back on the road : )

Back on the road       60 km

Well after a longer then planed break from bike touring I'm back on the road heading north up to the cape - why north to the cape - well it's time to start my end to end ride.after at less 2? try's over the last few years - last year (2012) trip ending in Taupo with bike and some Heath issues that took time to find some work arounds - by the time I got the bike ready it was time for the Taupo bike ride - A ride I D.N.F at dur to picking up some ash? In my eyes on lap2? - a year latter I did finish this fun ride ( the 8 lap 1280 km lake Taupo ride ) in a time of around 123 hours 

Early this year (2013) I planed to do this ride - only to get to a few days before the start before having some crazy Heath issues  that meant I had to put the start of the ride until after the Taupo ride- my Heath issues have not so much gone away or been fixed as so much I have found better ways to deal with then like staying away places with to much happing (as much as one can there's days ) as I seen to no longer cope very well - walking is still very hit and miss (some days are better then others ) most of the time I'm doing ok on the bike - not fast but I'm still riding 

After doing the last of my re packing of my panner bags to a) fit evey thing on the bike and b) get the wight balles right - a round 4 -5 kg in each bag it's time to say good bye to my friends who I spent the last few days with - they are the ones same friends that looked after me when I had to put my trip on hold and was to sick to travel early in the year 

having to say good bye to so many great people after being able to spend only a short time together is one of the few down side of my lifestyle living on the road by bike 

Some times the harders part of a trip is just going out of the drive way 

Knowing I have some hill climbing to do on a gravel road I shift down to a low gear and start the first hill of the day - at the top I pause for a min or so before starting on the down hill. There's wash bord? From the big trucks that use the road so I take it slowly - near the end of the hill the bike trailer try's to side off the road so I stop to get the bike back where I want it as having the trailer slid off the road tends to cause the bike to side over if I don't stop it fast 

Back on the tar seal I cross over a set of train tracks that seem to not get much use  then turn right on to S.H.1 - the road is some what busy but I'm used to busy roads - most of the drivers are ok though there is a few that could of drove better ( mosty people on holiday ?) 

As I'm riding between some rolling hills I hear a big  bang. Looking down to make sure my bike tires are still holding air -yep they still ok so it's not me for a nice change - looking behind me I  spot a truck with a suff tire coming up fast behind me as he was coming to a stop on the side of the road - not there was much of a shoulder to stop in 

After a few more rolling hills it's time for a nice long down hill where I get up to around 60 km/h heading down the hill then a few more rolling hills before I get into the town of Kawkawa - a town that has a railway line runing down the middle of the road (S.H.1) just as I'm getting into town I spot some one with a camera looking down the street - yep I get to the train place a few mins before the train is about to leave - it's a old steam train that runs along the tracks of one of nzs first railways for a round maybe 5 km - they are working on restoring the full rail line out to the coast though a tunnel (look up bay of Islands railway nz on the web for more info on the train ) from looking on line I see part of one of the nz cycle trails runs on part of the old rail line - might do that part of the trail as I head south on the way back down nz 

Leaving town on S.H.1 (I'm leving the bay of Islands for the ride south ) I pass by a few small towns and a larger one before the road heads up a step and some what long hill - I do have a bit of a smile at the large slow down signs part of the way up the hill as I'm only doing around 5-6 km/h past then ( I might be slow but i still get to the top : ) a few km latter it's time to look at the map as I have a turn off S.H.1 on to S.H.10  coming up  - onice I turn off S.H.1 it's  a lot less busy - at less until where the road from the bay of Islands turns on to it - the road cross's over a small river at  waimate north ? Next to the bridge is the remands of a water power flour mill (I think it may be one any way?) so I stop  to have a good look and get some photos of it 

Then it's back on the road heading for the town kerikeri  turning off S.H.10  onto kerikeri rd to head into town ( the town is some what sped out between the highway and the sea ) 

