Taupo training ride (again)

Solo road ride

It's getting close (four weeks) to the Taupo ride and I've been meaning to get at least one big ride in of over 250km including a couple of passes over the most hilly part of the course.  This weekend is it.

Sally very kindly volunteers to come and provide support which means we get to stay somewhere nice.  The Judge's Pool in Turangi is a good choice and considerably more private than the A Plus Sumarai Lodge Back Packers from two weeks back.

There's no drama getting out of Wellington and up to the motel shortly before midnight then straight into bed. The next morning we wake 11 hours and 56 minutes before the time for which I set the alarm (6.30 pm) and head up the road to Taupo.

A quick lube and tyre pump then Sally waves me off about 0800 and heads off in search of coffee. 

A quick lube,

And he's off

Judging by the photos she finds at least two sources of the brown nectar as well as Huka falls and numerous other spots to take pictures of the wee white car. 

Wee white car by coffee cart at lake

Huka falls

Huka falls

Huka falls car park

Lake view on way back to Turangi

I on the other hand am intending to follow the other route across the top of the lake this time but am a little vague about the correct turn off to get to SH 32.  Fortunately I catch a cyclist who knows the area and she points me in the direction of Marotiri Road.  Not before we pass a severely mashed ute that has just lost an argument with a milk tanker, which would explain the ambulance 10 minutes back. 

The first part of the course climbs steadily but reasonably gently for over 15 km; the air is decidedly cool and the westerly wind firm so the odd patch of sun is most welcome.  Having found Marotiri Road and navigated my way to the turn south onto SH 32 it's now the long haul down the western side of the lake.  It's 73km from the turn to Turangi and most of it is lumpy.

As the relentless series of hills roll by it's impossible not to think what it's going to be like climbing this latest rise after another 157km. The only break in the ride is when a bee bounces off my face, down my jacket and stings me on the arm, little bastard. Still, no magpie attacks today.

The weather stays cool throughout and the wind strong and mostly unhelpful, by the time I've scooted down Waihi Hill and into Turangi a little before midday, I'm ready for a warmer layer.

Sally is back at the Motel to feed me sandwiches and replace drink bottles as I lie on the bed and complain about my back, my bum and the wind. I stretch the rest out for a bit longer than strictly necessary so its about 1220 before I'm back on the road with a second Marino top. 

Motel in Turangi

Settling into my stride, a cyclist catches up and starts chatting.  Richard is also training and is completing a lap of the lake. His pace is slightly quicker than mine so we end up with a compromise somewhere in between as he seems keen on the company. 

He turns out to be quite the gun having won events in the past and completing Taupo in 4hr10 in 2007 when he last did it.  Truly impressive.  We take turns leading and although I give him the opportunity to leave me at Hatepe Hill we end up cruising up together.  As we make the final run into Taupo arriving around 1400 I can't help thinking how tired the pace is making me and what another 100km of hills is going to feel like.

Richard turns off to Acacia Bay after the short climb out of Taupo (and a bottle refill); I groan inwardly and start the climbing again.  The westerly has not dropped noticeably so it's a long grind and I promise myself a rest where Marotiri meets SH 32.  In the end I hold out until the Whangamata intersection where a farmer on a motor bike slows down to check whether the body on the side of the road might be in need of assistance.

The worst of the hills are still ahead but the total distance has whittled away to 63km, it's beginning to feel doable.

Eventually part way up one of the steeper climbs the wee white car hurtles past from the opposite direction.  Sally has had a snooze, done some shopping and has come up the lake to meet me via another photo stop or two.

Supposedly a picture of steam vents on a hill

My support crew administers replacement liquids, supplies some leggings against the declining temperature and agrees to meet me at the top of the next hill after 10km to see if a jacket is in order.  It's encouraging to have a chat and a brief lie down. 

Head down at top of steep bit

After a rest - still not very cheerful

A couple more rendezvous points and eventually it is the downhill at Waihi and, in the knowledge that there are no more hills and a flat run home I wave the support crew good bye.  The westerly is very helpful for the last 8km and it's an utter relief to dismount outside the unit after 264km of riding.

I'm not sure what was turning the pedals for the last wee while because all I can do is crawl on to the bed and lie there feeling nauseous.  It's some time before a shower is feasible and longer before dinner is possible.  Eventually I feel warm, vaguely human and able to stay awake long enough to get into bed.

