O to some where on the river trail 110 km

O to some where on the river trail 110 km

A bit of a early start to the days riding being all packed up and ready to get on the road by 7:30 am heading more or less north on back roads it one point passing the side road that leds to the doc  camp ground at piropiro- it's at the 40 km point of the timber trail (that I spent new years eve at) riding over rolling hills - some of the hills being a bit larger that others - on the last big hill before I turned on to S. H. 30? I was looking for the near by rail line so I would have a better idea where I was on the map - after spending a few minutes thinking where the rail line might be I relased that it was underground in a some what long tunnel and saw  enough  I passed by one end of the rail tunnel on the way down the hill then it was back on to S.H.30 a few km north west?  Of benneydale - for there i keep riding (i did stop at benneydale for bit of a break to decide what roads I would take north)  down the road I passed the turn off to the timber trail and a bit latter on a road side walk way to a large tree (about a 20 min walk maybe? )

  riding until I get to one of the access points of the Waikato river trails at the maraetai dam access Rd (ended up looking up the roads on google maps (including satellite view) to make sure i was taking the right road-once I got on the trail (a mix of single track and old bush roads)  i passed the site of some flying fox?  Used to get suff to the dam site during construction of the dam and power houses (there are 2 power houses( power stations) at maraetai)  there are also remains of the mixing plant used in the construction of the dam/power houses just down the trail - from maraetai I head down river with the trail heading up and down in places so at times I have to push the bike up hill (not enough grip with the tires I have on the bike) also in different places along the Trail is steel bars with a small gap between then (to try and stop motorbikes from using the trails (ie only bicycles and walkers on the river trails) -  some times the bars cause a few issues with the hight of my rear panners / the 2 bags on top of the rear rack (tent bag and sleeping bag( in a dry bag)  caching on the bars 

with some of the track being single track and other parts old bush roads? There is a few places where there's a bit of windfall across the track (at one place 2 big pine trees had come down next to each other so had a bit of us fun?  Getting the bike over (ended up taking off the panner bags as lifting 15 kg of bike (+the 8 kg of gear still on the bike (tent, sleeping bag, hande bar bag & full water bottles) a  good M in the air to get over the falling trees was hard enough with my suffed shoulders (from when I got hit by the truck back in 2008 - I have issues lifting things higher then my shoulder hight)  at the bottom of a down hill into a side Valley?  I stopped at a small Creek to filler some drinking water into my water containers (limited places to get water on the trail)  - just before the water stop I got past by a rider with a bike packing set up so we got chating a bit - I think they will be doing the same end to end route in February as part of a event.? as what I'm looking at doing - they got a lot less gear then me though (i will be cutting down on what I'm taking on my own end to end bike ride sending the extra gear back to my mums place) . After riding more up and downs-some steep (well it is rated at advanced) I get to the end of this part of the trail (waipapa section)

  at waipapa dam  when the trail cross's the dam and heads down a 4wd track then single track for the next part of the trail to arapuni dam (arapuni section) at one point there is sets of steps to climb up (with some wood side bits on the side of the steps to roll bikes along)  - it's not the easiest thing for me to get up party as the wood for the wheels swaps sides at times (and getting on or off the bike or just getting my leg over the bike frame is hard for me (partly why the other bike I ride has a very low step over is it's a lot easier for me to get on/off) After finally getting to the top of the sets of steps the trail heads up and down a bit before dropping on a forest road (where I get up to around 50 km/h down the hill  happy that I do have front shocks on the bike as there is money then a few potholes on the road at one point there's a sharp bend in the trail (that I almost miss) when the trail heads off the forest road on to single track though some Pine trees - riding until about 15 mins before dark I find a place for the tent next to a large foot bridge (that crosses a small Valley) where I set up camp for the night (a small place next to the trail - even has a tablet next to it before heading for bed for the night