Today was rest day of sorts. After two very difficult rides, I thought I’d do just 65km today, and aim for the jet boat transfer tomorrow. 
It doesn’t sound like there will be many shops for the next two days, so I stocked up and made some calorie bombs. Basically it’s an English muffin with huge dollop of peanut butter and jam (heaped tablespoon) so there is more filling than there is bread.  

My legs were stiff from yesterday’s 14hr ride, so I tried a light spin to free up the muscles. Today was basically one big climb, then one big downhill, mostly on gravel roads. I met another TA rider travelling in the opposite direction (Bluff to Cape Reinga). Otherwise it was a fairly uneventful ride- there were few cars on these backroads.

I finished the ride at Blue Duck Cafe which has a lodge/cabins. It’s the first day since Poutu landing where I have finished riding before 5pm, and I get to blob out on the couch!

The Timber Trail is a 85km ride through the Pureora forest, which is one of the last remnants of original native forests which were milled by early settlers. Much of the trail is on the original tramline used to move timber, until it was stopped by a conservation protest. 

It’s a nice single track, but starts with a big climb up to 1000m. I figured that once I get to the top, it would be  an easy ride. Wrong! 

In most circumstances, it would be. The track is grade 2-3. However, fully laden with a pack, food/water, and a good collection of saddle sores and legs that had done 800km, it was not the easy cross country ride I imagined. I burned a huge amount of energy going up and then descending the first hill. Everytime you hit a bump on a unicycle, you have to unweight and correct your balance, which burns a lot fuel. A bit like a jet- you can cruise quite efficiently, but as soon as you accelerate/decelerate or correct your position, you’re burning extra. I had an enormous breakfast and packed a huge amount of food, but after I got through the big climb/descdnt, I was making mental calculations on how much to burn. What worked this morning for a 10hr ride  was not going to work for 12-14hrs, and my average speed kept dropping.

Luckily, I passed two mountainbikers from Tauranga who gave me some energy gel/jubes, and the two bike packers also from Tauranga, who gave me some energy bars. Thank you Tom, Megan and the other couple.  I burned every bit of fuel to get home! 

I’ve figured out why I keep miscalculating. I am packing twice as much as I would normally eat, but am probably eating three times as much. What looks like an enormous amount of food doesn’t look so flash at the end of the day. 

Riding the country is not just tough on the body, its hard on equipment. My unicycle started making various noises…which had me worried. What if my bearings blew apart on the middle of nowhere? Or the seat/wheel explodes into shards of carbon fibre? 

There were various squeaks- the clicking from Day 1  turned out to be the plastic guard on my shoe hitting the crank. No problem. There was a clink which worried me all day but turned out to be my tools rattling in the bag. A few creaks from the cranks (generally ok), and a high pitched squeak (which could be my bearings)
I had been messaging my friend David Stockton (unicycle guru who built the strongest 36″ wheel in the world). The plan would be to get the bearings greased in the next big town, and hopefully replaced when I get to Wellington. 

Anyway, both rider and unicycle made it through the timber trail, then another 24km into the next town (Taumaranui). I was running on fumes by then, as had been out riding for 14hrs. 

It was nice day to do another 100km. My legs seem to recover well overnight. Looking at the course profile, there would be a lot of climbing today, but nothing I can’t handle.

The TA guidebook is broken up into sections of different distances, but I like to plan 50km sections, which is half a day riding. I knew I could knock off slightly more than 2x 50km on a good day.

I fueled up at the local Rhubarb cafe then hit the road, and it was straight into a long, gradual climb…exactly my kind of gradient! I was powering up as fast as the other TA riders. 

As I went through Mangakino, who did I bump into?  Mum!!!  She’d come up to make sure her boy was OK before he disappears into the Pureora forest. Our family friend Jane was with mum- they’d made a last minute decision to come. We had lunch together, then I headed off on the 2nd 50km section, which would get me to Pureora, the start of the timber trail.  I thought I’d get there early for a good rest before tackling the timber trail tomorrow.  My load was also marginally lighter- I gave mum my wallet complete with library cards and loyalty cards. What was I thinking? A credit card and two bank cards and driver license are all I’m carrying now.

