Broadwood to some where 71km?

Broadwood to some where  71km?

After packing up camp I head down to the shop before getting on the road first up riding on tarseal roads until I get to a side road (gravel)  that heads up a hill with logging signs and tire tracks from logging trucks on the road with a side road/track at the top of the first hill?  being the main access point on to the road for the logging trucks - riding over more hills I get to a fork in the road with none of the names on the road sign making sense as I can find then on any map I have with me  - after looking at the landscape and the few maps I do have I think I know a)  where I am and b)  what road to take  ( left turn)  getting back to riding I keep a eye out for any people that I can ask to make sure I'm still on the right road - a few km down the road 3 women are walking down the road so after saying hi i ask then what road I was on - yep I'm still going the right way on the right road - getting to a 2th fork on the road I look at the ride notes and the map before heading to kohukohu getting in to town on a fun down hill - onice I get into town I deside to stop at a café (where after asking nicely the nice people at the café let me pug in my phone to charge up as I'm eating a early lunch) then a look around town before heading for the car ferry 4 km away - what I make with a few minutes to spare with the next ferry being around a hour away (there's one ferry a hour) onice on the other side  at rawene I get some more food and water (there is a (water) drinking fountain near the ferry)  leaving town I head along the road to the end to the road on to S.H. 12 then over some hills to the small towns of opononi and omapere then a longer climb up yet another hill then a fun down hill riding next to farm land passing through a small town before starting a climb up hill towards waipoua forest - just before the forest I started thinking where to stay the night - I head up one drive way to ask about nearby places to camp - as I get up to the house parts of my memory fall into place - I have been to this house before (on my last end to end road) and had forgotten about it (to many head injurys and to many years on the road) after a bit of a chat I end up staying the night in a sleep out (like last time)

90 mile beach to broadwood

90 mile beach to broadwood

Started the day packing up my tent trying to get rid of at less some of the sand that seems to get ever where (well I did spend the night camping on a sand dune : )  keeping a eye on what the tide is doing I wait a bit longer before starting the days ride - first up is a ok ride down the rest of 90 mile beach - at one point in time I spot some one walking with a pack on so I stop to say hi and find out where they are walking to - it turns out that they are walking to auckland along the te Araroa trail so we spend a bit of time chatting about the trail - as I'm doing this a rogue wave (a bigger then average wave that runs high up the beach) comes ashore getting me and the bike wet - hum I don't think that's going to be good for the bike bearings - o well it's about time the hubs needed looking at any way (im good at taking part and fixing bikes after so many years riding on the roads and trails all over nz much of the time a long way from any bike shop)

  after saying good bye to the person walking I keep riding down the beach with only the odd passing 4wd  - one did stop with the nice driver having a bit of a chat to me then about the bike ride I'm doing before give me some food . Then it's back to riding down the beach until I get to the road off the beach at ahipara where after cleaning much of the sand off the bike (the bike is well covered in sand from the beach from the wheels flicking up the sand also there is eastern wind?  Blowing even more sand on to the drive chain side of the bike) i do a bit of food shopping just as the rain starts coming down - riding in the rain is not that fun but on the up side the heavy rain is helping clean the rest of the sand off the bike and (waterproof) panner bags : )  as im leaving ahipara it takes a few mins to find the right road (foreshore Rd east then on to Roma Rd (Roma Rd is missing the road sign) 

Then it's time to start climbing up the first hill of the day - it's a hill I know we'll having walked up it on my north island te Araroa walk as well as being the main route south by bike for me over the years get the summit (where the te Araroa trail turns off and heads in to the bush I come to a slow stop as I look over the start of the down hill - there is on going road works (pachers of gravel) - it's still raining hard so deciding to go slowly around the bends in the road over the next few km I start on the down hill -

coming up to the first bend I pull on the brake leavers only to see then move all the way back to the bars with out slowing the bike down - at this point in time I'm all ready up to 30 km/h with the road only getting steeper - hum let's see I now have no working brakes on the bike  on a steep tarseal (and gravel in places)  road with tight bends in the rain - what to do?  I could try to ride it out but knowing the road and my own skills I'm not likely to make it down the road with out a high speed out of control crash so let's not try that - I could lay the bike down and hope for the best (as coming off at 30 km/h is some what less painful with the panner bags and bike taking a lot of the impact)  - not  the best ideas buts it's better then the first idea - in the end I go for plan c - first uncliping my right shoe from the peadel and start drugging the shoe (still attached to my foot) on the ground slowly putting more weight on it then as my speed slows I carefully unclip my left shoe (and foot) from the peadel and start dragging it also on the road - there is a risk that I might still crash but at less I'm in some what control as the bike slows then comes to a stop about 20 cm from going over a large bank - a quick look at my shoes would say that I'm going to to need new shoes sooner then planed (but then it's better the shoes are wearing out slower me down then the rest of the bike and my skin in a crash) 

Getting off the bike and walking to a safe place I start looking over the bike to work out what the cause of the brakes falling with no warning and it's still raining -looking over the disk brakes I see the rear pads are heavily wWearing - I do have spare pads so I deside to swap then over leaning about disk brakes along the way as well giving then a good clean and testing each part to work out why they failed doing the same with the front disk brakes (but keeping the same pads as they are still good)  Im more used to working  on v brakes (what's the type of brakes on my bike Friday) but after a lot of thought I do work out how the disk brakes should be working - looks like the sand from the beach had got in to the disk brakes and caused issues (easy fixed with a good clean and new pads in the rear as well as adjustment )   testing the brakes a few times before packing even thing back up and getting back on the road testing the brakes before the start of each down hill (better safe than sorry)

riding until I get to broadwood  (passing the site of where I got hit by a truck on the bike back in 2008)  at broadwood I stop for a break around 5:30 pm as I'm starting to get cold after riding in the rain for the last few hours - after some though I do a bit of asking around and find a safe place to put up the tent - at 91 km it's a bit short of what I would of like of done but risking getting sick because of the cold and wet weather is not ideal so it will have to do - life is what ever life is in that there is little point getting upset with what you can't change - as I'm setting up camp the rain stops (all ways seems to happen like that : )  after getting into dry clothes and into my nice warm sleeping bag I do a bit reading before heading off to sleep  for the night

