28 January 2017

A number of intrepid Tarbabies took part in this event. We started in two estimated time groups, with Gavin, Michael F, Marcus and their mate Kevin anticipating a speedier ride than Glenn, Rebecca, Catherine and Stephanie.

Back in the second group of OTBs, with a rolling hilly start to the ride our big peloton’s pace was quite challenging enough. The first 60-odd kms swept us through a string of small towns starting with O. Musing on what might be the correct pronunciation of each certainly helped one of us pass the time: Omata (not to be confused with the Mafiosi term ‘omerta’ perhaps, although having some relevance given a shared connotation of ‘silence under pain of death’ - or at least broken limbs?), Okato, Okurukuru, Oakura, Oaonui ‒ and eventually the last of those, the longed-for Opunake. Maybe some small relaxation in effort might be at hand?

However, the subsequent left turn towards Kaponga, with the spectacular Mt Taranaki looming right before us, soon dashed any hopes of an easier segment. On this 26km stretch, despite its renowned false flatness, we continued at the same steady pace. We, that is, except for the feisty Catherine who planned and executed (I warned you about omerta, didn’t I?) her jump on the rest of us to bridge across to a small group who’d been gradually increasing their breakaway lead. She sped off and we didn’t see her again till the end.

By the time we reached Kaponga we were over halfway there and it wasn’t long before the 25km section through to Inglewood brought welcome relief to our aching legs. Suddenly there were smiles all round and comments of ‘What a lovely ride this is!’ and ‘I like this bit!’. This section was marred for 3 or 4 unlucky riders ahead of us who either locked handlebars and came off or almost tangled with those following them. That incident saw our group augmented by the survivors of that incident. We heard later that Catherine managed to steer a neat path through that melee, heroically sticking with that strong bunch, still way beyond our sight.

The last two small hills before New Plymouth passed in a flash, as did the final sprint beside the park and round the left-hander towards the park entrance. True to form, we last three Tarbabies crossed the line in very close formation and were greeted by the joyous sight of our (s)Tarry comrades lounging about on the grass, having clocked up times of up to 15 minutes faster.

This event seems to be a course for riders who don’t see themselves as especially fast climbers. While there are plenty of hills, they are mostly not long and there’s plenty of long flat or ‘flattish’ straights to pound along on. The perfect conditions, magnificent mountain views and genial Tarbaby company combined to produce a satisfying and memorable day out.

 Check out the results here

Your Rover Cycling Report

Stephanie Revell