I started on wave 4 at 7am. This necessitated arriving at Cape Reinga before dawn. I still had a few things to sort on my bike as yesterday morning I was in a bit of a self-imposed rush getting from the airport to the bus that was going to take a whole heap of us and our bikes to Waitiki Landing for the night, and then on to the Cape the next morning. With my bike not being that accessible slotted in amongst other bikes on the trailer, last night I decided to delay faffing with it until the morning. Not the best idea I had because a) I was still half asleep, b) I was recovering from a cold, c) it was dark and d) it meant I ran out of time to go down to the lighthouse. Instead I was drooling on my bike light which I was holding in my mouth, fiddling with small screws and pesky buckles; and it was raining. So much for the advice of allowing plenty of time to appreciate this spiritual place.
Once the sun started to rise, the rain went away not to return and the light was really nice for photography so I took a few rushed photos, and before I knew it Jonathan Kennett had started us on our way.
Cape Reinga Lighthouse
TA riders photographing the sunrise
I wasn’t feeling too bad considering two days before I felt quite weak from a cold. I met a number of people, some of whom I never saw again as they sped off into the distance, but a number I had the pleasure to ride with a various times over the next month including Trudy, Marion, Steph, Rob, and Sean.
The road from Cape Reinga is really nice and mostly downhill to Te Paki Stream. The route then is down the stream which has a hard packed sandy bed. Ok to ride but immediately my bike sounded like a rock boring machine with sand in the drivetrain and brakes. I made the mistake of trying to clear my brakes by periodically riding with them on slightly. The result was an alarming amount a pad wear after 5 mins of doing this.
Towards the dunes and Te Paki Stream
Based on accounts of the 2016 TA I was mentally prepared for a very hard day. It did get a bit tedious at times but it wasn’t as bad as I feared. I must have been feeling ok as a few times when I got into a paceline I rode off the front despite not accelerating. I think in some cases others just wanted to take it quietly riding with their friends. In the end I fell in to a small group that included Trudy and Marion.
Still smiling towards the end of 90 Mile Beach
We got into Ahipara at about 3pm where I stayed at the lovely Ahipara campground. Shane from Maprogress had very helpfully set up a bike cleaning area in the campground, and I had also brought with me a new chain to replace an old one I had purposely put on for the beach.
Sandy