Day 1 of my tour aotearoa route ride 61 km

Day 1 of my tour aotearoa route ride  61 km

Today's camp is at
Lat/long S 34°45.237 E 172°57.622

A early start to the day packing up before sunrise then on the road as soon as it's light - as I'm packing up some one comes over for a chat(asking why I'm up and packed so early - it's because of the tide that  I'm getting a early start - riding a bike down 90 mile beach is dependent on what's the tide is doing as for how far one gets down the beach before time runs out -turns out that it's some one who knows me from caving (see I can't seem to go any where where with out meeting some one who knows me or of me  : ) (it's a small world) the day's ride starts with a good climb back up the hill I came down to the camp ground on a gravel road (around 2.5 km?) then a 3? Km ride along SH1 to the end/start of SH1 (a round about leading to 2 carpark)  its misty weather so I can see about 100 m around me if that)  stopping to full up on water (there is a water tap(drinking water) next to the loos (though best not to reley on it to much as I'm not sure where it's from or how much water there is ) before heading down to the light house for some photos (in the mist) - there's no one else around (unlike the last time I was here when there was lots of people there) so I start riding up the path back to the carpark  (passing a few people in the mist) as I'm leaving the carpark some people in a van stop and ask me where the nearest cafe is (about 50 + km away) as I'm riding S.H.1 the mist starts to lift as I drop down a hill only to have to soon climb back up yet another hill (lots of hills in Northland : ) then back down hill until I get to the turn off to the gravel road that leads to the big sand dunes - 3 km latter I get to the carpark at the end of the road - from here my route heads in a stream 3 km out to 90 mile beach - in places there is quick sand so following the wheel tracks and spinning in low gear I make my way out to the beach (a lot faster than last time I was here) once I'm on the beach I start riding south with the dunes on the left and the sea on the right : )  easy navigation : )  riding along the beach at around 15 km/h I try to keep out of the incoming water - as the day wears on a few waves chach me out including a Rouge wave that that runs  high up the beach as I'm talking to someone who is walking the te araoa trail to Auckland - will be giving the bike a clean /check over onice I'm off the beach tomorrow - I keep riding until I run out of hard beach sand to ride on around 1:30 pm (though high tide is not until around 4 pm) so I head in the dunes to set up camp for the rest of the day/night  - plan for tomorrow is to get a early start so I can finish off the beach riding and get back on to the (some what : ) easier road riding

Why I'm taking on the tour aotearoa route (&how to see how I'm getting on

The fact that some thing is impossible has never been a good reason not to try

Why I'm taking on the tour aotearoa route

On paper for  some one like me to be doing something like the tour aotearoa route in the time frame that I'm looking at (4-6 weeks - hopefully closer to 4 weeks) would  be impossible  (as more then a few people have told me lately )  yet that is just part of the fun - to try the impossible - if I fail so what?  I will just lean from it and try again - if I do in fact do it - then it will be a nice stepping stone to trying some thing else in my life

Doing a ride like the tour aotearoa route has been on my to do list for for a few years now - I don't have a wish list or a bucket list but a to do list as they are things that I plan on doing at a given point in time - I Set a goal - do it & move on to the next goal- some of the things on my list was doing the taupo bike ride - 1x,2,4,8x laps, riding the length of nz by bike on the road (2x) (done in 2014 & 2015) walking the te araoa trail - I have done the north Island (1500 + km of walking over 108 days) (south Island leg is on long term hold because of on going leg issues causing a lot of pain when I'm on my feet for more then a few hours partly caused by how I walk (because of my disabilitys)  - after around 8-10 years of living on the road by bike and on foot I have decided that it's time to at less try to do  the tour aotearoa route. My Mt bike skills are not the best though they are a lot better than what they was(many times on other Mt bike rides I have done in the past I have come off the bike due to balance issues with my dyspraxia - that is partly why my other bike is a bike friday folding bike with 20" wheels and low step over frame (I did look into taking the bike Friday on the ta route but had decided that the Mt bike would be better (having front shocks on the Mt bike and the rear derailleur is a lot higher off the ground so less chance of breaking it again - riding the Mt bike is a lot harder for me then my bike Friday though - so that will be part of the challenge for me on the up coming ride )  doing the tour aotearoa route for me means be able to travel off road (like in some ways like the tramping parts of the te araoa trail) with out the issues of the leg issues that I now have  when going tramping and still travel end to end of  nz (a bit like my other end to end rides but this time off road as much as possible then the mostly on road rides I have done for a fun change )

It this point in time I'm about 4-6 days away from starting my ta route ride

Unlike the others riders doing the tour aotearoa route a bit later in the year (who will be doing it as part of the tour aotearoa ride) I don't have a spot (GPS) tracker or any thing like that as I just don't have the money for such things (as nice as they are) so to see where I'm at /how I'm going I will be posting online (Facebook /twitter /Instagram) when I can (so it may be a few days between updates)

So here is ways to see where /what I'm up to : )

Twitter - @gypsyonabike

Instagram - gypsyonabike1

Blog - lifeonabikeinnz.blogspot.co.nz
Facebook - life on the road by bike and on foot  -  https://m.facebook.com/Life-on-the-road-by-bike-and-on-foot-487124424703197/

Some where to woodhill sands (horse place near helesville) 80 km

Some where to woodhill sands (horse place near helesville)  80 km 

After packing up camp I go to put the back panners on the bike only to find out that I got a flat tire on the rear  so after changing the tube and patching the inner tube (will be testing the pach in water before I will use that tube again) then after putting everything back together again I pack my gear on the bike having a bit of a play with some staps that I made up from pink tape and buckets that I pick up at a shop in Hamilton - I'm using pink tape so I can easily see it so I don't forget it so easily (also I like pink things : ) to keep the tent pack up small (one of the 2 compressing straps had ripped out and Macpack wanted $40 for a new tent bag so I decided to just make up some straps instead : ) 

then its time to get on the road after saying good bye to the nice women who let me camp on they back lawn - today im taking back roads north towards auckland  with the road I'm on being tarseal. At I few places I stop to check the map (the map on my phone as I had gone off the edge of the paper map that I have been using) on one of the roads as I came around a bend the road turned into a gravel road with washboard (bumpy) so i unlock the front shocks on the bike (one can lock out the front shocks on my bike with a little leaver on top of one of the fork legs) and keep riding at times riding next to the river other times over hills 

some where along the way the road turns back to tarseal . After a nice fun down hill the road cross's over the river one last time before passing through a few more small towns (at one place passing a moter racing track)   then it's into pukekohe to chach a train into Auckland  - ended up being 2 trains as I had to change to a different train at one point (some thing about using different types of train for different parts of the auckland rail network?) 

onice I get into the main train station I head past the ticket bars?  So I can full up on water as well as getting a ticket for the next  train that will get me out of auckland heading north - make sure you keep your paper train tickets until you are out of the station as they won't let go  out of the main station with out a ticket (or a hop? card) or paying $20-50 fine (not sure how much it was - did see a few people lined up to pay though) also there some times have people on the trains checking tickets /hop cards?  

