Nov 19: Long Ride - Mahia to Gisborne

Day 8: Mahia to Gisborne – Now we are 2

Mahia Beach

Leaving Mahia Beach

I know what I am going to wear to work today:

Deciding what to wear to work each day is getting pretty easy by now. Pink cycle jersey, bike shoes, bike pants, bike gloves, helmet, sunglasses, arm warmers if weather is windy or cool. No issues with choice. No lengthy decision making about which coloured tie to wear or which shoes go with which trousers. For Darin, the key choice is whether to wear the bike shorts with the rip in the lycra on the inside leg, or not. Easy really.

Today’s choice of what to wear was no more difficult, except that some of what we had to wear was still damp from yesterday. It is not often that you set off to work putting on damp shorts, damp shoes, damp helmet, damp gloves. At least we had the weather on our side. By the time we set off the sun was out, the sky was blue, there was very little wind, and the day was starting to warm up nicely. Ten minutes into the ride and some of us (me) were taking off second layers and removing arm warmers.

Mahia Beach

Thanks especially to Jocelyn at the Mahia Beach Holiday Camp for her support for this ride. The camp is in a prime spot overlooking Mahia Beach, so if you looking for a beach front place to stay in this area this location is one of the best.

The first part of the ride involved retracing yesterday’s route from Mahia Beach back to the turn-off on State Highway 2 at Nuhaka. Fine weather meant we had a different view of the coastline in the sunshine (compared to yesterday’s view of the coast in the rain). So the photos of the coast are more interesting. However, the fine warm weather also meant that the asphalt on the newly laid chip seal soon turned soft and gooey, giving up its hold on the loose chip. On a section of new seal (immediately after a short downhill) there were so

broken bike...

many loose stones flying off the road as we rode through that it was uncomfortable to closely follow the rider in front. There were so many loose stones flying around that some wedged themselves between the chain and sprockets on the derailleur of Keryn’s bike. The sprocket broke, the derailleur came off and jammed itself in the back wheel, causing the wheel to stop turning immediately. Luckily the wheel was able to skid on loose metal without breaking lots of spokes. Luckily Keryn was not motoring along at her usual speedy pace, so was able to quickly skid to a stop. Luckily there was not much traffic on the ride on the bend in the road where we stopped. No one was injured, but for Keryn this was the end of riding for the day. After 5 kilometres. The support vehicle was not too far away, so Keryn and bike

calorie loading for the 80k ride

were loaded in and shuffled off to Gisborne to see if the bike could be fixed in time for the next day’s riding.

So now there was only 2 out of our original team of 4 (Rose is still in Auckland, rejoining us in Whakatane).

The ride back to State Highway 2 went as well as could be expected. Blue sky, sunshine, not much traffic, no wind. But there was only one other rider to share turns at the front of the group.

Then we got to the hill. We had not printed out a map or profile of today’s ride, so were not fully informed of the detail of the ride, but the hill at Wharerata was an unwelcome surprise. Parts of it are steep. It is long. And most sections in the first part of the climb are long and straight so you can see just how far you have to go. Then at the bend in the road – when you think you have reached the top – the hill carries on further. Maybe it

coast ride in fine weather

was the heat, or lack of wind. Or lack of other team members to share our unhappy sentiments with. But that hill was a killer. The worst yet. And the first hill on which we both seriously thought we might have to get off and walk the last part.

absolutely knackered after the hill climb

At the top of the hill our support team had left extra water to avoid dehydration after the hill climb in the hot weather. From the lookout at the top of the hill we could see Gisborne faintly on the horizon (40 km away). That was the day’s destination and there were only the two of us to share the effort at the front of the peloton. (But given the original meaning of the word peloton, I doubt one can classify a group of 2 cyclists as a peloton!).

There was really only the one hill today, so once we descended onto the flat plain Leading towards Gisborne it was a matter of steady pedalling against whatever strength and direction the coastal sea breeze dished out. Roads were flat (mostly) with long straights (90% of the time), but the direction of the wind relative to our direction was variable. For what seemed like hours we slogged our way across the flat green plains toward Gisborne (Gizzy as my brother would say).

Darin also absolutely knackered at the top of the hill

After 60 km of cycling – and with 20 km still to go of the more of the same – my butt was getting very sore. Mainly due to being in the same position for a couple of hours on the bike (no hill climbs or descents to break the pace and leg effort required in the last half of the ride). So even though the ride was not particularly difficult it turned out to be the worst hill of the ride to date and also the worst case of sore bike butt so far. The road surface coming into Gisborne was also very rough, which did not help the butt, arms or legs.

We were seriously hassled by an impatient truck driver who nearly ran us off the road into deep layers of loose metal at a section of road works coming into Gisborne. As the road surface was so difficult to ride on with thin bike tyres we stuck to the centre of the lane for

At the top of the last hill, Gisborne on the horizon

around 100 m – travelling faster than most trucks were able to (and allowed to) over that portion of road works. However, this one truck driver could not wait 15 seconds for us to reach the end of the loose metal and tried overtaking us both, forcing us to slow and ride through unstable patches. Not nice. And the prospect of tyres digging into the loose stones then slipping out from under us as a truck approaches at speed from behind was somewhat disconcerting.

Darin thought today was the hardest day so far. Even though the weather was probably the best of the trip so far. We encountered a lot of road works today, several patches of loose chip and gravel (which I have decided is THE worst thing on the road for a cyclist, especially when an oncoming truck passes you at 80 km/h and sprays you with lots of stones). Neither of us wanted to repeat  Keryn’s experience

Heading towards Gisborne

with a broken bike resulting from flying loose stones getting wedged into the wrong places.

So hoping for a much less butt-breaking ride when we are back on the bikes after a rest day on Friday.

Special thanks to John & Jan Ferguson for their kind and generous hospitality at the Colonial Motor Lodge on Gladstone Rd, Gisborne. It was so nice to have a hot shower and a soft chair after today’s ride.

And special thanks also to Dennis Gear in Gisborne, who generously donated his time to give the three team riders a leg massage to ease tense and sore leg muscles after a cumulative total distance of around 609 km covered so far (approx. the distance between Auckland and Wellington by the most direct road route).

Welcoming reception as we finish the ride into Gisborne

Dennis, your time and patience given to the team was very much appreciated and has been the talking point on the following day’s rest day.

Stats for Day 8 of the Long Ride: total trip was 80 km, with a total cycling time of 3 hrs 21 mins. My max speed today was 65 km/h. The average speed was 24 km/h – higher than expected given the drain on energy and speed imposed by the Wharerata hill.

And last, but not least – thanks to the friendly helpful team of people at Maintra Cycles on Gladstone Rd in Gisborne. They arranged to courier from Chch a replacement part for Keryn’s broken derailleur and had the bike fixed and running by 11 am the following morning. Thanks team!

Hot, tired, v. sore butt, but still smiling

(Look out for a short summary of the ride in the Gisborne Herald)