Ohhhhwwwww

The next day starts sunny as we head off for breakfast at the Brown Sugar cafe in Taihape.  However, Taihape and Waioru seem to be the only places enjoying sunshine today and it's a cloudy trip home.  A couple of breaks keep the journey interesting; the Marino shop at Utiku just south of Taihape (some cool stuff here) and Liz Hardie's cafe in Foxton (spot the corrugated iron coffee cup sign on the left shortly after the Mobil) - a 'must stop' with a couple of interesting craft shops now co-located.

Taupo - more training

Weekend around Taupo with Angela

I thought it was time to potter around the Taupo course to re-familiarise myself with all those hills, Angela was also keen so this weekend was duly set.

Friday away from work by 4.30 (OK; 5pm) and off up the coast via Lower Hutt to pick up my stuff.  For a change the traffic is light and it's a relatively quick trip to Levin New World for dinner and snacks.

We arrive at the intriguingly named "A Plus Samurai Lodge Backpackers" in Turangi by 10.30pm and check into our not very secure room (some kindly soul has kicked the door in at some point so the lock is more symbolic than secure).  The host is a little like the facility; a bit rough around the edges but fine for us ($96 for the room for two nights).  He suggests keeping the bikes in the room for safe keeping and gives a larger room to accommodate.  We set the alarm for a ridiculously early hour and crawl into our beds; I grab the bunk so I can spread kit all over the top bunk and gallantly cede to Angela the double bed closest to the door (and therefore any unwelcome guests).

After the normal morning routine sorting out essential kit for the day we head up the lake side for Taupo in the car.  Angela gets the benefit(?) of a pedal-by-pedal-stroke analysis of this part of the course with plenty of positive noises about Hatepe hill being: "about 2km from here and not as bad as everyone says."

Eventually we are parked up near the Tennis club and set off around 8.30 into a cloudy day. 

Just after the start ... Angela and giant bike

Angela has up loaded a course map from the Challenge website but it has bugger-all details and I'm a little vague about where we are supposed to turn off Pohipi Road.  Angela recognises the road name (Whangamata) whilst I am muttering about not recognising it from the last three years at all.  We follow it down towards Kinloch and it seems flatter and more down hill than I remember, then narrower and more up and downy as we head west towards SH 32.  It does however appear to be the course route for 2013 so either they have changed it from previous years or I'm developing Alzheimers; both are quite plausible explanations.

The turn-off to Kinloch marks about 20km in and it's all going swimmingly but then the little hills start; and there's quite a few.  As the course is running along the top of the lake it means jumping over the ridges between the streams that are flowing towards the lake.  The hills are short but steep and make it difficult to settle into a rhythm.  It's also straight into the westerly which is mercifully light.

We potter along and take a break after about 43km to apply sunscreen.  The clouds stay in the north and during the next hour we gradually leave them behind.

The backside (west) of the lake is hilly and somewhat unrelenting.  On a hot day the climbs just seem to keep on coming and even when you have been over the course a few times it still feels like they will never end.  It also doesn't help that you remember certain parts of the course and completely forget how much real-estate there is before the next bit you remember.  Hence Angela being told that after the grind to the top of the Kuratau hill there is a glorious down hill to the lake (which in fact is a small matter of 8km away).

71km in; top of another hill and time for a breather

We cruise down the windy hill (me trying to see whether you can do it without using your brakes - you can) and onto the flat at last.  It's about 7 km past the hot pools and over the tail race to the A plus Sumarai Lodge.  Angela has understandably had enough by now (having knocked off the hardest part of the course) and decides to give the (mostly) flat ride back to Taupo a miss (about 50km).

This leaves the dilemma of how to get the car back from Taupo and only one option.  I refill water bottles and head off up the lake.  It's fairly quick going and I push it up Hatepe arriving at the top fairly knackered.  Which is when a black and white bandit (probably sensing my weakness) swoops in and gives me a number of  hurry-along attacks from behind.  By the time I fish my pump out he's tired of the game so I put the pump away again which is when his mate decides to have a go.  Tempting as it sounds I suspect a spring loaded net canon mounted on the back of ones helmet would probably end in tears; you can see the headline: "Cyclist Crashes With Enraged Magpie Strapped To His Face."