 On the train north out of the city I fall asleep (opps) waking up just as the train is coming in to the last station.  It's time to get back to riding the bike : )  I ride on back roads much of the way (stopping to check the phone from time to time to make sure I'm going the right way )  then it's on to S.H.16  riding over the "mostly flat" (according to Google maps that is - who put the hills here?) road until I get to a horse place (one of the many places that I help at helping at horse events all over nz for the last 12+ years) where after a quick phone call (from the side of the road earlier ) I set up camp for the night : )

Cambridge camp ground to some where 77 km

Cambridge camp ground to some where 77 km

A late start to the days riding as I deal with working on a few issues with gear/bike suff before leaving the camp ground around 9:45 am  heading into Cambridge riding across the old (100? Year old?) high level bridge and stoping at a bike shop to get the extra inner front brake cable cut (had it in a loop taped to the front panner rack) also went to the post shop to send off 5 kg of extra grar/clothing that I had decided I no longer needed to have with me back to my mums place

  then it was time to leave town along the old main road (there is a new just opened bypass that takes much of the cars and trucks around Cambridge instead of thought it) riding past the cycle center I see there is a min road course set up (for teaching road safety on bikes) next to the velodrome - there's even a café there - I might stop by for a good look some time : )  once I got on the new bypass there is a nice wide shoulder to ride along also in places there are off road bike paths leading on to less used roads.

Onice I get into Hamilton I stop in at a super market for food to get me up to auckland before dropping in at a friends out door shop to say hi then went and got a back up battery for my phone /tablet?  (handy things to have in the middle of nowhere to recharge the phone since there ant any power points in the bush and I just don't have the money for a solar or hub power set up ) also went to a out door/bike  shop for a few things like spare disk brake pads (i have different disk brakes on the front and back as I had upgrade the rear disk brakes a few months ago (just before I broke the derailleur and derailleur hanger so I had the bike not riding - only got the Mt bike back together about a week and 1/2 ago?

 Then it was some nice riding along the river trail out of Hamilton then on to the old main road (i was being to lazy to take back roads) traffic was ok (im well use to traffic) passing through a few small towns including Huntly (where I pick up something for dinner)  at Huntly I crossed over the rail/foot bridge over the river and headed north until it was getting dark so time to knock on a farmers door to ask about near by placings to set up a tent for the night (something that I do much of the time on the road)  well the first few houses had no one home then tried one house and got told to ask across the road where a nice women told me I could set up my little tent any where and showed me where things was before I set up camp for the night : )

Some where to the camp ground at Cambridge

Some where to the   camp ground at Cambridge

After a bit of a sleep in this morning I get pack up and back on the trail first crossing the 80 m swing bridge large foot bridge over the small Valley and mangawera stream - looking over the side it's long way down  then there's more up and down riding (when I'm not having to push the bike up a few of the climbs that is)  then next to a rock place the trail climbs a lot (a 200 m climb in 2 km or something) using many switch backs where I end up walking some of it (on the up side I'm getting better at working out the best way to push the bike up hills on tight single track : )  at the top of the climb the river trail head on to  tarseal roads for much of the way to arapuni dam  there is still a few bits of off road riding like at Jim Barnett reserve - first up is a down hill ride then a mix of rolling hills and a few flatter bits - the trail is more or less well marked on the road bits - there's a bit of river trail from Jones landing to arapuni dam that's remend that people riding take a road detour to bypass this bit of the trail (unless you are a very good Mt bike rider) at arapuni I went café hunting - the café was closed but across the street was a food trailer selling ice cream (so I got a nice ice cream as it's hot work riding the trails)  after filling up my water bottles at a drinking fonting I headed down a track to cross the large arapuni swing bridge across the gorge that was built in 1925 so workers working on the power house had site access) - next to the bridge is a old tubane runner from the power house also a sign with photos talking about how and why the power house was camouflage during ww2 ( incase it became a target to eamey planes)   onice I got across the swinbridge I headed up power house road (passing a gate across the road (with a sign saying that the road was closed to the public?)  from arapuni I headed on more back roads over a few more hills until I got to a cycle/walking path near the karapiroi dam - from there I took the path into Cambridge where I headed for the camp ground for the night - after I set up camp I headed into town to get a bit of dinner before heading back to the camp ground : )

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

Taumarunui to ongarue? 46 km

Well today's ride did not got quite to plan - was raining last night and was still raining this morning as I packed up - I did notice that there was more room in one of my panner bags as I was putting then on the bike but did not think much of it (yep if there's unplanned space in your bag you may have forgotten something - as I was to find out latter) then into taumarunui to get food for the next 2-3 days before heading back towards the (south) start/end of the timber trail on a partly gravel road to ongarue and on to ongarue waimiha Rd - as I'm having a break at around 38 km in to the days ride I got to get the tablet out of my panner bags - only to find its it not where it should be and after taking everything out of my bags still can't find it - it's around this point in time that I remember about the "extra" space in one of pannier bags - Looks like i might of lost/misplace it some where - some nice people in a passing car offer to call the Campground where I stayed the last 2 nights when they get back in cellphone coverage 8 km away down the road before driving back to me with the good news that my tablet is in deed still back at the camp ground (I have no idea how I ended up forgetting it though) so now all I have to do to go and get it what's a bit harder then it seems - end up back tracking 8 km to ongarue then leaving the bike and gear at one of the timber trail shuttle service places then walked the 3 km to the main road to thumb a lift back to taumarunui (and the camp ground) what ended up taking a few hours to get a lift to the camp ground (about 25 km away) heading in to the camp ground the nice people there hand the tablet over to me - they had even recharge it up for me with out asking : ) then its time to start thumbing a lift back to ongarue (back to my gear and bike)  - well after turning one  ride down I got a ride to the other side of taumarunui where I then spend the next 3 + hours trying to get a lift north with no luck at all - time for a new plan as it will be dark soon and I got no gear with me - I ended up calling my mum to get a phone number for a uncle that lives in taumarunui to see if they could give me a lift back to my bike and gear - I was not planning to have to call the uncle as I was not sure how things would go with the new things in my life (Tg suff) and if the person I was calling knew about it so how they would react to to me - some of my family is OK with me being Tg others not so much - with some being very nasty to me - in the end it went ok with the uncle picking up up about a hour?  Before dark and giving me a lift to where my bike and gear was - I pick up my bike and rest of my gear before heading a bit down the road to set up camp for the night

