I was feeling good about today- the legs were at 80%, but it was still almost 150km to get home to Wellington. I thought I might need to stop at Upper Hutt and stay the night there.
The rolling Wairarapa roads are some of my favourites- I’d done many rides when I worked in Masterton. On the unicycle, I was cruising well, about 18km/hr, which would see me all the way home if I kept it up.
The TA route took us on backroads with little traffic, so it made for a very enjoyable ride. As I approached Martinborough, an ex-TA rider, Matt, rode with me on his recumbent bike. My family were having a picnic at the Martinborough square, so I had a quick lunch with them before setting off to see if I could make it all the way home.
As I rounded Featherston, my friend Kelly and her daughter Juliet were out with the entire South Featherston Primary cheering me from the side of the road! I was feeling decidedly sluggish at that point- it was getting rather hot, so that was just the boost I needed. I sped off with renewed vigour to tackle the Remutaka Rail Trail.
The rail trail is a track I have ridden many times over the years, I consider it part of my home trails. I made short work of the climb to take my control point photo at the summit tunnel, then had a blast shredding the gravel all the way down the rail trail. This was the most fun I’ve had on tour- it’s a very fast, sweeping gravel trail.
By the time I got to the Te Marua dairy, it was 5.30pm. Enough to ride home, even if it gets dark. The Hutt River Trail is also familiar, but the Upper Hutt section is new to me. It took longer than expected- Upper Hutt is long! I finally hit the Lower Hutt portion of the river trail, and started pedaling as fast as I could.
It was getting dark by the time I arrived at the Petone foreshore, but it wasn’t much further to make it back to Wellington! The only problem with living in the Northern suburbs is that it’s up a very big hill. I had one final grind up the gorge and then further climbing up to my house. It was a wonderful sight to finally see the Grenada Village sign!
I arrived home just before 10pm. It had been another long day, but well worth it. Hot shower, comfy bed, home with my family after 2 weeks riding from the top of the country to the bottom of the North Island. Bliss!
