Over Easter, Frogspace and I did a quick mushun over to the Wairarapa. Train to Maymorn, ride through Tunnel Gully and over the Rimutaka Incline. Very nice!
Had the tandem setup so that the drag brake is connected to my left hand barcon, so I can flick it on quickly. We found that negotiating the steep 4WD roads in Tunnel Gully was fairly straightforward - once you crest the hill you just swip the bike out of bottom gear, flip on the drag brake then squeeze the brake levers HARD. The right lever does the front & rear cantis, and the left lever does the extra caliper brake on the back wheel.
The bike also did surprisingly well on the Cross Creek tringlesack. All bikes are mountain bikes, man.
So we crose up to Featherston, where I drank beer with my friend Matt and Frogspace plew Gears of War on Matt's big liquid cooled gaming PC.
Once the sun had gone down a bit, we had back south and cemp on the shores of Lake Wairarapa. Quite nice. Our plan was to head for Cape Palliser, but that we'd reconsider our position if the wind changed to an unfavourable direction; if we had a mechanical; if we were tired and sore; if we ran out of food; or whatever.
In the event the wind was blowing from the south and didn't stop. We got to the south end of the lake then made an executive decision to double back to Martinborough for a chicken sandwich lunch. We took the train from Feath to Upper Hutt, then clome up to the camp at Kaitoke, where we had friend camping a bit. Was quite a climb, actually, further than I'd thought. But the descent back it the Hutt Valley the next morning ruled prettily. Didn't have a speedo on but I expect we exced 70 Km/h. Frogspace very relaxed in the back - he's a great stoker. Not very big, but lean and a huge power-to-weight ratio.
All the way back to Wellington in one go. A very nice shakedown tour.
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