This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
nspired by the thought of a daughter cycling from Singapore to Belgium, the fact that I was assured that all the really fit club cyclists were away cycling through Pakistan, the assurances of Suzie that she wasn’t fit and I’d have no problems keeping up, Daniel’s assurances that this was not a fit trip, and of course idyllic images of gently rolling rural countryside past vineyards, I put my name down for this trip. The starting point was Martinborough where the six of us, panniers duly packed, headed inland towards Te Kaukau Point on the coast, past spring lambs through gently rolling fields along a road that definitely was no longer flat. In the Eco Challenge (an international 8-day multi-sport endurance event ~ this year held in Northern Australia), New Zealanders dominated the top placings (first place NZ/US team, 3rd and Sth — all NZ teams) out of 47 international invitation-only teams that took part. Obviously in New Zealand ‘fit’ sure means fit, I contemplated, as I grunted my way up and up towards the windmills — and the snow line (truly, there was snow at the top!) Perhaps .it's.in.the.genes.—Marjan,— a Dutch friend I had invited along ( afterall, the Dutch are known for all the cycling they do!) also seemed to be lagging somewhat behind the others — and together we sang an old Dutch song about
September 6-7th
“coming from Holland — that flat land’,and no, the windmills did not make it seem like “home”!
But hey, no wind gales — didn’t we do well! - since obviously in view of the presence of the windmills they could be likely in that stretch. Then of course, after the grunt, the downhill — a scenic ride along the White Rock road towards the coast after a very pleasant lunch stop just past the turnoff. (Now are tyre marks on dead rabbits clear indicators of the presence of RCV virus?) Along the coast was definitely four-wheeldrive terrain — rugged scenery — to our campsite near Te Rakauwhakamataku Point. This involved some serious hoisting up of cycles along a pretty vertical stretch -rockclimbing terrain perhaps? (Thanks guys! — it’s pretty disconcerting when your bike starts to roll backwards as you’re trying to push it uphill — and truly — that pannier rack snapped all by itself!) An excellent campsite for the night — hut (Ngapotiki Lodge) with tank water, bunks (but then who'd sleep in a hut if you can sleep under a fly!), campfire, great cuisine, wine — afterall this is the Wairarapa! — mellow, warm, with just. the-right-balance of-astrin-. gency and robustness (that’s the day’s trip of course — the wine was good too — for an Aussie wine!). The next day, more rugged coastal scenery ~ through some rough and sandy patches where everycycling trip? —_.___ .
Suzi Penny
one walked — but also some excellent mountain biking - mud and all — to the Cape Palliser lighthouse (now how many steps again?!), past seals, golfers(?!) and surfies towards civilisation — real coffee shop — finally ending up for lunch at the Pinnacles reserve. Here some of us were content to wait for the pick-up by the club bus (I now know why cyclists sometimes sort of hover over their seats rather than actually sitting on it - they’re not just being ‘posy’!) while the keen ones (and those who love going uphill so that they can use all the gears on their new bicycles) cycled on towards Martinborough. All together a really well-planned, excellent trip of around 120-130 km, with about 70km on the first day followed by an easier second day through varied and interesting terrain, great trip leader (thanks heaps Daniel!) and goodhumoured company. Thanks also for the good-natured tolerance towards a ‘tailend charlie’ — I really appreciated the chance to take part ina trip like this that also accommodates the ‘easies’ (and I now know how to use gears...)
Now what's this about a wine-trail
Mountain bikies: Suzie McQuoid and Mike Pratt, Peter Wills, Brian Goodwin, Marjan Nieuwland, trip leader — Daniel Moore, and scribe — Suzi Penny.
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