Geyserland Gravel Grind 2016

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.

8am Saturday, Rotorua City Centre

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.

 

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...

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.

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...

La Grande

Four riders ended up finishing all four days. Today's ride included 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.