I woke up this morning feeling fresh and rested after my day off and ready for the last 80 miles. Yesterday the weather was horrendous with wind and heavy rain all day so rather than go back and cycle what I missed the day before I sat on my backside all day and read my book.
The ride today should have been around 75 miles but my uncle took me back up to the Mangamuka Gorge and dropped me off where I had my puncture on Sunday. Thankfully it was near the top so it didn’t take long to get over the top and free wheel down 5 miles of steep twisting perfectly smooth new tarmac. It was then a 10 mile ride into Kaitaia where I desperately tried to find a cycle shop to pump up my rear tyre properly. With my tiny cycle pump I had only managed to get the rear tyre half inflated so if I was going to do 80 miles or more I needed it fully pressurised. I found a cycle shop on the main street however their compressor was broken and they had sold out of more or less everything as they were closing down that day. I was counting on them so was forced to improvise and found a boat shop that had a compressor and although it would not fit my tyre valve we managed to rig up a method of inflating the tyre properly using tubes and a bit of brute strength.
At last I was in a position to focus on the task in hand as I now had 68 miles to go to Cape Reinga. I had stripped my bike down to the bare essentials so only had a few things to carry on the days trip. It made such a difference that I flew along for the first 53 miles without even stopping for a drink. The terrain was pretty flat and sheltered with lots of little villages and farms dotted along the road. The scenery was lovely with great views towards the coast on either side. I was now cycling up the very thin section of the north island which is mainly sheep and dairy farmland. The first thing I noticed was that it was so quiet. All I could hear was the circada’s ( small noisy insects like Cricket’s ) and my own laboured breathing as I tried to keep up as fast a speed as possible.
After around 40 miles I was overtaken ny my Uncle Bob in his jeep who had travelled up to Kaitaia to see Nigel’s family and very kindly pick me up from the Cape. He flashed past with Leon in the passenger seat and failed to recognise me as Bob was so used to seeing my bike with two large red pannier bags on the back. Leon is a 15 year old German lad staying at the farm for 6 months and going to school in Kaitaia for a bit of “life experience”. Eventually I caught up the guys at Te Kau where the most northerly convenience store is situated. I had a quick 15 minute stop to have a cold drink and an ice cream and set off again. Bob was convinced that I only had another 30 kms to do but alas it turned out that it was actually 28 miles making it closer to 45 kms. This would have been fine but my flat road now turned into a rather hilly road and seemed to go straight up hill from this point. After the last 53 miles only involving around 500 feet of climb I was now confronted with 3250 feet of climb over the next 28 miles. There was not one flat section left and the road became a roller coaster with one hill after another. To make matters worse the north easterly wind picked up and made life more difficult still. Although I am used to the hills now I found the last 28 miles pretty hard going at times especially with the wind. I had averaged 16 mph for the first 53 miles but this went down to below 12 for the last part.
The road was pretty good thankfully and there was less and less traffic as I got closer to the Cape and I became more and more excited at the idea of finishing. It was nice to think that someone would be there when I finished else it would have been a bit of an anti-climax. The finish line however did not come quickly and there were so many false summits before the final hill that looked down on the lighthouse at the very northern tip. At one stage I was adamant that I had just climbed the last hill so took some pictures looking out over the surrounding landscape, only to find that there were 6 more hills to climb before the end.
Anyway, I eventually arrived at the Cape and Bob and Leon were waiting and we went down to the lighthouse and took a few photos next to the large sign denoting all the distances to different parts of the world. The Cape has had a bit of a facelift in recent years and there are new paths and parking areas and various Mauri monuments all around as it is supposed to be a spiritual place.
It was a great feeling to finally finish and also slightly sad as I have enjoyed the trip so much. I have actually stuck to my original itinerary exactly so I’m really pleased with that. I have managed to cycle exactly 1288 miles and have climbed over 53 thousand feet. I haven’t quite worked it out yet but I reckon that I must have climbed the height of Mount Everest twice during this trip. It’s certainly not far off anyway. My bike has held up well but now need a bit of attention. My trek 7700 has now completed well over 5000 miles between this trip, the London to Monaco trip and last year’s cycle round the country with all the associated training mileage. It has only had 2 punctures this trip and the second one actually turned out to be a faulty valve. It’s just a pity that they came within 2 hours of each other.
Thankfully my Ankle has held up well over the last 2 weeks. There were times when I thought that I was going to have to call it a day especially in Wellington but the rest days and physio have really helped. I won’t be cycling for a couple of weeks though so it heals properly. The one annoying thing though has been that I have not lost a single lb in weight !!! How can this be ? I guess I have eaten pretty well all trip and have had several BBQ’s and lots of beer ( When in Rome and all that !!) I now need to try and stem my appetite for steak and beer or I will never ride a bike again.
I will be heading back to Auckland in the next day or so and fly back to the UK on Saturday 26th landing on the 27th. Before then I will be celebrating my birthday in Ellerslie in Auckland on Friday night ( 25th ) if anyone fancies flying over. If you do I will buy you a beer I promise.
I hope you enjoyed the blog as much as I enjoyed writing it and bye for now.
Andy
Congrats mate! Well done, look forward to some tips!
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