Set off at first light (of a really beautiful day) for what I'd been told was a really difficult track to the Bridge to Nowhere on the Whanganui river 40 km away. Four T.A cyclists had been helicoptered to hospital from here so far! The weather was great, and the track (back road and singletrack) was absolutely fine, a joy to ride with wonderful scenery - my favorite riding so far! There was a 500m climb before dropping to the river, but I made to 40km in 4 hours, so had 90 mins spare before the jet boat to Pipiriki. After lunch at the jet boat office/cafe place, I left the other cyclists (who'd decided to stay there) for the 80km cycle to Wanganui along the Wanagnui river road. Finally I felt fit and strong and averaged 20km/h to reach the house of a friend (Fiona Shaw) before dark.
I didn't get up particularly early, and after leaving Fiona's house I went to the bike shop to get my front derailleur fixed (loose screw) before heading off. I decided to try and make it to Palmerston North due to the weather forecast - the following day was due to be wet west of the main divide, and I didn't fancy camping - so making it to a friend (Chris) in PN seemed a good idea. A tail wind helped, and the first 60km to Hunterville was all on road. Lunch at a lovely cafe there, then the difficult stuff - heading east to the edge of the Ruahine ranges, with lots of hills and gravel roads. The route took me to Rangiwahia, a village on a high plateau at the base of the Ruahines that I'd never even heard of, and felt like the back of beyond. A little further on the road switched back south-west to Apiti and on to Ashurst, through three deep gorges (with huge uphill climbs). The last 2 1/2 hours were in the dark- I didn't get to Chris's till 10,30pm ! I...
Strava Stats : 156.8 km 2182m height gain 8 hours 45 minutes cycling Long day to reach Pouto Point - to catch the ferry early the next morning. Intended to leave by 7:30am, but over-slept - so 8:30am start. Straight up big hills to Tane Mahuta in in Waipoua Forest. Caught up with an over-laden overweight Irishman called Alan, the first TA cyclist I seen since the start - and left him fairly quickly in the dust. The weather was dodgy - grey start, seemed to clear in the afternoon but big stormclouds would deliver heavy rain periodically. A stiff sidewind came up - nice and cooling and didn't slow me down. A highlight was the temporary Donnelly's Crossing Cafe - set up for the TA - the owner told me that some earlier waves of riders had strong southerlies on 90 Mile Beach and took two or three days to ride it! Dargaville was about 2/3 of the way - a long last 70km down the peninsula to Pouto Point had some nasty hills near the end - today's altitude gain wa...
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