Day 15 Ongarue to National Park

Sau Keng says I am talking too much about hills! Our experiences of this ride differ a lot, mostly because of the characteristics of our vehicles. Bicycles are tolerant of bumps, so I can look around, checking the road immediately in front of me only occasionally, and I can go fast. A bump on one back wheel tips the trike, uncomfortable at moderate speeds and dangerous when going fast. Sau Keng focuses on what is in front of her, looks around less, and does not zoom down hills. Within reason bicycles do not notice the sideways slope on roads. Sideways slopes tilt the trike and it does not take much to make the ride feel uncomfortably unstable. On some roads the camber near the edge is enough to drive Sau Keng into the middle. Gravel roads with steeply cambered corners are the worst - generally the edge of the road on the outside of the curve is best - but half the time that's the wrong side of the road. Vehicles passing are also worse on the trike as it is wider and riding near the edge of the road risks dropping one rear wheel off the road - possibly tipping the trike over. Sau Keng REALLY does not like busy roads. The trike has a motor that does most of the work - hills and slopes and wind do not make a big difference to Sau Keng's riding experience, but they can change mine from effortless to ordeal. I will cut down on reporting rides hill by hill - but will still talk about them when they are important to me. I'll also try to mention things important to Sau Keng.

Lazy start today, we are not on the road until 8:30! I'm wearing three layers as it's foggy and cool, Sau Keng is well wrapped with a scarf are around he neck. Foggy is good, excellent even - There is no wind, a misty landscape had its own charm, and it will clear to a beautiful day.

Foggy Ongarue river, near Ongarue

We ride down Ongarue back road, gravel, so Sau Keng takes it slow. I take it slow too, particularly on hills, as I'm comfortable - if I exert myself I will sweaty and then cold. It's beautiful riding. As we near Taumarunui we see Ruapehu for the first time this trip.

Quirky house along Ongarue back road

Our first sight of Mt Ruapehu

We get into Taumarunui and look for a cafe for our morning coffee and cake. Here's one, but there are cyclists outside a shop further down the road - that will probably be the best cafe, we ride on. A guy comes out with a bucket of peaches, "from my mate's tree", "help yourself" We do, I eat two and they are very good. Sau Keng stores hers for later - risky I reckon. The other riders are doing the Tour Aotearoa. They have a tough couple of days ahead, going over a high, steep, mountain bike track to get to the bridge to nowhere. But then they have a boat ride down the river. We transport ourselves 100%

Out of Taumarunui we are taking the back route to Owhango (a small town on SH4). The road follows the Whanganui river for a while then follows a tributary to it's source. Again this is beautiful country, we have the road to ourselves, it's wonderful.

It's getting bigger and sharper

After a while the road turns to gravel, corrugated in places but mostly okay, cambers not too extreme. Sau Keng slows - and I get to rest. As we ride along the valley I see the skyline high in the distance. We go over that, I think, and soon the road starts climbing. It's not too steep and the views are great and we stop a few times for photos.

We go over that ridge on the skyline

Sau Keng is on the road down there

3x zoom. Now can you see her?

The artwork on some of the toilets is too realistic!

10x zoom. See, she really is there!

I enjoyed this climb :-) Owhango is not far past the crest, and we didn't lose too much of our height. We have lunch at a nice cafe, we are trying so many small town cafes on this trip. Most are very good - like this one.

20 kilometers to National Park. Not far, I try to tell myself. But now we are on SH4, and while the traffic is not bad we still want to keep well to the side. At the side there is a rumble strip and a narrow shoulder. We don't like the rumble strip - uncomfortable and slows us down. It's particularly awkward for Sau Keng as the trike does not fit on the shoulder, so she has to straddle the rumble strip, trying not to ride on it. We also have a headwind and the road undulates while climbing overall. It is hard, unpleasant riding. Only 15km now. I'm actually looking forward to the Raurimu climb - an honest climb is better than this hard frustrating riding.

The Raurimu climb is in front of me, straight up the hill into the distance, daunting. I drop to a low gear and start crawling up. Sau Keng passes and draws away. Some time and many breaths later we meet at the top. Even after a rest I have very little energy left, and the road continues to undulate upwards for the last 4km. Hard work. I am very glad when we crest a rise and see the National Park township. Very.

Unpack and discard squashed peach. Shower, dinner, rest, then we join the paparazzi, photographing sunset on the mountains. Everyone had the same idea!

Statistics

Distance: 73.1 km

Climbed: 1305 m

Time: 6:19