Erik has been organising a bike packing event. (self supported adventure cycling) He has ridden so many of the gravel roads around the Rotorua region, while training for the Tour Aotearoa 2016 event.
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| 8am Saturday, Rotorua City Centre |
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Over Labour weekend, 30 bike packers rode the gravel roads. The event was split into 4 courses. La Petite, designed for newbies to bikepacking, a 2 day Course. La Regular, 3 day Course, and Le Grande, 4 days and a total of 575kms.
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| White Island, from Matata beach |
After an absolutely fantastic day's riding on the first day of the
Geyserland Gravel Grind, we're camping in Matata in perfect conditions
tonight. Legs are a little tired but looking forward to soaking at the
hot pools at Waikite Valley after a 120 km ride tomorrow...
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| La Petite |
The riders got to camp beside the ocean, ride past lakes and geothemral hot pools, discovered lesser known roads and trails running through vast forests.
First day about 120 kms
Second day about 130 kms
Third day about 160 - 190 kms depending on the course taken
Fourth day about 135 kms
The Geyersland Gravel Grind differs from other brevets (self supported bike events), in that everyone camps together each night at designated camp sites. This was a great opportunity to meet the other riders, see what gear people were using, help each other out, or just chat.
Day 2 of the Geyserland Gravel Grind was a brutal festival of hills. 130
km all up, with around 2,100 metres of climbing. At least people were
still smiling at the end...though nachos and a soak in the hot pools may
have helped.
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| La Regular |
Day
three of the Geyserland Gravel Grind took riders down Te Kopia Road
past this geothermal area. The three-day riders then took some gravel
back-roads and then headed up the highway to Tokoroa before riding up
Mamaku South Road and heading back down to finish in Rotorua. Meanwhile,
the four-day riders did a bigger loop heading south towards Taupo,
before returning to Rotorua and camping for the night in Ngongotaha.
A couple of us nutters decided that 160 km wasn't long enough so we
added an extra 30 km to ride the southern end of the Waikato River
Trail. Great riding, though finishing in the dark wasn't quite so
great...
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| La Grande |
Four riders ended up finishing all four days. Today's ride incl
uded
a quick climb over the hill to Tokoroa, then a ride through quiet
country roads in South Waikato to Putaruru, then up the hill to Mamaku
again, before returning to Rotorua via Oturoa Road and the Ngongotaha
cycleway. It started out looking a bit damp, but it soon cleared and
the rest of the day was perfect riding conditions, except for a bit of a
pesky headwind.
I ended up covering a total of 575 km and climbing over 8,500 metres in 38 hours of riding. What an awesome ride it's been.
