Raglan to some where? 48 km

From day 1 of this ride  - more to come as I type it up (along with typing up the rest of my ta ride : )

Raglan to some where? 48 km

A late start to the days riding (good thing I'm not riding to a time table on this ride : )

The late start was mostly cause by a small bit of plastic - the camping ground where I stayed the night has plastic key cards to use the showers and a few other things - with a $10 bond (what you get back when you return the card)  

now having remember to put the card on a safe place so I would not lose it (and the $10 bond) I then spent a hour or more looking for said card - yes a do have a small tent and yet I still seem to miss place things in it - mostly my headlight - in the end it was in my handel bar bag (where I put it so it would be to hand to give it back just before going out the gate) 

Once on the road I did a bit of food shopping (there's very little to no shops on my route south to near new Plymouth  around 300 km away)  before heading back up the road I came down the day before (there was a few roads I could of taken-i pick this one for the less chance of getting um miss placed : )  before one last checked of the cellphone (limited cellphone coverage for the next few days )

then down a side road riding until I get to a small village where I stop for a break for a bit and decide what road to take next - a road that I know is open or a road that says it's now a no exit road what I may or may not get though - after some thought I decide to head down the road with the new no exit signs as the the road pass's a nice walk way to a water fall that I have not visited in a few years or more  - and what's the worse that can happen? (ok don't answer that : )

after some climbing then a fun bit of down hill on tarseal roads I get to the carpark for the water fall (I only did the short walk this time to the top of the falls as I was keeping a eye on daylight) then it's time to see just where this road will take me - after the water fall carpark comes a car park for a Mt bike /walk way track that leads off across farm land (just another ride or walk for another day)

the road turns to gravel - and keeps going with a few places being down to one Lane  but no issues with taking the bike and trailer though - at some point in time the road heads down hill (where I find out that riding a bike with drop handle bars (road bike) on a down hill gravel road is different than flat handle bars (Mt bike) I get the hand of things ok by the end of the down hill : )

after getting to a fork in the road I look at the signs then keep riding on gravel roads (at one point near the end of the day the bike dumps me on lose gravel - deside that it's better my arm take the wight of my fall (and not my wrist - as that's how you end up with a broken wrist) - see hapkido training has it users ever out side hapkido : )  

there's a car about a hour or so on this road I just slowly pick myself off the road (note to self -I should stop falling off on gravel roads as it leaves marks )  I keep riding until it gets dark then put the lights on and go back to riding until I find a safe place for the tent for the night having riden on to a tarseal road for the last few km : )