On 24 November John went on a ride with the Folding Goldies. I didn’t go, because we had tradesmen in the house, but I took John to the Takapu Road station, where he was meeting the others on the train to Waikanae. There was quite a large group this time – eight, including our friend Pat, on her first Folding Goldie ride. A few of them joined the group in Waikanae. In fairness to Pat, John decided to ride his non-electric Giant foldie.
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| At Waikanae station (photo by John) |
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| Crossing Te Moana Road (photo by Alastair Smith) |
They rode along the Waikanae River track, then on the Kapiti Coast Cycle Route to Peka Peka to have lunch at Harrisons Garden Centre Café.
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| The peloton heads down Peka Peka Road (photo by John) |
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| Lunch at Harrisons (photo by John) |
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| Ready for the return trip (photo by John) |
On the return trip back to Waikanae, some of the group, led by Alastair, rode on the hard sand of the beach while the tide was out. The others returned by the road. John rode on the beach, Pat took the road.
John tells me that it was quite hard going on the sand, and it took them a lot longer to get to Waikanae than they had bargained on. In fact, it took so long that they missed the 3:00 pm train back to Wellington, and since the benefits of the Gold Card don’t apply after 3 pm, they had to pay the full fare!
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| Beach ride (photo by Alastair Smith) |
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| A stop for a breather on the beach (photo by John) |
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| Kapiti Island under a moody sky (photo by John) |
The people who had returned by the road carried on to Paraparaumu, getting there in plenty of time for the 2:30-ish train.
Meanwhile, by about 4 pm, I was getting worried as I was expecting John to ring me from Takapu Road Station to pick him up. He eventually got there at 4:45, feeling pretty tired. They had done about 30 km.
I didn't realise that John rode his non-electric bike because of me. That was kind of you, John!
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