This video shows fitting the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres I run on my CX bike. They are heavy, bullet proof, and with stiff sidewalls and strong beads can be a battle to fit.
I knew the “wire in the trough” part of this demo but like how he used old toe straps (leather so don’t damage rim) to hold the tyre as you fit it. Found via a Facebook post comment.
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I slept in a bit again, nice after the busy A20 and big drive days. Finally looked out the window about 8am to see blue skies and sun. What a contrast to last night’s overcast and drizzle!
I’d come back to Westport as back in 2011 we cycled north of here to Karamea past the turnoff to the Denniston Plateau. It is an area with a unique history. From 1869 to 1967 a perilous rail incline was used to bring coal from the 600m high plateau to sea level. Although only ~25km from Westport, and an easy drive today, it was an isolated remote community with only foot or horse bridle path access for much of that time. I’d read and heard a lot about it, returned back to see it and because it was a more interesting, if longer, route back to Picton than back up the East Coast.
It was about 10:30 by the time I got Rapid Rob together, myself fed and sorted for the ride. Although it was Friday, the Westport main street was still pretty quiet.
Fishing boats on the calm river, they have a hazardous river bar to get out of here to open ocean.
On the way out of town I explored some of the Kawatiri River trail. A walking/cycle path which runs alongside the Buller-Kawatiri River, linking the town with the nearby North Beach. I explored about half, you could easily spend most of the day just in this area.
I was travelling light, just a bit of food and wet weather gear just in case….
Looking towards the river mouth on a lovely calm day.
I didn’t venture far off the path on the beach, soft sand. Had a good chat with a local doing the trail on his e-MTB. He thought I was a bit mad to cycle up to Denniston, but said lots drive up for the MTB trails and road ride down!
I didn’t need any spare parts but the front yard of this house would surely have been able to help if I did. Maybe something for Bas to consider if they ever need any parts for the tour bikes!
The road to Waimangaroa is flat, not the most thrilling ride, but a tailwind helped.
The Denniston turnoff is not hard to find.
Love this old service station and repurposed, Mobil?, sign. I stopped here to shed some clothes as was getting warm, and to get a photo! Another chat too, a guy drove out of the house beside this and also thought riding up was a bit crazy!
Before heading to the top it is well worth while checking out the bottom!
This is where conventional trains met the coal wagons which had hurtled down the incline, a descent of 518 metres on a line just 1670 metres long.
The road gradient is pretty constant, rising ~600 metres up over 8.1km, with nice views to keep the mind occupied.
At one point I could see the incline cutting through the bush.
Riding up, but thinking of the ride down, this 12% gradient out of a hairpin was the steepest part.
You don’t have to look far to see the geology which was the reason people lived here. Denniston is closed now, preserved as a historic site.
The top of the path down to the rail incline.
I liked these translucent historic photos, you can line them up with the current ruins, landscape, to see how it once was. There are lots of displays with info on the area. I particularly remember one tale of a child being injured and it was several days before a doctor could get up to Denniston from Westport.
Te Ara has a short video of the incline in action, these coal wagons went down scary fast.
Between 1879 and 1967 the incline brought down more than 13 million tonnes of coal.
Hard to capture how steep this is in a photo, could barely walk down here without falling.
The clouds were coming down from the hills, but I didn’t need my rain gear.
The top of the plateau is now crisscrossed with mountain bike trails. I didn’t have time to explore them, a reason to return.
The descent was awesome, a flowing 8km –600m return to sea level.
The coal trains are still running, to the huge Stockton open cast mine further north.
Nice evening ride back to Westport, there was a funny ‘rush not quite hour’ as about 15-20 vehicles passed me in a few minutes. I don’t know if it was knock off time from the mine up the road or folks heading to town for Friday night!
The bike odometer recorded 74km today.
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The last day of our Alps To Ocean ride started with breakfast at Burnside Homestead.
Most large NZ houses of this era were laid out as rooms along corridors/wings. Burnside is unusual in having a huge octagonal centre parlour with most of the rooms radiating off it.
It was cool to see reproductions of the original plans in the house history album.
We breakfasted in style this morning, Alison & Bruce hosting in their period apparel.
It was an emotional farewell. Alison & Bruce are retiring (well deserved) and the house has been sold. Although it appears the new owner will honour the heritage of the homestead it is unlikely to be offering accommodation, the end of an era. I think we were the last tour, certainly the last Adventure South tour, to stay there.
