Today was one of the nicest riding days. It was cool and cloudy, and we had more of the compacted rail trail. 

At one point there a big dairy cow in the middle of the trail, which I found tricky to get past. It just trotted ahead of me, mammary glands sloshing, while spraying me with cow dung.

I went past Te Aroha, then to Matamata, best known for Hobbiton, the Tolkien land where hobbits lived. After another photo checkpoint (the Hobbit themed Isite building), I set off toward Arapuni. As I headed out, my tyre felt squishy. Did I let too much air out to deal with the gravel? I wasn’t going to chance it so had a quick pitstop at Bob’s bikes for a tube change. 

As I headed out of Matamata I met a young family who had been following my tour- dad Matt and daughters Tilly and Aster (?sp). The were ready with L&P and bananas. Yeah!!! My very own TA trail angels. 
After that it was onto a straight into a busy state highway where I spent much time trying to go as far into shoulder as possible to avoid getting squished. 
I was pretty tired by the time I reached Arapuni, but it would be my most enjoyable ride so far.