Day 4: The Steed

Toss up between a river crossing, the coastal ride, or the steed. The steed won, partly because it's in a coastal environment, 2 birds with one stone.

Left James Mackay Hut early, well, 7.45 and before most others, there was a crowd! And we stayed ahead of them. Saxon Hutt at 9am, Heaphy at 10 and then the track end just after 12. Buggered.

160 km in just over 3 days, around 2500 of climbing probably, not much sleep, a very rough track in places. In real terms , it was the roughness of the track that did it for me. No flowing single tracks really, just lots of bashing thru rocks.

It's a reasonably rough and technical mtb ride (maybe as expected) and for me, 3 nights worked well for an over and back return trip. The reality is a that an east/west ride is a good and easier option (just 80km) and easily achieve in 1-2 nights for a competent rider. Instead we did an east/west return, and it's a long way and rough, especially carrying gear.

Learnings? Gear. If you put gear on the racks the bike loses performance. But, put it on your back, and get a super sore bum! Next time for me, lighter on the front and experiment with more on the back. Without question, light. We did Kaweka foods, Nah, do freeze dried, go light in everything. Brakes, It was dry, didn't need additional pads. Tyres, it's not that rough, you don't need spares.

At the end of the day, this is a big ride in a remote location, especially if you do a return trip as we did. You have to be very well prepared with your bike very good condition. The terrain is simply brutal on your bike, Think lots and lots of sand in your drive train.

But, it's a totally awesome ride. If you're somewhat fit, and somewhat technical, you should do it. And do the $250 return by helicopter. Way too much effort riding back ;-)

Today: 36.7km, 150m climb, 4 hrs riding