Folding Goldies ride – “Spice up your ride through Spicer Forest”

When we did our ride from Ohariu Valley to Porirua in January, we met Alastair, the leading light of the Folding Goldies group, going from Karori to Johnsonville. That reminded him of this ride, and so he suggested it as the next FG ride in March.

His plan was for people to take the train from town to Johnsonville, and to bike up Cortina Avenue from the top of which we would descend into Ohariu Valley. He provided a map, which is here. 

Originally the ride was set for Wednesday 7 March, but as the forecast was for heavy rain and gale-force southerlies, it was postponed till the next day. Things were a little better on the Thursday – there was still a strong cold southerly, but the rain held off, and we even saw a bit of blue sky at one point. And, as Alastair pointed out, the southerly would be mostly behind us – a tailwind is always good.

We met the group at Johnsonville station, having biked over from home (about 2.5 km). Some arrived by train from town, others had driven there, and Colin had biked there from his home in Titahi Bay. Quite a feat apparently, as he was struggling right into that brisk southerly. Some people who had said they would come along piked on account of the weather.

We met up at Johnsonville Station (photo by John)

We headed up Cortina Avenue, which was quite a gentle gradient. Somewhere along that road we saw a van with my name on it “Désirée Clothing” or some such. A couple of people commented on it, and asked if it had the accents in the right place (it did). But John didn’t see it, or he would have taken a photo of it.

Heading up Cortina Avenue (photo by John)

Down into Ohariu Valley, and at the crossroad with Takarau Gorge, we were joined by Steve, who had biked over from Karori.

Ohariu Valley Road (photo by John)

As we were getting close to the Spicer Forest Road, John sped ahead to take photos of the group arriving.

The sign at the bottom of the Mill Creek Road (photo by John)

The photographer photographed (by Alastair Smith)

As described in my earlier blog, the road along the ridge was wide and gently undulating. Fortunately the southerly meant that we were not subjected to any smells coming from the landfill as we approached it.

The road on the ridge was wide and gently undulating (photo by John)

Just before the landfill end (photo by John)

When we arrived at the narrow track that circumvented the landfill, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the grass on either side of the narrow rut had been mown. Whereas on our last trip, we had found the rut too hazardous to bike and decided to walk, this time we were able to bike down it, by riding on the mown bits and avoiding the narrow rut. Putting my seat down an inch or two also helped to make me feel safer, as I could put my foot on the ground without having to get off.

Before heading down the “easy single track” (photo by John)

At the end of this track, where we had to choose between left and right, we had chosen right last time. This time we went left. Alastair had said that this would be “an easy single track” down to Broken Hill Road. Someone who commented on my blog wrote “left would have taken you on to a well-formed cycle track, that zigzags very gently down the side of the hill […] it would be great on a bike - definitely not single track and very rideable downhill or up.”

It may well have been an “easy track” to people used to throwing themselves down a hillside on a mountainbike, but it certainly didn’t seem easy to John and me. Obviously we were the exception in this group, as we lagged some distance behind the others. I found the sharp switchbacks on the zigzags quite uncomfortable, and the narrowness of the track caused John serious problems with his balance.

One of the switchbacks (photo by Alastair Smith)

But eventually we made it to the bottom of the track, to end up on Broken Hill Road. As I got to the end of the track I could see the rest of the group waiting a little distance down the road. I did notice that the track continued across the road, but I ignored that and just beetled down the road to join them, only for Alastair to take a photo of me, riding past a sign prohibiting cyclists from riding on that road. Oops!

Oops! (photo by Alastair Smith)

From there it was an easy downhill towards Kenepuru, where we crossed the main road to end up on Te Ara Tawa. Another few kilometres, and we made it to the Gear Café for a leisurely lunch.

Lunch at the Gear Café (photo by John)

Several of the group biked to Paremata because there was time before the next train back into town; the others, who had parked in Johnsonville, biked back on Te Ara Tawa and Middleton Road. And so did we.

Apart from the zigzaggy track, it had been a good ride. We did 38 km all up.

Miscellaneous local rides

It’s been a while since I last wrote up a blog post. We have been biking, but it’s been mostly just local rides that we’ve done and written up before, and there is no point in repeating myself. Still, John took a few interesting photos that are worth sharing.

On 9 February, we biked Te Ara o Whareroa, between Paekakariki and Raumati, and along the way we found that several new seats had been installed alongside the track.

Two seats just before the track climbs (photo by John)

At the top of the rise, near the tram track crossing, there is now a picnic table
as well as a seat (photo by John)

A little way past the Aeromodellers’ airstrip there are a further two seats (photo by John)

And two more closer to the Raumati end of the track (photo by John)

A few days later, on 23 February, we biked along the Wellington waterfront, from Oriental Parade to the cruise ship terminal. We rode past the site of the Statistics NZ building, where I worked on a short-term contract in 2008. However, the building was a victim of the November 2016 earthquake, and had to be demolished. It stood empty for a year, but now it's gone.

