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TJs recovery ride -...
 

TJs recovery ride - I'm off again!

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I feel broken.   I hadn't ridden much this year at all before setting off.. i guess i am probably at the worst point for fatigue at a week in.  Cumulative fatigue high but fitness gains still to be felt and no real weight loss yet.  Couple of days rest here and I'll look at routes more for the next bit.  Id hoped to be 100+ miles further south but the river trails while beautiful were slow going.  Road riding hete is horrible tho with close passes a constant thing.  Had a car literally within 20cm today

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 7:51 am
arrpee, andy4d and Tracey reacted
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20250119_15512520250119_104749

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 7:54 am
scaredypants, Yak, arrpee and 3 people reacted
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Sounds  tough going, relax amd enjoy where you are for a bit.try not to  be tough on yourself-just flex your plan a bit.

And keep the photos coming, said from a frosty dog walk in Newcastle - was meant to be a smiley here, came out as a ?

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 8:00 am
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Bus to the south island. There are only 1.2 million and 0.4 million live in Christchurch. So the roads are quite

Well they were back in the day.

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 8:07 am
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just flex your plan a bit.

Ive got as far as i had planned.   Its difficult knowing what the trails are like until you ride them and get a grip on the descriptions.  Now i know.   Sodding hills lots of them

So its time to plan the next stage.   Bus sounds tempting but it feels like cheating.  I shall sleep on it and ponder

Its always the same with cycle touring.   The best scenery means lots of hills.

Im too tired today to make good decisions.   3 hours slogging in granny gear in the heat does that

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 8:12 am
Tracey reacted
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IMG_2139TJ tell me to shut up if I’m being a pain

My memory is that the west coast of nz wasn’t that hilly. But i was young, thin and fit. Well compared to now. So i put a section into komoot (we road from the ferry but can’t remember the exact route). It came up with this. No idea if you can get to the start on public transport, but you can get to Greymouth further south for sure. I’d say 388 miles with 7000 metres of ascent isn’t mega hilly. 8 days would be just under 50 miles and just under 1000 metres of ascent each day

Views are Alpine one side and coastal the other. But it is the wettest place on Earth. I mean literally the wettest place on Earth

Finally if you are going off road again Strava subscribers like me can have a look and see how much cycle traffic the routes actually get

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 9:16 am
tjagain reacted
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TJ tell me to shut up if I’m being a pain

Not at all.  The more info the better.  We'll until I get confused with too many options

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 9:36 am
pistonbroke reacted
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Bus sounds tempting but it feels like cheating

Cheating? Pah! Your trip, your rules.

Committing to cycling everywhere will obviously limit the ground you can cover and there's a lot of NZ to explore. If there's places you want to see then skipping some of the less interesting in between bits makes sense.  Nobody's going to be any less envious of your trip either way!

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 9:38 am
sandboy, andy4d and tjagain reacted

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1000m climb a day sounds pretty hilly to me!

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 9:38 am
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Good point thepurist though with a name like yours you shouldn't be suggesting a bus

Lolz

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 9:40 am
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Could you ditch your camping kit and airbnb/youth hostel for a bit, do a loop and pick it up on the way back? 8 hrs kip on a proper bed a night would help with fatigue. Or just park the bike up for week and do a bit on foot/ public transport?

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 9:53 am
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The pics are awesome, btw

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 9:56 am
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@tjagain. Go for a lovely dip in Lake Taupo. Warm lake! We went on a nice relaxing boat cruise and went for a few paddles while out there.

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 2:28 pm
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I sleep fine in my tent.  Thats not an issue.  Hotel beds are normally too soft and give me backache.

Im not overburdened with kit at around 10kilos.  Seen folk with 25 kg

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 5:49 pm
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Yeh,I,d be doing a bit of sea and lake swimming if I was you tj.Soothes the muscles and gets a bit of sun on them.Speaking of which, you seem very overdressed for summer.I pour with sweat in shorts and vest.

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 5:57 pm
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To add to the thoughts/confusion…

Not sure where you are headed next but the section of the tour Aotearoa south from pipariki to Whanganui follows the river on smooth quite tar seal and makes a lovely relaxed days ride. Mainly downhill. The section of the TA before that through to the bridge to nowhere can be quite tough though and bypassed riding the road anticlockwise Round Lake Taupo and onto SH 4. Hilly but at least it’s road hills.

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 6:05 pm

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them.Speaking of which, you seem very overdressed for summer.I pour with sweat in shorts and vest.

Sun protection and its very light technical fabric. Itscooler than exposed skin given the fericity of the sun

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 6:38 pm
MrOvershoot reacted
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Not sure where you are headed next but

Neither am i.  Thats a good idea from you

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 6:39 pm
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Does thick long hair and a black helmet also not get rather hot?Sorry to go on about things.

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 7:27 pm
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Stupid plastic hat doesn't help for sure

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 7:35 pm
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The temperature here is weird.  16 ish air temp this morning but absolutely baking sun.  Sunburn in 10 mins unprotected.

I a slowly bilding a bit of tan up on my arms and legsbut even with factor 50 on you are risking sunburn and the loose fitting technical shirt and tousers reducr the heat you feel on your skin by keeping  thr sun off.

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 8:15 pm
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Not sure how I missed this from the start, hope you have a great time TJ, we went to NZ for the first time last year & loved every second, enjoy & bon voyage

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 9:07 pm
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For what it's worth I was pretty impressed with your pace and the climbing you managed on a loaded bike on Saturday.

When I left you the sun took it out of me on the deforested section and I was only out of the trees for 20 minutes.

