On 20 October, the COVID lockdown in Auckland & Waikato moved to Level 3.1 which allowed regional travel but no access to the rest of the country (still at Level 2).
Overnight trips, staying in rented accommodation or camping, were still not permitted but not really a problem for my day ride plans. A look at Strava history was useful to remind me of some gaps in Auckland riding, although not all my ride history is on Strava. I circled some parts of the map between the dashed lines (which approximate the Covid Region) I hadn’t ridden and started tackling day rides. Here’s a summary with more details in ride video/photo/map summaries linked to on Relive.
Turned out sticking close to home for the first ride was wise when the bottom bracket on Giro Rob (my gravel bike) started making a terrible noise after a few km. Despite the recent service it seems, on a very wet ride, water had got in there and fowled things up. It was back for a service, I don’t have the tools, and onto the other bikes for a couple of weeks. With workshop time and parts hard to find in COVID times it’s handy to have the choice!
Bethells (Te Henga) Beach
In some ways En-Trance, my mountain bike, was better to revisit Bethells (Te Henga) Beach, scene of many Alfie walks, anyway. It required traversing a slip and the wide tyres were also great for beach riding (TO2122-28).
The Te Henga Rd slip, in the old quarry, was larger than I expected and more a bike carry traverse, than rideable.
Kaipara & Shelly Beach
It was a long time since I had ridden the South Head of the Kaipara so drove to Helensville and rode to Shelly Beach (TO2122-30). Wasn’t a brilliant day, overcast and cold wind, but a pleasant change of scenery.
Shelly Beach has a great café, but lockdown meant they were only offering a limited takeaway menu. I got there late so the menu was down to just pie and lolly cake so that was lunch, with my ‘onboard’ apple to finish. I checked out some side roads, new lifestyle block developments, the river, and a loop around Helensville on the way back.
As I was packing the bike into the car heavy rain arrived, timed it right!
Huia & Whatipu
I did several rides out to Huia and Whatipu. Apart from the scenery there is the prospect of stopping at Alfred’s Huia Store to refuel. They did door service over the lockdown with shorter hours and limited days to reflect the reduction of people out and about.
Chatted to one family (photo below right from rides TO2122-32A 32B) who’d come across the harbour, from Wattle Bay Awhitu, for a coffee and lunch as it was the nearest café open!
Beyond Little Huia the road was closed to most vehicles due to a slip. While taking the photo of Awhitu (below left) heard a car and the Whatipu Lodge owner on his way to town stopped for a chat. After the trials of COVID lockdowns it must have been tough to have further disruption from the access problems which lasted into late January.
When I got the beach there was nobody else there, but it is never particularly busy (vast area). Saw some bizarrely cool COVID art on the Cornwallis Road (TO2122-15) which could have been a bit disturbing without the friendly sign alongside!
Because most were still working most of my weekday rides were solo. Was great to meet up with Thomas for some when his schedule allowed. (TO2122-37)
Whangaparāoa wandering
Way back in the late seventies my Grandparents had a place at Whangaparaoa. I used to cycle there a lot but don’t think I have since. Parked at Orewa and bay hopped out to the Shakespeare Regional Park and back (TO2122-36).
First stop was Manly Beach. The 'brisk' wind was good for kite surfing, not so great for cycling!
There is a great gravel ride, quite demanding gradients in parts, around the park perimeter. Gulf Harbour is still doing its ‘Gold Coast in NZ’ thing but some of the eighty's architecture is looking tired. As I climbed out of there, via a steep footpath to Balboa Drive, a woman gardening cheered me on!
Was fun hurtling down the hill to Arkles Bay again, a familiar haunt. Amusing to think the threat of a bridge across Wade River was all the talk in the 70s, still not built!
Muriwai
I did a few rides to Muriwai, (TO2122-16, TO2122-41), nice in the week when there’s less traffic.
It’s a mix of suburban and rural riding from home with plenty of variety. I got caught out one day, the café was closed due to the (only) powerline into the beach being replaced!
The back roads through Waitakere, Muriwai Valley are nice riding, a short stretch of gravel nearer the beach enough to keep lots of traffic away.
