November was cold, but we had a fabulous spell of weather here in Auckland during the first few weeks of December. Several weeks of glorious sunshine, with almost no rain. This is distinctly abnormal for Auckland, so we decided to make the most of it, by going for a mountain bike ride in the Hunua Ranges, to the South-East of Auckland.
There’s a great set of trails that take in single track through bush, gravel roads, open fields, stream crossings, etc. It doesn’t have the enormous network of trails that Woodhill or Whakarewarewa has, so it’s not the sort of place you want to visit all the time, but it is well worth at least a couple of trips a year. Since it can get a bit slippery, it’s better to time a trip after an extended fine spell.
OK, so we’ve had a good spell of weather, and it’s been a while since we’ve been, so let’s go! Get up early on Saturday morning, walk the dog, load up the car with bikes and gear, on the road at a decent time, and at the trailhead by 9:00. Perfect. Sun shining, a few other tramping groups around, not many bikers though. Excellent, time to unload the bikes and get set up.
Pull down the bikes, grab the box of gear and start sorting out Camelbaks, etc. Today I’m riding in my SPD sandals, while Anna’s using her normal MTB shoes. Picking up one of the sandals, I immediately see something wrong – it’s only size 41-42. Anna has a pair of sandals identical to mine, except smaller. She’s not wearing hers today, but it looks like maybe I’ve chucked her pair in the car, instead of mine. Well, they’re just sandals, and they’re not that much smaller than mine, so maybe I can make do with those? Yeah, probably.
Except wait a minute, where’s the other sandal? Here it is, and this ones a 45-46. That’s more like it. Maybe I’ll just be able to make do with one that’s a bit tight? But you’ve guessed it, I had two left sandals. What to do? The only other footwear I had was a pair of jandals (thongs/flip-flops), which were just far too soft to wear with SPD pedals. Well, they’re sandals with lots of adjustment points, maybe I could wear the bigger one on the wrong foot?
By now Anna is just about wetting herself, but she’s trying to hold it in, as I’m in a rather grumpy mood, since it doesn’t look like our ride is going to happen. I tried riding around the carpark, looking like a right fool, but it just wasn’t working, with the sandal hitting the crank, making for difficult riding. We’re too far away from any bike shops to make it worth going and buying new pedals or shoes, so we have to make a call – pack up the bikes, and head home, no ride :-(. It’s too far out here to justify driving all the way home, then back out again.
On the way home, someone sends a message inviting us to brunch. “Sorry, can’t make it, we’re taking the bikes out to Hunua.” Well, technically it was true…
Get home, unpack the gear, and just go for a road ride around town. Good ride it was too. Shame about Hunua.