As I get into town I deside to call the place where I stayed at the last time I was up this way - pagoda lodge  ( http://pagoda.co.nz/ ) after chatting for a bit - they remember me from last time : )  I do a bit of shopping before seeing if I could remember the way to the lodge ( with out having to look up the map : ) taking it slowly so I don't get misplaced (ie lost : ) I find my way to the place ok and set up camp for the night 

Day at pagoda lodge 

After a late night - I got lost in a good book : ) I decide to play it by ear - deciding if I'm still in bed by 9 am I will stay the day at the lodge -what I end up doing as it's raining most of the day 

Around 4:30pm I head into town by bike in the rain ( what's a little rain : ) to do some food shopping before heading back to the lodge to read some more books and type this up on the iPad

Taupo 2013

Well it's the night before the big ride so it's time for me to get some sleep now as I won't be getting much sleep on the ride : ) 

So Just a little some thing for my next bike ride - starting tomorrow at midday in Taupo - 

"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep." 

~ Robert Frost

My last long training ride before the Taupo fun ride 30/10/2013 210 km

Last long training ride before Taupo 

After a busy weekend helping at an dressage event I was laying in my tent thinking about what day this week to do my last long training ride before the up coming Taupo fun ride - a long training ride in this case meaning a ride over 150 km and where to go for a ride 

As I road into town enjoying the nice weather I thought about maybe heading out the next day for the longer ride - after picking up some hammer suff ( the food/drink mix that I use on my longer fun rides and getting some new bike shorts I looked up the weather forecast for the next day or two - fine with a low of 2c. 

I wonder...

 maybe head out on a night ride tonight ?

By the time I got back from town to where my tent is ( a 25 km round trip) I desider to go for a long night ride doing a lap of the lake as my last long training ride 

After getting a few things together and packing a few things on the bike that I will need on the ride like warm clothing ( it's going to get very cold out in the hills riding around the lake tonight ) and the hammer drink/food mix that I will be using as I ride around the lake I head back into town 

Leaving town around 6 pm I start up the first of the many hills for the few hours the riding is mix of a flat bits and some longer hills - just on sun set at about to only place I might have remembering the turn on the course I stop to put on some warmer gear before getting back on the road passing the tihoi tavern ( one of the places I had a short sleep on last years ride ) riding around the lake I spot some of the landmarks that I remember from other rides around the lake - the stars are out and there's some wind 

From about 20 km out of turangi? I note my speed starting to drop off a bit as I get a bit sleeper - getting into turangi around 12:30 am I stop for a pie and to get some water to mix the few hours of food mix - at one point I stop to put my leg warmer over my 3/4 bike shorts to keep my legs a bit warmer 

As I head around the lake there are times when I only do a few km between road side naps so it's a very slow ride a round the lake back to Taupo climbing the hatepe hill around 3 am and getting back into Taupo about 5 am stoping at a bp for pie and hot drink to help stay awake for the last 12 km back to my tent - must of been a cold night as there was ice on the tent 

I had about a 2 hour sleep in my tent before taking it easy reading a few ebooks on the laptop for the rest of the day  

All up I end up doing around 210 km - 2 round trips into town - 50 km and a lap of the lake about 160 km  

Over the next few days I will be working on a list of things that still need work - like the best way to do sleep breaks as I start to taper down my riding so I'm not over trained and too tired for the fun ride 

k2 loop 217 km 5/10/2013

k2 loop 217 km 5/10/2013

Its time for my next long training ride. Where to go and how far to ride time?

looking at the map and a few of the cycling book that i have with me i see theres a ride called  K2 - its a loop around coromandel 197 km with 2300 m of climbing (and descent : ) so no a easy ride - i wonder if im up to doing this ride as im not sure what im like on longer rides- most of my rides lately has been around 35-70 km also the few longer rides i have done lately has not had that much climbing 

well at first i thought maybe not as i don't want to over do things (over training ) also so i would be adding 30 km to the loop - 15 km each way for me to get into Thames from where im staying in my tent 

hum what to do?