The Gannets are mesmerising viewing, there over summer to breed.
Changeable weather is always a New Zealand thing. This storm powering the kite surfers (below left) passed in the time it took me to scoff a well-timed café lunch and I rode home in hot sun. I love the surfboard slow down sign in Ngatira Rd.
Orakei Basin
On a ride to check out the newly resurfaced smooth Tāmaki Drive Bike Path. It opened with a terribly bumpy surface, worse than the existing 40+ year old pedestrian path, but is now much better. I also explored Orakei Basin (TO2122-35) as been years since going there.
There’s a new wide path along one side (part of the incomplete Glen Innes Tamaki Drive shared path) and a narrow semi-rideable boardwalk/bridge on the other side.
Heading home I also got to see these mysterious security gates in action. The access leads to container storage by the Onehunga Foreshore Path. They have automatic sensor opening or require radio connection to authorise… or just walk/drive around them?
Waiwera with ACG & Pūhoi Loop
I did some rides in the Waiwera (TO2122-42, TO2122-104) with the Auckland Cycle Group.
It is a nice rural loop with Waiwera Beach for a post ride swim (tide allowing) and pub for lunch!
Was good to join Thomas on a ride to Puhoi (TO2122-47). Initially planned to ride from there but as I got close to Orewa the signs indicated some sort of incident had closed SH1 North. Diverted to Waitoki and rode a Puhoi Loop from there.
After an excellent lunch at the Puhoi Pub there is quite a climb out of the valley. It was a nice route, especially with the bonus of a tailwind on the flat run back into Waitoki!
A ride companion
In November, thanks to Dorothy, a cute little ride companion from Nathan W Pyle’s - Stranger Planet arrived. It was with me on every two wheel foot pusher revolution, albeit mostly safe inside the bike bag, from then on.
A Sigg bottle oops!
A cunning plan to take more cold fluids in my Sigg bottle taught me not to freeze them. Even part full, with no lid on, the liner burst the alloy body . Glad that it was the more battered one of my two I took on the 2014 Himalayan Trip.
Clevedon, Maraetai & Hunua Valleys
I hadn’t ridden the Maraetai coast for ages. Met Thomas at Clevedon and did a loop (TO2122-44) out to the coast and back via Beachlands, Whitford and Brookby.
Was a weekday so little traffic on the coast road, such a nice ride, but truck traffic on the road near the Whitford Refuse station was unpleasant.
After lunch at Clevedon, we explored Ness Valley and Moumoukai Hill Rd.
It is a dead-end road which goes up into the Hunua Ranges (see end of TO2122-44). A nice mix of tarmac/gravel and ~370m climb followed by up to 76km/h on the descent got the heart rate up. We also had the bonus of a tailwind back to Clevedon!
Riverhead Forest & Waitoki with ACG
I joined ACG on a group ride through Riverhead Forest (TO2122-46a, 46b) but extended it to around 100km by riding to/from the start from home.
It was a great ride but the great refuel lunch, DD’s Country Café at Waitoki, was called on to cover the last few km. Although not super long half the ride on gravel increased the effort and had ridden 60km the day before. Good training for the South Island rides ahead.
Eastern Beaches with ACG
I repeated the extend thing again by riding to & from the AGC Eastern Beaches ride (TO2122-48b).
Although I was familiar with the area Phil strung together a bunch of shared paths to make quite a bit of this off road.
At Bucklands Beach a mirror glass fence offered a selfie opportunity and a historic 1947 Real Estate poster showed sea view properties for £175–200 ($14-16,000 CPI adjusted today), just £25 deposit and £2/month. Prices have changed a bit since then!
I had straight-lined the ride there (TO2122-48a), on quiet early Sunday morning roads, so took a different route home (TO2122-48c) to check out the newly opened Panmure Bike Path.
Matakana, Pakiri & Omaha
Another area I knew but hadn’t cycled was the Parkiri Coast. Met Thomas and we rode (TO2122-50a) from Matakana up the valley.