As per tradition, it is a head wind off Hatepe hill which saps all the energy out of what should be a gravity assisted speed-fest.  The rest of the trip passes as expected although there is a distinct lack of cheering crowds and the indignity of having to stop at traffic lights in what should be the finishing chute.  About 1hr 40 after leaving Turangi I'm loading the bike on the car to head back to the digs.  It's been a 153.4 km loop according to the website Mapmyride.

After a soak in the hot pools and Chinese takeaways by the river in the setting sun we head back for an early night.

Sunday
Angela has unfinished business with the course so is keen to head up the road to knock off Hatepe (about 61km return).  I fancy doing the desert road and seeing how far south I can get before Angela catches up in the car and figure a head start is in order.

It's about 7.40 when I hit the road; cool in the shade but promising to be a hot day so I pack light and put up with the cold air for the first few hours.

The road climbs from lake level (about 360m) to a little under 1100m over about 40 km (it doesn't sound like much but it feels a bit relentless and some parts are steepish with some interesting gullies to navigate).  However once at the top the wind is light and it's a fast pace through to about 10km shy of Waioru where the wind picks up.

It's a cloudless day and the mountains are splendidly white against the blue sky.  It gets warmer and eventually Taihape rolls around (93km) I'm out of electrolyte so stop in at the supermarket, text Angela (no response - must be still cycling) and push on.

Mangaweka (with the plane and 'international airport') is a chance to sit in the grass, reapply sun screen and calculate when Angela is likely to turn up.  She has responded to my text at 11.37 ("Back at the car now.  Will leave soon") and I figure that she should catch up shortly behind my arrival in Hunterville (28km away).

In the end, Hunterville has disappeared behind and it's about 13km to Bulls when I am relieved to hear a cheerful toot from behind.  It's about 2pm and a bit over 166 km from Turangi so I've pretty much had enough for the day. We head to Mother Goose in Bulls for a good lunch and to swap stories.



They make a good iced coffee

All I have to relate is two more magpie attacks (Angela one) and lots of looking at white lines and pedalling with a few stiff hills to contend with.  Angela is quite casual about getting up Hatepe without resorting to her granny gear and even took the opportunity for some lake side photography.



Bike and

Angela by lake

We're lucky with the traffic again and take just one stop (Swazi in Levin) before heading over the Paekakariki hill and home for family dinner.

Comment
I forget that the hills for the first 90km are quite different to riding in Wellington.  Although most are less than 100m there are plenty and they are certainly steep enough.  You can get some good hill climbing in Wellington but it's hard to string together a ride that gives you quite the same relentless series.  Although Angela was a bit down about the pace this should be viewed in the context of: no drafting (it's hard on the hills and I was keen to let her set the pace), there's a definite lift from the crowd on the day and there is still time to get a bit more training in.  After all, it was the hardest part of the course.










Course profile; sourced from Taupo Challenge Website.  Or it could be the heart rate monitor read out ... 

The ride on Sunday gave a good taste of the lake side riding which is likely to be in sizeable bunches on the day and picking off the one hill on that side has got to be good for morale.

Turangi to (almost) Bulls is one to do on a good day.  If the wind is unfavourable it would be pretty tough.  The road margins are generally ok although suffer from the normal roading engineer casual disregard for cyclists (no margins on passing lanes, rumble strips, rough seal etc).  The elevation maps don't really do it justice as it has about the same vertical metres of climb as the Taupo loop (1,170m) despite a lot of long flat straights.  Overall, I don't have any great desire to do it again from Waiouru but have enjoyed the desert road from both directions (being very fortunate with the weather).

Training ride to Palmy

Road ride up the Wairarapa and over the Pahiatua track
Solo

The good thing about preparing for long distance events is that each training ride can be a bit of an adventure.  Weather and general wimpishness aborted a recent intent to ride to Palmerston North but with a long ride on the schedule for this weekend and sou'westers forecast for the Wairarapa it looks like it might be a goer.

The ride is mostly flat up the Hutt Valley and Wairarapa, with climbs over the main range at the Rimutakas and over the Pahiatua track to Palmerston North.  The Wairarapa climbs very gently to a final hill at Mt Bruce, north of Masterton, then it's a bit up and downy through to Eketahuna.

