towai to paihia 40 km

towai to paihia 40 km

after saying good bye to the people at the cafe where i spent the night I get on the road  a few km down the road I see a can that has ran off the road (going to fast in the wet weather? 

) after a fun down hill the road is mostly flat to kawakawa where I stop to get some photos - there is an rail line going down the middle of the main road . after getting some lunch I get back on the road heading over a few more hills to the town of opua where I stop for a few hour’s  looking at some of the boats (and ships) in the harbor and having a chat to some people working on one of the ships before heading over the last few hills into paihia and on to h? falls where I set up camp at twin pines camp ground (winter cost seems to be $10 a night for a tent 

some where to towai 33km

some where to towai 33km

after packing up my gear my friend vicki gives me a lift to the edge of town - after saying good bye I head along a few roads until i get to S.H.1 heading north until I pass a cafe that I stop at to get some more food - the weather is windy with lots of rain so im going though food faster then planed . back on the road I keep riding until I see a sign for a muszen so I decide to stop for a bit to have a look around the place . after looking around the place and getting some photos also having a bit of a chat to the people there I get back on the road - a few km down the road a car is stopped on a side road - it turns out to be some one on face book (nz cyclist group ) so after a bit of an chat its time to get moving . as im coming up on the next town (if you can call a cafe and a pub a town? ) I decide to see what food they have there- after a bit of an chat to the people in the cafe they said that I could camp behind the cafe if I water to so after saying that would be good as its about to get dark I spend some more time chatting to the people in the cafe before setting up my tent for the night then going to bed for the night.

training ride 01/07/2012 62 km

training ride 01/07/2012 62 km

weather looks ok for a ride so after getting my cycling gear together I jump on the bike and head down the drive way  stopping at the road to have a have a think- should I go lift or right this time?

I decide to go  left this time doing a loop ride into town and back (if I had gone right then it would of been an out and back ride to some where). as I pass though north/south patana there is a rain shower - just a light one so I don't worry about a wearing my rain gear and keep riding over the hills passing a few small towns on the way in to the city center (I’m riding my 60 km loop ride that goes in to town and back) 

only stoping a few times before I get to the harbor /city center where I stop to check my phone and get some food before heading though town passing a water fall on the outskirts of town  as there is a head wind on the way back I spend some time riding on the arobars to cut though the wind better. working my way over some of the hills I take it easy on some of the down hills as the road is wet from rain ( there has been showers on and off for most of the day) I do a few standing climbs on some of the up hill just for a change .

 I don't push to hard today as I will be back on the road bike touring from next week onward and I don't want to over do things- when I’m doing winter touring I do around 50-120 km a day about 6 days a week - some times more some times least depending on weather and where the hills are also if there are places off the bike I would like to go and see

it was an ok day on the bike - there is a few new things to add to my list of things to work on when on the bike - now I know about then  I can work on doing those things better on my next rides so that I can be better when I’m out on the bike 

just because I can’t do it today doesn’t mean I can’t do it some day

Thank you to every person who has ever told me I can’t - You are just another reason i will

training ride 27/07/2012 101 km

training ride 27/07/2012 101 km

a nice day so its time to get out on the bike heading though north/south patana over the foot bridge then its time to start on the hills (more hill training : ) passing one of the side road I decide to ride to the end of the side road to see where it ends up (yes I could just have a look at the map but wheres the fun in that ? )its fun to pick a side road to ride down to find out where they end up- having a map is optional when doing this kind of riding : ) . 

heading down the side I ride over some hills and pass though a few small town. going down one of the hills in one of the town I see a 50n km/h sign- looking down I see i’m doing 58 so I had better slow do a bit so I don't get a speeding ticket . before getting to the end of the road after around 10-15 km. just before the end of the road is a steep hill sign( the one with the car on a 45% angel) most of the time I like theses signs but as I will be coming back this way I will be having to climb back up this hill. after getting some photos of the beach at the end of the road I head back along the way I came (no exit road) until I get back to the start of the road 

at the start of the side road I see some one on a road bike they stop for a chat as he saw the cycle lake taupo thing on my vest he said that had just pick up his new bike from the bike shop that day and was doing a loop ride on the bike after some chat he header off  then it was time for me to head over yet more hills (on one of the down hills I get up to around 60 km/h - just because I cant drive don't mean I don't like to get some speed  up now and then - my top speed on the bike was 87 km/h on my last bike on one of the down hills going from Taupo to Napier  with a full touring load on the way to help at a horse event)  

