Ferns; bush; grass; bits of road

A great deal of New Zealand looks rather like this.

Sometime it rine, sometimes nah

The older I get, the more inflected my English. It's a hobby. Carradice Barley saddlebag did the trick. I was carrying a very small synthetic 'ping bag, a thermarest, half a kilo of oat bran and half a kilo of prunes (they're way jucier than dried apricots, but very sticky). The only unneccesary extras were (in retrospect) a small pair of binoculars which I "used" once, and a Minox camera tripod (ditto). I didn't really need the thermarest, either. For these long solo trips I'm quite prepared to ride another hour or two to find shelter, and don't mind riding and night and sleeping by day when it's warm.

Waiouru to Hamilton via the west coast

I took a week off work to do a big ride. I wanted to end up in Hamilton, as I was overdue for a visit, and found an opportunity to ride the desert road, which I've wanted to do for a while now.

Here's the route:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=14999473811989668122,-38.475094,174.637127%3B14063582621650940356,-38.210669,175.147820%3B14153346181315706832,-38.165065,175.358276&saddr=Waiouru,+Manawatu-Wanganui,+New+Zealand&daddr=turangi+to:taumarunui+to:ohura+to:Mokau,+Waikato,+New+Zealand+to:Waikawau+Rd+%40-38.477500,+174.639440+to:waikawau+to:marokopa+to:te+anga+to:waitomo+caves+to:Waitomo+Valley+Rd+%40-38.210570,+175.147790+to:otorohanga+to:mangaorongo+to:Whibley+Rd+%40-38.165250,+175.358720+to:korakonui+to:parawera+to:puahue+to:rotoorangi+to:Cambridge,+Waikato,+New+Zealand+to:matangi+to:893+Heaphy+Terrace,+Claudelands,+Waikato+3214,+New+Zealand&mrcr=19&mra=pi&dirflg=h&sll=-37.799747,175.370979&sspn=0.09861,0.159645&ie=UTF8&ll=-38.285625,175.253906&spn=3.134595,5.108643&t=h&z=8&om=1

I did 180 Km on the first day, starting at midnight in Waiouru (koz that's when the night bus arrives). Conditions were favourable - 6 degrees, light southerly winds - so I set off right away. Traffic at that time of night is almost entirely large trucks, which are predictable and highly visible. Easier to handle than carloads of skiers, who invariably take the west road round the mountain.

I was going for endurance (read: fat burning) not speed, so I croze through the night and arrived at Turangi at dawn.

I crashed out for an hour near Kuratau once the sun had come up, then continued west to Taumarunui. Had anohter sleep around midday, then anohter 6 hours to Ohura. I learned when I gto there that I'd have been better off taking the north road, which is flatter. Never mind.

I arrived at John's place at dusk, just in time for the hangi-in-a-keg which had just been taken out of its baskets. Yum! I felt pretty good. 180 Km in 18 hours, a personal best for time on the bike and distance travelled. I'm sure I can do 200 Km and 24 hours, so that's my next big ride objective. Starting at night helps, mentally at least.

I spent Sunday crashed out in a house truck, chatting with John and thinking about the next leg of the ride.

The Black Holdsworth

A couple of weeks ago I scored a nice Holdsworth from TradeMe - same guy I bought the RRA from, in fact (thanks Steve! Keep 'em coming:)

It's almost identical to the Gillot - same tubeset so identical sizing, same lugs. It has pump pegs, the Gillot doesn't. The Gillot has rear rack bosses; the Holdsworth does not. They have nice hand-painted detailing at the top of the seat stays, same same but different. Presumably made in the same factory aroudn the same time and painted (or at least had it lugs detailed) by the same person. The Gillot has a metal head badge; the Holdsworth a sticker.

The Holdsworth had the usual problem of bikes of this age, namely a bent bottom bracket axle. Out comes the old Stronglight, in goes the Shimano UN53. Out comes the back wheel and in goes the new Sturmey-Archer 8 speed hub. It's very nice - will still need some tweaking, however. I haven't yet found a suitable place to mount the rotary shifter and it won't change into the higher gears reiably - presume there's too much cable tension. And it needs a new Nitto Technomic stem, like all bikes which run moustache bars.

So now I have two matched pairs of road bikes which fit me. Joy! It's like having four pairs of shoes in slightly different colours. I can choose which bike to ride based on what I'm wearing, how I'm feeling, the weather, anything. Choice as liberation:)

The Holdsworth is cool but it's not read to tour on yet. (Apart from anything else it needs a headset job koz it won't ride no-hands). For my next tour, the Gillot fixie is the steed of choice - stay toon'd for more updates. It's Waiouru to Hamilton via the west coast. Moihaha!