Mike from the Bike Hutt organised a 200km ‘fun ride’ in the Wairarapa. It all seemed easy on paper; turn up with a bike that can handle gravel roads and be fit enough to ride for 6-8 hours. Most of us turned up on cyclocross bikes with slick tyres, a few people rode road bikes with 25c or 28c tyres.
We started off together but soon split into small bunches. I found myself at the front with two guys (Andy and Thomas). All was going well, we arrived at the first check point (the support van was there with all our gear). After a quick bite to eat and putting on some warmer clothes as it had started raining, we set off in high spirits. The gravel roads were fantastic and the heavy rain just added to the excitement.
Everything was going to plan until the map lead us on to a farm. The road forked, the right went to a heavily locked gate and the track on the other side didn’t seem used. The three of us discussed our options and as the first gate seemed to go nowhere, we took the track to the left. We all were unsure of where to go, unfortunately for me, I spotted road makers beside the gates heading into the hills and thought that was the public access route. Biking through sheep and cow paddocks on road bikes was a little strange.
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| Thomas just after he went flying over the handle bars |
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| Lost while making our waythrough the farm.. |
We persisted with pushing our bikes and at the very top, Thomas decided that we were LOST and it was time to turn around to find some of the other riders. By this stage we had lost Andy. I started off being very cautious on the downhills but to no avail. Near the bottom my front wheel locked up due to too much mud causing me to crash, rip my derailleur off and crack three ribs.
This is where the adventure really began, lost, injured and with a broken bike, the priority was to get back to Martinborough. Thankfully I had a chainbreaker and was able to make my bike a single speed. Thomas and I agreed the best plan was to get me back to the first check point and wait there.
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| While waiting we decided to clean our bikes |
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| Waiting |
After an hour of waiting, we agreed Thomas would bike up the road the rest of the riders would be coming down while I made my way back to Martinborough.
After biking and walking for about an hour or two I made it back to the main road and I decided to wait there for help.
About an hour passed when a car pulled up with cyclocross bikes and a bunch of riders clambered out. Turns out everyone had their own adventure and no-one was able to complete the full ride.
Once we all gathered back in Martinborough, war stories were shared.
I am looking forward to next year!
