As we had just passed the shortest day of the year I decided to take the bike out for a good gravel ride to celebrate. I couldn’t have done this in the Isle of Man, the shortest day is normally very dark, gloomy and freezing cold.
Today, the weather was pleasant and the light was generally good. There was a threat of rain but the day looked like a dry one when I set out. It was a good opportunity to take my new camera out and give it a test.
I decided to do a bit of map reading and learn more about my local gravel roads. I had ridden some of these roads a month earlier with the NGARNZ but just following the pack and hadn’t really any idea where I was. So, I started off by heading south through Tuakau over the Waikato river and headed towards Port Waikato.
I had planned to go for a cup of coffee and a slice of cake at the Nikau Caves cafe. With this as a mid-point for the ride I had planned to investigate a large figure of eight that I had plotted on the map. I knew I would recognise some of these roads but not others.
At the start I headed up the Klondyke Road which was familiar. I was having a really good time. I love the scenery around here and stopped at a few places to photograph the DR. After a good ride I arrived at the cafe and had a nice break. I can highly recommend this cafe as a place to stop off for a snack or a bite to eat.
The gravel roads were great to ride on. There were varying sizes of gravel giving a different experience, some loose and some tightly packed. The bike feels loose riding on top of the gravel and I used the day to try out some standing-up riding technique. The bike felt solid and very predictable when I stood up on the gravel. I loved this ride and I must have ridden for about 3.5 to 4 hours. On what, for me, can be a depressing day of the year I felt more alive then I had for a long time. This ride reminded me of just how much I enjoy riding.
I remembered that these are public roads and that around any corner could be another vehicle travelling towards me. I don’t like to take risks and I ensured that I kept left on every blind corner. Having said that in all of those hours of riding I think I came across about 5 other vehicles down the gravel roads.
The weather was really nice. I found it hard to believe that on the shortest day of the year sat at the cafe the sun was shining down on me and I felt hot. The mid-day temperature was fine at around 16-17C. On the way back, heading North, I could see some rain streaming down in the distance. I rode on and headed into it and thankfully I only had to endure about 10 minutes of light rain before I came out the other side into sun again.
Towards the end of the ride I travelled through Limestone Downs and arrived at Port Waikato.
Whenever I feel a bit down I now know I have several hours of riding fun on the doorstep. I need to plan to go a bit further next time and learn some more of the roads that I find on the map.
I wonder if these gravel roads run the length of New Zealand. I would really like to be able to discover the country this way.