Back on the bikes on a beautiful fine day for the short run into Oamaru. It is intentional to give riders time to appreciate the sights of the town, but we’d already covered that on our ‘day off visit’ earlier in the ride.
This section includes quite a long tunnel, the Rakis Railway Tunnel. My Cycliq headlight (part of the camera) came in handy for this bit!
I doubled back to light the way for some of the others. As I finally emerged from the tunnel I was surprised to hear what sounded like a large group of people chatting.
It was a large walking group who were having their morning tea before tackling the tunnel.
The trail to Oamaru traverses a lot of farmland, mostly flat or downhill.
Irrigation is becoming a rather contentious issue in some parts of NZ.
A dining chair in the sun but no sign of anyone to sit in it.
A rather macabre, if accurate, road sign; [Slaughteryard Rd | No Exit]
Back at The Fort Enfield Pub, last nights dinner spot, for morning tea!
A memorial of significance, commemorating the sudden recent loss of a family member of one of our riders.
Back to the Oamaru Victorian Precinct, this time on a sunny day. The bunting wasn’t for us but felt like it was to celebrate getting to the finish line.
The obligatory group shot to mark the end of a great ride, with great people, lots of laughs and many memories.
Before setting off for Christchurch there was time for a last group meal at Scotts Brewing.
My pizza and beer vanished rapidly!
Vale Diane
I wrote these posts in July/August from memory, notes made on the road, video and photos of the trip in April/May. This was about when I heard Diane had, after a short illness, died of cancer. I was shocked and saddened but decided to write to the trip timeline, rather than mention it before now.
I didn't know Diane prior to the trip but from this brief acquaintance it was apparent she was a amazing person. She had led a life of adventure and it was a privilege to cycle with her, see her enjoying the country and company, on what would (unknowingly) be her last tour. Vale Diane, you will be missed.
Our final cycle leg was only 33km, followed by the drive back to Christchurch. In total we cycled ~314km, the extra road riding “Under the rainbow” on day one making up for some of the trail we missed on our Oamaru rain day visit.
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Signs of more snow arriving on the hills overnight but seeing this sunrise, and blue sky, was a nice start to the day.
After breakfast at Waitaki Braids we loaded up and drove back to Otematata to ride the best part of the trail we skipped yesterday. While waiting I sought the sun warmth as it was still quite chilly! (photo by Buzz)
Stunning day, what a contrast, for our first ride from Otematata towards Benmore Dam. From there a quiet country road follows the lake shore for about 25km down to Aviemore Dam.
Although we had an Aussie on our trip I had a close encounter with another on the roadside, not sure who was more surprised by this!
Stunning ride, on a fantastic day. What a contrast from what would have been a cold wet slog yesterday.
Although we had been given a bag lunch from Waitaki Braids timing meant we ended up back there at lunchtime. Their signs sum up a day like today on the Alps to Ocean trail!
Bas had phoned ahead and arranged it, but there were some odd looks from other customers when we all marched in, sat down, and started eating food from bags in a café!
After the bag lunch I had to have a slice of carrot cake and another of Daniel’s (on the right behind the counter) fine coffees. He’s a local, but was heading to London to work for a coffee vendor in an Underground station. Quite a change from Kurow!
We skipped quite a bit of the trail where it runs alongside the highway. We did ride the more interesting sections alongside the Waitaki River near Duntroon and farm trails towards Enfield. This was a vey acceptable compromise forced by skipping riding yesterday.
Below; Stunning skies, a reminder of ANZAC Day.
This regroup was near the Elephant rocks visited yesterday.
The limestone country makes for interesting riding.
Although most of today's ride was reasonably flat, rolling farmland, this gnarly switchback climb out of the valley got the heartrate up!
Our accommodation for the night was the stunning Burnside Homestead. Built in the 1890s it is an impressive family homestead offering boutique accommodation.
Hosts Bruce & Alison greet guests dressed in period costume. They have lived here since 1974, operating the homestead as a lodge (with up to 16 guests) from the mid-1990s on their own. There were some distinguished names in the guestbook, including former NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark.
My room had a hidden feature in the ‘wardrobe’. Opened the mirror door to find a cute little en-suite bathroom (toilet, basin & shower)! This kind of discrete alteration makes a former family home work as guest accommodation.