suff it - time for rule number 5

theres only one way to find out if i can do this ride -that way is just to do the ride and see what happens 

on the road by 6 am starting with 5 km of gravel road be for the tar seal starts - with the bike set up the way im looking at doing for the taupo ride- handle bar bag and tail bag (on top of the rear rack) food on this ride will be mostly nature valley bars -on the taupo ride i will use hammer food and drink 

in thames by 7 am - off to the supermarket to get some more food - well the supermarket is still closed until 8 am. time for plan B the food i have with me will last me about 100 km so i will just pick up some more food on the way some where

as im leaving the car park (of the still closed shop ) i spot some other riders getting ready to go for a ride so i have a 2 min chat to then . turns out they are also doing the k2 loop - the k2 bike race is in a few weeks time so theres a few groups of riders out riding the course

Leaving thames heading south? Towards Kopu the road is flat im riding along at about 20-25 km/h At Orongo? I turn onto the Kopu-Hikuai rd in places the road is rught as it heads along a valley before the first big hill of the day - part of the way up the climb a group of rider who just happen to be riding about the same speed as me comes up behind me - I have a bit of a chat to a few of the riders -well as much of a chat is one can having working they way up a some what long and steep hill. at the top of the hill the other riders stop to take a break ( as i tend to ride on my own i keeping riding getting up to around 60 km/h on the down hills - a few km latter the group of riders that i had a chat to on the way went past (riding in a paceline saves you about 20% energy? then being on your own ) - the group of riders and me play tag for a bit.

at one point as im doing around 30 km/h a bee hits my arm and stings me (ouch!) so I slow down a bit as i take a look at where the bee hit before getting back up to speed 

keeping up around 25-35 km/h until I get to Tairua where I stop to take off my leg warmers -yep summer is on the way : ) after getting a photo of the vile i get back on the bike heading over more hills and even a few flatter bits on the way to Whitianga where I stop for lunch and to pick up some more food for the rest of the ride (still have about 100+ km to ride today )

from Whitianga the road has many small hills and a few larger (and steeper ) hills - one of then has a sign at the top saying steep down hill - yep its a steep down hill as I get up to 80 km/h riding down it - A new top speed on my bike friday : ) after Te rerenga theres the cormandel wall (300 m climb in about 3 km ) spinning my way up the climb (in the heat of the day ) I sit around 6-8 km/h keeping my heat rate down

getting to the top of the hill I spend about 10 mins chating to some people who was asking about the bike friday  (tends to happen a lot : ) then its time to head down the hill to the town of coromandel - my new break pads get a good work on the down hill - 30 min up and 4 mins down. 5 mins latter as im coming into town i get a flat tire on the back i decide just to swap out the tube and pach it latter .

after a stop at a shop for a ice cream im back on the road riding beside the coast towards thames - theres still 2 big and steep hills to climb over - once i get over then the road runs beside the sea to Thames. using the aro-bars (more for a change of prosen ? then for speed ) for the last hour or so to Thames  im riding at around 20-25 km/h 

stoping in Thames for some subways for tea ( a nice sit down tea for a change : ) then its time to put the leg warmer back on for the last 15 km back to my tent over a few small hills and 5 km of gravel back to my tent 

time on the bike for the k2 loop was about 11 hours - maybe 14 hours for the full 217? km - long lunch and tea + flat tire and chatting to people a long the way : ) yes I could of gone faster but as it's my fun training ride and not a race I get to decide where to ride and how fast : )

In short a long hot fun day out on the bike riding though some nice parts of NZ

camp ground to a doc camping ground near thames 50 km 02/10/2013

camp ground to a doc camping ground near thames 50 km 02/10/2013

some what of a late start as far as time goes because of day light saving - not that i take much noict of time on the bike as i just ride until i get to where im heading for or until its gets dark - unless its on a night ride then i just keep riding : )

