Yesterday started with a fairly flat 50km ride up to the start of the Haast Pass climb.This was going to be a bigger day at approx 150km to Wanaka. It's now noticeably darker in the mornings with sunrise after 7.30am vs 7am st Cape Reinga. It's also noticeably colder in the mornings. After a misty start the weather was spectacularly good and the scenery remains outstanding. I saw a couple of other TA riders for the first time in a few days. I had last seen this couple at the start of the Timber Trail in the middle of the North Island where we had shared accommodation. The Haast Pass is a fantasticly scenic ride and a decent climb. However I was soon wheeling it down the other side to Makarora for coffee. From Makarora I rode alongside Lakes Wanaka and Hawea. I finished the day off with 30kms along the Hawea River and Wanaka Outlet trails to Wanaka arriving about 7pm. Wanaka was buzzing with life, prob boosted by the A...
The last day! Today's objective was to get to the finish line at Bluff, which I did relatively easily by about 3.00pm. I started early at 6.45am while it was well and truly dark. I was mindful that I had 140km to ride and the forecast was a tad average, although this was to be the first and only day with no climbs. After 15km my back tyre was a tad soft. I had a go at pumping it up, but that only lasted 2km so I replaced the tube. I've not had a lot of fun fixing punctures with this bike. I've done a quite a few over the years but I've struggled to get these tyres both off and back on and today was no exception - and it did take quite a while today to fix. I was really grateful for the tail wind today as it would have been a long hard day otherwise. However, the large number of Sounds 2 Sounds riders I stayed with last night and also passed in the early morning going in the opposite direction were less enthusiastic about what was a head wind for them. Today's ride w...
So how was my gear looking back? Bike Giant Trance 29.1 full suspension - my steed for this trip, also being what I have in the garage. Generally the preferred steeds are either 29 hard tails or gravel bikes. I was happy with my bike on the trip. I had the suspension locked for most of the trip, although I half opened it on a number of trails such as the Timber Trail and Bridge to Nowhere, and fully opened it on the Mangatapu descent which was a blast. Tyres - 2x Vittoria Mezcal 2.25 - good reviews for this fast rolling tyre. Tyres worked well and rolled nicely. Only issue was a cut in the rear tyre going into Arapuni, which ultimately caused some ongoing issues right through to the last day **Aero bars Profile Design Sonic Ergo 43A - to rest my hands. Existing handlebars are 35mm which are too big for aeros. So have fitted BBB bar ends as bull bars onto the handlebar. Have used a gel/cork handlebar tape. Seems to work...
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