Dinner that night was at the nearby The Fort Enfield Pub. New owners, Amber and Johnny, have recently renovated and revived an old country pub, in part due to cycle trail related trade. I had a superb meal; Salt n Pepper Calamari to start, a succulent rare rib eye steak, and affogato (with Baileys) to finish. Doubt today’s riding even approached burning all those kilocalories, but who cares! The sun sets to end a delightful day.
The bike odometer only recorded 50.3km today, felt like more due to the amazing variety of scenery and sights!
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I had a late night watching F1 on my phone as mobile data was faster than WIFI. Awoke to grim weather, cold and wet, and it didn’t look like it was passing. At breakfast Bas suggested a change from the scheduled ride to Kurow. We jumped in the bus and drove all the way (about 110km) to Oamaru for the day, then back to Kurow (70km) for the night.
I had been through Oamaru several times but not had the chance to really see it, so this was a fine alternative to a miserable day on the bike. We were dropped off near the Victorian Precinct but I ventured along the main street as needed some more media storage. Adding another 128GB SD card to my little Surface Go sorted that, for a while.
Not biking weather, not really Porsche Convertible weather either.
Tech sorted I headed back to the Victorian Precinct. The weather favoured indoor attractions, of which there are plenty.
The perfect entry to the precinct is a collaborative art project in this 1883 "Grain Elevator" Oamaru stone building & yard. It is the perfect setting for this incredible collection of retro-futuristic art projects.
GADGETORIUM, the creators nest?
THE PORTAL, a cupboard with a difference.
Donna Demente’s Grainstore Gallery is a fantastic collection of art and artefacts. It reminded me a bit of J.F. Sebastian’s apartment in Bladerunner with its mix of old, new and bizarre.
A replica of Shackleton’s boat (made for the NZ TV movie, ‘Shackleton’s Captain’) greats you at the door. Beyond lies the a vast collection of books, both old and new, on the Antarctic & Polar Regions, Mountains & Mountaineering, Exploration, Travel Adventures; Nautical and Natural History.
I could have spent the whole day in here but was limited to an hour or two. Had a great chat with owner Bill Nye (not “The Science Guy’!) about Antarctica, the subject of many of his books. Didn't buy a book but could not resist a Shackleton T shirt. I hope its advice will not be needed on my next trip!
Bas arranged this for after lunch. I wasn't sure what to expect but this interactive tour through Oamaru’s colonial history was entertaining. It starts at the dockside, as if you have just got off the ship, and a series of exhibits show how the Victorian era town grew.
No sign of CAD software in a Victorian Oamaru architects office. They still produced impressive Oamaru Limestone (thus the name) buildings.
Bas & Kevin looking very comfortable with Victorian cycling in the dry!
Victorian games filled a wet cold day
We stopped off at Elephant Rocks on the way back to Kurow, would pass again as the trail goes this way
Bas suggested we defer our trip a couple of days to make this stay possible, and I now understand why. This former rural supplies store, built in 1888, has been transformed into a café restaurant with accommodation. The rooms were great and the welcome, chats with owner Kate White & team, and dining were a wonderful experience. Totally recommend a stop if you are passing, for anything from coffee & cake to an overnight stay.
Nice rooms, each with conservatory and ensuite bathroom.
Dinner was a traditional lamb roast, great food and company combined.
Fresh snow on the hills in the distance, a sign of how cold it had got last night. Tomorrow the weather is looking better, hopefully back in the saddle!
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Sunday dawned (very) cold and (comparatively) fine. After breakfast in Twizel our destination was Lake Ohau Lodge for lunch. I’d ridden in this area before, on road long before the trail, but was looking forward to revisiting it from a new perspective.
Up early after staying up too late watching F1 qualifying on my phone!
This was supposed to be a group shot but gloved hands meant I was too slow getting the camera out!
The first part is on road, but so quiet we hardly saw any vehicles.
Following the hydro canals made for some spectacular views.
That’s a better group shot!
A morning coffee stop, with ginger cake!, before hitting the trail proper.
Back on the trail this Ohau Weir ‘yump’ was fun to cross.
The trail runs around Lake Ohau, easy riding gravel gives an opportunity to appreciate the views.
These rose hips added a dash of colour to the trail borders
As we turned (west?) up the lake the considerable headwind became a real factor.
There was rain up in the Alps but, so far, it was staying there.
