Day 7 - January 17, 2023

 Day 7:  Flat Bush - Thames

Negotiating the city traffic plus tricky navigation out of Auckland city is not everyone's cup of tea....  and the support vehicle is available for those who opt out.  Once clear of the city we ride around the firth of Thames finishing on a short stretch of the Hauraki Rail Trail.  

Yet another very long day so this entry will be short.  I would like to start by saying that there is no "flat" in Flat Bush.  I think we climbed almost 500 feet in the first few kilometres.  A rude awakening for the legs!  We were on pretty busy roads for about the first 10 km and then things settled down a bit.  I took some pictures of these flowers - not sure what they are but they have been a constant companion of ours in ditches (and some yards) since the beginning.  Probably a weed for all I know.  I think they're pretty, though.  Usually a pretty good mix of purple and white flowers.  



A little sculpture shop beside our first coffee shop @ about 18 km.


Typical countryside for the first part of the ride (after leaving the suburbs).


We came down to the waterfront at Kawakawa Bay for a brief bit before heading up/inland once more.  I caught up with the Apple Maps car at the waterfront.




I caught up with Colin & Jane on that inland section just as the water (Firth of Thames) came into view again.  They ride a rented e-tandem and they've had nothing but problems with it.  Several days of broken spokes in the rear wheel, bike shop repairs to the wheel, repairs by Bruce, more broken spokes, a new wheel sent over by the rental place, and today it was a flat tire and more broken spokes.  They have been troopers throughout, but tomorrow the rental shop is sending over two individual e-bikes for them to use.  


We had lunch at a park by close to the water at about 55 km and all the hills were behind us at that point.  We had 65 more km of dead-flat terrain to cover around the waterfront.  Easy, right?  Except that I'm still finding the mountain bike ride position to be challenging for my body, so I really struggled with it.  In fact, we all found a way to take about 10 km off that distance (stay on the road vs the cycle path).  


Saw my first "oreo" cow today.

  


Big sections of the coastline are shorebird havens.  We rode through one section by where these photos were taken where the tiny flying insects were so thick that I had to ride with my mouth closed and wipe all the little guys off my clothes after getting through there.




A few more shots on the way to the hotel which is right on the water, but no time to enjoy that although a few people jumped in for a swim.



Another big day tomorrow, and then finally a rest day; yay!


Stats for the day:

Distance:  111.4 km

Elevation (Garmin):  2387' up, 2530' down

Elevation (RWGPS):  3110 ' up, 3215' down

Weather:  17C - 26C.  Pretty nice, except a bit of a pesky headwind on much of the flat section.  Thankfully we did much of our climbing in the shade and before it got too warm.




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