Day 2 TA 2016 Here come the hills

Ahipara to Waipoua 125 km  +2024 m / -1951 m 9 hours riding time

This morning I crawled out of my sleeping bag still dehydrated from the beach and nothing but food on my mind, well thats not true, Ferries were the other thing of great importance. I took way too long to get started this morning, but got all day. However only till tomorrow about 4 pm to get the boat that would be a real pain if I missed it as it would cost me a day and not being the worlds fastest rider to lose a day at this early stage wouldn’t be good.

So yes I had all day but still had about 240 km to ride over 2 days and its not going to be flat.

The only problem of being by the sea is going inland means up and today’s ride was a real roller coaster and the goal was two-fold

1. Be in Rawene before the last ferry at 7pm
2. Cover over 120km

That may not sound like a lot to some but with my longest training ride being 100 km it was a stretch for me and again the far north was living up to its reputation for great weather and it was in the 30s celsius again, and no matter how much I drank, I knew it was not enough.

So the order of the day became up down gravel road more up and gravel, following the path less traveled. I rode alone for most of the morning till a bumped into a women who was riding the TA also while I was trying to work out which way to go at a junction that wasn’t that clear. She came up the road and I mean really UP, she had sailed passed the corner and down the 9km hill and then had to come back up to this junction, she recommend the down hill, but not the return trip.

Rather pleased to get to the ferry to Rawene, this was the first of 5 boats required to complete the ride, so in my mind it was a milestone, but of course I just missed it so a 20 minute break, plenty of time to fill up at the food truck, on a huge milkshake, burger and coffee and a cake and a chat with the locals.

During my wait I was joined by a rider who had left his wallet in the campsite at Ahipara he had realised when he got to the ferry and was about to pay, he then turned back and rode the 60km back to collect it, when I saw him he looked pretty fresh and was pushing on, he had already ridden 180km that day, he seemed really up beat about the whole thing!

On the other side I briefly met up again with  another rider while shopping in Rawene her name is Marilyn, it seemed already that the riders were falling into loose groups created by pace. Off I went with the new goal of reaching Tāne Mahuta, New Zealand’s largest living kauri tree.

I reached Tāne just before dark and as a fellow breveter Craig was leaving, he said he was going to a campsite a little further on down the track. Got my photos of Tāne and then had a desperate rush for the bathroom, seems that food truck hygiene may not have been great and it left me still further dehydrated.

I left Tāne Mahuta in the dark and it was really cold, it was like the lights went out and I was in a fridge and shivering. Riding through the forest in the dark is quite something and the noise volume is crazy and everything going bump in the night.

I rode on into the darkness not knowing where this camp was and then out of the darkness I saw a sign saying 4km, the last few km were down hill which was nice but again very cold, it took an age to find the campsite in the dark, I’m sure I was the last to arrive all I could hear was snoring, but I could see loads of bikes so I was pretty chuffed to be there on night 2. So a 13 hour day, ended with shower food and bed.

Tour Aotearoa 2016 and we’re off

Well in to bed early the chatting finished quickly as it would seem the sand flies like Tapotupotu campsite too, but the warm night air, sea lapping up the beach and the fact that I hadn’t slept in two days soon had me sleeping like a baby,

Up way too early this morning I was worried about missing the 2PM start or just plain excited I’m not really sure, but the wonderful ride down to the beach meant only one thing the day started with a climb to the cape and the day was warming up fast.

So I arrive at Cape Reinga for the first time sometime around 10am it rather nice there but not a great amount to do for four hours. The other thing with the cape is that it is a According to mythology, the spirits of the dead travel to Cape Reinga on their journey to the afterlife to leap off the headland and climb the roots of the 800-year-old pohutukawa tree and descend to the underworld to return to their traditional homeland of Hawaiki, using the Te Ara Wairua, the ‘Spirits’ pathway’. At Cape Reinga they depart the mainland. They turn briefly at the Three Kings Islands for one last look back towards the land, then continue on their journey.

