TJs recovery ride - I'm off again!

Definitely do the train to Welly. The highways are horrible.

Weather better todsy but too wndy to do the classic crossing walk so a walk thru the bush to a waterfall instead

Muscles in my legs tho better are still sore pedalling.   Tomorrow i am going to walk rhe classic Tongariro crossing..  Train south is not possible.  Bus might be.  Inthink I'll go with a couple more days cycle and see.   I am making slow progress .  I'd hoped to be in the soith island by now

Ow my legs hurt.  Did the classic Tongariru cross but LOTR fans might see something else.

Saw somw wild mountain thyme and as thats the song we sang for Julie it gave me a bit of a moment

Very cool. You'd have made a fine hobbit.

I'm just catching up and all this and am still envious. Good for you, Teej. NZ looks great.

Don't overstretch yourself or overknacker yourself. Recovery days and the occasional comfy bed are important. Have a coffee. Go to the library and read a whole book in a day. Have a snooze. You're doing amazing things considering where you say you were pretrip. Goddammit, we need a long stream of these photos to get us through the winter!!!

I had 2 days of doing very little before today.  I am way behind where i hoped to be by now.  Tomorrow back on thr bike 1100m od descent and 300m of climb.  Ill see how it goes.   Im not to proud to bail but im twitchy to ride the bike again.

My legs hurt.  Shut up legs 🙂

I am way behind where i hoped to be by now

But still way, way ahead of most of us just reading it and dreaming.

Fair play.

Cool and cloudy here this morning but a tailwind. Need to get moving again. Heading south on the road this morning aiming for the Whanganui river trails and for the coast. Should be a lot of downhill today.  1100m to be precise with a mere 300m of climbing.

Still loving this TJ. Awesome stuff.

Amazing what a difference downhill withthe wind makes.  Even the climbs didn't hirt toomuch all 1000ft of them.  7 miles to campsite with 1300ft of descent to do

Final bit of road was great.  Downhill and twisty thru forest with no traffic.  Great fun.

I'm back on the trails so more bikes around.  One guy had exploded his mech and put out an SOS and the local bike hire guy came out and fixed it.  Right in the middle of nowhere.   I had been having gear trouble and thought my mech hanger was bent so as this mechanic had the right tool i asked him to check mine.   It was bent and he straightened it for free..  fantastic.   I now have all my gears

What a great thread! Epic adventure @tj

Anorher couple of weeks?  Ffs ill be totally broken

Maybe, but these memories will stay with you for a lifetime.

Inspired by you, I'm now tapping up my mate in NZ to see if he's up for a similar adventure next year.

I have been living with two bits of philosophy

"say yes to everything"

" eff it just do it"

Its taken me to some odd places and doing some odd things but its been great.  Its how I ended up here.

So do it

Indeed it's great TJ.

Tailwind? Get in there!

Second breakfast stop

Awesome.

Unless you "have to be somewhere", take it as it goes. You can change plans !  Looks amazing.

Second breakfast stop

Multiple breakfasts are one of the great things about cycle touring

I need two breakfasts just to wade through the Guardian!

I am nowhere near as far south as i hoped to be by now so might catch a bus from Whanganui to Wellington so i have more time on south island

Would recommend that. I did Wellington to Whanganui and it's nothing to write home about. Wellington itself is well served by bike paths from quite a distance out though.

Well thats me in Whanganui.   48 miles and 2000ft of climb.  Started to rain the last half hour so being the soft bugger i am I am in a hotel in Whanganui

Lovely days ride anx the longest i have done since leaving the flatlands.

Im fascinated by folks bike and kit choice.  The chap this bike belongs to is dutch and he and his tiny partner ( who has as more kit than I do) are in their late 60s and have ridden 25000km in the last year.  Riding about the same speed as I am.  Puts me to shame.  Im carrying less than most folk I see

It's usually the Dutch when you see an unfeasibly big load being dragged around. I treat bikepacking/touring just like backpacking these days and if I'm using panniers, try and use 2 Ortleibs only. That restricts everything to 40l and helps prevent the 'just in case' disease...

The Dutch do seem to love their accessories.

I need two breakfasts just to wade through the Guardian!

