A short Hutt Valley ride

Yesterday, we had a short-ish, late-start ride. We rode from Seaview up the Hutt River Trail, as far as Avalon. The weather was fine but there was a cold wind and I was glad of my windproof parka.

When we rode past the Hutt Riverbank carpark, we caught the end of the weekly market. We were just a bit too late to buy anything, as most of the traders were in the process of packing up, and the clean-up crew was waiting to move in. By the time we rode past there on our way back, the carpark was empty, except for a truck driving around, sweeping up all the vegetable left-overs. A large group of scavenging seagulls was squabbling over the remaining debris ahead of the truck.

The track towards the far end of the Riverbank Carpark (photo by John)

At Avalon, we turned off the River Trail, and headed into the High Street to have coffee at the Janus Bakkerij. We enjoyed their excellent coffee and lemon cake (me) and apple crumble (John) in the sun. Then we pedalled along into Lower Hutt for John to make a brief stop at Jaycar.

While I was waiting outside with the bikes, an elderly gentleman stopped to ask whether the small size of the wheels affected the bikes' speed. He said he had a folding bike with larger wheels than ours, that he had been riding for a decade. But, he said, he also had an electric mobility scooter. Then he climbed into his aggressive-looking 4WD, and drove away. What a dude! Obviously covering all his options ...

From here we made our way back to the River Trail, and headed back to our car at Seaview. It was just a short, undemanding ride – just 14 km – but enjoyable.

Today, Sunday, would have been a much better day for a long ride, but I had something else on. While I was out with the car, John took the opportunity to line up all three (!) of his bikes in the garage, and take a photo to show how similar the riding positions are for all three. In other words, nothing is compromised when riding a folding bike.

Then he went for an 11 km ride around our hilly suburb by himself. I won't join him on these escapades. Having to struggle up a hill to get home is not my idea of fun – I’m a flatlander, after all!

John’s three bikes – The folder in the front, his old Tarini mountain bike in the middle, and at the back, the Jamis Allegro Sport he gave himself when he had reached his 1000 km milestone (photo by John)