What this means to the hungry cyclist is that Cape Reinga is considered by the Māori as wāhi tapu which means that it is sacred to their people and that no food is to be consumed at the cape.  So a four hour wait was far from ideal, however the Māori staff at cape gave us a special dispensation to allow us to eat as we also were going on a long journey.

By the time the start came about the sun was in full bake mode and the mercury had risen above 30 celsius, but I was just glad to get going, and OMG we went down that hill that I had ground my way up, there were bikes all over the road, no one warns you about this sort of mass start where you put speed demons and Captain slows in a bunch and let them go, I remember looking down at my GPS and seeing 70KPH and think it was time to just slow up and watching the fast riders disappear into the distance.

The beach took me over an hour to reach and had I have known what was in store I might have changed my mind. I took my beach photo all smiles and joy

Now 90 mile beach is actually only 55 miles long and by the end of the day I was very glad of that fact, didn’t take many photos on the beach there is little point here is the beach!

We had a head wind and it was really hot which made it hard going and water was a real problem for most riders that day, I used a full 3 liters on the beach and it took on the feeling of being in the  French Foreign Legion, March or die! By the time I got off the beach it had been dark for some time, I got to the chip shop around 9:30 pm dehydrated very hungry and well pleased with myself. This was the beginning of being stalked by people using the Spot trackers, to see where we were and if they should stay open or to say hello or bring gifts, this made me feel very special, and so my love affair of all things food began.

So day 1 ended in the campsite in Ahipara after a 113.3 km, washed the sand off my bike and showered and into my tent for a sweaty night and lights out from around midnight and the first long day done.

Toku Haerenga Tour Aotearoa 2016

Toku haerenga translates to my  journey. It was a very private trip shared with about 250 riders, thousands of dot followers, immersed by half the population of New Zealand and thrust on the wider world by the power of the web, so as I say a private and very personal journey.

One of the interesting aspects of Tour Aotearoa (TA) looking back was the the Facebook forum, it was a wealth of knowledge, lively debate and a meeting place for a group of people I now genuinely call friends.

Somehow all of this had to fit

Traveling to the start for me was part of the journey flying to Auckland around midnight, was meant to arrive around 10 pm but flight delayed, this became a real pain as I had no fuel for my stove and was going to by at the shops but they were now closed more of this later.

So I spent  the night in the terminal chatting  to Sam Davidson  and an ever growing crowd of TA riders till 6 in the morning  when we caught the bus up to Waitiki Holiday Park.  It may not of been the cheapest way to travel but I would do it again, it was easy and got to meet some great people many of whom I rode on this epic odyssey, anyone that was on the bus will remember our conductor the shrinking violet Kevin Searle. 

Arriving at the Waitiki Holiday Park the great unloading and assemble began and like many the destination for the day was Tapotupotu campsite.  So before I had even set off disaster struck and the buckle on my seat pack snapped, so with cable ties and string and no fuel I set off for Tapotupotu.

So glad I did it was an amazing place to spend the night coming down to the beach was everything you see in the pictures and more.

That night I was given free fuel and fed thanks to Erick and Greg I soon realised this was just a cunning plan to shed some weight which I was more than happy to carry 🙂

Finally the day I had spent the last year plotting, planing and preparing for was here

Well the next couple of days !!!!

The last word in quality luggage

Well at $3.99 perfect designer bag

Journey North Starts Tomorrow

Well bike is packed

http://touraotearoa2016.maprogress.com?id=3941

(Shows where I am amongst others)

http://touraotearoa2016.maprogress.com?id=3941&justme=yes

(Great for older folks who just care about me)

Well if you have little else better to do you will be able to view where I get up to on the live tracker, I have included two options one is just me and the other is for all the riders so you can see just how slow I am :-). Wave 1 starts on the 21st, wave 2 on the 23 (this is the wave I am in) and then wave 3 on the 24 so there will be a good spread of riders, this has been done to ease bottle necks at ferry and Jet boat rides etc.

http://touraotearoa2016.maprogress.com?id=3941

(Shows where I am amongst others)

http://touraotearoa2016.maprogress.com?id=3941&justme=yes

(Great for older folks who just care about me)

 

 

1x 2x 3x Crazy Gearing

So my crank is too long, easy just change it for a shorter one! Yea right, I have sent my self dizzy looking at 10 speed set ups. You can go 1x, 2x, 3x, extended range, compact ratio, boost and much more. I was able to keep it simple in one respect as Shimano  is the tool of choice, as it works with the rest of my gear and of their ranges I really was looking at Deore and  SLX  nothing above or below so firmly in the middle of quality and price.

