Day 7 of TA - You shall not pass!!!
Distance: 60 km
Elevation gain: 742 metres
From the town of Helensville to Auckland city
About 4hrs riding time, and 5hrs elapsed from 10:00am to 3:00pm
I had a late start today with a nasty weather front hitting the west coast of the North Island in the morning. The worst was over by 9.30am and I was on the road at 10am.
My B&B was a little out of town, so the first stage was to ride back into Helensville and up a rather steep hill to rejoin the route to Auckland. I cycled past a "Road Closed" sign, and a second sign around the next bend. Surely the road can't be closed? Well surely it was closed. There was a kind gentleman sitting in his nice dry warm car blocking the road to make sure no traffic went past. I kindly suggested that I'm just on a bike and can sneak past but that offer was rejected. I even pressed the matter saying that I would have to take Highway 16 as the detour but that didn't sway his decision.
So, backtracking 5km down the hill to my B&B which was just a bit off Highway 16. That detour added 10km to my day.
After yesterday's white-knuckle ride on Highway 16 I was a little nervous. Fortunately there was a decent shoulder for me to cycle in relative safety. I rode 20km along the highway and then picked up the trail when it crossed over the highway. It was kind of a shame. The highway had turned into a smooth tarmac surface and I was humming along.
There was a 10km stretch through the hills of Auckland on backroads and then it was smooth riding on a 17km cycleway, almost into the Auckland city centre (similar to the V1 in Brisbane). It is so pleasant riding on smooth concrete compared to rough gravel roads !
The final 3km turned off the cycleway and weaved through back streets of Mt Eden (suburb) before cycling all the way to Mt Eden (Maungawhau) summit for 360 degree views of Auckland. Wonderful !!
Elevation gain: 742 metres
From the town of Helensville to Auckland city
About 4hrs riding time, and 5hrs elapsed from 10:00am to 3:00pm
I had a late start today with a nasty weather front hitting the west coast of the North Island in the morning. The worst was over by 9.30am and I was on the road at 10am.
My B&B was a little out of town, so the first stage was to ride back into Helensville and up a rather steep hill to rejoin the route to Auckland. I cycled past a "Road Closed" sign, and a second sign around the next bend. Surely the road can't be closed? Well surely it was closed. There was a kind gentleman sitting in his nice dry warm car blocking the road to make sure no traffic went past. I kindly suggested that I'm just on a bike and can sneak past but that offer was rejected. I even pressed the matter saying that I would have to take Highway 16 as the detour but that didn't sway his decision.
So, backtracking 5km down the hill to my B&B which was just a bit off Highway 16. That detour added 10km to my day.
After yesterday's white-knuckle ride on Highway 16 I was a little nervous. Fortunately there was a decent shoulder for me to cycle in relative safety. I rode 20km along the highway and then picked up the trail when it crossed over the highway. It was kind of a shame. The highway had turned into a smooth tarmac surface and I was humming along.
There was a 10km stretch through the hills of Auckland on backroads and then it was smooth riding on a 17km cycleway, almost into the Auckland city centre (similar to the V1 in Brisbane). It is so pleasant riding on smooth concrete compared to rough gravel roads !
The final 3km turned off the cycleway and weaved through back streets of Mt Eden (suburb) before cycling all the way to Mt Eden (Maungawhau) summit for 360 degree views of Auckland. Wonderful !!
The summit is photo control point 5 in my Tour Aotearoa.
My accommodation tonight is in a hotel close to the city centre. Very luxurious. I'm going to have a rest day tomorrow and chill out in Auckland. But the ride continues on Thursday…
Today's theme song is by Things Of Stone And Wood - Happy Birthday Helen
What better song to celebrate a birthday in the town of Helensville.
You shall not pass! The road was closed and the detour required an extra 10km today.
My accommodation tonight is in a hotel close to the city centre. Very luxurious. I'm going to have a rest day tomorrow and chill out in Auckland. But the ride continues on Thursday…
Today's theme song is by Things Of Stone And Wood - Happy Birthday Helen
What better song to celebrate a birthday in the town of Helensville.
You shall not pass! The road was closed and the detour required an extra 10km today.
The rain radar image shows the front at 7am about to hit Helensville and Auckland. It quickly moved east and the worst had moved through by 9:30am
This cycleway starts at Massey (suburb) about 15km from the city centre. Smooth and fast !
Photo control point 5. Mt Eden – Maungawhau. The summit of an extinct volcano. Great views of the city.
Happy birthday mate, except the backtracking sounds like a better day waiting out for the weather to pass. Enjoy the rest day and normal tourist activities. Next comment will be from Bathurst as we head off tomorrow morning early, just need a ford win to complete the sporting set for the year, Origin, Lions, BroncosW, Broncos, Mustang.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday Anthony.You are the age when I was a not long paid out membr of Westpac . I remember it well as so will you remember the occaision in the years ahead. I wonder what trouble they thought you would get upto on a closed road. Surly no demolitions etc were in the offing. Any how, Mt Eden was the suburb I lived in all those years ago when I was courting so it has happy memories, including watching the first moon landing with flat mates and Mum. On another happy note i can advise that the ute has working headlights. Yeh,. it was a defective headlight switch not sending a message to the body control module. Enjoy Auckland, it has a lot to offer.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday and best wishes for the road ahead!!
ReplyDeleteAdaptable! The skill that will get you through! W
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the day off - well earned. I think you can tick off every kind of riding surface after this trip is done.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the rest day and sightseeing
ReplyDelete