February 7, 2025
Rangiwahia to Eketahuna
I don’t know what’s in the water here but I am riding like I am possessed. I set another personal distance record for whatever reason. Well, I guess the reason is I’m not a roadie. Not.At.All. I mainly ride mountain bikes 10-20 km.
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This morning I set the alarm for 5:30. It was so nice to have all my electronics just charging away all night under the cover of their patio. Brilliant!
I thought I’d try a healthier variety of instant oatmeal. Boy, that was a tough slog through that bowl. Just tasted like slop of some sort. I guess I’m spoiled back home where I add blueberries on top.
I had everything everywhere. I forgot about the dew at night and left the clothes hanging. I should have move them into the bathroom. Oh well, they weren’t too wet but I am a boy and I’ve left balled up wet stuff. It’s not good!
I got rolling at 6:45 and it was super fresh so I wore 2 shirts. What a morning of riding! Holy moly, it was amazing. I saw 1 car in maybe 2 hours and in that time I was roaring through the most beautiful countryside. Up and down so many hills and saying hi to the cows and sheep. The sheep are scared of me. I can only get close when they are downhill from me.
I haven’t commented yet on the sealed road hills here. They are next level and I feel like I’m on the Tour de France. So many corner. So steep! I’m grateful I brought a spare set of brake pads.
I continued to bop along just loving the riding and I was approaching a downhill and saw a white sign saying “TA riders, cold and hot drinks ahead in 1 km”. Okay, I’m in. But then I was rocketing down this hill thinking I hope it’s not halfway down. It wasn’t. I get to the bottom and there’s a lady at the road with a Coke in her hand waving me down. This ain’t your ordinary lemonade stand!
What an experience! I’ve been just listening to a podcast on charisma. It’s something I could always improve upon. Just say 1 more sentence.
Mary had a spread of things laid out on her picnic table and we had the best time together. She’s Aussie and met her wife who’s Kiwi so she moved her. It’s a meet cute story if I ever heard one. She had a nephew somewhere near Vancouver. I told her about my trip while drinking a coffee and eating the best blueberry muffin. I should have bought a couple cookies too. They were massive! We got a picture together and I told her to keep spreading the love and she said the same thing:)
Back on the road and I had what is probably the Aotearoa moment. I’m going one way and about 400 m away I see a heard of sheep coming my way with about 6 trucks behind them. We reached a stalemate where the sheep had nowhere to go.
Flashback 5 years and I was on a bike trip with my then 14 YO. We were on a rail trail with fence on both sides faced with cowboys driving beef cattle at us. I didn’t know exactly what to do. We set our bikes against the fence and climbed through and sort of climbed onto a bush. The cattle came and it was slightly terrifying with one literally running through the fence on the other side. The cowboys said thanks and we carried on feeling relieved.
I wasn’t scared of the sheep so I rolled up the left and pushed them the other way and managed to get around them all. I think the trucks were relieved but that’s what they need to do or they were stuck.
About 2 km later I ran into the farmer with more sheep and a dog. He stopped and talked to me for a good 5 minutes. I asked him about his operation (6000 sheep). He was friendly.
The riding continued to be amazing and I was rolling along when all of a sudden a guy is beside me. “How’s it going mate?” His name was Lance and he was local. He did the TA last year in 24 days. We rode together about 15 km either side by side or him pulling me in the headwind. It was hard to keep up at times. He dropped me off at about 15 km from North Palmerston and I told him about my pump issues. He says oh we should have stopped at my place and I’d give you one. So nice!
After leaving him I had a good tailwind into North Palmerston and it had some amazing cycle paths that were so good that I went too far and had to backtrack to get into town. Not that far but not perfect either.
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Brilliant!
People ( mostly) don’t think when they stop on a path of how this inhibits the “flow” of the trail in the first place.
And, the header “Manawatu River Pathway” graphics are a flow in itself.:)
3 weeks ago
That city is popping right now with some buggy race thing. I had to navigate through traffic and people and sidewalks and eventually found the first bike shop. I stuck out getting a new chain there so they sent me to the next place where I bought all the stuff needed (new chain, bottle cage, pump, CO2). Now I’m set for a while.
Leaving town I realized I needed more water and I saw a young guy on a deck so I pulled into the house. He came straight out and was happy to fill all my bottles. I was very grateful.
Holy moly! Then there was the most giant hill! It was over 300 m of elevation gain in 6 km and it was steep at 10% at times and by now it was hot and that road was busy. I decided I had to just grunt up it. I passed a couple other riders and said hi and just kept my head down and pedalled. Had to stop for a couple drink and snack breaks. Near the top was construction so I got in a convoy one way and then of course I was last to get to the top with the construction crew giving me thumbs up. I was happy to be at the top.
The afternoon continued to be the same bliss until about 5 pm when I was getting tired. I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going to stay but I had to keep going because wild camping wasn’t an option.
With breaks I managed to get to Eketahuna and looked at my camping app. I saw this place that was some sort of club so I stopped to fill with water and then realized it was the free camping spot. The guys inside drinking beers told me where to find water and camp. I should sleep well here although they’re having a good row inside.
Highlights:
-amazing country riding
-Mary’s stand, so cool!
-Riding with Lance
-Bike shop success
-new distance record!
Distance: 175 km and 2200 m of elevation gain.
Today's ride: 175 km (109 miles)
Total: 1,009 km (627 miles)
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