passing a few more small towns as the road drops back down to sea level heading though town I work my way around the harbor until I get in to the city center where after some shopping and a look around the harbor I head thought traffic until I get to the outskirts of town where I have some nice if some what slow riding until its time to turn the bike lights on- its fun going down the hills with just the bike lights showing the way doing around 40-45 km/h( seems a lot faster at night time) 

on one of the longer down hills I have a car siting on my tail most of the way down ( I do wish they would not do that as if I was to come off or need to stop fast the car may not be able to stop in time maybe I need a back off sign (in other worlds give me some room if you end up behind me on a long down hill  I will try to move over if I’m holding up other traffic when it is safe for me to do so ok) As i get closer to my friends place I have a look at my bike computer to see how far I have done . so far I done 93 km up to this point on todays ride its a nice night for riding so I keep riding into the dark.

 After crossing over the foot bridge i head though the small town - just as I'm leaving town and getting to my turning point I spot a dog on the road - it starts to bark at me and chases me as I ride down the road (over the years i have leant to read what a dog is likely to do if it starts to run after me as I have a lot of dogs run after me over the years - this one wants to bit me if it can chact me so I get up more speed (even after doing 97 km so far to day I can still get up some good speed around 30-35 km/h as I tell  the dog to “go home “ (some times it works) about a km down the road when I know I'm safe from that dog chasing me I stop and turn around and have a think about how to get pass the dog a 2nd time  i decide a mix of speed and telling the dog to go home should work if it decides to case me. i get past the dog ok as I got up to around 40 km/h and it went home after the 3th or 4 th “go home” . riding over the foot bridge at night is some what sirlreal  then is back to my friends place 

It was a good day on the bike -I'm slower getting better on the bike- to days ride was the longer that I have done over the last 2 months so I should be happy with the way the ride went- there are days when I forget that Im disable when I'm just one more bike rider on the road =yes I will be paying for this ride over the next 3 days as with any long ride (any ride over 60 km is a long ride until I can get more fit )  - just not the way its for most people not that I would let a little thing like that stop me from riding - I will not let what I can not do stop me from doing what I can and will do

what don't kill me had better start riding : )

training ride 23/7/2012 63 km

training ride 23/7/2012 63 km

well it's not raining or lots of wind so it must be time for a bike ride - not that I would let a little thing like wind or rain stop me from riding my bike ( I'm not made of sugar like many road cycles seem to be as the spend the winter stuck on they indoor trainers( in other worlds - Get out and ride your bike ! )

 I decide to head into town going the other way starting by going out to the coast to north patana crossing over the long foot bridge to south patana - finding my way is easy as most of the side roads are no exit road - the road starts to climb over a few hill before dropping back down to the sea passing by a small town with the odd shop back at sea level I stop about 1/2 a m off the road to check my phone for emails one of the passing trucks  passes me with in around 2 inch -must be one of the few crazy truck drives like the one who hit me back in 2008 - there days I don't let the few crazy drives spoil my time riding on the bike. 

riding beside the sea working around the bays until I get to a built up aran and head over a winding hill to I get to a round about where the road is rip up( road works) its times like this I’mI'm happy that I have strong small wheels with 1.75 wide tires on (I don't have to worry about rough roads as I have taking the bike off road with this set up with the wheels). heading in to the city center crossing over the harbor/river on an old road that has been reused as a place for people to enjoy the harbor (also for thing markets and other events) 

finding my way a round town I head to the bike shop for a few a few things like a 2nd tail light before getting a road map at the book shop and sone food at the super market then its time to put the light on the bike and find my way out of town going a difficult way then last time passing a bush walk before starting a climb over a few long hills then its back on the road that I was on last time- going down some of the hills at 40+ km/h was fun (in a good way) and a good test of my lights - i need to find a better way to mont the front light as it tends to move a round a bit when I go over bumps.

