Almost immediately the road climbs to the Whangamomona Saddle and through the Awahou Scenic Reserve. This is the best saddle of the journey. There’s bush all around as the road twists and turns and the birds can be heard, just, over my laboured breathing. From the top it’s down and almost straight back up again to the next saddle both of which were much easier than yesterday’s. At the top I stopped for a drink and spotted a ute that hadn't - it was 20m down the bank!
A bit of yesterday's roadFrom here I picked up speed and thought that I might be able to make it to Hawera rather than just to Stratford. I felt strong and was cycling well.
About 25km from Stratford it was still morning and I started to pass runners strung out along the road. They seemed to have come from Stratford and we traded encouragement. Stopping for lunch I decided that if I made it to Startford by 2pm I'd keep on to Hawera.
I saw my second lot of cycle tourists at some pint with their very new looking white Ortlieb panniers. We wished each other well and then they headed on towards Whagamomona.
All day I'd been looking out for a glimpse of Mt Egmont/Taranaki and coming into Stratford I got my first. Like Kilimanjaro often is, the top was shrouded in cloud but you could make out the shoulders.
I got into Stratford about 1:30 so headed towards Hawera down SH3. The increase in traffic was noticeable immediately. The milk tankers - this being dairy country - in particular give off a big draft and combined with the westerly side wind I was freaked out once or twice too often. One tanker passed really close when there was no shoulder to seek refuge on, so about 6km south of Eltham I broke off onto Mountain Rd - one lane, tar sealed and NO traffic (well one very carefully driven car) - through to rejoining SH3 5km north of Hawera where the road was flat and wide. I was tired and a bot dehydrated but I need to build confidence in the heavy, open road traffic. Or seek out more minor roads.
At the King Edward Motor Camp in Hawera I spoke to one of two Ozzies cycling to raise funds for the Bionic Ear project. They're both retired and one has prosthetic legs below the knee so he rides a recumbent tricycle, so I didn't have the heart to joke that I thought the bionic ear was invented in the 70s and sported by the very delicious Jaime Summers with her "flick the hair behind the ear" activation system. (For those of you too young to remember the Bionic Woman spin off of the Six Million Dollar Man series - get it on DVD!)
Inn town I bought food for dinner and my requisite loaf of bread and hot chips. I even splashed out and got a can of Fresh Up Apple and Orange Juice as promoted back int he 70s by NZ's 1976 Olympic gold medal winner of the 1500m, John Walker.
So the myPod start wasn't very accurate. 90km of good strong riding with stunning bush, nice climbs, speedy descents and only one near miss. And..... as I walked back form the chip shop a superb view of Mt Egmont.
The full mapmyride pics are too slow to load, so I've started to put in these smaller versions.
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