Doc camp site to taumarunui 76 km

Doc camp site to taumarunui 76 km

After packing up camp I chat with a few people before heading back on to the timber trail - with the trail being a mix of single track and gravel roads. A few km into the trail it's starts climbing on mostly single track up to a very large bridge (one of 7 such bridges on the trail)  as im spending a bit of time taking photos 2 other riders pass - the riders are for Wellington (i think?)  as the two other women are riding around the same speed as me we end up riding more or less together to the end of the trail stopping every so often for a break. From the end of the old bush  tramline at the  terminus  the trail tends down hill. With it being very bumpy in places. At one point I feel (and hear) my front brake cable break - the trail is not to steep so I keep riding until it's time for a lunch stop where I get out my spare inner brake cable and swap it over waping the extra cable a round a  loop a few times before taping it to the front rack. At the lunch stop (camp 11) there is a hut and the remains of a turntable (to help turn the geger? Around)  and a few other bits and pieces from the old bush tramline. Then it's back on the trail for more down hill riding passing over the last big bridge (where as you look down to the river you the see some remains of the old tramline bridge)  riding though more cuttings (from the tramline days) we get to the ongarue spiral where the tramline (and the timber trail) goes round a loop crossing over a bridge (over a cutting) before heading into a cutting and a short but very dark tunnel (so bring a light : ) before heading out though the same cutting that the trail pass over with the bridge  - the spiral was built so the logging trains could make the grade of the climb up the valley . From the spiral the trail heads down the valley at places heading though pine trees then farm land before the carpark about 2km from ongarue where the other 2 women that I had been riding with are getting picked up by one of the shuttles that run people to each end of the trail so after saying good bye to the people I had been riding with for part of the day it's time to start some road riding to taumarunui (about 30? Km away on back roads next to the river - there's a few km of tarseal road then it's gravel (with bad washboard in places - more bumps to ride over) as i pass next to & under a few rail bridges it looks like there is a lot of work being done to fix /rebuild parts of the rail line from te kuiti to taumarunui (part of the main trunk rail from auckland to wellington)  about 10 km?  From taumarunui there is a fork in the road with one road crossing the river on a double decker bridge (rail on top with single Lane road deck under on 2 leavel)  the rail part of the bridge is not in use any more as the that rail line is no longer used for trains - there is a place that runs tours on goft cart like things that run on the rails (rail carts?)   the other road keeps heading towards taumarunui so I take that road into town. In town I stop for a bit of food before heading out to the camp ground a few km out of town next to a river  (on the south end of town) where I set up camp for the night

Pureora forest doc camp ground to doc camp site at 40 km into the timber Trail

Pureora forest doc camp ground to doc camp site at 40 km into the timber Trail

A bit of a latter start then planed so I get on the trail around 9 am after packing up camp - the trail is a fun mix of single track going though bush with a 5 min side track to a old bulldozer then it's back on the trail - after crossing over a stream I decide to stop and filter some water in to my camel back and drink bottles -(with it being summer it's hard to know what streams have water in also many of the streams can be a bit hard to get to the water so I full up all my water contanes) - in some places the trail is out in the open (where the bush? had been cut down) at times getting past by a group of riders from up north land and a few other riders - other times I get to pass them - a bit like a game of tag - some times chatting with the other riders - at the bush edge there's a sigh warming about being perpeard for alpine conditions with the track going from a grade 2 to a grade 3 - with the track being a bit steeper as it heads up the side of Mt pureora climbing by switch backs up to a high point around the 15 km mark - I see that a few riders look like they over shot a few of the bends in the track : )  in two places there is side tracks (tramping not cycle) leading up to the summit of Mt pureora (part of the ta trail) in a few places there's is views looking out towards Lake Taupo (and even some cell phone reception - I did look at the phone but decide that any messages can wait a few days : )  and keep using my phone camera to take photos with : )  after the 15 km mark (there are little sign posts each km on the trail saying how far to the end of the trail) the trail tends down hill with the trail a mix of single track, some old logging roads a bit of gravel roads - even a bit of old tramline - in a few places a steep down hill (some times follow with a bit of up hill riding).  a long the trail is different sign boards with different information on the history of the area passing the turn off to bog Inn hut (tramping track (not part of the cycle way  and part of the ta trail)    I keep riding taking a few breaks to look at the landscape or to read the trail signs until I get to to turn off to the doc camp site around the 38 km mark where I turn off the timber trail to head to  the camp site for the night getting in to the camp site around 3:30 pm first getting some more water (decided to give my water filter a clean as it was getting harder to pump - after the clean the filter worked a lot better  : ) before setting up camp for the night and then spend some time going over the bike - swapping over one of the bots that holds the rear panner rack on also took out a few links of chain so the bike would shift better (i had put a new chain, rear derailleur and derailleur hanger in te kuiti so was not sure of the right chain size - first checking to make sure i was not making the chain to short before I took the extra links out)  - after finishing the bike fixing I spend the rest of the day chating to a few of the groups of riders that I passed (or got past by : ) who happen to be staying the night at the camp ground in the middle of the trail. Even though it's new year eve most people are in bed by dark (or sitting around a fire)  Im in my tent by 9:30 pm and asleep soon after : ) - I do wake up about 1/2 an hour before midnight /the new year - I hear a few yells/happy new years before I head back to sleep

Te Kuiti to pureora camp ground 64? Km

Te Kuiti to pureora camp ground 64? Km

After finishing the last of my packing and saying good bye to my mum (at who's place I been staying at for the last week) i get on the road heading into te kuiti - around 5 km away. Getting into te kuiti my first stop is the supermarket to get food for the next few days then the wherehouse for some battery's - I end up getting a pack of a battery charger and 4 aa rechargeable battery (got sick of buying one use battery's) as well as two battery's for my wireless bike computer also a pack of cable ties (one can never have too many cable ties : )  - saw a ta (te Araroa trail)  walker out side the wherehouse so ended up chating to them for a bit then it's time to head out of town for a 55? Road ride to pureora forest and the start of the timber trail cycle trail - a 84 km cycle trail that uses a mix of old logging roads, old bush tramline, gravel roads and some new trails - heading though farm land up and down some hills - it's a hot day getting up to 35c (that's what the bike computer says - well it's hot enough to melt the tarseal on the road)  at benneydale I stop for a drink at the shop (was going to get a powerade from the little shop but had to backtrack to the café to get a bottle of powerade as there was none in the shop) i got chatting to some people in a car that was parked out side the little store - maybe I should get a t-shirt with a FAQ of the top 5-10 questions I get asked all the time like how many km I ride each day (any where between 5 km to 190 km depending on how I feel  : )  then its back on the road to I get to the turn off to pureora forest and down maraeroa Rd for a few km to the doc camp ground - stopping in at a place for tourists and got chating to another ta walker then it was off to the camping ground to set up camp for the night chating to a few people at the camp ground before heading off to bed for the night

Some where to Feilding 75 km

Some where to Feilding 75 km

A late start to the day as my body decides it needs more rest (ie a sleep in : )  after I pack up my gear and a bit of a chat to the people at the farm I get back on the road around 11 am - it's 16 km to the town of hunterville (including a slow climb up a long hill out of the valley : ) as I ride along the valley I keep a eye on land marks (including counting the number of one Lane bridges) so I can work out when to turn off the road I'm on to the road that will take me to hunterville and S. H. 1 onice I get into hunterville I stop for a bit of food before checking my phone for any missed calls /messages /Facebook /email  then I decide if to stay the night in Hunterville (there is a free camp ground as part of the park in town - wish more small towns did this)  in the end I decide to keep on riding on SH1 until I get to where ever I end up for the night - after a bit of a break in the town of bull's (yes there is a small town in nz called bull's - with a lot of fun bull themed names for places in town) as I'm riding towards Palmerston North I noticed a few passing horse trucks so decide to play a fun game called let's follow the horse trucks and try to work out what event they are to - I help out at different horse events all over the north Island of nz for the last 12 years or so (at around 10? + events each year) - Looks like they are turning off to Feilding so I decided to keep following then then as I get closer I look up on line to see what events are on this weekend - yep a A&P show in fielding this weekend so I keep riding until I get there before I find the person in charge of the show jumping and asked then if they would like any help over the weekend (they say yes) so I find a place for my tent before setting up camp and chatting to some of the horse people before heading to bed for the night