It's a grey day after plenty of rain overnight so there's no leaping out of bed with a glad cry and after much farfing about it's 8:30 before I'm wheeling off up the Hutt Valley into a firmish head wind.  The Rimutakas in the distance look a bit rough but plenty of time to worry about that.

A puncture going across the Moonshine Bridge causes a fair amount of cussing about Upper Hutt louts throwing bottles out of cars; there's only one spare tube today so any more troubles and I'll be using patches.

With Upper Hutt safely behind, it's the grunt up Kaitoke Hill than the Rimutakas.  The hill is nowhere near as fearsome as I had always feared; you've done a fair amount of climbing over Kaitoke, so by the time you start on the main hill it isn't that far really.  There's a few steep bits but nothing prolonged.  Traffic isn't too bad and the car I follow down the other side is doing a reasonable clip, the road is dry and the only slow car pulls aside to let us past.  All good.

What has been a head wind is now a sou'wester from Featherston (10:40) so pushes bike and rider up the Wairarapa at a good pace.  The road margins on SH 2 are generally pretty good and there's no reason to stop at Greytown, Carterton or Masterton (halfway).

I haven't been paying any attention to the time but know that all going well I could make the 4.20pm train from Palmy to Wellington.  If not, a few texts confirm that Iona and Col have a spare bed, and I figure to bike down SH 1 on Sunday (blah riding but there's no train on Sunday). 

The clouds have broken and there's some sun, although the wind is tending more westerly past Masterton so provides less of an advantage and is a bit of nuisance in places.  The road swoops down to cross the Ruamahunga (look left up a pretty gorge to river flats basking in the sun, where the river emerges from the range).  Then there's a bit of a climb through bush (rather than farmland for a change), but it's not too bad before the long downhill towards the DoC wildlife centre (chance for a coffee and loos here, but not today).

About 1:10, Eketahuna is a welcome break from what has become a decidedly boisterous wind.  A short cruise up and down the high street finds a coffee shop with pretty limited selection but toasty sandwiches on offer (I'm told later that one should avoid the first cafe on the right coming into town from the south).  It's not busy, yet the proprietress manages to spin out the cooking process so I'm pretty well rested by the time the food arrives.

North of Eketahuna the wind has become a strong westerly, so the turn towards Mangamaire and the range means tough riding conditions.  The clouds come over and it's a bit of a battle up to the saddle, the other side is even worse with the wind howling uninterrupted across the plains and crunching into the hills.

After managing to get temporarily lost in Palmerston North, it's 3:45 when I eventually find the railway station on the other side of town. Iona turns up with a care package (thermos of tea and food) then takes me home when it turns out the train is an hour late. This means time for a coffee, chat, more food then back to the station.  I'm starting to feel human again although suspect I smell a little more feral than appropriate in civilised company.

And that's pretty much it.  It costs $56 for bike and rider, which is pretty reasonable, and Iona gives me a bag of goodies which help while away the time nicely. The late afternoon sun breaks through, lighting the coastal plains with the cloud shrouded Tararuas as a backdrop.  Having driven this way many times it is interesting to see familiar places from a different angle.

Fields, sky, car ...

Sun setting over Titahi Bay

There's a few periods of rain then the view to Kapiti opens, with the Island catching light on its ridges, and the South Island in the distance.  Along Centennial Highway the sea is white from the breakers smashing against the rocks.  Finally the train emerges from the last tunnel and across the harbour the eastern hills are catching the last of the sun.

A calm Wellington harbour

Comment

Total distance was about 184km but if you want to make it a little longer there are plenty of options (e.g. head out to Martinborough and the back road to Gladstone).  The hills were not too bad; you hit the Rimutakas when you are fresh and although the Pahiatua Track is late in the ride it doesn't last too long. Most of the rest is pretty flat with a few hills after Mt Bruce and from Mangamarie to the start of the track.  The major issue is the wind, there are some long straights up the Wairarapa so if you have a northerly it could be miserable.  I chose a day with a sou'wester which was great up the Wairarapa but tough over the saddle when it turned into a westerly.