It was all good until the road disappeared and turned into a 4 wheel drive track, which then turned into a rickety old bridge that threatened to drop the rider 10m onto the stream below. Luckily for me, a unicycle is easy to get through…I don’t fancy getting with a fully loaded touring bike across. From then on the Arataki track just got rougher and rougher. A section that should have taken 4 hrs took an extra 2. 

Once through the horror section there were still a few climbs to get to the center of North Island marker (photo checkpoint 8) before arriving at Pureora where we would begin the timber trail. 
It was dark by the time I arrived- I’d bonked and had started eating my food for the Timber Trail ride. Luckily, some amazing people staying at the Doc cabins fed the riders as they came in, and there was still plenty left which Simon (another TA rider) got out for me. A big thank you to those kind people, whoever you are!

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. 

I was feeling quite settled today, the routine was becoming familiar.  Wash, refuel, recover, then do it all again. It’s just another 100km unicycle ride!

The first section took me out toward Kawakawa Bay. It was quite picturesque but the road camber was tricky to negotiate.  Like many NZ roads, it must have been designed by someone who hates unicyclists. On a bike, you can correct for road camber easily. On a unicycle, you’re fighting to go in a straight line. I’m normally fairly adept at riding camber, but saddle sores made it hard to adjust my body position. 

I has a mild panic a few days ago when I couldn’t straighten the fingers in my left hand. Arghh! I must have an ulnar nerve palsy. On close inspection, I had no numbness and had reasonable power even if I couldn’t straighten fully, so I self diagnosed tendinitis…today it started clicking and locking, consistent with swollen tendons/sheath/trigger finger. I changed my hand position to ease up on the A1 pulley.  Riding 10-12hrs a day does that!

After a nice climb out of Kawakawa Bay, I rode further along the very pretty coastline, before getting onto the Hauraki rail trail just after the Miranda Hot Springs.  It’s a fantastic trail…it you like riding on ball bearings. The freshly laid gravel is not compacted, so the ride consisted of picking the best line through slippery, grabby stones. 

I took the obligatory selfie with dairy cows (photo checkpoint 6) as I continued to Paeroa. I also met Bruce Vickerman, a unicyclist who lives out this way, as he came out to say hi!

The last 30km to Paeroa was much more compacted, and I went into spinny leg mode and had a blast, loving the gravel! This is how it should be. 

At Paeroa, home of the famous Lemon and Paeroa (L&P) drink, I did the tourist thing and took a photo next to thd giant L&P bottle. 

Finally arrived at my motel to find the office shut. Arghh! I forget to ring ahead to say I’d be late. With a lot of arm flapping and waving, I managed to attract the attention of the owners who let me in. Phew!

I set off much later today to avoid rush hour traffic into Auckland.  After feeding and hydrating myself last night, I was feeling a lot better. 
For the first time, I was enjoying the ride. The day was much cooler with a light breeze and cloud. 
A few people knew who I was as I went past, so had obviously been watching the maprogress tracker. 

As I arrived into Auckland, I saw something that looked vaguely familiar coming toward me. It looks like a unicycle. Lo and behold, it was Tony Melton coming out for ride. We met Bryan Page further up the road, so I had two unicyclists escorting me into Auckland. How cool is that! 
I was joined shortly after by Cam, the TA rider who helped me out the first day. He had stopped his TA ride at his home in Auckland due to work commitments. 

They took me to Benny’s cycles along the way.  A guy with a cool mustache came out, looking very much like his bike shop logo…guess that must be Benny!
Benny fixed a bottle cage to my unicycle, which meant I could carry more water on long stretches, or avoid having to carry it in my backpack. Speaking of which…I dumped another 1/2 kg of unnecessary junk, so now my pack felt almost race worthy!
My legs felt good enough today that I rode all the way up Mt Eden…the difference a few kg and good hydration makes. 