Ohakune to some where 85 km

Ohakune to some where 85 km

Leaving my friends place where I had spent the night I heading into town to get some food for the next few days (as I'm taking back roads there's no shops or towns for the next 100 km or so to I get to hunterville) then with a quick stop next to ohakune big carrot I head out of town in to a strong head/side wind on a some what busy road for about 10 km to I get to the turn off that will take me down back roads to hunterville - at first the road is tarseal for around 15 km (with road works - and a sign saying honk and wait for single no stop/go people so at the sign I stop as I ponder what to use instead of a horn?  - after a few minutes the person driving a digger waves me pass - Looks like the road works are to do with making the road started and replacing water pipes (taking small steams under the road ) at one place I see 3 turkeys cross the road (latter on today I will also see a turkey with baby's walking down the road and even a hedgehog walking down the road much latter in the day) around 25 km from ohakune the way I'm going heads down a gravel road (what looks little more then a farm drive way at times) that starts climbing - the last time I was on this road there was fresh deep gravel across the road making it just a bout unridebill in places - this time the road is OK for riding.  Stopping at a boundary sign for a few fun photos  then its back on the road after getting to the top of the hill it's down hill to bell junction (was lose stock on the road as I came down the hill)  from bells junction the road flatters out at the next junction I get out the cycle trails book to make sure I'm going the right way - turning in to turakina Valley Rd I stay on this road for the rest of the day - in places there are signs for the difference cycle trails - the road is a fun mix of tar seal and gravel with the road at times sitting high avoud the river other times dropping down next to the river-some times there is rocks on the road to ride around that have fallen from the road side cliffs on to the road in other places there's is slips on the road in places the road is down to one Lane - there is a lot of lose stock on the road  some cows and sheep - at one point a cow that been moving ahead of me for about a km comes across a drive way with a cattle stop - where the cow stops when they see it before it jumps it and landing on the other side of the cattle stop (first time I seen that happened - flying cows? ) at times the sheep run ahead of me at times getting up to 25+ km/h before stopping as I ride pass on a down hill (I'm averaging around 10-15 km/h) in a few different places I stop for some photos of the landscape and a few water falls.  As its about to get dark in the next hour or so I stop and ask at a farm house if they know of some where that I might be able to put up my tent for the night - the nice lady there tells me about a old school (now closed) a few more km (and hills : ) away so I keep riding to it get to the old school where after asking at a nearby farm house I head up staying in a bunk room on a (farm) station that helps train young farmers - after getting some dinner and a bit of a chat about what I'm up to and about the station it's time for bed (on a side note the people there had no problems or issues with me being transgender and nicely asked me how and what they should call me (and what bathroom I would like to use : ) I did spend a bit of the time when I was  chatting talking about Tg issues as well as other things)

Ohakune - rest day

Ohakune - rest day

The day started with the sound of rain on the tent - looking out side after unzipping the tent - yep it's raining with no view of the Mt.  After spending some time reading I hear some one calling out so I unzipped the tent - turns out that it's a friend of a friend who lives in town so came up to say hi and to see how I'm getting on with the wet/windy weather - after a bit of chatting I end up taking down my tent and heading back to they place for the rest of the day/night (even though I did pay for 2 nights at the doc site but only stay one ) they help me out with the bike then I heading into town for a walk around - even saw a friend from my te araoa walk - the people who I set up my trip  down the river with so chatting about a few different things including some ideas on how to full in the 2 day padded /week part of walking of the te araoa trail that I had missed out on because of weather issues at the time) before heading back to my friends place for the night

Old coach road to ohakune 17 km

Old coach road to ohakune   17 km

Packing up camp I keep heading down the cycle trail with the trail tending down hill until it gets to a fork in the trail - one way leads to a large old rail bridge with the other was leading to the road end and ohakune (when the rail line was partly rebuild in the 1980s  parts of the line was moved to take out sharp bends so some new big rail bridges was built on this part of the line as well as some big cuttings including one that cut though a place where a tunnel was used (with the tunnel being cut in 1/2 - the remaining part of the tunnel is now part of the old coach road cycle trail  - 2 mins off the main trail on a side trail with one end of the tunnel block off (the end with the new rails)  at the fork I  take the track to the bridge walking the bike across then after a short break for some photos I turn around and head back to the fork this time taking the trail that's leads to the ohakune road end of the cycle trail at one point passing under the (new) rail line before climbing up hill a bit then down hill (passing the turn off for the old rail tunnel) then is a longer down hill ride with Bush on one side and farm land on the other down the old coach road - very bumpey in places (as much of the trail is) as its is the old coach road with the (now rounded) rocks from 100+ years ago when the road was in use (the road was used for 2? Years Until the to ends of the Auckland - Wellington rail line joined up) getting to the start/end of the off road part of the trail I have a few km of gravel road to ride then some more km of tarseal roads to ride to take me in to ohakune when after I get a bit of food and some thing to drink (as I rain out of water some time last night) before heading to the library for a bit (also posted a box of suff to my mums place - as I had to much gear in my panner bags /trailer)  then its time to head up the road to the doc camp ground (where I tend to stay when I'm in town) for the night

Some thoughts on what people post on line /comment on

Hi all - after looking at my Facebook feed today  and spending some time thinking I'm making the decision to unfriend or unfollow any one on Facebook that posts suff on a few different subjects and delete any comments that on my different Facebook pages / blogs  that fall under the same subjects - here is a list on what the difference subjects are and a bit on why they are on the list

Any one that talks about hitting or killing other road users because they think they should not be on the road (even if they are making a joke about it) - like people who ride bikes, horses, people who just walking down the road -also any  people who seem to think it's ok to break the law and/or drive unsafe - why is this on the list  - well first up is because everyone on the road is some one (mother, dad, child or other members of some ones family) 2. The idea that some people think it's a great idea to harm some one else (that they don't know most of the time) just because they think they are being inconvenience in some way or form by some other road users is crazy to me so not something I will ever under stand  3. Read the road rules and lean how to drive safely - from talking to many people over the years and many years travel all over nz by walking, thumb, and bike it appears that drives in nz tend to have a very poor under standing of road rules and how to drive safely - even day on the roads I see people break the law or driving unsafe (speeding, using cellphone when driving, driving to close to others, not using indicators...  The list goes on) 4. I have been hit on the bike 4 times (that I know of) in my life so far - first one was when I was 13? By a car doing around 110-120 km in a 80 km zone that cause me to have 2 broking legs that still cause me issuse many years later as they never heal right , bad head injury (including losing my sense of smell) and other injury 2th one (in 2008) was a truck hitting me up north land (nz)  the driver stopped rolled me over (causing even more injury to my back and neck) the driver stoure some of my suff that I had in a bag on me then took the rest of my gear to the police station (leaving no info where it came from or any thing like that) leaving me for dead on the side of the road (some one else some time later called for help) I was knock out at the time -the impact cause a bad head injury - I seem to of lost around 1/2 to 3/4 of my memory (of my life before the truck hit me) and have day to day issues remembering things even years later +other head injury suff  and many other injuries 3th time was hit by a car in fielding (driver not paying attention) and creak/Brock left leg (causing more long term issues with that leg) 4 time was by a car with the driver going out of they way to hit me (well my bike trailer) though they rubbish at me, yell something at me then speed off - I have no idea who they was or why they thought it was OK to try to kill me with they car?  So you can see why I have such a dislike for bad driving or people who talk about hiting other road users

