Epic training ride: the beauty of Cape Palliser

I was lucky enough to get invited along on one of Lindsay's marathon cycle jaunts yesterday. Lindsay is the other Wellingtonian tackling the Tour D'Afrique in 2011. 

The route was from Wellington CBD to Petone, Eastborne, Burden's Gate, around Pencarrow head, Baring head, following the south coast on Cape Palliser until we hit road, alongside the Orongorongas, over the Rimataka rail incline to Kaitoke, following the Hutt river cycle path, and back around the harbour to return. All up 186km and about eleven hours from my front door and back through the most beautiful and wild nature that I have seen in some time. 

I was prepared for a long testing day of cycling, but I was not prepared for the stunning scenery of the route we travelled. Highlights of the wild coast included an untethered family of horses complete with foal, streams to splash through, rough rock deposits we had to carry our bikes over, black sand beaches to fall off on, stretches of native flax, delicate coastal mosses and forests of windswept lets-all-lean-the-same-way trees.  All this with the blue-blue Cook Strait stretching out on our right and steep hills and cliffs to our left. Magnificent.

The route passes through some private land, there are many high gates and fences to lift bicycles over and it is not something to try without preparation or in adverse weather conditions. It is easily accessible however by taking part in the Raboplus Big Coast Ride. This is an opportunity for you to experience the area over a couple of days with support and like-minded folk. The Raboplus Big Coast Ride is family friendly, has live music in the evening and I believe even a a couple of morning and afternoon tea parties. It really is one of the most beautiful stretches to travel through. You should do this. I'd like to commend the person with the vision behind this event: I admire your work.

I had a couple of gear failures on the ride. I need to rethink my hydration and on bike storage systems. Things that work on smooth roads do not necessarily translate well to rougher terrain. My behind seat dual bottle cage was quickly rendered into an expensive piece of unrecyclable plastic rubbish.  My front handle bar bag acted as an on-bike blender; nicely mashing my bananas consistently through everything else I was carrying. Captain himself was, of course, fit to task.