Day 19 | Piropiro to Taumaranui

Luck, luck, and more luck

Date: 6 Feb
Grade: 2, 3

We woke to sun shining on the forest all around us and warming the last of the mist in the valley below.  Not too shabby, and breakfast with our new friends was good, but then the wheels fell off.

Actually it was one of my pedals complete with the crank arm, and the nut that held it on couldn’t be found. We were lucky this happened only 500 m down the trail, not in the middle, which would have meant a 20 km walk.

And luckily, the shuttle taking daytrippers’ luggage was due soon, so I booked on that, while Jill biked on alone.

And even luckier, as we searched for the missing bolt,  a passing car screeched to a halt and the driver shouted,  “What the #$+* are you two doing here?”. It was Terry, a good friend, and Lizzy’s brother, having bloke fun with his Mahurangi mates, doing the whole trail in a day. Without our delay, we wouldn’t have met up. “What a dag”, we all said over a beer at the end of the day at the Rusty Nail in Tamarunui.

And on top of that, Timber Trail Shuttles has a full workshop specializing in Bosch bikes, with a mechanic on duty on Waitangi Day! They dropped everything, found the right nut, bolted it on, then, without my asking, took over the problem with my  gear cassette, sorted it out with improvements, and tried not to accept any payment. The owner was there and said “I pay them”. “Not enough”, I replied, and left koha.

All fixed, I biked back up the trail, hoping to meet Jill before the last big fun downhill, but the little speedster was nearly home. We biked along the old Ongarue Road to Taumarunui, and started to plan the next few days.

Due to technical perplexities the usual cute video and earnest stats and map are not available. Normal service will be resumed after a day of rest.

Accommodation: Taumaranui Rangaroa Heights B&B

Battery Use: 75% | 470Wh (estimated)

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