The site where the Statistics NZ building once stood (photo by John)

The etched glass panels of the walkway opposite the Stadium create interesting shadows
 (photo by John)

When we had coffee at Karaka Café, we watched a class of paddle boarders
 on the Frank Kitts Lagoon (photo by John)

On 1 March, we biked from Mana to Plimmerton. After lunch at the Big Salami in Plimmerton, we rode to the end of Moana Road. The last house usually displays a mannequin in the upstairs window, which is clad in some interesting outfit – often related to a topical event. A couple of years ago, John took a photo of her in a 1930s outfit, to celebrate Napier’s Art Deco weekend.

The Mannequin in an “Art Deco” outfit, February 2016 (photo by John)

This time the lady who owns the house was out mowing her lawn, and we stopped to chat. She told us “My name is Liz Quinn, and that – as she pointed at the mannequin in the window – is Manny Quinn. Get it?” She said that she and Manny Quinn shared her wardrobe, and that she liked to dress her appropriately. On this day Manny was wearing a summery outfit of beach shorts and bikini top, to celebrate our lovely hot summer.

Diz and Liz discuss “Manny” in the window (photo by John)

On the way back along the Plimmerton beach front, I spotted this charming letterbox

On 3 March we again biked Te Ara o Whareroa, and this time we were amused at the behaviour of some cattle, which were standing in a wetland. First they were in a cluster, but gradually, they formed themselves into a line and advanced together. When we came back 20 minutes later, they were still standing in the water.

First they were in a cluster … (photo by John)

… then they formed themselves into a neat line (photo by John)

In the last couple of weeks we have done some serious rides. These blog posts are coming up shortly!

Ohariu Valley to Porirua

On Friday 19 January, John suggested going for a ride through Ohariu Valley, down to the end of the public road, up to the ridge on the access road that was constructed for transporting the wind turbines of Mill Creek Wind Farm, then behind Spicers landfill to Porirua and to Gear Café for lunch, and then home.

On the whole it was a pretty successful ride. We weren’t sure if the access road was open for use other than for servicing the windmills, but we gave it a go. We left from home, biking up the hill and onto Ohariu Road.

From the junction where Ohariu Road becomes Ohariu Valley Road, it was a long, winding downhill into the bottom of the valley.

Ohariu Valley Road winds down into the valley (photo by John)

Before we got to the intersection with Rifle Range Road and Takarau Gorge Road, we met Alastair Smith (of Folding Goldies fame) going the other way. We stopped to talk. It was good to see him, as he had not been able to make it to our last Folding Goldies ride in November, because he wasn’t well. Today he had come into Ohariu from the Karori end, and was biking to Johnsonville, and planning to go down the Ngauranga Gorge.

The camera (on time-lapse) on John’s bike took this photo of us talking to Alastair

At the crossroads, we turned right, and followed the valley road till the end. The valley is really pretty. The road undulates up and down, and is really quiet – only two cars passed us.

Ohariu Valley Road (photo by John)

We stopped for John to swap his time-lapse camera from the front to the back of his bike
because of the angle of the light (photo by John)

John’s T-shirt blends perfectly with the colour of the road.
He should have worn a hi-viz vest

We rode past the riding school – unfortunately the Saddleback Café is only open on weekends now – and at the end of the road, we found a big gate across the Mill Creek access road, but there was a gate designed to let cyclists and walkers through.

The Mill Creek access road

It is a very wide road which was constructed especially to transport the components of the wind turbines of the Mill Creek Wind Farm from the Porirua end. The wind farm became fully operational in November 2014. There are 26 windmills on the hills, but they are not visible from here. There is an interesting video about Mill Creek on this website. 

The access road is very steep to begin with till you get to the top of the ridge. It is sealed for the first 100 meters (presumably to stop heavy loads skidding down the hill), and then it turns to gravel, but it wasn’t too bad to ride on.

The start of the access road was very steep (photo by John)

Once we got to the top of the ridge, the road was more or less flat, winding through forest and scrub. We got views across to Granada at one point.

Once on the ridge, the road wound along more or less on the flat (photo by John)

 

A view towards Granada (photo by John)

“The long and winding road …” (photo by John)

As we got closer to the Spicers landfill, we got the occasional whiff of it on the breeze. We checked out a flat area and found that there was a narrow track coming up from below, marked with a Te Araroa signpost. (Te Araroa is the walking track that stretches the length of New Zealand, from the top of the North to the tip of the South.) 