 riding beside the river was nice beside one point just before the start of the last hill when I found a new use for my front panner rack as a posson runs out in front of me - that posson is going to have a sore head latter as it bounce of the front rack (possons around here must not be used to night time bike riders yet : ) after getting back up to speed after that darn posson I work my way up the last hill of the day then on to a short and fun down hill to my friends place having done 63 km today-so a good day out on the bike

training ride 19/7/12 55 km

training ride 19/7/12 55 km

windy day with a few hills ie lots of hills : )


time to get a training ride in to day so after a look at the map - yes I do some times do look at maps some times: ) I head down the road towards town to see how far I could get in about a 1 1/2 hours before for turning around ( out and back ride). going down the first hill of the day I pass though some road works at one point seeing that I was doing around 45 km/h I decide to slow down a bit at the speed lint was 30 km/h (oops - yes one can get done for speeding on the bike) part of the way down the hill was a stop sign - the person next to the sign wave me on saying that they were to lazy to get up and change the sign. riding next to a  river  for a few km going over a few of the many one lane bridges around here before starting the climb up the next hill. doing a standing climb for a bit of a change. then its time for a fun down then working my way over small rolling hills with a bit of map work to make sure i was on the right road I get to a water fall just about my turn around time/point so after checking my phone I get some photos of the water fall then its back on the bike heading back the way I came this time in to the wind (now where did this head wind come from?) not that I would let a bit of wind worry me - wind is just more of a work out for me : ) as I get to the place where I I'm staying for a bit I decide to do a few extra km just for the fun of  it : ) so after I get to the end of the road i head over a foot bridge before I turn around to head back to my friends place where I'm staying - so a good 55 km ride for the day

matangi to some where 37 km

matangi to some where 37 km

after packing up my tent and saying good bye to my friends I head in to Hamilton using a fun mix of back roads , main roads and off road bike/walking tracks to get to where I need to in Hamilton - Hamilton is not a fun place to ride ( as I grow up there I can say things like that : ) the last place that was on my to do list was to see frank at cyclepro bike shop - if you are in Hamilton and are looking for a new bike or need parts or work done on your bike come and see frank at cyclepro or give him a call on 07 849 6676 

after saying good bye to frank its time to head north out of Hamilton - over the last few years there has been a lot of road works and new roads leading to some head scriching as a head north on S.H.1 to ngaruawahia  where just on dark (I have good lights on the bike) I head off S.H.1 on to back roads on the other side of the river riding along until I decide to knock on a farmer door to as if there was some where that I could set up my tent 

 well that was the plan to knock on the door as I was going up the drive way of the house that I was going to knock on the door 2 kids was looking out the window at me just before they came out to do what I call the 21 question game : ) where they ask things like where I came from and where I was going next a few mins latter some adult's came out to ask the same things : ) after asking then if there was some where to camp for the night they said it was ok for me to set up behind the shed. as I was setting up camp with the kid’s “helping” with the tent one of the adults asked me if I would like to have tea with then so after i get my camp set up I head inside - having a chat to some of the people at the table ( I'm no good at remembering names of most of the people I met on the road) one of then says that they are going up to Auckland and offers me a lift up there I see yes as getting around Auckland when the trains are not running is not what I call fun  so after I pack up my gear i get a ride all the way to the place in Auckland that I was planing to get to        

Cambridge to matangi 25 km

Cambridge to matangi 25 km

after a late start I  head back into town to do a few jobs then its time to get on the road to matangi using a mix of main roads and back roads - it's a nice day for being on the bike. just before I get to my friends place I head down a side road to pick up some thing for the film camera I have with me on this trip just for some thing differ : ) I have my dad’s old camera a pentax k-1000 and 2 leans for it as well in one of my panner's . after I get to my friends places I set up camp for the next 3 day spending the next 3 day helping with the holiday program  at RDA and getting photos of the kids and horses

Te kuiti to Cambridge 80 km

Te kuiti to Cambridge 80 km

saying good bye to my mum I head down the road climbing the first of many hills ( nz is a hilly place ) once I get on to S.H.3 I head north though the town of Otorohanga then on to the town of Kihikihi where I stop for a break at a bakery to get some food before heading off S.H.3 on to the back road to Cambridge the road is a nice mix of flats with the odd hill now and then. 

Just before I would of gotten to Cambridge I decide to head down a differ road to have a look at the Cambridge - karapiro walk/bike path - it tunes out that it runs 98% of the time beside the road - on the up side there is a fair amount of people using it for walking and riding they bikes with a nice mix of ages. after getting to the karapiro end of the track I get some photos of the dam before heading  back the way I came along the track . getting to the Cambridge end of the track I head over the high level bride then its time to get some food as I ran out of food about 20 km back before heading to a friends place for the night