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.
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| Just after the start ... Angela and giant bike |
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).
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| 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.
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| They make a good iced coffee |
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| Bike and |
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| 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).
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