Kevin fighting the headwind, his ‘sail pants’ (leggings borrowed from Bas) didn’t help!
Lunch was shared platters at Ohau Lodge. I ate too much as the bread, cheese, ham, rare roast lamb and condiments were hard to resist. Just as well we had a bit of a climb ahead of us to burn some of it off!
After lunch Buzz, Kevin & I did the Lake Ohau Lodge to(wards) Omarama trail. This traverses the lower slopes of the Ruataniwha Conservation Park then climbs about 300m to a ridge, before descending again. With the wind and stormy looking weather, and limited knowledge of the trail ahead, I expected it to be a challenging ride but it was less extreme than anticipated.
The first part of the trail crosses open ground with stunning views over the lake to the Ben Ohau Range.
A section through sheltered bush was a surprise. I expected this trail to be all tussock high country (me in photo by Buzz)
By now we were heading away from the weather, still climbing, with a tailwind helping us outrun the looming rain.
Kevin celebrates the highest point, about 900m above sea level, thinking it was going to be all downhill from here…
This descent was great fun, mix of gravel and rock nicely formed trail. It’s rated as ‘moderately technical’ and Bas had told us to take it easy but… well… such fun!
Our pace downhill outran the rain, apart from a few spits towards the top, and we had a dry ride.
This loop up back up the valley past the historic woolshed at the top of Quailburn Road, just before the finish, didn’t impress Kevin! It was a the end of a stunning ride, for me the cycling highlight of the trip.
My bike odometer recorded 60.15km, again the Gear GPS was nowhere near accurate.
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The short walk to breakfast and view across Lake Tekapo was sufficient to see the forecast grim weather had arrived.
The good thing about riding with people with extensive local knowledge is they know where not to go. Instead of battling head/side winds, and rain, on the first part of the A2O Trail Bas (& John) decided we’d go the wrong way. We drove to a nearby valley and suited up for a wet, probably cold, ride towards Burkes Pass.
Instead one of the most stunning scenes I’ve ever cycled into appeared in front of us. A photo captures some of it but doesn't really do it justice. The golden light on the alpine grass, luminous rainbow, patch of blue sky as a target and a tailwind on a deserted country road made for a magic ride.
Above: Buzz under a rainbow. Below: Buzz & Kevin
Even the field of cattle food, some type of kale, looked nice. Photo below, by Buzz, is of me.
We ended up back on the main road and turned back towards Fairlie. Met a bunch of fellows on motorbikes who thought it was clever to pass far too fast & close. Saw them coming in my rear view mirror and managed to warn a bit but you can see it all happened rapidly. From the movement/video frame I worked out their speed was about 70-80km/h, the red lines overlaid on the video indicate 1m clearance. Filed a police road watch report referencing the worst of them, but expect nothing will happen… fucking pricks.
After lunch, in Fairlie, we drove to the A2O Trail proper on the shore of Lake Pukaki. It was fine but we were riding away from some ugly looking weather hanging in the Alps.
Aoraki Mt Cook, NZ’s highest mountain, is somewhere over there on the other side of the lake. I’ve seen it before but it was one highlight of the A2O trail denied to us this time.
This photo, from my first Adventure South cycle trip in 2003, is the same area.
I rode most of this leg with Buzz, it was flat gravel trail, some nice riding.
The run into Twizel is pretty, back in big sky country.
The day ended with an awesome meal at Shawty’s Café, Twizel. The “Hot smoked salmon fillet, served on a on creamy squid ink linguine pasta with cherry tomatoes, crispy capers and baby spinach” (description lifted from their menu) I had was superb. I probably didn't need the “Drunken Affogato” (Espresso over Kapiti ice cream fuelled with Kahlua) to follow; but had it anyway!
My bike odometer recorded 57km today. Google got the area correct, but the distances wrong. The Gear fitness band I usually use to track rides was a complete disaster on this trip. I don’t know if it was the weather or terrain, but it recorded only a few intermittent points per day. Tomorrow’s ride is all on the trail, the only mad bikers will be us!
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The start of the A2O Cycle Trip proper meant getting rid of AHBART for a week. I’d been offered a free secure park but it was on the opposite side of Christchurch from where I was staying so had an early start. Although Friday, workday for most, there was little traffic between Lincoln and New Brighton at 6:00am! A bonus was watching the dramatic sunrise and, ominous, clouds.
