Day 3 - Auckland Airport to Miranda
We had a start from the hotel at 8.30 am with Chris picking us up after riding from the CBD.
The weather at the commencement of the ride was fine, virtually no wind and temperature of about 15 degrees. As the day progressed the temperature increased to the mid/ high 30’s which proved to be challenging.
The ride today was 88 kms for Steve and myself and over 100 for Chris.
The early part of the trip was on a bike trail from the airport which was well signposted and relatively flat.
After completing this trail it was heavier going out of the Auckland foothills including a time on a mountain bike trail!
I had one fall on the trail… no injuries but a dent on my pride.
After leaving the greater Auckland area we made our was in a south east direction through the hills that are the water catchment for Auckland.
There was one particular road called rather interestingly Jones Read…( Chris’s surname) which was quite challenging with gradients in excess of 20%! I walked this as the mere weight of the bike with the full racks was just too much.
After this the road followed undulating country with the odd hill. Interestingly we climbed about 950 metres during the day.
As the ride went on the heat played real have with all of us. Both Steve and Chris had intermittent cramps and towards the end of the ride I was feeling light headed.
We all went though a lot of with regular bottle filling par of the day.
We arrived at Miranda at a little after 5.00 pm and luckily for us the office was open to buy a cool drink and pizzas for dinner.
The temperature as I write this blog is quite good in the early 20’s with a lovely breeze!
I was quite pleased with the ride today as this is the longest ride I have done in almost 12 months and although I am rather tired I recovered after a shower and are feeling ok for the 100 plus ride tomorrow on a relatively flat road.
A good bit challenging first day
The pictures today are the ride route, all of us ready to go from the hotel, the view of greater Auckland at the top of one of the climbs, morning tea at a golf course, Chris having a rest recovering from cramp ing , our home for the night at Miranda.