Is it worth breaking you're days in to two .Start a bit earlier , hide up in the shade for a couple of hours in the middle of the day then see how far you can get in the afternoon.

Kids go back to school next week so there hopefully should be less holiday/ tourist traffic on the roads .

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 10:04 pm
Yak, philviner, e-machine and 1 people reacted
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I'm feeling much brighter already.  I have extended my stay in Taupo another day as I have found a clinic to do a minor medical procedure that needs doing.  Maybe that had been weighing on my mind?

Ta for that moonsaballoon.  Makes this slow old man feel better.

Maybe I need to remember I'm a pensioner

Lols

 
Posted : 19/01/2025 11:00 pm
MrOvershoot reacted

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I bought a chair.  Local camping shops had never heard of the  helinox lighweight chair but one guy was fascinated and ordered me one in overnight delivery  450 grammes for a real chair.  Ill curse the weight on the hills but i need it on the campsite

 
Posted : 20/01/2025 1:25 am
sandboy, hightensionline, Bunnyhop and 3 people reacted
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What, no cushions!

 
Posted : 20/01/2025 8:36 am
tjagain reacted
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Surely you want to un-tuck the shirt for cooling?

 
Posted : 20/01/2025 11:49 am
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It usually is molgrips. When i remember.   I do hate a scruffy untucked shirt ?

 
Posted : 20/01/2025 6:15 pm
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Well thats one of the weirdest places I have ever seen. Hot water beach. Multiple hot streams running onto the beach. Did a hole and it fills with hot water. Floating rocks as well

20250121_113904

20250121_105318

 
Posted : 20/01/2025 11:28 pm
cp, matt_outandabout, anorak and 3 people reacted
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20250121_112603

 
Posted : 20/01/2025 11:29 pm
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Bought a chair.  Not sure ita allowed in bikepacking circles but this old man needs it

20250121_121752

 
Posted : 20/01/2025 11:31 pm
P20, milan b., tall_martin and 9 people reacted
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Looks like you have a full mattress and pillows in your tent as well!  😉

 
Posted : 21/01/2025 12:36 am

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Not sure ita allowed in bikepacking circles but this old man needs it

This younger man would have brought the tie dye Helinox sunset model with him - not sure I could get up out of that one after a day on the hills.

 
Posted : 21/01/2025 1:17 am
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I do like to be comfy retrorick

 
Posted : 21/01/2025 2:22 am
retrorick reacted
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Should i buy a new camping mattress?  I have a cheap thermarest copy that weighs a kilo.  Found one in a shop here that weighs 350grammes.  £150.  More than makes up for the chair in weight.  Its thicker but less rvalue

 
Posted : 21/01/2025 4:06 am
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Spotted in the pub

20250121_165850

 
Posted : 21/01/2025 4:08 am
matt_outandabout, anorak, kimbers and 6 people reacted
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For £150 can you not get one that is warm and light?

 
Posted : 21/01/2025 8:37 am
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Not here.  That's the best i could find.  R value 2.8.  It does have some insulation

 
Posted : 21/01/2025 8:51 am
 Yak
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No advice on camping mats, as I have a history of rubbish uncomfy but light mats. Light and comfy does sound good though. But just to say your trip looks great so far, top pics too. Enjoy it!

 
Posted : 21/01/2025 9:10 am
tjagain reacted
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Should i buy a new camping mattress?  I have a cheap thermarest copy that weighs a kilo.  Found one in a shop here that weighs 350grammes.  £150.  More than makes up for the chair in weight.  Its thicker but less rvalue

Just make sure you have a suitable patch kit and that the lighter mattress isn't too noisy... some of the lighter ones are like sleeping on a crisp packet!

 
Posted : 21/01/2025 12:10 pm

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Heading off again in the morning.   Unfortunately really means roads for much of the next couple of days to get back to the trails.

Done a bit of rejigging of kit and am well rested.  Also had a small cancerous skin lesion removed from my back.  90% chance that's all that will be needed.  Histology report will be 3 weeks or so.

I'm at high risk of getting these due to sun damage from when I was a kid and unpigmented patches.  Check you skin folks!

I feel well rested and ready for the next section.  I should get to the south end of Lake Taupo tomorrow and maybe a bit further.  Campsites look in short supply tho.  Then I will head south east to pick up the Wanganui River trail

 
Posted : 22/01/2025 5:17 am
sandboy, Bunnyhop, kimbers and 5 people reacted
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That chair looks ideal. It's one thing we missed bike packing in September, although we fell very lucky with the three camp sites in that two had benches at out camp plot, and one had some in the corner of the field. My mate said he was getting one next time as he'd been earlier in the year and had no-where to sit.

Always enjoy your travel thread, especially as it looks like I'm going to be off the bikes for some time after a silly fall on ice two weeks ago (even with ice tyres). Currently on crutches.

 
Posted : 22/01/2025 9:21 am
 

I have hot puddle envy, especially after today's commute.

 
Posted : 22/01/2025 9:52 am
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Headwinds and hills todsy thru dull farmland.   Ho hum.  Still it sunny and warm.  Looks like a roadside camp tonight20250123_131825

 
Posted : 23/01/2025 3:29 am
matt_outandabout, sandboy, milan b. and 4 people reacted
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I've effed it up a bit by listening to an old boy who told me there was good camping at this spot.  Its shit.   Too tired to go further and anyway its miles to an actual campsite.  Rowlocks.

Oh well.  I have food and a tent.  I'll survive

 
Posted : 23/01/2025 5:53 am
robola reacted
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