Deore is what I have a now and to be fair it works well and I have not had any issues with how it works or looks, but I do know there are quality and weight savings to be made with SLX so I guess price/value will be my guide coupled with gears that will allow me to climb rather that sprint.

After much research on ratio’s I decided on and ordered a 36/22 Deore M627, great value and would give me a nice spread of gears with a 11-34 cassette with the option to move up to a 11-36 if needed.

Within hours of ordering I had changed the order as I found out that it comes as a Boost version which moves the chain line 3 mm out to correct for the 148 Boost system as I am not looking to change the whole drive train, I decided to keep clear. 3mm is not a lot but why make it less than ideal when you are buying new?

So I ended  back at my first choice, the M672 SLX 40-30-22.

The price was right and effectively gives me one more gear on the road for down hills and the same ratios where it counts for climbing, and its lighter, so in the end I win.

I think!

Grinding the gravel roads

Slowly working my way round the local gravel roads and finding all the hills. Followed the pioneer trail and found a 300 meter gravel climb 🙂 Have had my saddle to high and it has been causing some knee pain which has been a complete git. Surprised that by lowering the saddle I have more power on the hills and am using different gears to climb which is awesome, but now tendons on the back of the knee need a good stretch as the are now being used more.
Going to change to a 170mm crank length from a 175mm to try to remove some of the stress on the right leg, I must have had a complete brain fart when I brought the current one as I have always been happy on a 170mm and didn’t think 5mm would be a problem, well for me it has and I am going to remove this before I damage something.
Some pictures from what felt love like the top of the world

Great day out

Well slip slap slop sun screen a must nice 60 km ride up to the Opihi Vineyard. Lots of gravel roads and next to no cars also the wind mostly behaved and left me to get on with riding 🙂

Training Underway

Well riding not so fast up that hill,not long but tough going. Was out for 76 km the sun was really hot, but not to much wind so was good news,

Time is marching on and training time becomes more precious by the day, think that the bike is now set  and good to go, the pack list is almost fixed

The Big Five – Bike – Part Five

Fully loaded 2008

Fully loaded 2015

Because the everything now weights in 24kg lighter the bike can be lighter too, and I could easily go lighter still, but my wheels are over 2.5 kg lighter than on my old bike and they are 29ers now, before 26ers, this makes a massive difference in how the whole thing roles but I now get up hills I was doomed to walk. The frame and forks are lighter and hence feel much more lively and responsive, and riding out of the saddle is fun and not a performance in the Zen art of balance.

Gone is the Rohloff,  its heavy and when the flange fails as mine did you are left with a hunk of junk that requires to be sent back for repair, bomb proof my arse, great for touring in the third world or remote places. Well in the developed world it took 2 weeks to get back to me, I had to strip down and then rebuild the wheel, and remember Rohloff spokes are not a regular size on a 26er. I don’t know about you but I don’t have that much spare time or money, and it will happen when its most inconvenient, the law of sod demands.

When I pick up the 2 wheels the 1.5 kg heavier Rohloff wheel weights in more than my complete front dyno hub and rear 10 speed, my rims are 500 grams lighter each, yep they might not last as long but my knees are thanking me for the weight loss.

If I go overseas and feel I need to carry a little more I can still add a light weight rack if I need too, but I would have to be going very remote to make this a requirement, and as soon as you add another bag, along comes the fear of empty spaces and you got to fill it.

Its been a surprising and interesting journey so now let the fun begin!