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| All that lycra is asking for trouble |
Day 1. Whangarei to Paihia 145km
View route
Day 2. Pahia to Pukenui 173km
View route
Day 3. Pukenui to Cape Reinga and return
to Hokianga 138km
View route
Day 5. Omapere to Whangarei 140km
Day 1: Whangarei to Paihia 145km View route
-- Mark Gilbert reports
Started from the Settlers
Hotel in Whangarei.
Perfect conditions for the start and everyone on time!
We
headed to Tutakaka for coffee and encountered 2km of unsealed road under
repair.
Peter Hall punctured (only one of the day), otherwise an
uneventful start.
At coffee, MT received an award for being on time. Simon for getting lost on the way to
the hotel.
And Peter Hall for forgetting the first aid kit and chilly bin.
The head winds grew from
Tutakaka, making progress slow.
Murray Gate was hampered by a corked leg so
spent a fair bit of time on the front trying to loosen it up (unsuccessfully).
Great lunch at the Gallery café
on the top of Helena Bay hill. Then the last leg to Russell.
John McGechie takes a heroic dive to avoid the rocky beach on an unexpected
tight downhill bend.
Mostly pride hurt. But no doubt he will show you
all the scars at some point.
Long day 142km, 5 hours 45 ride
time.
Over 2,100 metres climbed.
No rain until we arrived at our hotel in Paihia.
Quite a few suffering
from cramp. It was long and hot and humid, largely overcast for much of
the day.
A few fitness concerns and the medical team will be working overtime
in the bar tonight.
Mark
Photos on Facebook.
Day 2: Pahia to Pukenui 173km View route
-- Mark Gilbert reports
We expected a delay due to rain, but awoke to a glorious day. Memorable awards night previously with John McGechie taking a clean sweep plus some additional awards. Great effort.
Day 2 was expected to be long and hard. It started poorly with Waitangi closed to visitors until 9.00am. So we headed off into a head wind to the main road. Coffee at Marty's just south of Kaeo (best coffee and food in Northland!) Just as well because all of Kaeo's cafés were closed. Head and cross winds for much of the way to Maunganui. F&Cs for lunch. Harbour looked fantastic! German Tourists regularly appeared in the van for the rest of the trip. They seemed to get asked 30 questions by each changing driver. Slow ride to Awanui and another stop, then on to Pukenui.
Long hard day again 151kms, no injuries or accidents (well there was but that’s another story) and Murray and John recovering. Pete's flu also getting better.
Over 3,000 calaries burned more than yesterday. Spectacular evening in Pukenui, beautiful outlook over the harbour from the motel. Stunning. A swim in the pool and then Marty put on the beers. Dinner at the Houhora Tavern. Home early big day again tomorrow
Mark
Day 3. Pukenui to Cape Reinga and return to Hokianga 138km View route
-- Mark Gilbert reports
Glorious day again in the north. Stunning sunrise over the bay.
Slow start with Martin Thompson returning to form and holding the team up. Don had gone ahead and had a good start on the group. Tail wind for first 50kms made things pretty easy on relatively flat terrain. MT punctured - the only eventful moment.
Few dramas at the first coffee stop where team Taylor struggled to replace a tyre (Finch and McGeechie involved - lots of advice and no competency).
The next 20kms turned into a bit of a race. The hills just went on and on and the cross winds started to take a toll. Don first to the Cape! The rest arrived and most made there way to the lighthouse (Peter Hall had a rest in the van having driven the last few kms). Windy but very picturesque!
The return trip was always going to be hard into the strong winds! Andrew and Finchy formed a breakaway. Andrew in front for much of the ride. Most others were sheltering behind Doug or the van acting as a wind break.
Really tough day, memorable moment, Don coming screaming past drafting behind the van with 1 km to go saying "See you later alligator!"
140km, over 1800 metres of climbing
Dinner at the Pacific Café. Awesome!