One of the great pleasures IMO of going on holiday in an English speaking country is buying the local paper every day and watching local stories develop...

I have 2 X 20 l panniers and a rucksac bungied on top but all the rucksack contains is my foam tent underlay my lunch and a lock plus anything I buy that day.  I'm at around 8 to10 kg base weight.

I have a big 2 person tent. Cafetiere.  Full cooking kit.  Plenty of warm clothes , medium weight waterproofs and a chair

The dutch are a law unto themselves when touring. Closely followed by Germans.

The camp site at the end of my road is one of the first stops heading north after they get off the morning ferry in Göteborg. Number of older couples i see carrying 4 full (large) panniers, bar bag, top bag, loaded trailer each is noticeable, probably a couple a week during peak season. Or the young lads "exploring the world" on a dutch city bike with a basket and a hiking rucksack... Have rescued a few of them on my way home after work!

Tried chasing a German couple on fully loaded road tourers a few years ago. Took ages, like 10+km. They were on fully loaded e-tourers...with flags fluttering in the breeze.

The guys whose bike that is has ridden 25000km in the last year and rides about the same speed I do

Oh god, that reminded me, when i toured in Ireland about 30 years ago. Tandem with my then girlfriend. We followed the coast road for maybe a week and saw this same girl about 3 or 4 times a day. She was just riding at ~8mph, on a sit up and beg tourer, continually, non-stop, no let up at all. Didn't stop anywhere except for lunch and at the end of the day. We did a few stops a day, couple in the afternoon, longer lunch break, take some photos, look at some architecture or some history... We were actually covering almost exactly the same distance per day, and ended up in the same place 2 or 3 times.

She'd ridden from home, somewhere in the south of the country, all the way (except for the ferries of course) to where we saw her and was planning to circumnavigate the UK during her summer holidays. She'd already done the south coast of the UK, Cornwall, south coast of Wales to Fishguard, and was going back to Fishguard then finishing off her lap of the UK and Scotland. Think we worked out at her current rate she'd need a summer break of about 8 months.

It’s usually the Dutch when you see an unfeasibly big load being dragged around.

Well they have to put their potatoes and hagelslag somewhere !!

Waiting to see if the bus will takeme.  Drivers discretion.    50 50 chance

Loving these mad touring anecdotes! Good luck TJ

Im on the first bus to Palmerston north.  Woopeee

Change busses in Palmerston .  Not doing my anxiety any good the uncertainty

Lolx

Two hours until my next bus.  The jeopardy continues

* drumroll*

Off to find a bike shop.  Brake pads are getting worn and maybe a new saddle

Your in NZ in mid summer TJ,surrounded by very friendly people.You will be fine.

Well im on the bus and so is my bike.  Just.

Woopeee

Hotel booked as well.  The wonders of modern tech.

The day gets better and better

It worked.   Im in Wellington with my bike and all my kit.  Weeeeeeerreeree

Time for a beer!

Amazing work TJ I am jealous and happy for you in equal measure. Glad the bus worked out, it’s little wins like that give you an extra little buzz when you are winging it a bit. ENJOY!

Time for a beer

Yup

when you are winging it a bit

Or a lot!

Folk keep asking me what my plans are.  Wander round the country vaguely heading south seems a little lacking in detail for some  🙂

Enjoy South Island TJ.

Don't be in a hurry to race off to the Southern Alps. We only had a few days in that top corner and wished we'd left more time (Queen Charlotte, Abel Tasman etc).

I have 33 days left.  At the very slow pace i have been making i won't be able to do everything and i might have to resort to busses again.  Still got to work out how to get back from the south as well.  I guess it will all work out.

🙂

Hi TJ - In Welly do try Garage Project and Heyday for beer. Fidels at the top of Cuba Street for awesome coffee and Breakfast.

The Queen Charlotte track is an awesome ride and worth doing. Getting over the hill to Nelson is a bit hilly but the tracks and trails around Nelson are great, specially if you want to stop at a winery or two. I have been here a couple of years and really love it!

Is your plan to leave the bike in south island?

If so you can just bus and train it back, or flight from Queenstown is not expensive.

If you want to leave the bike in QT, I know a willing recipient who could do with a town bike....