Road edges are generally okay, although from Mangamarie it's back country roads so you're pretty much in the traffic.  The condition of the track is much better since they re-opened the Gorge (fewer trucks).  You have the normal milk trucks etc to contend with, but probably the worst traffic was outside the Mega at Masterton.  The Rimutakas have a few corners with bad seal but overall not too bad.

Route 52

5 October 2013
Solo distance training road ride

The training schedule calls for a 220km road ride and I don't fancy the options around Wellington.  This will be the furthest I've biked in a day so ideally it will have some hills but not too many or too steep, quiet roads and not too much urban riding ... A bit of browsing and the Kennett Bro's 'Classic NZ Cycle Trails' throws up Route 52; if I start at Waipukurau and carry on through to Gladstone south of Masterton it looks about right.

Route 52 is somewhere in the bottom right of the North Island.  It finishes in Masterton in the Wairarapa and starts somewhere in the Hawkes Bay, but I'm not sure where officially.  You can start at various points (including Havelock or Napier) and take 1 to 3 days by bike but Waipuk is fine for my purposes. It apparently used to be a State Highway but got de-highwayed (or should that be; it got routed?).  It cuts towards the east coast away from the busy State Highway 2 and meanders its way along various stream valleys and over the odd low saddle to eventually disgorge you on the north-eastern outskirts of Masterton. 

We book into the Thornton Lodge Motel in Waipukurau and arrive about midnight.   It's not in the first bloom of its youth but is fine for our purposes.  The morning looks like the day will be a cracker so I take a chance and head out with the minimum of warm gear at 7:10.  Sally, my support crew for the day, rolls over and contemplates a leisurely rise and coffee in town.

The Thornton Lodge Motel

I'm carrying one bottle of water in my shirt pocket as I forgot to put the cages on the bike.  It's a real nuisance but I figure that with regular contact with the support crew I'll be okay. Maps indicate that there are few places to stop for water and this is borne out during the ride. The landscape is pretty much all farms so I wouldn't drink from any surface water.

From State Highway 2 the route takes me down Race Course Road and right onto the road to Porangahau.  The road is in good nick and undulates along most comfortably. The odd flock of turkeys are gathered by the road looking indignantly at the rider disturbing their peace and at one point a small flock of quail get a hell of a fright.  Rabbits and hares disappear into the grass verge and the road is littered with hedgehogs that didn't quite make it across the road before being shredded between high speed rubber and unforgiving tarmac.

On one of the downhills I'm all tucked over and a bar of gel drops out of my vest pocket, I go back and retrieve it but more about that later. It is pretty easy to follow my nose to Porangahau 45km away near the coast but it's worth noting that when I had checked on Google maps and other programmes there was a tendency to throw up various unnecessarily convoluted routes.

The Duke of Ed; Porangahau

If you come into Porangahau on the main road; to continue on Route 52 you have to back track over the river and take a left into Wimbledon Road (on the bend) and climb up the little rise.

Wimbledon Road follows a stream valley slowly up into the hills.  The road is rougher and narrower from now on but is still okay particularly given the lack of traffic.  It's not far along Wimbledon Road that the longest place name in the world turns up, and an obligatory photo stop...

Not so much a place name as a story

Despite best efforts I can't quite get a decent shot with my mug and the whole name in it.

The valley narrows and at about 66K the Wimbledon Tavern heaves into sight, just after a significant road heads off to the left to Herbertville on the Coast.  The best view of the tavern is from the front but I was back on my bike by then and not about to stop ...

No womble jokes please

The road potters further up the valley then climbs to a saddle about 8km after the tavern.  At 250m or so it's not the highest point on the ride but is one of the more noticeable climbs.  From the saddle the road heads determinedly west and into the rising wind.  On the horizon ominous clouds are gathering over the central range and threatening to spill eastward.  They never make it this far fortunately.

At 86km there's a left turn (marked with a Route 52 sign) and the road heads south and west. There are a few minor landmarks but there are only two things of note. The first is the discovery that the gel I dropped has leaked into my vest pocket with my cell phone and spread itself down the front of my legs; yuck. The second is at the 100 Km mark when the support crew turns up with a cheerful toot.  This is a little later then expected but apparently there had been a fair amount of backtracking in the belief that the rider couldn't possibly have got this far ahead.  I'm pretty relieved to swap an empty water bottle for a full one.

