HBOP 1 – After work Friday to Waihi Rd shack

Having driven little-known forestry roads to get to the fabulous Moerangi Track last winter, on the return home I couldn’t get the idea of an ambitious weekend bikepacking loop out of my mind. With minimal driving after work on a Friday, many Hawke’s Bay and some Bay of Plenty backroads could be explored. That night, HBOP was compiled; it only took until mid-summer to find a free weekend to ride it (worth noting that the winter weather was warmer than much of the weekend we just had!). Pete, with similar inclinations to explore new backroads (although I’m surprised there’s much of the North Island he’s not ridden) and much more time than me for such trips, was keen to join in – didn’t get any other takers, can’t imagine why.

So with a cool, cloudy and damp weekend forecast we drove the road north from work and started riding at half-four. The thirty kilometres of highway was lumpy and quiet enough – bringing back memories of HBAT. The south-easterly, while cooling, was also at our backs and continued to help as we turned inland and climbed Putere Road. Past the Cricklewood turn-off, we dropped suddenly to Putere and Pete was on new roads. The Panekiri Range (that which is far more imposing from the far side of Lake Waikaremoana) was startlingly close, but shrouded in cloud.

Seems there are quite a few farms up here; we were on to Waireka Rd, leaving three others to return to and explore completely in the future.

I stopped and snapped a photo of Lake Rotonuiaha for, quite randomly, a fishing app that I was contacted out of the blue about.

The descent to the Waiau River was steep gravel, it would have been much faster but due to the grade was some of the most corrugated gravel I’ve ridden in a long time. No wonder steep rural roads around these parts are often sealed in part.

A pause over the Waiau. Now I was on new roads, huzzah!

Heading upstream, things were momentarily flat; over a cattle stop and we turned away from the river and begun to climb. As Pete remarked, you know it’s remote when the pasture is not fenced from the road. We startled a herd of cattle, I don’t think they see many bikes, and they ran off ahead of us. Thankfully they were not corralled on the road and didn’t get too scary. A bit more climbing and a couple of switchbacks later we found them again.

Looking south over the Waiau, that prow in the background demands closer investigation; March: hopefully I can get back up here.

Surrounded by hills, everything was new – climbing four hundred metres steadily, I enjoyed trying to pick out the road across the valley in the gathering gloom. The folds in the hills as things darkened were fascinating, I certainly was looking forward to returning in some light.

Pleasingly, the drop to the Mangaone Stream didn’t steal all our hard-gained altitude. Nine o’clock by now, I was starting to fade and look for suitable shelter while Pete edged further ahead of me. We regained all the height we’d just lost before spying a tumbledown old building. We never worked out what it once was (unusual shearers’ quarters, perhaps), but it had a roof, walls and most of a floor. Luxury – who needs doors and windows anyway? I thought it might be exposed to the southerly, but it wasn’t too bad – we settled in for a decent night’s sleep. Assuredly a most excellent finish to the week – five hours of riding, plenty of climbing through some stunning hills, little traffic, good company and charming shelter to boot.

Huddled together in a corner for fear of falling.

Saturday morning view.

A palace to us.

Rock and Pillars

Only just having returned to live in New Zealand five years ago, I was a far less experienced bikepacker. Even so, on a 4WD trip with my father and uncle I could see the potential for riding up, across and down the Rock and Pillar Range. It only took me all that time of Christmas holidays down south to make it happen. With an actual good day of weather, New Year’s Eve from Naseby was the go.

The day was forecast fine and still; which, considering the wind of four days before, was a boon. Parking at Patearoa, the first twenty clicks was gentle. I found another small hydro station that I didn’t know existed and some old gold mining relics. Approaching Styx, the Old Dunstan Trail reared ahead of me. It’s a steep climb, I relish it – this time was easier as I didn’t already have hundreds of kilometres in my legs.

Just seeing that ribbon of road winding up brings back memories of bikepacking with Adele and a big day on the Great Southern Brevet.

Soon one is looking over the valley to Rough Ridge.

Ah yes, old schist fence posts standing sentinel over the languid Upper Taieri.

By now, the steepest of the climbing is over – 600 m in ten kilometres – just over an hour with very little traffic (three vehicles) and the road undulates a bit.

Logan Burn Reservoir, and more power generation.

My memory was good enough to spot the faint track turning off north and onto the Rock and Pillars proper. A small group of daywalkers (four of the human variety, two canine) were the only mammalian life I saw for hours. We chatted briefly, but I had far further to go so continue I did. On the stillest of days, the track was bone dry – picking an easy path was a cinch climbing up to McPhee’s Rock.

I couldn’t believe how calm it was up there, what an absolute cracker of a day. An hour off the road, I was at the summit.

Over the Dunstans to the Southern Alps; I didn’t or couldn’t contemplate that the next day visibility would be negligible due to smoke from across the Tasman.

Summit lunch break; I wonder now that I had bothered to strap a jacket to my bike, likely I’d just left it on. No chance of needing it that day.

