I was awake at 430 so didn’t need the alarm I’d set for 445! It was a speedy pack up then along to the camp cafe for the promised 530 breakfast – and we were off by 6 as planned.
The first hour of riding was in the dark, through the forest, mostly in silence, climbing gently. Then a cool, twisting gravel descent just as the sun rose. I was riding with Josh and we knew we needed to keep a good pace all day to make the boat.
About half an hour before Dargaville, we came across three lovely young trail angels who were handing out sliced melon and icy water, and super keen to chat. Everyone was stopping and very appreciative. Heart warming stuff 🙂
A lot of us caught up together in Dargaville for a quick food restock and a phone confirmation that the ferry would run at 4pm. It was hot; it’s continually hard to drink enough and stay properly hydrated.
Pushing on – after a few stretches to the amusement of a friendly local – we headed down the peninsula, having joined up with Lance who is doing a very cool vlog everyday for NZ Mountain Biker mag. While we were having a water stop, Ellen caught up and the four of us diced with the logging trucks and cross winds together for a few hours.
It was a great afternoon, I was feeling good and appreciating how much of a privilege it was to have this epic adventure in the company of like-minded people. Apart from the last hour or so, that is, when it started to rain, the gravel got really rough and there was always another hill around the corner that we’d thought marked the top.
I took a fall on one particularly rough corner but unclipped in time to avoid real injury. Later we learned others weren’t so lucky, with Nick and Ian now sporting some pretty serious wounds from a high speed wheel touch.
We got to Pouto at 315 – me, Ellen and Josh were the last to make it! And then it was the tricky task of loading the boat in a rough sea. We joined about 40 people, some from wave 4 and some fellow wave 5s we hadn’t seen since the start! Now we’re sitting on the ferry and get into Parakai around 730. Priorities for me will be dinner and shower!
I’ll probably take it a bit easier tomorrow, after two hard days and not much quality sleep. It’s great having plenty of time up my sleeve. Feeling pretty good though. Had a chat with Simon Kennett just now who is travelling with his daughter Miro on a tandem – inspiring stuff!