Previous : Day 2 – Ahipara -> Waipoua Forest
21st Feb 2017 Waipoua Forest -> Pouto Point (70 miles)
No warm up this morning mind. Straight out of camp
I was presented with an 850 ft climb. Just before I started the climb I came across the 2 young American guys who we met on day 1. They had a gear problem and I suggested they go the camp and see if the owner had some tools to fix the bike. At the same time Toby and John who were also doing the ride cycled down the hill and introduced themselves, they then headed to the cafe at the campground.
I then proceeded to start the first climb of the day. The views from the top were well worth the expended effort mind.
I came across a gas station at Kahui after 16 miles and given it was nearly midday I took the opportunity to try one of the hot pies that I had heard so much about. Pies seemed to be the staple diet in NZ and were available in many different varieties. They also went well with the iced coffee too. Not exactly healthy, but they did the job and provided the much needed calories. My Garmin was telling me that 7 – 8 hours riding a day was burning ~ 4000 – 5000 calories. Add that figure to your daily required 2000 and I needed to be consuming 6000+ if I was to not start wasting away.
The ‘all services’ town of Dargaville came at 35 miles. Given Pouto Point was a small coastal town with no shops / eateries I decided to stock up on food for the remainder of the ride (peanuts & oat bars) along with the usual Uncle Bens rice / Tuna / Avocado and Tomato for dinner combo. Not great, but provided good carbs, protein and was easily cooked in the Jet Boil stove.
The last 30 miles of the ride were really tough going and basically followed gravel logging tracks. The gravel actually resembled stones the size of large pebbles and when coupled with steep climbs and steep side cambers made the riding very difficult and extremely slow going.
It was a relief to reach Pouto Point at around 1830 hrs as it meant I was there in time to catch the prearranged 1030 hrs ferry scheduled for the next morning.
Exploits of one man and his bike travelling adventures 