the road is flat as it runs along the plans with the only climb until thames being the new? kopu bridge (that has a nice wide off road cycle/walk way on it )  im heading is some what of a u shape at times riding beside the coast . at kopu I deside to head into thames by the rail trail just for a change : ) the trail is gravel with a few bridges and some min?cattle stops that my bike trailer just fits though onice i get into thames i start looking around town only to relase its sunday with many of the shops closed - like what hour of the day it is  , the day of the week mends little to me most of the time (about the only time i take note of the time or day is when i need to be some where by a date or time ) so after a stop to drop off a roll of film (to be picked up some time in the next few day’s ) and to get some food for the next few days i head down a road thats a mix to tarseal then gravel as i head away from town up the kauaeranga valley where there is doc camping sites a long the road (8 doc camping ground open in sumer and only 3 open in winter) for $10? a night 

getting to the first doc site thats open I set up camp for the next few days - some times heading into town (like today - a 30 km round trip ) or just having time off the bike ( reading the odd book and giving the bike a good going over - replacing the break pads also swaping the rear tire as I fix a slow flat (that I been to lazy to fix for the past week or so : )

some where to a camping ground 28/09/2013

some where to a camping ground  28/09/2013  40 km

after packing up my camp I get on the road by 8 am riding over a mix of rolling hills and riding beside the coast stoping at a shop for lunch before dealing with strong winds and rain - so i decide to have a easy day and stop at a camping ground (with a hot pool : ) for the night where I’m typing this on the  laptop now 

some where in Auckland to some where 27/09/2013

some where in Auckland to some where  60 km 27/09/2013

well i got out of auckland in once pice by bike with out having to use the trains - leaving the place where i stayed last night I headed in a zed-zad trail across town unto i got to manurewa? where after taking a few more city roads I get out of the city  -going by clevedon and a few other small towns and after having a chat to a  some one on a cycle tour going the other way  I ride out to the coast where after a few more hours I find some where to put my tent for the night 

the other person I say doing a bike tour : )

some where in Auckland to some where elso in Auckland 26/09/2013

some where in Auckland to some where elso in Auckland  35? km 26/09/2013

after repacking the bike I get on the road heading for one of the cycle ways that run beside the motoways - after about 10 km i get to motat where i decide to spend a few hours looking around as its been years from the last time i been here (its been on my places to go list for about the last 10 years ) after spending a few hours looking around the place (well places as its at two sites with a tram ride between them ) getting  around 250 photos 

leaving motat I get back on the cycle trails and find my way across town to where im heading for the night -riding around auckland off road cycle ways at night was fun if some what hard work- my bike maps got a good work out as I worked how to get to where i wanter to get to 

day ride around Auckland 25/09/2013

day ride around Auckland 40 km  25/09/2013

spend the day riding around Auckland trying out a few cycle ways and getting some batters and a roll of film  for the film camera also dropped in to see some friends at work in town 

riding in auckland can be fun at times if some what crazy - having the bike maps do help to get around : )

weather day 24/09/2013

weather day  24/09/2013

  wet and windy day so stayed in once place for most of the day - well i did go for a 2 hour walk in the wind and rain - why? um because i can : ) no other reason 

woodhill to auckland 23/09/2013

woodhill to auckland 23/09/2013 35 km?

leaving woodhill sands where i had been helping out at a horse over the weekend  I get on the road with a full touring load on for the first time in about 10? weeks taking it easy as I work my way to words auckland - at kumeu I pick up some auckland bike maps and decide to try out warm showers -its a website where people can host touring cycles . after a bit of a play I work out how to use the app on the phone and find some where to spend the night (that ending up becoming 3 nights because of some crazy weather ) 

using the bike maps i found a way into auckland using a mix of roads with cycle lanes , roads with no cycle lanes and a fun mix of off road bike trails - only got lost a few times and posted of a few kg of books and a few others things i don't need unto after the taupo ride 

I all so picked up a film slr camera with 2 lens and a flash - why a film camera? because A) i just don't have the money to get a good DSLR camera yet and B) its can be fun to play with film some times as you tend to think more about each photo- I leaned to take photos with a film camera so i still have a good idea what im doing when playing with then .

once I found my way to the place where im staying the night i do some reading for a bit before heading off to bed for the night