The next photo checkpoint was the Mt Eden trig, and there taking in the view was the Ashburton TA team again. They’d been riding just slightly ahead of me for most of TA, and yo yo-ing back and forth at each rest stop.

I couldn’t get my GPS to follow through tracking file. Cam, Bryan and Tony led me across Auckland and out the South, then a local cyclist named Blair joined us and made sure I made it safely out onto the backroads to Clevedon. 

I had 100km to do to get to the 3pm ferry, so I was up by 4.45 and out the door by 5.30. 
It was a very pleasant ride at night, along the quiet road, and beautiful as the sun rose, over the mist. 

I met my first trail TA trail angels- a few kids handing out watermelons at the top of a climb. Delicious! Just what I needed. 

It was a much faster day, the first section was relatively flat. I got to Dargaville and had another meat pie before starting out toward Poutu. 69km to go! 

There was only one more shop before the ferry with 55km to go, so I filled up with another meat pie, ready to tackle the last section.  Despite stocking up, it got hotter and hotter and I’d run out of water. Luckily some of the other TA riders spared me some of theirs.  

There were a few tough climbs near the end, so I changed my crank length from my 100s to 125. It wasn’t a great idea- this immediately shaved 2-3km/hr off my cruising speed on the flat and downhills, and just made it more uncomfortable on the bum. My legs were struggling with heat and dehydration so I still ended up walking a lot of climbs. 

It was a race to get to the once-a-day charter boat at Poutu Point, but I made it just in time at 2.40, with 20min to spare. It took 3 1/2hrs to get across to Parakai, where I spent the night recovering from the first three days of pain. This was a ferry I did not want to miss!

I started the day with a much lighter pack, thanks to Mike and Leanne who were going to mail my stuff back to me. They literally saved my ride- I don’t know how I could ride another day with the full load. 

Cam rode with me for the first 30 km or so into Broadwood. It was great having company, along with a few other TA riders that were constantly going past.  

Leanne saved my ride again, this time driving up the road with my bivvy bag which I’d left behind at Mike’s place.

After two meat pies and a coke at general store, I headed up the first gravel section to Rawene. It was great fun on the Mezcal- the tyre was grippy and I was flying along. 

It got progressively hotter so I was very glad to arrive at the coast to catch the ferry at Rawene, but missed it by 5min! Argh…it was a good 40min wait for it to return, which is not great if you have 130km to ride. My average speed kept dropping and I knew I was pushing to get there before dark.

My intention was to get to the Kauri Coast Top10 holiday park, but in my tiredness I thought it was at Donnelys Crossing- it would be another 8km further. 

Another 2 meat pies (that’s four for the day!) at Opononi, and I was ready to tackle the big climb up to Waipoua forest. Today was hilly. I finally got to photo point 3, Tane Mahuta, one of NZs oldest and largest trees. 

It was a fast descent from there, but by the time I arrived at the turnoff to Donnelys crossing it was almost dark. Another 12km! Easy. I turned on the lights, but the gravel just looked white under LED, which made it hard to see uneven surfaces. What should have taken less than an hour took almost two.  On top of that I missed the accommodation and went past it 2.5km,  adding 5km to my ride, a total of 145km. 

I rolled into the holiday park at 10.30pm, a full 15 hour day!  That was hard- just a different sort of hard to day 1, when everything hurt. 

I had very little sleep last night in the bivvy. It was comfortable enough, but there’s plenty of nerves keeping me up. It rained but luckily stopped by the time I was up (4.45am). 

The TA was to start at 7am. After lugging myself and a very heavy pack up the the hill from campground, I was already feeling pretty exhausted. Not good! I had 3L of water and plenty of food for 90 Mile Beach, as there is limited water and nowhere for food. That added at least 4kg to my pack- so suddenly I’m carting over 12kg on my back. 

