midlifecycle: Day 8 Notes

What an awesome trail the Waikato river trail is. I was very adventurous today and decided to do the trail from Arapuni to Waipapa Dam which is just outside Mangakino. The first bit of the trail is grade 4. This was a push for me on my touring bike but it was well worth it. There were plenty of tight turns and switchbacks steep hills with great views to boot. It is great trail riding. The big problem for the day is that I underestimated how long it would take, after 3 hours I had only done 30k,. about 12km of this was on road. It was not looking good to get to Mangakino on my schedule and cell phone coverage was non-existent. The section at the end of the sealed road was a welcome site as we could see the Waotu quarty in action. This was followed by a downhill section with 37 ( no I did not count them there were lots , I looked this up 37 of them) tight switchbacks I think I sat on my breaks for a long time. Heading towards the Waipapa dam you come across this big swing bride. This is a very impressive structure and quite unique to cycle across. After a bit more slogging I got to Waipapa Dam. From there the trail continues to Mangakino. But his time I was well overdue so called my support ( the one and only place that has cell coverage on the trail) to stay the trail is awesome but I am slow. The trail from Waipapa Dam to Mangakino felt like a lot of uphill. I got to Mangakino in just over 5 hours making this section of the trail a 10km per hour section. That’s a lot of hours for 55km. Mangakino to Pureoro was 30km road but looking at the profile it was mostly up hill.

I will have to publish the profile as it is an impressive profile the ride is a lot longer than I expected but is was a good day with lots of views stuck in my head.