Any one who talks crap about /makes jokes about having disabilitys /disabled people /people on benefits - this includes head injurys and depression - I don't find such things funny at all as I have more then a few disabilitys my self and have battle bad depression much of my life (including coming very close to killing my self a few times (the last time was the night of my birthday this year) I'm now doing a lot better with the depression since I started making the big changes in my life but I will always have to keep a eye on things so I don't end back up in that very dark place - with my other disabilitys I can never drive and will always have issues with even every day things (I may not look very disable but that is mosty my coping skills hiding things - so things can and do fall apart fast around me at times)  I will most likely never have a full time or even part time job with enough money to live on just because of how my disabilitys are so I'm on a benefit - that is just the way my life is no matter what I do or how much I try

Any jokes /nasty things said about me being transgender or just about transgender things in general - yes I'm transgender and yes I'm open about it - some of it is education - teaching people what it's like to be some one who is transgender and doing questions and answers about transgender issues (like - no I'm not a drag Queen - I live full time as female - this is not a act I put on - it's just me being who they need to be in life ) when one talks about transgender issues 2 numbers stand out - around 50% of transgender people try to kill they selfs at some point in they lives and transgender people are around 15 times more likely to be killed then non transgender people - also in much of the world lgtq people are attack/killed every day (meaning for me there will be many places in the world I will never be able to visit as the risk of attack/being killed (just for being my self)  is just to high - even in nz (what is a more open and friendly place to be lgtq I aways need to keep a eye out for people who may wish me harm (like some one did in taupo a few months back) there is still so much hate out there for people who are different (don't even think about telling me what some God would say about me being transgender (each person has they own ideas on god/no God so don't try to tell me what my ideas on it should be as I will be blunt and to the point) - things are slowly getting better - even 5-10 years ago it would of been a lot more risky for me to be out as a transgender person then it is now  - on a side note please don't use the term traner around me - to me it's a hate word (like the word nigger) so by using that word around me in a way you are saying it's OK to bully me/others or attack me/others who are transgender - words have power - also please use my new name /gender when you talk to/about me (and other transgender people) as its disrespectful to keep using the old name/gender (also can be a safety issues with some who don't want to be outer by someone using they old name /gender)  so please call me damiana (not damian) and her & she (not him & he) when you talk to/about me : ) as that is who I am now - yes I know and understand some will need more time to change over the name/gender suff (though some people keep using my old name/gender just to be nasty to me) - if you have any questions with me and the changes in my life (including the transgender suff) if you ask nicely I will do my best to answer then : )  as for jokes on Tg issues perhaps do more research on Tg issues before posting then /making then as you may end up causing harm to some one because some one else did not see it as a joke so thought it is OK to harm a Tg person (yes this happens a lot more then one may think)

There is a few other things that may cause me to unfriend /unfollow some one or else delete they comments on my Facebook pages / blog (or any other places I post on line) - some I may explain others I will just unfriend /unfollow /deleting the comments - my pages /blogs my rules for posting /comments as I'm over the hate/bad jokes that I see on Facebook /comments on the blog - it's that or  I leave Facebook /my blog and there are to many nice people out they for me that I would miss to want to do that : ) 

6 months - 180 day

6 months - 180 days

I'm now around 6 months in to my new life - a life of being true to myself regardless of what others may / may not think about me and what I do with my life - a life of taking off the mask and costume to become the real me (as odd as that may sound)

 so many things have happened to me in the last 180  or so days -some of then being - changeing my name - spending time riding my bike to different places in nz as a young transgender women - leaning about makeup (including getting some make up for the first time ) - leaning about different foot wear (including getting my first pear of heels : ) spending about 8? Weeks staying at one place at a friend's place near taupo - a big change with all the different clothes I now own and  wear - spending time in front of TV cameras for a few days then being seen on TV when the show was on TV / Internet (outing myself as some one who is transgender as well as talking about my disabilitys on the TV show) - time spent working on my book - making new friends but also losing some friends (but that is just the way things go in life)

as for how my family has taken it - some are ok with me - others in the family seem to dislike me now (so I had just decide to no longer have much to do with them as there is no point spending time around people who dislike me just because I'm now being the real me)

Yes I have lost friends by making the choices that I have made but I have also made more new friends after I had come out  and starter to be the real me (damiana) then I had before - for the friends that I have lost - I do not hold it against them that they are no longer friends with me as that is what they chose to do - perhaps in the future with more understanding they might go back to being friends with me but I'm not going to change who I am (and be unhappy) just to keep then happy - my life is what it is

As for how others have treated me - most of the time it's been ok - a lot of times of me  smiling and laughter ( more than in my old life) also tears - some times happy tears some times sad tears  but overall I'm a lot more happy in my self and would never want to go back to being the old me - even with having to deal with some people's mean or nasty comments that have been said about me or to me (I try not to let them get to me knowing it's then not me who have a problem but it's still a hard thing for me to deal with much of the time )

I do spend a fair amount of time talking to different people about what it's like to be transgender (and the up and down sides of it) as I have noticed that people tend to be more understanding onice some has expaned different things - even if I tend to get asked the same questions a lot - I can only speak of my own experience in being transgender just like I can only speak of my own experience of disability and what it's like

My depression and meltdowns have all most fully gone away - yes I still have bad days from time to time when things get to much but it's no longer anything like it used to be

At times its been a steep leaning curve and yet I have so much more to lean about and to look forward to in my new life

Training ride 19/09/2015 42 km

Training ride 19/09/2015  42 km

Looking at the weather forecast as I think about where to go riding today - clouds and showers - after some thought I decide to do a out and back ride to Reporoa - this time maybe trying out a idea that I had for the last few weeks - a few km out of Reporoa is butchers pool. It's a (free) hot pool up a short gravel road with farm land around the pool with the pool fenced off from the surrounding paddocks with a nearby carpark and changing room/tolet 

After getting the rest of my bike gear together I put my swimwear on the bag that sits on the rear panner rack and head out for a ride. As I'm heading out the gate a few other riders pass by on a training? Ride - I end up getting passed by a few more rider's on the rind in to Reporoa - though some take longer to pass there others (with just about most of the passing riders saying hi as they passed)