It’s a small group, mostly returning clients, former staff/founder and friends using the last advertised A2O trip slot on Adventure South’s calendar. After a couple of rendezvous, at the Adventure South Depot (to collect bikes & riders) and in town, we headed up to the top of the Port Hills for our first ride. I’ve ridden the Summit Road before but the views, road and (recently reopened after the Quakes) Gebbies Pass downhill at the end make this ride well worth a repeat visit.
The morning cloud had thinned out leaving a lovely sunny, if cool, day.
Stunning views over Diamond Harbour (below), the crater of an ancient volcano which formed the hills we are riding.
The downhill from here is awesome and we weren’t the only ones enjoying it. A rare sight was a KTM Crossbow sports car making the most of the fine weather.
YouTube compression isn’t kind to the Cycliq camera footage but this is the descent.
After that, and a coffee stop, we drove towards Tekapo and a ride near (aptly named) Beautiful Valley and Raincliff.
Below: John, Diane & me (photo by Buzz)
This pretty little country church was a good place to regroup.
After that we rode a bit further back to the main highway before loading up to drive to Tekapo for the evening.
The evening sunset from the bus window was pretty. Hopefully a sign the forecast rather grim weather might be better than hoped.
Dinner for me was a really nice spiced duck breast, I better ride a bit further tomorrow….
Kevin & I went out after dinner to look at, and photograph, the Tekapo night sky. It is a Dark Sky reserve and you can join official astrophotography tours. We were both surprised to find the lakefront and the fenced off ‘official tour area’ around the Church of the Good Shepard packed with people! My rather feeble unofficial attempt, without a tripod, just shows how much more practice I need to drive my SLR in pitch black darkness!
We cycled ~54km today on my bike speedo, Google estimated a bit more! Tomorrow the is the first day of the official Alps To Ocean Cycle Trail
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I’ve cycled the Inland route from Kaikōura to Waiau a few times (2006, 2011 & 2012) and it was a great ride.
This time I was pedalling the Abarth, looking forward to a wonderful drive. I was heading to Christchurch to meet up with some friends for lunch, the A2O cycle group for dinner.
I left fairly early and it was ANZAC day; possibly why there wasn’t much traffic?
Stunning weather and a superb road. This was the only route to access Kaikoura after the earthquake damaged SH1 north & south of the town. It was also damaged but opened before the main highway was back in action.
Although there were some repairs still in progress it was apparent lots of upgrade work has been done since then.
Short pit stop in Waiau, sad to see the earthquake damaged pub where we lunched during the 2011 ride.
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Finally got “Rapid Rob’ out of the car and, from this photo, it is pretty clear why I need to take both wheels off to get it in!
It was warm enough but there was lingering low cloud, or sea fog, which I hoped would burn off. The plan, as far as it went, was to explore the town and waterfront before heading south to try some of the single track trails on offer. It wasn’t going to be a big ride, more fun and sight seeing while being careful not to do anything stupid and fall. Last thing I needed was an injury just before the real ride!
Evidence of the earthquake on the Kaikōura esplanade. What was once the Mayfair Community Theatre is now just a façade waiting for a rebuild (new cinema) on the same site. A sad loss for the community but there is a strangely appropriate movie set look to what remains.
There are cycle trails north and south of Kaikōura. I headed south after exploring the town and waterfront.
After following the coast south from South Bay the trail heads inland at the Kowhai (river) Bridge. There is a mix of forest and river bank trail for about 15km towards Mt Fyfe.
Although mid-week I did see a few other cyclists on the trail.
Evidence I’m terrible at selfies…
I rode back to South Bay for lunch. It wasn’t quite the sunny stop by the seaside I hoped for but notable for the strangely calm seas and lack of wind.
The low cloud still lingered, this was taken about 14:00 and still looks like it did early morning!
By the time I got back to the motel had ridden about 56km but my GPS tracker (Fit 2 band) had not followed much of it. I don’t know if that was due to the weather or terrain as have only rarely had it happen before.
After cleaning the bike, and myself, on the way out to find dinner (ended up being a repeat of last nights) the sun finally emerged, just in time to set!
I headed back up to the lookout I had visited by bike earlier in the day. While the views were well worth it the wet white (lime?) gravel carpark created a mess in the car. The black carpet drivers mat took quite a bit of cleaning, glad I had put the older set (I have two) in for this trip!
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