We regroup at Pongoroa (110km) for lunch in the sun.  This is the largest settlement along the way even boasting a Police station and is truly is in the middle of nowhere.  It is also the halfway point and although I'm having a little annoyance from the head wind, the temperature and road conditions are good and the ride is quite enjoyable.

Pongoroa; cross roads to everywhere

The map shows the highest point of the ride (about 350m) is 12 Km past Pongaroa.  Sally sets off to wait for me there (and read in the sun).  It's not a bad climb particularly in the knowledge that it's pretty much downhill from there on.

Winding up to the highest point

The afternoon turns into a bit of a blur now.  The road continues on through farmland and stream valleys lined with willows with the very occasional stand of remnant bush. Just before 154 km we hit Alfredton which boasts a school a couple of intersections and a Domain. We take the necessary left turn and stop in front of the Domain where I lie in the grass clasping various aching anatomical bits and glugging electrolytes.

Just resting - Alfredton Domain

It's about 43 km from here to the edge of Masterton and we arrange one more rendezvous to top up water.  Despite somewhat tired legs, the wind has swung to one side so it is good riding.  From a rough estimate I reckon we need to continue to a little past Gladstone via Te Whiti road in order to get to the target distance.  Sally potters on ahead and I knuckle down for the last few Ks.  A right turn at Gladstone and out to Carters Line is enough to make the numbers.

The last few metres

It's 4pm and after nearly 9 hours I'm not at all sad to see the last of that saddle for a while.  It's a short drive to Aidan and Janne's, a shower, a damn fine meal and a somewhat twitchy sleep.

Comment

I would highly recommend the ride either as a day trip or part of a tour (in fact why not continue all the way to Martinborough then across to Featherston and train back to Wellington?).  The road is rough in places with no verge but has very little traffic.  Water sources are few and far between so plan carefully.  The landscape is pretty enough but is basically rolling hills with farms and a bit of forestry.  The Kennett Bro's book gives a reasonable outline of the ride and has some useful info and tips.

Farms, hills, exotic, trees ...

Around the volcanic plateau

7-8 September 2013
Solo road ride

Some time ago I had promised to help drive a club van to Ruapehu for a ski weekend thinking to make it a rest week in the training schedule. But, as the date nears the idea of circumnavigating the volcanoes starts to germinate.  It looks like a loop of either 160 or 174K (depending on start point) through some pretty spectacular landscape.  The route is simple; State Highways: 48, 47, 4, 49, 1, 46, and 47 and 48 again.

The trip up starts a little late as I exit work to pick up the van from the ferry terminal.  The logistics are incredibly complicated but cars, bikes, vans and punters end up in the right places and we have an easy trip with the usual dinner stop in Bulls.

The van drops a few of us at the Forest and Bird Lodge (just up the road from Whakapapa Village) and heads up the hill to the club lodge.

The F&B lodge is pretty standard with bunk rooms and common areas. It's comfortable, warm and everything seems pretty new and clean. As a skiing and biking base it's perfect and is even within walking distance of the pub (serving ok pub meals but just main stream beer).

Saturday dawns misty and the promise of a strong westerly on the high slopes is enough to make a bike ride the order of the day (the skiing in fact turns out to be superb).

This will be the furthest I've ridden in a day so a careful carbohydrate breakfast of muesli is first up. But then someone starts frying bacon and, inevitably, second up is a big protein and grease breakfast.

The skiers head up into the clag and I drop quickly down the 7km to SH 47 and a left turn towards National Park.  It's cold and drizzly but it dries within 20k and the wind isn't too bad so the 50k to Ohakune pass easily (apart from mild regret about that second breakfast). The gully with the Makatote viaduct is a breeze and the net drop from National park to Ohakune is 130m so it's basically flat.

The town is quiet with all the skiers up the hill, I refill the first drink bottle at the BP, and cast a longing eye at the chocolate éclair shop.  This is a traditional stop for a generous, cream filled treat with lashings of choc icing, but not on top of that breakfast.

Playing 'spot the carrot' helps pass the time during the 27k and 200m rise to Waioru through rolling farmland and forestry.  Carrot farming is big up here and they tend to be lugged around in large unsecured loads so the game is simple, spot as many carrots as you can that have fallen on the side of the road. This is not so easy since they eased many of the corners and less fall off the trucks, but you generally see a surprising number.  Today I can only rustle up one suspect.