Mark
Day 4. Hokianga to Omapere 142km View route
-- Mark Gilbert reports
We awoke to another beautiful day in Northland. Pukenui is a very tranquil northern harbour which hosts the local sports and commercial fishing industry.
It is quite stunning.
Revived by an good nights sleep, only interrupted every half hour by logging trucks.
Wilson and McGechie and a couple of others had a private party after dinner. We are not sure if condoms were involved.
The next day we set off as usual and after 20kms MT had difficulty drinking from his drink bottle. After a few minutes and a lot of shouting he got the latex flavour out of his mouth! Could have been quite a nasty H&S issue.
We were expecting Wilson to do a van change over at 20km but he never showed up. So we stopped at the Kauri Kingdom (30km) to make contact. Turns out he had a flat tyre and the spare was flat and stuffed! Miraculously 2km from the start he found two second hand tyres. To his credit he replaced 2 tyres (in less time than it took team Taylor to replace one) and was back on the road again. All this in the middle of nowhere.
The day continued. Martin punctures again. Brett finally gets to ride and catches the peloton. They piss off and leave him with cold legs on the hills. Murray Gate waits and we all regroup 20km up the road. Gentle rolling hills with head and cross winds easing as the day progresses.
The cross winds helped to ease some of the bad air that was wafting around at times behind some one.
Fast 25kms into Kohukohu, very scenic and brilliant roads. We made the 2.00pm ferry for lunch in Rawene. Short sprint by some to Omapere.
Dinner was excellent. Don up to his old tricks, chatting up the visiting talent. Amisfield wine featured on our wine list thanks to an anonymous donor. More seafood chowder! Very pleasant and a beautiful sunset.
Over 5 hours riding 139km and over 1400 metres climbed so the easiest day so far.
Awards were shared between, Webster, Finchy, Gilbert and Gate.
Hard day tomorrow.
Mark
Day 5. Omapere to Whangarei 140km
-- Mark Gilbert reports
Weather superb for the start. Hokianga had been at its best the night before. Which is more than can be said for some of the riders. Big thank you to the person who ordered an additional 5 bowls of calamari as side dishes for the team.
The morning was cool. The team restored the spare wheel after yesterdays dramas. That took about an hour. Everyone pleased it was Wilson that had been driving the day previously. He is wasted in his current role.
The hill out of Omapere (1.5km) resulted in Peter getting off the bike for the day (illness forcing the decision). The rest rode on to the kauri forests, John still bleating on about not having seen a kauri tree! No problems encountered on the way to Tane Mahuta, nice climb, legs full of energy.
There are 2-3 smaller climbs through the forests then a long descent out onto farmland. The forests were magnificent, everything we had expected and more. The long descent was cold. Once out of the forest we spent the next 45km looking for coffee without success!
Nothing between Omapere and Dargaville (except kauri gum and galleries). Strong head winds particularly the last 25km into Dargaville. Good work from the youngsters into the wind!
Lunch at "Blah Blah Blah", coffee and food was fantastic. Murray had bonked on the way in, but everyone in need to sustenance. 57km to go, mostly tail wind, we had already completed 1400m of climbing, only 400m more. No more coffee stops, a lot of big trucks, but all arrived safely at the Settlers Hotel Whangarei.
Champagne to celebrate and a couple of hours in the sun with drinks and nibbles. (Thanks to those shouting). Finchy's birthday this Saturday!
I am sure Doug will update with all the stats.
But the trip was hard , no real easy days, lots of highlights, the pictures tell a lot. Weather and scenery was fantastic. Big plans for next year being formulated.
The Kauri Coastal Classic 2012 legends are Doug Todd, Peter Hall, Mark Gilbert, Chris Taylor, Simon Blackwell, John McGeechie, Trevor Finch, Martin Thompson, Brett Wilson, Andrew Webster, Geoff Bulte, Don Worall (73) and Murray Gate.