Beautiful views and quite a climb, towards Whangapiro. Turned off at Parkiri Road, out to the coast and the beach.
After lunch, at Morris & James Pottery, we rode out to Ohama (TO2122-50b) on the bike train to tour the slightly dystopian beach community.
Omaha was established in the 70s but recent development has that built to a restricted template same but different and ostentatious feel. Not my idea of a beach to flock to, didn't even take a photo!
Point Wells still has more of a village feel and they had a Xmas letterbox competition running.
I tried some 34mm gravel tyres on my gravel bike, but they were a bit too wide although sized smaller than the bulletproof Schwalbe 35mm Marathon+ I usually run. On the clay gravel there wasn’t enough clearance on the chainstay so tried 30mm Schwalbe G-One Speed tyres. Surprisingly capable on gravel, found needed to run higher pressure 70psi+ to avoid pinch flats, and feel faster on tarmac. Would run them again but COVID stock shortages make them hard to find so will end up back on Marathons.
Airport Puhinui, Clendon & Karaka SH1 bike path
One of my regular road rides goes through the Airport but there are some trails and paths in Puhinui, Clendon and a new path down the motorway (SH1) to Karaka. Starting from the airport gave a headstart and I really enjoyed the ride which mostly follows the coast. There was a bit of road riding to connect some paths but it was mostly quiet suburban streets. (TO2122-45)
One thing that did catch me out was not eating enough. I was going to stop at a café but the few I saw with outdoor tables were not open or really busy. It was flat riding, not hard, but after about 60km, with only home breakfast for fuel, I started to feel a but rotten. Had to stop at a petrol station in Roscommon Rd to gobble down my ‘dairy’ ride refuel staples: Sea Salt Kettle Chips, Coffee Milk and nuts/chocolate bar!
The ‘Southern Path’ along the SH1 Motorway between Conifer Grove and Karaka is great. A bridge recently opened to connect it to Papakura, offering another route to explore.
The are a few km of gravel trails around Puhinui Reserve, at the eastern end of the Airport runway, with harbour views. The residents were friendly, if curious!
Hūnua Mountain Bike Trails
I took the bouncy bike out Hūnua to explore the mountain bike trails near the Upper Mangatawhiri Reservoir (TO2122-40). As was a weekday there was nobody there other than a couple of people walking. It was great to get used to handling the bouncy bike with the sort of gear I wanted to carry on a day ride.
The park has a mix of trails from gravel road, farm track, and single track. I set the world record slowest time on the ‘Challenge Downhill’ trail. The Aeroe front bag is really solidly mounted and I actually found the additional weight up front aided steep climbs and didn’t really impact handling.
The weather was mixed, passing misty showers that kept things damp without really being wet, but it didn’t rain proper until I was back at the car packing up. Was good to see the Reservoir, an Auckland drinking water source, full to the brim ready for summer. I did the climb (~200m in 4km) up Waterline Rd which connects to ‘Challenge Track’.
The Trailforks app proved its worth advising it wasn’t worth attempting in the wet, “hard enough walking up these slopes in the wet, let alone riding”, so alone in the wet seemed like a bad idea. Instead it was a great gravel downhill retracing the road I’d ridden up.
Woodhill Mountain Bike Park
Took the bouncy bike up to Woodhill Mountain Bike Park (TO2122-52) for a weekday solo ride. First time in years, probably over a decade, so was good to try the trails and get more used to the bike without holding up or getting in others way. I played a bit with the front shock pressure, found a setting which worked a bit better with the additional bag weight.
While I don’t mind riding park trails exploring cross country type trails and back roads is more my taste.
Armour Bay Swims
When favourable tides and hot weather combined a ride over the hill to Armour Bay, Parau, for a swim was nice (TO2122-53).
It is popular in the weekend/holidays but one some weekdays was there alone. Container art in Shaw Rd, Oratia, (on the way home) makes a cool backdrop for the bouncy bike.
On one trip home (TO2122-54B) I ventured down to Kauri Rd Point, Laingholm, a lovely view I hadn’t see before. Love the fisherman who cast from the top of the cliff, quite a wind to retrieve their catch.
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