Waioru is a bit dank but I have to stop at the Z to top up a bottle, buy some batteries and text. So it's a cold start up the desert road.

This is the part I'm a little worried about; it's a long way with no services, and quite exposed. I have no idea how the strengthening westerly will affect the ride and am conscious that the road winds through a number of gullies which could be dicey given traffic loads on SH 1.

It turns out to be an excellent section.  It's drizzling as Waioru disappears behind but the weather starts to steadily improve.  The wind pushes the bike along as the skies clear and the sun shines on the northern slopes of Ruapehu. From Waioru at 800m the road rises to 1000m, meanders up and down a bit before dropping from 820m to 520 at Rangipo. This all happens over 50km so is hardly dramatic.

Bar the occasional interesting side gust it's a fast trip through to Rangipo with views of Ruapehu eventually giving way to a distant vista of Lake Taupo.  And the shoulder is much better than I was expecting. Then it gets tough.

Turning left on to SH 46 it's directly into a firm wind for 35k and lots of gentle but unrelenting up hill.  Tongariro and Ngaruhoe are shrouded in cloud as the road passes Lake Rotoaire, rising to 740m then dipping to 660m at SH 47.

It takes a long time into the wind to undulate up to 910m, then the whakapapa road intersection (870m) and the last 310m climb over 7km to the lodge.  The wind finally provides some assistance again and the sun breaks through, but it is a slow finish.

Approximate times (when I took notice):
0845 Depart Lodge
1120 Waiouru
1300 Rangipo turn
1505 Lodge

Sunday

The following day looks about the same at first brush but news from up the hill is not promising on the skiing front.  Angela and I decide to head off by bike for Taihape whilst the skiers check out Turoa to see if they have a better class of white out. Someone starts frying bacon as I'm finishing my muesli and a second breakfast soon joins the first.

It starts drizzling soon after we start and intermittently rains through to Ohakune. We potter along exchanging comments of mild regret about our choice of breakfast.

The rain settles in in earnest half way to Waiouru.  There is mercifully little wind but the road is awash, we are soaked and the cold saps energy. Angela however makes a clean sweep of the carrot game spotting a pile in a field, not strictly by the road but good enough. All I can claim is a manky parsnip.

By Waiouru it's still cold and wet and doesn't look inclined to let up any time soon, the wind is also starting to strengthen.  I convince Angela to take shelter at the army museum cafe for hot chocolate and wait for Mike as I recall the stretch of SH 1 to Taihape is busy, very hilly and perhaps not best with low energy in these conditions.

This proves to be not such good advice on my part. The car is a bit delayed so she has plenty of time to get cold in her wet gear. Meanwhile I'm skipping down the hills in improving weather and make excellent time through to the brown sugar cafe. The hills are of course mainly down travelling south (800m at Waioru to 450m at Taihape over 30km). It's all so different in a car.

At 107 km it was a good stretch-out after Saturday's effort. The net drop makes for easy riding overall and although the weather could have been better at least it wasn't windy.  And Mike remembered to stop for éclairs.

I have a few hours to wait as the van has diverted to the Tokano hot pools, but the outdoor shop and cafe take care of that nicely.

So...

The plateau tour is a good ride for the bucket list. If you start and finish somewhere on the loop it's about 160km; from Whakapapa village add 12-14k.

It was pretty much undulating with no steep hills although some long, relentless rises depending on direction of travel. There are few settlements so plan your water stops. It is highly exposed so take the right gear and put some thought to your direction of travel given likely wind direction and strength through the day.  Road verges were generally pretty good and traffic well behaved.  Some of the roads can get busy though and there are a lot of big trucks. I would recommend going with a buddy or two for support and sharing the lead.

The trip to Taihape was if anything busier and would be a bit of a grind from south to north.

For future reference; a few spot heights:
F&B lodge 1180m
Intersection SH 48 and 47; 870
Intersection SH 47 and 4; 830
Intersction SH 4 and 49; 620
Ohakune; 600
Waiouru; 800
Desert road up to 1000
Top of downhill to Rangipo; 820
Rangipo; 520
Intersection SH 46 and 47; 660
Highest point along SH 47; 910
Taihape; 450