Day 1 Auckland to Raglan. Team awoke to terrible weather. Trained to Papakura and set off for Raglan. 1600 text message from McGechie: "Yo. All here at Raglan by the sea. Ended up taking the train to Papakura then rode from there. A very wet last two hours. Cheers".
T. Hicks emails: "We are in Raglan. Tiring day, pushed hard, will need to manage my body over the coming days. We had challenging conditions with lots of rain although we had a strong northerly providing a tailwind. Many of the rivers and streams are flooded along the route. Tomorrow is a 188km day to Taupo into a southerly - head winds & cool but with less rain forecast. Looking forward to it."
Day 2 Raglan to Taupo. Wilson reports via email: "Left Raglan under threat of rain.Needn’t have worried – roads dried out and fine until almost the end of the day. Great rolling country out of Raglan towards Pirongia – quiet roads. Uneventful 65km into TA! Until Geoff parks the van 200m before Te Awamutu coffee stop for a driver changeover? Great feed at Robt Harris before making way for the next 60km to Mangakino. More great southern Waikato country before hitting rockclimbers terrain before the Mangakino Gorge. A decent climb and fantastic 300m descent hitting the tour speed record +70km! Another slog before the culinary highlight of the tour so far. NEVER seen so many flies in one place at Mangakino – put the boys off their food. Off again across some nice flat road before beginning a 30km hill climb to the top of the round Taupo ride Ben Nevis at 650m. By then the rain had started – extremely COLD – the boys kicked up the efforts and caned it into Taupo to try and prevent the cold grabbing hold too much. Once into de Bretts it was into the hot thermal pools…………..
Another T. Hicks email: "195km, 2,000m of vertical climbing, 7hrs, 5min ride time. The biggest day of the tour! What a difference a day makes, where yesterday was humid and wet with a northerly tailwind, today was cold and wet with a southerly headwind. The last hour and a half in particular was freezing. We rode into heavy driving rain and there was cursing, questioning and finger pointing about who's idea this trip was. The body feels surprisingly good, will be interesting to see how I go tomorrow, its another tough day, lots of km and hills with a SE headwind forecast. Cheers."
Day 3 Taupo to Havelock North. T. Hicks reports via email: "163km, 1,600m of vertical climb, 7hrs 00min ride time. Weather report: Sun? - mostly. Rain? - the odd drop. Freezing SE headwind? - YES, YES, YES. We woke to a freezing but sunny morning in Taupo. It was full winter kit for this bunch of Jafas as our tired bodies contemplated the day ahead. The first stop was 63km from Taupo. It was a low point for the spirit as we climbed and climbed into a cold, energy sapping headwind - testosterone was in short supply! It took us 2hrs 37min which was depressing. Spirits lifted after coffee, although still more climbing with the biggest hills we have seen so far. It was good to drop down into Hawkes Bay and there were some awesome downhill sections, fast and long. The toughest days are behind us, tomorrow will be a doddle - only 100km. I just wish the southerly would clear off, what happened to the famed Hawkes Bay weather? Cheers, Troy."
Day 4 Havelock North to Dannevirke. Another T. Hicks email. "Sometimes the numbers don't tell the full story. 113km; 754m of vertical climbing; 4hrs 25min ride time. The easy day we were all looking forward to......why didn't it feel easy? The tiredness is starting to take hold and the extra glass of pinot noir last night to celebrate having "broken the tours back" was unhelpful and turned out to be premature. We set of late in sunny conditions but still with our friend the southerly (what we would give for a tailwind!). Our route took us down SH2 towards Waipukurau - SH2 was awful with trucks and traffic but fortunately a helpful lady at our first stop helped us to find the scenic route. And scenic it was with beautiful countryside and some neat rolling downhill sections - this is what bicycle touring is all about! Tomorrow is around 150km to Martinborough and right now that feels like a long way - but apparently they have some good pinot there. Cheers, Troy."
Day 5 Dannevirke to Martinborough. T. Hicks reports: "That's what I'm talking about....170km, 660m of vertical climbing, 6hrs 00min ride time. A dream day of riding! The southerly abated, the sun was out, it was crisp and clear and the roads and scenery were outstanding. We kept off SH2 and followed the beautiful back roads firstly to Pahiatua then on to Masterton and finally to Martinborough. It was flat and fast and it felt great not to be climbing and not to have a headwind. There was no tiredness and the testosterone levels were high in the peleton - we even raced the final 18km into Martinborough! We have now completed 770km in 5 days (154km avg) and most of us are feeling good. Tomorrow Welly, just 80km and the Rimutaka's to go. Cheers, Troy."
Final Day Martinborough to a hamlet south of Foxton. T. Hicks reports: "And so it ends..... 85km, 700m of vertical climbing, 3hrs 10min ride time. Beautiful, Welly and the Wairarapa put on a stunning day to finish the tour. The Rimutakas beckoned and so we rode the last climb of the tour. It's a nice climb, not too steep and about 5km long. The downhill was great, makes the climb all the more worthwhile. We finished on the steps of Parliament, photo's and handshakes all round.
And so to the wash up of the total stats of the tour:
Total distance: 855km
Avg km/day: 142.5km
Total vertical climbing: 7,000m
Avg climb/day: 1,167m per day
Tot ride time: 33hrs 05min
Avg ride time: 5hrs 30min per day
Avg speed: 25.8 km/hr
All for the glory of the bicycle!
Cheers, Troy."