Shane from maprogress was at the start with our spot trackers. Keep it pointed at the sky at all times! I slipped it into the top compartment of my pack, hoping the other bits and pieces don’t accidentally trigger the SOS button. A quick event briefing then we’re off!   Bluff here we come…

The first few km was mainly down and up, but I was in trouble already. Hills I would normally fly up had me grinding or walking due to the heavy pack, which brought my average speed down to 11km/hr. 

The turnoff to 90 mile Beach is along the shallow Te Paki stream, which is really fun to ride, but my average speed was still low. 

I was looking forward to the beach, thinking that I’d make good time on the flat. How wrong was I?  The sand is hard…but it’s sand nonetheless. The rolling resistance was not helped by the fact we were riding into a stiff headwind. There were a few other riders, but no one seemed interested in forming a drafting group, so we were fighting the wind all the way. 

90 Mile Beach is actually 80km, but was named by the approximate distance a horse and cart would traverse its length. They didn’t account for the extra resistance of the sand. It’s a very pretty place, for about 5min. After that it turned into mile after mile of mind-numbing beach. My average speed kept dropping. With rest breaks to relieve the legs and crotch, it was now below 10km/hr.  I was expending a lot of energy just to keep cruising speed at 11-12km/hr.  At this rate, I would either run put of water or get caught by the tide and have to camp out in the dunes. 
Luckily, the sand started to harden up after 20km, and my cruising speed picked up to 15-17km/hr, but everything was hurting now. I stopped every 2-3km to relieve the pressure on my shoulders and crotch. 

By the time I reached Ahipara, the tide was starting to push me onto soft sand, and my legs were done. I bonked about 2km out, so lay on the beach. The locals driving past thought I was nuts. ‘Want a beer bro?’ (I’ll never ride the final 2km). ‘How ’bout a cone?’ (I might just lay on beach till the morning). I don’t do beer or marijuana, but it was nice gesture. 

When I arrived I headed straight for the local fish and chip shop and started stuffing my face…salt, grease, carbs…perfect! What more could a man want. 

One of the wonderful things about TA is the friends you make.  Cam (one of the other TA riders) and his friend Mike, who lives in Ahipara, pulled up and offered me bed for the night. YEESSS!  Thank you so much. Nothing like a hot shower and comfortable bed to make one feel whole again. Mike and his housemate Leanne may have saved my tour, offering to send some of my stuff back to Wellington. The pack will be much lighter tomorrow. I will update my packing list later to show what I ended up with- half the stuff was redundant.

It’s a long way to the top of the country. After two flights we’re not even there yet! I’ve arrived in the Bay of Islands town of Kerikeri.  There is a shuttle service that will take a group of us to Cape Reinga tomorrow.

I met another TA cyclist, Chris, on the same flight, so we assembled our wheel(s) together. Needless to say, I was ready to ride in 5min but it took somewhat longer to assemble his bike.  My unicycle packing needs work though- I’m not sure if it’s one too many wines at the Air NZ Koru Lounge or my top heavy pack, but it was a rather wobbly ride to our accommodation. 

Chris entered TA at the last minute, and had issues with his brake line. Luckily a local cyclist came past and contacted a mobile bike mechanic, who came over to fix the hydraulics. Pretty awesome thing to sort at 7pm in a small town!

I went for a quick ride to the river to look around- the last time I was here must have been when I was 10yrs old. Kerikeri is rather quaint, with plenty of old buildings from early European settlement. I found NZ’s oldest surviving pear tree (actually NZ’s oldest exotic tree), planted over 200yrs ago by a missionary. I wish I has another day or two to explore!  

Side note: now that I’m officially away, I am blogging via mobile phone, which is a PITA. I can’t get the embed code off mobile Flickr, so there won’t be photos on this blog until I get home. I will keep adding photos on Flickr though. You can view the Tour Aotearoa Flickr album here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzD19G