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.
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| 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.
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| The Duke of Ed; Porangahau |
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...
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| 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 ...
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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 ... |
Sounds like a ride I'd love - stretched over a few days
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