Are those the Rocks or the Pillars?

Not a fast surface, but rather easy going.

Soon, I was at the top of the big descent off the range – dropping well over a thousand metres in ten kilometres. I let some air out of my tyres. On a fully rigid bike on a rough track it was an exciting ride. Jumping over water bars was particularly fun, but done with some caution. I bumped around, brakes squealing, all the while trying to appreciate the slightly different view that would open up at each switchback.

East across the hills which I’d ridden four days prior.

South east over Middlemarch.

Obviously not the track I was on, but similar in topography.

Getting down towards the Taieri now, after it had looped around the northern end of the range.

Pausing in the shade of a tree, under the watchful gaze of a local flock, I was surprised just how soft my tyres had got – re-inflation was definitely needed for the rail trail section approaching. A twenty kilometre detour to Middlemarch seemed a bit far to go for a cafe, so I headed north for an hour passing a few approaching gravel bikes to reach the disappointment of the Otago Central Rail Trail – Hyde. Still no water to be found here, much less any sort of welcome.

I wasn’t keen to completely retrace my rail trail route from Friday past, so as the late afternoon began to warm I diverted west at Daisybank to follow a paper road over the lower, northern reaches of the range. By now it over 30ºC and I was starting to cook and having to ration water. Baking in the sun, the route was covered in long grass – it was far easier to push my bike to gain three hundred metres to the crest.

The road corridor was wide, but the sheep hadn’t been in for quite some time.

Now out of water, the downhill to Patearoa must be soon. Rather, things flattened out past the old gold works of Hamilton Diggings. Finally I found a big artesian bore to fill my bottles and treat some water, bliss. The downhill that had to be around somewhere eventuated and continuing to bake, I got back to the car somewhat worse for wear. New Year’s Eve was subdued for a few hours back in Naseby while I rested and recovered, but I quickly bounced back to my normal quiet self.

A fantastic ride on a gloriously still and clear day (cooking oneself not withstanding) – a satisfying way to round out my biggest year yet on bikes, a aesthetically pleasing 11222 km logged. Not too bad considering I took little holiday from a full-time job; I really do like having bikes as such a big part of my everyday life – if that’s not patently obvious already.

Waikouaiti to Waipiata via Ramrock Rd

Needing to get over to Naseby for the following day’s kayaking-race trip (not mine), I could have borrowed a motor vehicle. But I had a perfectly good bike for the hundred-plus kilometre journey. Add a gravel road that I remember kindly, despite or because of the many hills, and the excesses of Christmas celebrations – I was hardly not going to ride.
Ramrock Rd was familiar from my first summer back in NZ, now five years prior (where did that go?!), and I was keen to reacquaint myself with it. Naturally, there was but a few farm vehicles on the road and soon the hills started in earnest after the drop down to Bucklands Crossing. I knew it was hilly, but was surprised to find I’d ascended a thousand metres within the first twenty kilometres. Thankfully it flattened out a little, undulating between five and six hundred metres above the Pacific as I enjoyed the solitude and pastoral views. Further afield there were hills, bigger ranges, Waikouaiti itself and the ocean.

Previous map studying had piqued my interest with plenty of dead-end gravel roads and many unformed legal roads begging for exploring. Another time, I had somewhere to be.

Dropping down past Nenthorn before turning north.

Pausing for a late lunch, I contemplated roads-new-to-me ahead – much gravel.

I was pleased to see that road’s name was for real. None the wiser to the origins, I still ponder. Was there a small diary and poultry farm? Seems fitting for a Pheasant.

Reaching seal, I turned right to check out Macraes where brother-in-law James (the kayaker, coincidentally) is ably employed in finding more gold to add to the five million ounces that has already come out of various holes in the ground. Alas, the pub was closed so no more lunch for me. Heading west out of the village, it was quite the grovel into the wind and up a steep hill over to Hyde. To my delight, at the summit there was a gravel road off to the right that took a much longer and interesting route looping around through sheep farms, providing an unexpected view of the pit and a thrilling descent into the wind.

I got a good view of the Rock & Pillars over the Taieri valley. As strong as the wind was for me, I was very pleased not to be up there – it’s notorious, and I’d had more than enough of almost being blown off Central Otago ranges for one year.

Over the river, I was soon at Hyde – where the shop/cafe is very much still shut. I arranged for James to pick me up in Waipiata as that coincided with his drive home from work nicely. It also coincided much less pleasantly with a howling headwind – as is often the case, a little excursion of mine on the Otago Central Rail trail involved a concerted, character-building, struggle against the wind. James arrived a minute or two before me, and most unbelievably of all the closures of the day – the Waipiata pub was shut (we assume for the annual local rodeo) and there were no famous pies to be had.
Excellent little day ride over many hills, some new roads and under big skies. Sure beats driving.

