Slow start today as we were doing mundane stuff like laundry but we also needed to let the skies clear a bit as well. Our plan was to ride another section of the Tasman Great Taste trail and start from or close to the bach. With some varying opinions from our hosts on road vs. trail we started with the trail just a short drive away. This bit of trail goes along the ridge and promised some nice scenery. Here’s the view where we parked
And here’s the trail
Doesn’t look so bad but turns out it is big loose gravel and rolling hills as far as the eye could see. We did a couple of those hills and then agreed that nope, we were not having fun! That kind of gravel is no fun to ride when it’s flat and when there are hills it is truly miserable. We thought back to Ben and Jerry’s motto ” if it’s not fun, why do it?” rode back to the car and put the road option in to place.
We had about a 4 mile ride from the bach to a very nice restaurant where we had lunch. The Riverside Cafe is owned by the Riverside Community, the oldest intentional community in New Zealand established by pacifists in WWII.
You’ll notice in the picture that some really nasty dark clouds came back to try and scare us off from riding. We ignored them and hopped on a nicely groomed section of the cycle trail right outside of the cafe. The trail kept us off the main road and took us through some lovely coastal riding
We turned back just past Riwaka because it was getting late, but still got a good 25 mile ride in. The roads generally do not have shoulders but the drivers, although fast, gave us a wide berth except for one SUV which I suspect was a rental car.
It was a great day and a great ride. Thanks Ben & Jerry!