I ate my lunch packed by Debb in Pahiatua before heading towards Alfredton. I was following a cycle route which will eventually lead me to Wellington.
Unlike some of my past experiences this was a very pleasant ride through valleys of grass covered hills. I was generally climbing all the way to Alfredton but at a gentle grade which the trail wind naively negated.
I managed to reach Alfredton around 3pm, sat and watched some kids riding horses. Camping in the Alfredton Domain was free but it was much nicer than a lot of places I've paid for. Being the only one around helped.
Distance day 74km total 2014km
Ascent day 750m 23,400m
I was up early again. Sunrise was better than the previous days but ominous clouds ruined it a bit. Those same clouds also pushed me to head off early as my tent was almost completely dry and it felt like a bit of rain. I ended up heading off just on 7am.
I had 46km to travel to Masterton and I managed this easily in under 2.5 hours. A consistent climb and then a gradual descent with a tail wind helped a lot.
After morning tea I headed off towards Martinborough. Either I imagined the earlier trail wind or it switched middway because for the rest of the day I was working hard for any pace.
The terrain was mostly gentle undulations but the height still added up.
I once again managed to get into camp nice and early.
Distance day 95km total 2109km
Ascent day 500m 23,900m
In the evening and throughout the night there was fairly strong wind. Nothing to really make me worried but enough to make a lot of noise.
In the morning the wind still hadn't let up. My original plan was to head south of Martinborough and go around the lake to avoid the highways and a couple of narrow bridges. I started off but the cross wind was very strong. I decided I'd rather take the brunt of the wind for a shorter period so I turned back to the main road.
The going was tough and luckily fairly quiet as some gusts pushed me well towards the centre of the road. At one stage I got off and walked the bike a few hundred metres until the road was sheltered. After that the wind died off a little so I got to Featherston without too much trouble.
After a quick break I headed off towards the Rimutaka cycle trail. The cross winds were still fairly bad but at least they were now pushing me off the road.
I turned off onto a gravel road straight into a headwind. For a while I was still managing to ride, but quickly it got to the stage where I couldn't even hold the bike still.
I scrambled to a driveway which had a few trees next to it giving me good shelter from the wind. I had an early lunch and a long rest but the wind was still very bad. Eventually I continued on and soon reached the start of the Rimutaka incline.
I met a doc ranger who warned me some sections were quite exposed but I figured I'd continue on until it got too hard.
The first section had me thinking I was in for another mountain bike track, and I sort of was. The singletrack wasn't too bad although I messed up one climb so I now have a bit of a bruise on my hip.
After a little while I joined the incline proper. This track is along the path of the old railway track between Wellington and Featherston. For a train it climbs very rapidly at an average gradient of 1 in 15.
The going was tough but steady. The surface most of the way up was rough gravel but the gradient was low enough that traction wasn't much of a problem.
One section where the old track had completely washed away forced me to walk my bike down to a creek before crossing and struggling back up to the train line.
Along the way I passed through a bunch of tunnels. By the time I got my light out at the first one my night vision allowed me to continue without a light. I managed to get through all bar the longest without using my torch.
From the old summit village the going was fairly easy. All down hill and the surface was pretty good so I could keep a decent speed.
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| Doesn't look so bad does it? |
Towards the end of the trail trail there was a gate, and disappointingly the part for people and bikes to get through was too small for even my unloaded bike to get through.
I must have missed the signs to continue along a bike path so I travelled along the highway for a bit. Winds were still making it a little annoying but I got back on the trail quickly.
The trail was good fun, winding through the trees along the Hutt River. Once again not entirely suited for a riding bike but riding was fairly easy except for a couple of steep sharp corners.
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| Not too shabby for free! And very close to Wellington. |
Eventually I reached Belmont Regional park, where I was able to camp for free. Turns out I could have reached Wellington easy, although as I found the next day finding a cheap bed would have been difficult.
Also apparently strong winds mess with my gps barometer. The elevation graph looks about right but the elevation gain just kept climbing when it shouldn't have. I guess that's one way to get the strava challenge!
Distance day 72km total 2181km
Ascent day 2000m total 25900m
I was meeting Alie and Matt for lunch in town. I originally thought I'd have plenty of time so I took it easy. When I actually had a better think I really didn't have much time at all, if I wanted to check in at a hostel beforehand.
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| Silky smooth! |
Almost straight away I was on a bike path. Started off gravel but then I had a very nice long section of extremely smooth tarmac. Even the joints had been smoothed so you couldn't feel them. I was enjoying this so much I actually passed my turn off!
I thought Wellington was going to be a great city to ride into. Nope.
After Petone the track went to shit. For a kilometre or so I went along the highway, but then the path became separate again. I kind of wish it didn't as the surfacing job was terrible. I've had unsealed roads that were smoother, and only bikes could use it so it can't be traffic degrading it.
I got into the city and went to get a bed at the only hostel close to the ferries. $82 was their cheapest bed! Alie pointed out that I could just get the afternoon ferry so I decided to do that.
I still had a little while before lunch so I had a go at reaching a bike shop. Google maps taking me along bus only roads killed a lot of time so eventually I just turned around.
Meeting up with Alie and Matt was great. Unfortunately it sounds like I came on a busy day so only had a little while.
Ended up being pretty good for me as by the time I did a quick shop and made my way to the ferry I really didn't have that much time to spare.
I had called to check what the go with my bike was. Ended up being really simple, just wheeling the bike onto the carriage deck and tieing it down while loaded.
The crossing was very smooth although outside the wind was very strong. Really nice views coming into Picton through the Queen Charlotte Sound.
I was about the last person on but probably one of the first off.
I went to the closest campsite and had a race with the rain to set my tent up, which I lost. Unfortunately the ground was rock hard so I bent a few pegs.
The train line is just above my tent so it will be interesting to see how that is during the night.
Distance day 29km total 2210km
Ascent 50m total 26,600m
*these totals are the weekly totals from strava added together rather than my daily rounding.
So the North Island done in 31 days, for an average of ~70km and ~850m ascent per day. The average was a little lower than I thought, but really I haven't pushed myself very hard since leaving Auckland.
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