After a nice warm up I started to pick my speed up from 18-20 km/h to 25-30 km/h (what's a fast speed for me : ) until I got in to Reporoa where I stopped to get a few photos - there was a car parked with many of the riders that had passed me around - Looks like they may of been part of a training camp/weekend - the riders was a mix of men and women riders (most of the  passing riders I see out on my rides are men so it's nice to see more women out riding) - many of the bikes I saw looked like what one would see in a Ironman race or time trail race so it may of been a training camp for Ironman?  Or maybe for the taupo race

From Reporoa it's a few km ride back towards taupo to butchers pool where I head up the gravel side road (maybe 500m up the gravel road) - there's no one else there today  as I walk down to the pool to check the temperature and the state of the pool (it's been a few years from the last time I was there) before getting changed in to my swimwear and head back down to the pool to spend some time in to pool - it's nice to have a ride with a stop at a hot pool in the middle of the ride - staying in the pool until I decide it's time to get changed back in to riding gear and head off for the rest of the days ride : ) as I'm getting ready to leave some people turn up for a swim - then its back on the bike riding down the gravel road back to the main road - I take it a little more slowly on the ride back to my friends place - about 20-25 km/h  as its a nice day for a ride with the weather being nice and warm with out it being hot, some clouds in the sky and no showers : )

Cameras and me

Cameras and me

As some of you may of notice I'm now taking (and posting) a lot more photos of my self then I used to - the reasons for this are a few things : )

1) it's hard to get a photo of one's self when you travel on your own going many places where there is few people - many of the few photos of myself was taken using a tripod (not the easiest thing to carry around or set up fast)

2) many times I'm not smiling in the photos as I'm trying to get the photo right or else I'm thinking about some thing else

3) I liked more to be the one taking the photos so others can do other things and so I could stay in the back round (and it's a lot more easily to hide from cameras when they not pointed at you) and many times I did not feel part of a group so would try to stay out of the photos

And last but no means less I never really liked how I looked in the photos - and yes I know many people don't like to have they photo taken - for me a big part of it was because I was not being the real me and not living my life I wanted to (the transgender side of things) and so the photos of the out side of me was no where near like the inside of me - the person I was inside and many times I did not like the remainder (of me in photos) of that - and many of the comments that (well meaning) people would make about the photos

So just about all the time I liked to be behind the camera - the one taking the photos - not be the one in the photos : )

So what changed?

Why do I now have fun taking photos of my self and sharing then on Facebook and showing people?

Well part of it was because my mum keep saying to me she did not have many photos of me - there's just about no photos of me from my teenage years - there is the odd photo of me in latter years at a horse event or on the bike some where on the road - other then that there's not really any photos of me

With smart phones that have good cameras it's now a lot more easy to get photos with a front facing camera - my mum did get me a selfy stick (a mondpod thing for getting self portraits) for Xmas last year - though it tends to get more use as a back scratcher then with the phone - one day I might get the hang of using it with a phone or camera : )

I'm now getting slowly better at smiling in photos - a big part of that is I'm now a lot more happy in my life so I'm now smiling a lot more in life : )

With so many people having cameras around I'm now some what less camera shy so I don't mind so much if I end up in a photo - I still love to take photos but it's sometimes nice for some one else to be the person with the camera : )

With Facebook making it so easy to share photos its fun for me to post photos of myself on the bike or doing other things like enjoying the sunny weather : )

And last but not least with the big changes in my life I'm now being the real me so I'm now a lot more happy to have photos of me - some of then because it helps tell my story of how my life is and where it's going : ) and I now can have a lot more fun with what  I wear (and how I wear it) and how I look (a  never ending fun leaning experience) - I even have a play with make up from time to time (so much to lean on that fun subject : ) with different make up giving very different looks - and because I'm now a lot less
 worryed about what others may think of me it gives me a lot of freedom to be who I am and have fun with the camera as I do it : )

So I guess in the end people will just have to get use to me taking and posting photos of me having fun and smiling as I look at the camera : )   don't worry unlike like some people out there I won't go too crazy with photos of my self : )

Para-dressage camp weekend

It's a very tired girl who's typing this in her bed so i hope it makes at least some sense : )

A long tiring weekend - it started on Friday - well in some ways the start was a few?  Days before when I decided to go to a horse event on the upcoming weekend - I did have to have a long think if to go or not as I knew it would be hard on me mentally and emotionally as it would be the first horse event that there would be more then 3 or 4 people who knew me at the event but I have to start somewhere if I'm going to keep going to events

  Well the fun?  Started on Friday with first up trying to decide what to bring on the bike (and what to wear) as I would be staying in my tent on site from Friday night to Monday morning - yes I could have bike in each day - riding there and back was the first plan - in the end I decided just to set up camp for the weekend as I did not know how tired I would be and it would give me a safe place to be if things did went to pieces with me. After only getting about 1/2 the things done that was on my to do list (mostly because I just forgot about 1/2 of them as I had to many things in my head : ) it was time to head off - first heading into town (in to a head wind so a slow ride in to taupo) to get some food shopping in also to the library to check Facebook and email (had rain out of Internet on the phone) - in one of the Facebook posts I saw that the taupo bike  ride is making each 4 lap riders have they own support crew and a support vehicle on the ride -so this means that I will not be able to do the taupo bike ride this year - I really wanted to do the ride this year and was looking forward to it as I like doing the longer rides but there's no real point being angry with the people who make the ride rules as its not like It will change things so now its time for some new dreams and goals for me - life is what it is - after shopping I head out to the horse place and set up camp for the weekend 

Saturday - with it being a para-dressage event I knew that many of my friends from para-dressage would be there - in the past its not been a issue but as it will be the first time that many have seen me face to face since my big change I was very worried emotionally and mentally about how people would be around me at the event - even though I do chat to some on Facebook - doing things face to face is very different from being online - it went more or less OK with some giving me a shorter nickname (as damiana can be harder to say then damian - funny how just one more letter in a name can make it a lot harder to say)

One of the things I try not to think about to much at events is when someone is getting a lesson - that is to say it's emotionally hard on me as I would love to ride at a para-dressage event or even have a few dressage lessons but it's just not going to happen any time soon or even in the next few years the way my life is  so I don't tend to stick around as I would tend to just get more upset/frustrated and start crying (and I don't like to have people see me cry - I tend to try to get to a safe place before getting to upset as my legs then start to badly play up when I get upset - ie I can't get my legs  to work for a few hours or more )

By the time of the para-dressage get together later in the day I was mosty out of it with my brain surgling to understand things that was going on - on the outside I may look OK or not to bad - but on the inside I'm not doing well and probably should be back in the tent or other safe place when I'm like this - to much for my poor brain to deal with - perhaps head injury suff? - at some point I head off to bed though I don't really remember much of the day from lunch time onwourd? - I hope I did not bug or upset any of my friends over the weekend (as can happen when I'm some what out of it at places )