Close to the landfill, a gate prevented access through to Trash Palace on Broken Hill Road, and we had to divert around it on a narrow grassy track, that went for quite a long way.

From here we had to divert onto the narrow grassy track on the right

The dirt track was narrow and in places could have been bikeable – if we had been mountain bikers – but mindful of a couple of recent spills on dodgy tracks, we decided on the cautious approach, and walked most of the way.

We took the careful approach and walked (photo by John)

This short stretch was wider, and we were able to bike here … (photo by John)

… but this was definitely not bikeable – not in our book anyway …

A surprise encounter with Gandalf on the crest of a hill. We don’t know what this structure was for
(photo by John)

The track didn't come out where we expected it to. Eventually we had the choice of right or left – I think left would have taken us to Elsdon, but on the right we could see houses, so we knew there would be a road there. It was Chastudon Place, at the top of Tawa/Linden. When we got to the bottom of the hill, we ended up near the roundabout to Collins Ave.

Heading back to civilisation

From there we biked to the Gear Homestead Café. Te Ara Tawa, which had been partially closed off for several months because of the construction of a bridge for the Transmission Gully highway, was now open again.

The section of a Transmission Gully bridge has been installed,
allowing Te Ara Tawa to be opened again

It’s obviously not finished, but the main beams are in place

Looking impressive (photo by John)

From Te Ara Tawa, we went under the Porirua station and the motorway, and found that there is a new track into Aotea from there, so we rode up it, and rode around new streets – as yet unbuilt up – and then down to Gear Homestead.

There are some great murals in the Porirua station underpass (photo by John)

The newest streets in the Aotea subdivision (photo by John)

We had a pleasant lunch at the Gear Café, under a brolly on the path side of the building.

Lunch under the umbrella (photo by John)

We watched a wedding party taking photos in the grounds. They all looked gorgeous, the attendants in long deep red dresses, the groomsmen in smart suits. When they got ready to leave, four fancy big American classic cars, with bridal ribbons on, drove up. Very nice.

A wedding party was moving around the gardens to take photos (photo by John)

The wedding party prepares to leave in classic American cars (photo by John)

For the ride home, to get from Tawa to Churton Park, we had to bike down Middleton Road. Normally, when we bike Te Ara Tawa, we park at Takapu Road station, to avoid having to bike on Middleton Road. But it was OK, as going south, that side has a shoulder of sorts most of the way. It did add an extra 5.5 km to our ride.

There is a reasonable shoulder heading south on Middleton Road (photo by John)

Our total for the day was 35.5 km. It was a good ride, and it was nice to explore somewhere new.

E-bike group ride – Paekakariki to Peka Peka

On Sunday 14 January, we went on an e-bike group ride, organised by our next door neighbour, Sue Fish. She invited her neighbours on the other side of her, Laurie and Shirlene to come along, and put out a call on Meet-Up, which yielded two more people, Bridget and Gordon, so there were seven of us all up.

We met at Paekakariki, and biked to Peka Peka for lunch at Harrisons and back. This is a ride John and I have done quite a few times now, so it was nothing new to us, but it was fun to go in a group. In fact, John and Sue, and Laurie and Shirlene, had actually biked the same route on New Year’s day, when I was away in Masterton at a Scottish country dance Summer School. That was a successful ride, hence the repeat.

Laurie, Shirlene and Sue take a breather in the shade on New Year’s Day (photo by John)

When they biked back along the waterfront, they found an artwork on the beach – a great spiral, raked into the sand. Quite impressive.

An artwork on the beach (photo by John)

On the day of our group ride, we drove up in time to have coffee and scones at the Perching Parrot Café before the meet-up time of 11 am.

Meeting up at Paekakariki (photo by Sue)

Coming up to the Makarini Street bridge, on the Kapiti Expressway cycle track (photo by John)

It took us about an hour and three-quarters to bike the 26 km to Peka Peka, where we enjoyed a nice long stop for lunch, as it was very busy at the café, and food took a long while to arrive.

Arriving at Peka Peka. It was a very, very hot day, hence the shorts and sleeveless top …
(photo by John)

A pleasant long lunch at Harrisons (photo by Sue)

About to depart after lunch. Sue's SmartMotion is a "grown-up" version of ours
(i.e. full size, non folding)  (photo by Bridget)

On the return trip, Sue and the others put on a big spurt. I had to crank the assist up to level 4, and at times even level 5, to keep up. I think Sue believes in making the most of her e-bike capacity, whereas John and I like to take our time. I was quite tired at the end of the day’s 52 km.

Gordon and Sue take the lead (photo by John)

On the way back into Paekakariki along the waterfront, the beach looked very inviting. Lots of families were making the most of a hot Sunday afternoon at the beach.

Coming back into Paekakariki along The Parade (photo by John)