Defyant wrote:Hey all, first post, complete amateur

Did 25k round tamaki drive at 6am this morning, geez a lot of you are up early!

A good start and a nice day for it

Apiti loop today.
130km in 6:45.
Not sure if its the pies, the touring wheels and tyres or the horrendous crosswind all day but thats an hour longer than usual and 1:40 longer than my PB.
Must get out more.

Was still a great ride, spring is here. A few wood pigeons about (see below). Certainly nicer than the numerous magpies.
Oreos are now my fav on the bike food.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/375885546

znomit wrote:Apiti loop today.
130km in 6:45.
Not sure if its the pies, the touring wheels and tyres or the horrendous crosswind all day but thats an hour longer than usual and 1:40 longer than my PB.
Must get out more.

Was still a great ride, spring is here. A few wood pigeons about (see below). Certainly nicer than the numerous magpies.
Oreos are now my fav on the bike food.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/375885546

wdp1.jpg

Nice ride . Give us a yell next time Ill run point on the magpies for you!

My saturday: Long Steady Distance 170 km's around 7:30/8hours. Was aiming for all the way home, but the wind shifted to stiff head side wind around Otaki, then started to get some rain, so rang Lis and got her to me meet me in Levin.... then it cleared and the wind dropped!
But won't complain to much.

Two magies to watch for, 200m past the Takorea cross roads on Kellow Rd and 500m from the Himitangi Block/Foxton Shannon road intersection.
Hoiehere monster has caught an bad case of lead poisoning, but the one at the top of the Saddle Road is still with us!

You joining us for some TDM laps this year? same as last 3 lap 10pm start, 2 lap 3am start.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/375249657

Just a work commute in the rain. 25km each way in the pelting rain with raindrops bouncing up off the road at times.
I passed an older lady doing it hard going up the hill (about 500m total climbing) and we joked it's still better than catching a bus.
The only really unpleasant part was pulling on wet nicks in the afternoon.

Got out for a spin tonight.
Nice tailwind over the Pahiatua Track, but a bit of a grovel getting back into the shelter of the hills.
Reasonably warm out, winter gloves were a bit much.
Coming back up the Track a car driver coming down yelled "Go home to bed and get some sleep".
Good advice. Yawn.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/381526640

Rode the Napier Taihape road on Tuesday (with commute from Palmy of course).

All attempts to sneak away from work early were thwarted so I didn't get riding until 6pm.

Nice slow climb up at Pahiatua track set the pace for the rest of the ride. Happy to find the met service was right about the tailwind. Easy ride down to the Gorge and not much traffic on the highway up to Dannevirke. I really should have stopped here for KFC but didn't feel too hungry, tried to get some water at a school but it was padlocked and security fenced. WTF? Still had 1/3 bottle so continued on up the hill to Norsewood. Filled both water bottles here and drank a lot too. In anticipation of the downhill I put on numerous warm things.
Was a clear night and getting quite cold.

Nice bit of speed on the downhill through to the Takapau plains, turning onto highway 50 to avoid the numerous trucks. Between OngaOnga and Tikokino I met a ferret crossing a bridge, chased the little blighter right off the side. Slow progress back up the hill but rewarded with magnificent views of Napier/Hastings. Easy cruise down the hill and reached the Taihape turnoff at 2:30am.

The first climb is 700m and lasts for about 50km with a flattish section in the middle. There was a logging truck every 10 minutes, very well behaved, and actually nice to have some form of company. I stopped for water at a school 10km in and chomped down a cheese muffin. Not far up the road sleep deprivation started to kick in, took a nodoz and a snickers bar and had a 15 minute lie down at the next school, think I slept properly for 5. Amazing what a difference that made.

Plodded on up the hill, happy dawn was well on its way before the first major downhill. The numerous ups and down slowly came and went. Knees complained a bit on the two particularly steep hills in the middle but otherwise feeling good.

With most of the hills behind me I was quite enjoying things until about an hour out of Taihape the tummy decided it wasn't interested in drinking or eating and was threatening to empty itself. Eased off a lot and then noticed that horrible hot/cold prickly sensation, then realised I had drunk only 1 bottle and a small can of V over 110km, oops. Unfortunately the ice tea in my other bottle wasn't agreeing with me either. Had a little lie down and felt marginally better, took it really easy into Taihape at 1pm (300km). Downed half a bottle, and stopped at the BP for coffee, a sandwich and a roll of qwickeze, which cured all ills.

The wind had turned around overnight so I had a pleasant tailwind for the trip south. Filled both bottles at Mangaweka, continued down to Ohingaiti at a good pace. Took the gorgeous back road from there up to Pemberton corner and briefly enjoyed a massive tailwind until the rain came down. Stopped to put on my jacket, and then again for pants when it got heavier. Discovered my stash of jet planes and devoured half a bag on the side of the road, put the rest in my bento bag. Powered through the final few climbs to Kimbolton and kept the jet plane fuelled pace up through to the 400km mark near Colyton. Amazed how well I felt after 24 hours. Bit of a grovel into Palmy after that, getting home 25 hours after I left, 420km, and something like 6000m of climbing.




http://connect.garmin.com/activity/387459586

Holy big rides batman!!

Tugboat wrote:Holy big rides batman!!

I will second that.

Hi Znomit
Nice ride (and I thought my 144km gravel rd / single track mission was a long day!)

Just wondering....are those Viscacha and Gas tank revelate bags on your bike, and if so, how do you find them? Im still doing missions with a Fairydown backpack which is OK but not ideal. I want to get the gear on the bike and the revelate bags look awesome. That combo you have looks great so any feedback is appreciated.

Cheers
James

jimmi wrote:Just wondering....are those Viscacha and Gas tank revelate bags on your bike, and if so, how do you find them? Im still doing missions with a Fairydown backpack which is OK but not ideal.

Front bag is a Topeak Fuel Tank. 2nd ride with it, no complaints.
Rear bag is the smaller Revelate Pika. Plenty big enough for day rides.... I don't even get it filled when I'm touring.

Definitely get the weight off your back if you can.

Big effort

happybaboon wrote:Big effort

that's a mighty ride alright.

Also, I'm guessing you left on the ride after a day at work? In which case that's even more insaner.

happybaboon wrote:Also, I'm guessing you left on the ride after a day at work? In which case that's even more insaner.

I tried doing this ride last year with a 5am start, got as far as Woodville. I think if you're going to be riding through the night starting as late as possible is best.

Not been here for a while, just came to whinge that friday night commute home seems to get all the bad weather, the guys I was gonna ride home with have piked out again! Anyone keen for Wellington to Akas ride tonight (or you can turn around at Brown Owl and windsurf home...)

But while I'm here: great ride Znomit!

I tried doing this ride last year with a 5am start, got as far as Woodville. I think if you're going to be riding through the night starting as late as possible is best.

yeah, I remember a couple of years back thinking 'It's 4am in the morning, it's zero degrees, my thighs are frozen solid, and I've got 200km to go. I really, really want to stop...but I'm in Eketahuna...'