Sunday  there was rotorua dressage day on as well as some para-dressage class's on so there was more people who know me - many of then did not know about the big changes in my life - some was great about it some was OK and then there was the ones - Well All I can say is that it could of gone better and leave it at that (in other words they did not take the news well :  (   so it turned out to be a difficult day emotionally and mentally for me - much of the time I do try to hide my thoughts and feelings when I'm out with people - I tend to have some trust issues +not being able to read people causes it's own issues )

At the end of the day I helped pack up the dressage rings before heading to my tent for the night 
And that was my weekend 

Some thoughts on my plans that are coming up

This was something I was thinking about when I was out riding on the bike today - My plans for the rest of the year and into new year are still very much up in the air I'm not sure what horse events if any I will be going to over the next 6 months or so - I don't want to say yes to going to a event then have to put out of going if I'm not up to it - as for the taupo ride also the rest of the te araoa trail walk I'm not going to make any fixed plans on then - In some ways I still have not recover both physical and mentality (also in many ways emotional) from the north Island ta walk -and then what came after - the last year has been extremely hard on me with first the ta walk then there was the crazy suff to do with the big changes that I have made/are making in my life including the name /gender change suff (but they was changes that I had to make for my self and I'm now a lot more happy in my life then I was before) one of the big ? Marks with if I will do the taupo ride is finding some one/some people to be a support crew on the ride for me (one must have a support crew to take part in the ride with the 4x ride  as part of the rules)  also will see what my heath is doing as time gets closer - I'm still going to go out and train on rides that will get longer and harder and start making the plans I need to with the ride but with not say yes or no to the ride until I know I can in fact do the ride

With the ta walk I have so much work a head with the planing Also working on the many things like food drops - much of my gear needs replace or a lot of repaired work (long walks /living on the road tends to be hard on gear) also I still need to find out the cause/treatment of the pain in my legs and a few other heath issues before I can even think about the south Island walk - last but not least do I still want to do the south Island leg of the ta trail?  At this point in time I'm not really sure if I still do or not

Training ride 67 km 27/08/2015x

Training ride  67 km 27/08/2015

Today's ride was my first training ride as I get fit for doing the 4x Lake taupo cycle challenge ride thought first up a had a little job to take care on the bike - well a big job taking around a hour or so to do - the job was taking apart the rear hub to service it and replace the ball bearings also the cones that was getting badly pitted so they needed replacement and the was not the most easy part to track down  (it took 2 trys and a few weeks to get the parts) after cleaning the old gress from the hub I regressed it and put in the 18 new ball bearings (9 each side) before putting in the new axle (could only get the parts I needed to replace by getting a new axle set) and setting up the rest of the hub/wheel before putting it on the bike and checking to make sure it's set up right. Then it's time for a bike ride : )

After getting changed in to my bike gear and putting a few things on the bike it's time to let my friend know I'm heading out on the bike - once I'm out the gate and on the road I reset the bike computer and start riding - today's ride starts with a mix  of flat and up hill riding for around 12 km (stopping a few times to get pictures of me on the bike : )  before I turn off the road I'm on - I then take the road that leads down hill on to spa? Road and into the town of taupo  - once I get to the round about at the end/start of spa?  Road I stop for a min or so before deciding to head down to the boat harbour as its such a nice day after getting a few more photos I decide to keep heading along the pathway that leads its way along the lake (the pathway leds all the way to 5 mile Bay around 10 km of track away) as I look over the lake at a rest area (that happens to be on top of the water treatment plant for getting clean drinking water for the town of taupo from the lake) I see a sign saying 5 mile Bay 9 km away so I decided to head along the shared pathway out to 5 mile Bay stopping ever so often to take some photos of the lake and other landscape keeping my speed down as there are many people out enjoying the path way around the lake edge today (it's a nice sunny day) and I'm not in any hurry on today's ride : ) I keep riding along the path way until I get to the other end at 5 mile Bay when I stop for a few mins to set up my bike lights and put on a jacket as the sun sets for the day then it's time to start the ride back to my friends place. On the way back along the pathway I can get up a bit more speed as there is a lot less people on the track - I don't go to fast on the track - partly as many of the people still on the track are hard to see as they are not wearing any lights and darker clothes (even spot a few bike ninjas - ie people on bikes with  no lights and dark clothes) and partly so I don't miss a turn on the track and end up in the lake : ) back at River side Park?  I head up the hill and cross the road to the supermarket to get some bread - after getting the things I need I spend a bit of time redoing the rear lights mounting before heading back up spa?  Road climbing up hill to I get to the high point on today's ride then is mostly down hill riding where I sit on around 25-30 km/h most of the way back to my friends place for the night - after putting the bike away I take my things inside and make a start on cooking up some pasta for dinner - after dinner and a shower it's time for bed

I ended up doing 67 km on the bike today today so had a nice Stat to training  - keeping in mind that the taupo ride I'm training for is 640 km or around 10 times as far : )

Taupo bike ride this year ?

Taupo bike ride this year ?

To do the Taupo bike ride this year or not? I'm not sure if I will  do the Taupo ride this year or not - I'm looking at doing the 640 km 4 lap ride - why that ride and not the 1xor 2x rides - well doing 1x ride is not much of a ride for me ( keeping in mind  some of my training rides I tend to do for fun are 180  km or longer and I tend to do better on the longer rides - I don't race or see how fast I do a ride in-  more I do a long ride as a challenge to myself  (set a goal-do it -move on to the next goal ) - with the 2x (320km) ride it's not much so much of a challenge for me now   As I know I can do a 320 km ride and it's over in around 16 hours or so . ( for the people who don't know I have done the 1x,2x ,4x and 8x rides around Taupo before so I know what they are each like 

on the up side I love to ride my bike and push my self to the limit and beyond when I ride the long rides that I do - to see what I can do on the bike it's also good to met up with some of the others I know from long rides and it's always nice to do something that others keep trying to tell me I can't do  . On the down side it's a lot of work getting ready for doing a long ride even before one puts in all the riding one needs to do in training for the ride -all the planing of what to eat and drink and the many other things that need to be worked out  , finding a support crew to help with the ride , finding the money to pay for things , getting the bike all fixed up and setup for long rides , time to train - finding the time to train and trying to work it around things that other people want me to do ( helping out at the places I'm staying at also helping at events )- having enough time to train- to get as fit as I need to for this ride with out over doing things in the time I have is going to be very hard - do I want to put up my hand and say yes to doing this ride with ever thing else that is happening in my life at this time ? - if I say yes to this ride I want to give it 100% what means other things will need to be cut back on or put on hold until after the ride as I just don't have the energy or time to do everything- in the past I have not done enough training (or to much training ( overtraining) or have tried  to keep other people happy and end up over doing things - if I do enter this years ride I want to do a lot better then some of the other years when things did not go so well ( yes I did finished the ride but some of them could of gone a lot better- I do try to lean from my mistakes thought each time )

Taking a bit of break from the road

Taking a bit of break from the road - I'm staying at a friends place near Taupo so I can work on getting the bike back to being rideable and work on my book that I'm doing also plan out and set up things for the South Island leg of my te Araroa walk  - will say more as I work out things myself:  )