Matawai Camp cafe, and while sitting in the sun with our coffees and muffins, did wonder exactly how bold a massive rat was going to get - it must have been hungry to loiter so close to us (but luckily not so hungry as to attack!).
After Matawai, there were only a couple of short climbing sections, and otherwise it was a downhill run all the way to Gisborne. That said, we'd also picked up yet another stonking headwind, which at times all but negated the gravity-assist.
 |
| Job well done! |
By the time we reached the outskirts of Gisborne, I'd chatted briefly to Peter Murphy (who was driving to Auckland and pulled a u-turn to say gidday) and Craig Hoskin (heading back to Gisborne after MTBing at Whirinaki and who stopped after driving past us). Stephen not only met us at his shop, but also drove us to our motel once we'd packed up our bikes! It was quite the social afternoon, all things considered!!!
Brendan and I celebrated the end of our ride with a meal at a nearby Indian restaurant (and wearing clothes we hadn't hauled around the cape, no less). We had a very early flight the next morning, which was only a little longer than the Wellington Airport bus ride I had to a stop about a minute's walk from my office door. The icing on the cake was that the motel had a free washing machine and dryer, so I returned home that evening without a single piece of dirty laundry.
Brendan had been great company (thanks mate!), and while the weather didn't exactly turn it on for us, it could have been a hell of a lot worse. The daily distances had been about right given the conditions, and we'd done well with accommodation choices and food options.
Most pleasingly, my legs were remarkably up to the task after only a month's riding in them post-injury. I've got more of the same coming up in just over a week, when Sarah and I travel to Taiwan for eight days of riding. Temperature forecasts of "10 degrees, feels like 3 degrees" are being replaced with "33 degrees, feels like 40 degrees", which is much more my cup of tea.
* * *
Nitty gritty: gear list (tried and true) // Day 1 // Day 2 // Day 3 // Day 4
A good trip..we've missed out East Coast North Island on our trips since 2012..we must aim do see this next time!
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff, bro. This makes me happy.
ReplyDelete