Training for Taupo

training for taupo

well its around 10? weeks until the taupo bike ride 

So how is the training going?

well its going ok not great but there not much i can do about that - some weeks are better then others with the most i done in a week was 400 km - with one of the rides being a 200 km ride that week  most weeks its been around 70-140 km a week  

most of the riding has been going into town so a 65-70 km ride with a few longer rides like a 130 km  and a 200 km ride 

once I'm back on the road i should be doing around 60 -100 km a day as i tour around the place - when i get to taupo i m planing to do day rides when I'm not helping at events - some of then at night to get used to doing longer rides at night ( maybe a 2 lap ride of the lake? maybe a longer ride ) - yes some of my training rides are longer then  many of the fun rides like the (one lap)160 km lake taupo ride that people train for a year to do (some times longer)  - on a side note when I'm doing some of the longer fun rides and some of the riders think I'm just doing part of the ride because of what my bike is (a folding bike with 20 “ ) its fun when they find out that I'm doing the full ride or even more then one lap (my bike friday is a folding touring bike thats cost around $3000 and it’s done maybe 45,000 km in the 5? years that i have had it )

trying to work out how much training to do for a 1300 km bike ride can be hard work as there is a few ways that people use to train for rides this long - some do racing to get fit others ride they bike to work each work day and do longer riders in the week ends ,some even get early (before sun rise ) to train before work  - for me i use my bike touring to get fit for longer rides as well as doing the odd longer ride - longer rides being from 130+ km up to 200+ km depending on what fun ride I'm looking at doing 

- i don't do bike racing - my ave speed seems to be any where between 15-25 km/h - its part of why i don't tent to enter many fun rides as many riders seem to treat fun rides as races also with the time frames that many rides do from start time until the close the course mean i would have to do an ave speed of 27-30 km/h - not what i would call a fun  ride as i like to look at places along the way and not just head down going as fast as i can - on a side note i may not be able to go fast as others do  but i can do the speed I want all day (maybe because of how my dyspraxia is i don't get sore legs on the bike - even after doing 640 km (riding 4 laps of lake taupo in 2011 with strong head and side winds ) i had a bit of a sore back and neck (bad bike fit?) but my legs was fine )

98% of my riding is done on my own - thats to say i don't do rides with other riders (like saturday morning group rides that many road cycles like to do - why not? because when on on tour I’m heading for a new place each day with a full touring load on - when I do day rides the type of training I do means that I tend to keep to a set speed for a set number of km on each ride also because the speed that im riding at is just to slow for most group rides - many group riders seem to like treating the weekly rides as min bike races also when im doing the fun rides that I do most of the time im on my own and not part of a group so in many ways its better that i do my training rides on my own at my speed as that is how i do the fun rides as well as i have a better idera how my training is going (riding in a group in a pace line  is around 20% ( maybe more? )better then riding by you own and I can work on things like testing bike or gear set up with out holding other riders up 

my bike set up for taupo (and other longer rides ) is mostly work out - one of the things that I been working on latly is rear lights - how many lights to use and where to put then on the bike ( where my main rear light used to sit on the rack each time i folded the bike i had to remember to take take the light off or it would break on the ground as the bike rear rack sits on the ground when the bike is folded 

 As for front lights I got that worked out now- a main light power off the front wheel  (so no worrying  about it going flat ) and 2 little led bike lights to use as back up lights and a front low power head light to see places where the bike lights don't show ( like the Handel bar's/bag )   (I'm still looking for this light  so might just pick one up in Taupo ) 

what my plans are for the next few months

what my plans are for the next few months 

im looking at getting back on the road next week - on monday i will be seeing some who might be able to help work out a few things  that i been dealing with my heath - depending how that goes  should be back on the road around tusday-wenday unless they want me for more tests? in that  case it may take me longer to get back on the road

once back on the road i will be heading towards hamilton over the next 3-4 weeks for an horse event called equidays where i be helping out at for a few days the heading down to taupo for at lest 1 (maybe more )dressage events where i will be helping out at - im looking at staying at taupo until the taupo bike ride - doing more training bike  rides and maybe helping out at a few more horse events at the place i will be staying at in taupo 

