Day 9 - Saturday 06 March 2010
Dist: 93 km. Av. Speed: 23.5 km/hr. Cal: 1621. Ride Time: 3 hrs 57 min
After a good sleep, I was in the camp hot pool at 7 and then… just when I thought the breakfast standard had peaked… a new standard has been set! Andrew came up with the concept of a bbq breakfast at the Miranda Camp Ground - great idea - and Becky and him delivered with style. We had a feast of bacon, eggs, tomatoes and toast outdoors in the early morning with the family, superb thanks guys.
Andrew had a rush of blood to the head and decided to join us today. So the three of us departed at 10 and pedalled south toward Waitakaruru and SH 25. The pace was pretty quick right from the start but we were soon in a rhythm and out at the SH 25/SH 2 intersection. The route took us toward Te Kauwhata, then south through classic Waikato farmland between SH 1 and SH 27 and it was a wonderful course. There were no grades of any consequence as reflected by our highest average speed so far. There was a bit of a head wind but nothing too drastic.
Rebecca very kindly offered to make is lunch and deliver it to us on the road. We met up at Te Hoe and tucked in to another great feast that hit the spot perfectly. The lunch was awesome thanks Rebecca and it was really hard to get up and get going again afterwards. 5 stars!
Gordonton was only 20k away so we made that the next stop for a drink at the Firepot Café - rating 4, and lucky to get that.
On to Hamilton and Butsy’s Uncle’s for the night and a well-earned swim. Andrew did really well to complete 93km on his first ever ride over about 2km - and on a mountain bike!
Dinner was at the Genghis Khan Mongolian Feast in Victoria Street - fantastic all you can eat buffet for $25. Score: 7.5 and could have been higher if either of the wines Butsy ordered had been available, the ice cream machine had been working and there had been maple syrup as promised for the pancakes. I thought I might have to get the fire extinguisher on to Butsy at dinner after he overdid the hot sauce on the second course!
was a great day and andrew really enjoyed the ride...however he says he's not uin a hurry to do it again!! i am sure the kids will be spilling out news on monday about their weekend and how they went swimming in the dark! also how their dad rode all the way to hamilton!!! sorry mark but you don't really feature.... enjoy your trip and we will be keeping up by computer only from now on! rebecca, andrew, anna and bree....
ReplyDeleteWe may be thick but after all that biking, you're only half an hour from home. Whats with that!!!!
ReplyDeleteHi MccRangis
ReplyDeleteOh well, no need to go and buy Andrew a new road bike then! Glad the girls enjoyed their weekend. It was great to have you all involved in the adventure - even if the girls thought it was just Dad's adventure!
Hey Keith
Yeah, I know mate, pretty disappointing really! And it feels weird being a 'tourist' in your own back yard (and bumping in to people you know).
It's all downhill from here though. Starting with the King Country, then Wanganui.
Still waiting for it to feel easy!