The Christmas Letter 2019

Catching some time as I fly south for Christmas, there’s a chance to sit, consider and write of the year. Naturally, there was much biking. Without any really big trips (longer than a week), I’m pleased to have consistently ridden all year and clocked up my biggest year yet – ticking over eleven thousand kilometres yesterday on my last commute of the year.

The longest ride of the year was way back in January, the Great Southern Brevet, which turned out to be the toughest one I’ve done yet. After being blown off my bike four days in a row, I’ve a new standard for windiness. Fantastic scenery and good company accompanied the challenge and it was a satisfying finish – I look forward to the next one, and more exploring around that area.

Day Two of the GSB, a short section of Otago Central Rail Trail – before we got up high and the wind hit.

A late evening ride up Danseys Pass.

All other bikepacking for the year was North Island focused – much close to home as I thoroughly enjoyed planning and scouting the first Hawke’s Bay Anniversary Tour. Through a mild and dry winter, much exploring of back roads led to a 550 km route from the south to the north of the province. I’d have happily done all that work so I could ride it solo, so I was thrilled that thirteen of us set off together and nine made it to the end on Mahia Peninsula over many hills. In the two months since then, a couple of low-key overnighters from Napier have been well attended and enjoyed; satisfying and such fun to share some local routes with others.

South from Te Apiti Station towards Kairakau.

HBAT departing Waipawa.

Heading to Waipatiki for the last and shortest overnighter of the year.

Strangely, I also entered a MTB race – the quintessential Hawke’s Bay event, Triple Peaks. For the first time since I’ve lived here, the forecast was good – meaning that all three summits would be included. For a MTB race, there was a lot of hike-a-bike and as the name suggests – plenty of climbing. That suited me well, and I was surprised with a top ten finish. Most enjoyable and pleasing to finally get up to the top of Mt Kahuranaki.

Nearing the top of Kahuranaki.

Unusually, biking took a bit of a back seat for three months when, after many years of being a non-runner and wondering if I had a marathon in me, I bit the bullet and entered the local one. Never having run more than ten kilometres, I settled into three months of run-specific training, with only Easter bikepacking distracting me near the end. I lined up on an unusually frigid morning quietly confident that I’d somehow run fifty percent further than I ever had before. It all went as expected and I was pleased to finish easily within my goal of four hours. I’m not sure I’ll ever train for another, it takes too much time away from riding – but more trail running and keeping run-fit that way appeals.

Since then, running has mostly been Saturday morning Park Runs – which I find a great way to get the weekend started. I’ve enjoyed a little bit of Park Run tourism, but mostly I’ve run my local one and it’s been good to get to know a few people there. It’s now regularly over a hundred people out running and walking the flat, smooth five kilometre course. With my attendance being somewhat sporadic (biking trips take precedence), I was well pleased with improving my best time a couple of times throughout the year; now down tantalisingly close to nineteen minutes, that leaves a good goal for 2020.

My first island holiday, in Niue, was great to have planned straight after the marathon. Completely different to any other vacation I’ve ever been on, I thoroughly enjoyed a relaxing week spent with Adele and James and McKirdys snorkelling, walking, exploring and eating our way around the small island. Managing to tack a weekend in Melbourne on to a work trip for my birthday and a long weekend visiting family in Sydney were worthwhile additions to make up my complement of overseas travel.

Closer to home, various volunteer opportunities come and go. Favourite ones are always helping out at different events – biking, triathlon, running and so on, so I look forward to more of those next year. A steady stream of guests have been through my home this year, some of which help to offset the cost of house maintenance. With a new roof, some building work and finally finishing painting the exterior of the house, it’s looking good and should be able to withstand the elements for many more years. Painting weatherboards while listening to books I find pleasantly relaxing, but there will be far less of that next year – so more time for exploring near and far on a bike. Cycle touring guests arrive with irregularity – they’re good fun and always happy to share stories of places toured and ideas for more rides.

Work this year has been fulfilling as I settle into the role of Process Safety Engineer. Pleasingly two projects that have been going for three years reached significant milestones – most notably our safety case was approved by the regulator, the inspection next year shall be an interesting gauge of how we’re doing embedding many new systems introduced over those years. A mid-year course had me sitting an exam for the first time since university; rather out of practice and with seventy-five percent required to pass, it was a bit of a shock to the system (especially four hours long), so I was pleased to pass and be able to add Functional Safety Engineer to my few qualifications – not that that helps much with riding bikes. 2020 will prove to be interesting as all those in the direct line above me are changing roles, and my role will continue to develop.

Not something I’ve done, but very exciting news nonetheless: there’s recently been a new arrival in the family and I have my first nibling. Many congratulations to Adele and James, I look forward to meeting young George shortly. Unexpectedly, he’s also my middle-namesake – quite the honour there. I’m down south for the holidays, there may be a little bit of riding and running between the festivities and time with family. I expect next year will develop further on that part – I’m particularly keen on a couple of riding routes this summer that have been on the list since I moved to Napier. Best wishes for all.

Biking to go places, going places to bike.