After the taupo ride I'm looking at heading back up north up to the cape to start my end to end ride. I'm not sure about dates yet for the end to end ride as it depends of a few things like how long it will take for me to recover from the taupo ride (a 1280 km bike ride over 4-5 days)as well as how long it going to take me to get up to the cape 

Northland - land of many hills

Northland - land of  many hills 

 It's a eary start so up at 5 am and on the road by 5:30am  

As I head up the first hill of the day I take it slowly as i know there will be many hills to come over the day

Taking care on the gravel road as I head down towords S.H.1  at hukerenui  where I turn lift on to S.h.1 for the next 10 km before turning off on to Russell road at whakapara with there being pacher of mist around and stars over head 

Riding along Russell rd as the sun starts to come up the road starts out some what flat  before the hills start with a climb and a long deset down to helena bay where I see the sea for the first time of the day before the road starts climbing - over the next 40+ km  the road drops down to sea leavel before climbing the next hill out of the bays

The weather is nice blue sky with a bit of wind in places

Some times riding the road is a bit like a roller coaster other times its just hard work at one point I past a road that's around 10 km shorter to Russell but gravel and looks like it heads over a few big hills - maybe next time : ) 

Some where along the way the name of the road changes to rawhiti rd then to manawaora rd before passing the other end of the short cut road (Russell whakapara rd) from there the road is called Russell whakapara rd until I pass the turn of to okiat (aucks? Rd) - just passed the turn there's a few bits of old ship parts from one of the ships sunk near by for diving on - makes for a odd sight 

So why did I turn for okiat and not Russell ? It's because the (car) ferry from okiato to opua is only $1 per person - the (foot) ferry from Russell to paihia is $7 

Getting to the ferry just before it leaves ( there are 2 car ferrys that take turns -maybe 10 -15 mins to cross ) I pay for the ferry out of some of the money I find on the side of the road that I leave in my handerbar bag for things like this 

At opua I climb up the hill on to S.H.11 turning lift towords Kawkawa 11 km away - in places the tar seal on the road is riped up - going up a short but hard hill I spot what looks a bit like a set of 10 pins in this case some things set up to make the road safer ?- would work better if more people knew the road rules and drove better 

A few km before the town of Kawkawa the road cross's over a set of rail lines - this rail line was the first one in the north island ( or some thing like this ) it's now used as a vintage rail way - well the part that's still open - they are planing on re opening the line to opua 

Kawkawa is a some what odd town as the rail line runs down the middle of the  main st (S.H.1)

Stoping at a bakey for some food - at this point I'm getting sick of musley? bars  I take a 5 min break before getting back on the road - back on S.H.1  I work my way over a few smaller hills and a larger long hill before passing the turn off to my friends place at hukerenui having deside as its a such a nice day I will just keep riding and see where the road will take me ( doing my "I wonder where this road will take me" : ) riding along the main road until I get into town (whangarei) I deside to head to the airport - why ? Well I never been there by bike yet so why not : )  

Riding beside the sea? For a bit before the road climbs up a hill and pass's some shops before getting to the airport where I keep going along the road for a few km just to see where the road goes before turning around and heading back to the bridge - passing though a police checkpoint at one point (where they take a good look at my bike friday as they wave me though )doing a do a loop of the two river(sea?) bridges ( the one near the city centre and the new lifting bridge ) then it's time to do a bit of shopping before heading the 30 odd km back to my friends place having some fun on a gravel road for the last 6 km 

So how far did I ride today - around 200 km -over the last week or so I done around 450-500 km on the bike - some what of a change from doing 70 km a week ( one ride a week ) now who's idea was it to do a 70 km day the day before doing a 200 km day - opps  things like that tend to happen around me some times 

You know you on a long bike ride when see the sun rise and the sun set on the same ride 

