Champion Triathlete & Orthopodess Josie Sinclair is leading the Wishbone Relay Northland to Auckland ride, slide (if possible) and BBQ expedition that travels north on Tuesday 5 March & arrives back in Auckland for beer & bangers on Sunday 10 March.
There's already a great group of around 10 people signed up for this challenge and as there's accommodation and other logistics being finalised just after the NZOA ASM wraps, please get in contact with Josie if you have questions or sign up asap at this LINK.
You can see the full details on the trip PDF. Some routes may still be adjusted slightly to take advantage of quieter roads & any tweaks will be communicated directly to the participants.
To hopefully get you off the fence & into the saddle, here's some pics & thoughts from Josie on her last ride in this area...
February 18 2019 BC (before Covid) four of us started a 3.5 week pilgrimage from the top to the bottom of NZ on a trip called Tour Aotearoa.
For years the Kennett brothers have been producing books on mountain bike trails through out NZ and in 2017 started planning for an epic self supported "bike-packing" event through some of the most beautiful and isolated areas of NZ.
After multiple cycles through other countries, it had dawned on us that we didn’t really know our own landscapes and certainly hadn’t taken advantage of seeing the most beautiful country in the world.
The ride starts with a compulsory walk to Cape Reinga lighthouse and Spirits Bay.
... and then it's into the saddle and off to ninety mile beach. This includes riding through the giant sandhills at Te Paki. The trip along the beach is epic as it curves down to Ahipara.
Long stretches of coast passing sand dunes, whale carcasses and stopping for a picnic.
However the ride certainly isn’t a picnic if the tide is high or the wind up, so the trip is always scheduled around the low tide. Fortunately we will have Mat Brick and my friend Marty on the trip (and probably others) who can pull us along as we tuck behind them & work the slipstream if the southerly or westerly blows.
BY the way - fortunately 90 mile beach is that in name only and not distance
... it's only 81 km's along the beach!
After a relaxing night at Ahipara, the route quickly becomes small gravel roads with great views of the Hokianga Harbour and there's a short ferry ride from Kohukohu to Rawene. Along the way coffees and donuts are consumed liberally.
The ride then follows Highway 12 to Opononi and Omapere - historic & classic seaside towns with sand dunes and possibly the odd dolphin.
This will be where we spend our second Wishbone Relay night & if time/weather allows we can also go sliding on the dunes.
The roads up to the Waipoua forest climb into subtropical forest and Tane Mahuta (one of NZ ‘s largest trees) was spectacular! The ride has some good gradients to get the heart rate up a bit and the Kauris are amazing - almost as noteworthy are the ice creams on the road at Tane Mahuta. The road then rolls down through to Dargaville.
Dargaville is a great little country town, friendly folk and good cafes.
Dargaville @ Dusk
The trip from Dargaville is along the river and is very peaceful , followed by the forestry road through to Poutu Point which is a very quaint Kiwi bach town at the north end of the Kaipara harbour. We caught a ferry from Poutu to Parakai - 50 km of twisting waterway with views you can't see from the road.
The day we travelled, Auckland was hit by a massive storm - and so we rode in the rain from Helensville to Auckland along the backroads past Riverhead and on to the cycle way. The rain didn’t dampen our spirits though as the companionable riding was fun, it merely added to the challenge.
That trip took us through all of the major cycle trails in the North and South islands.
We reached Bluff 2 days before NZ went into the first lockdown. It wasn’t until we arrived back in Auckland that we really heard about Covid and experienced the decimated supermarket supplies. The ride immersed you in the peace and quiet smaller centres in NZ experience – a great break from reality.
The Wishbone ride is only 5 days long, but also provides the combination of a physical challenge, good company and a change from the harsh realities of orthopaedics.
Come and join us!
Click HERE for the Reinga to Auckland leg PDF or HERE for the Relay home page.