Todays Sunset

A short update on what's going on with the nz bike ride

Hi all - because of some on going Heath issues and timing issues with other events in my life I will be putting this ride ( me end to end ride of nz ) on hold until after I do the lake Taupo bike ride ( a 1280 km fun ride over 4-5 days in the last week in November of this year) at this point in time I'm not sure what the new start date will be for my end to end ride   -I  will see how long it takes to recover from doing the Taupo ride - I'm still in training for the Taupo bike ride so will be posting updates on here when I can : )

It's a good day for a bike ride

Good 70 km bike ride. Weather was great ( no rain : ) took a new way into town for the first 6? Km ( a fun little back road that's  gravel and links up about a km from my friends place and s.h.1 ) onice I got to town I decided to do a loop going to see the new lifting bridge ( part of the bridge lifts to let sailing ships in to the town docks? ) got side track by the bmx track and had a chat to some people at the track (and yes I did do one slow loop of the bmx track - no jumping - yes my bike has 20" wheels but no its not a bmx bike : ) the new bridge has wide footpaths on each side of it - looks like they still building the paths as the ones on the bridge don't go any where yet  - the night ride back to my friends place was fun - not many cars onice I got out of the city  the moon was near full? With lots of light - could even read my bike comper ( to see how fast and how far I go ) by the light of the moon-  even go a nice tail wind on the way home 

Back on the road next week ( well that is what the plan is any way)

Well the plan now is to get back on the road some time next week - I have one more trip to the dr ( on Monday )to go to - as long as that goes ok I be back on the road first heading north to the cape then it's time to head south doing the end to end ride - my back up plan if I can't start the ride in the next few weeks( due to Heath or other reasons )  is to put the ride on hold until after I do my lake Taupo fun ride (8 laps of lake Taupo -around 1280 km over about 5 days ) in late November - that time of year is not the best for my ride  as the roads will be busier, harder to find places to stay , cost will be higher (peak season for many places) 

Life on hold

Life on hold

Well I was ment to be on the road heading south now but I have been having a few um heath issues the need to be deat with before I can get back on the road 

So what's going on for now- I been staying at a friends place for around the last  2 weeks or so as I try to work out what's going on with my Heath - what is causing some of the issues and what I can do to fix ( or more likey to find ways to get around the issues )  and rest up 

Some days are better then others and I have no real ideas on a time frame for me to get better as some things may take a long time to get better

I'm back off to the dr on wednesday to see if they have any ideas on what's going on with my Heath - been there onice ( maybe a week ago )- had some x-rays done on my legs to try to work out where some of the pain is coming from ( may be from old injurys from around 3 years ago ?) as well as some other tests 

So at this point in time my life is some what on hold as until at lest  wednesday I'm not sure what the next step will be in my life 

On the up side I went for a 66 km bike ride yesterday - into town and back ( test ride to see what will happen with my heath when spending time on the bike ) that went a lot more better then the last test ride that wore me out for a few days - so that is a good sign that at less part of my Heath is getting better : )

21/07/2013 whangarei to hukerenui 37 km

21/07/2013 whangarei to hukerenui   37 km

After leving the place that I been staying the last 3 days I head up a short up hill then it was time for a fun down hill into the city stoping to get some food for the next few days before leving the city and starting the long climb of the day seeing a group ? Of other cycles out on a Sunday ride going the other way   

It's a nice sunny day with not much wind  - makes a nice change from the last time I road this road around a year ago - it was a wet and windy day then 

Working my way over some rolling hills I stop for an ice cream ( what's Wong with having a ice cream on a sunny day even on a winters day : ) about 2 km down the road I spot a cafe that's open so I stop in for some food - my bike  touring seems to turning into a cafe and bakery taste testing  tour at times : )

At hukerenui I stop at the museum for a chat to to make sure that the side road that I need to head down is the road coming up next as I think it is  ( yep it is so I'm where I think I am on the map )  turning town the side road the road turns to gravel after a bit of tar seal - beside a few issues with staying where I want to on the road ( camber ?) I get to my friends place where i be staying the night after riding around 37 km for the day