We ARE still cycling. . .

Yes, no photos, but we are still cycling. Shorter trips up to the supermarket to load up on groceries and fill the panniers, and zips around the peninsula. Yesterday four of us went back to Ambury Park, in Mangere Bridge, and went even further than before. We tackled wind, rain and a very strong smell of sewage - but it was well worth getting out there and feeling like we were in the country. Its a great ride for people 'muscling up' again for the longer trips taken over summer.

Amblings around Ambury Park

Very pleasant morning on Saturday, starting off from Ambury Park and heading toward Puketutu Island where the old settling ponds were. Weather showery but it felt very much like the Rail Trail.

Stopped at the bird watching hut to view the birdless expanse in front of us.


Puketutu Island quite picturesque in the low tide.


It did have all the makings of an excellent spy base.

Glorious - if frosty - winter weather for cycling

I did a solo trip just to 'warm up' from Te Atatu to Henderson on Saturday, enjoying the clear skies and winter weather. The nice thing about cycling in midwinter, is that you never get too hot!

. . .and on Sunday, John Cowan and I took to the hills leading into Devonport and caught up with Naomi and some other friends for coffee and a bite just off Victoria Rd in the main centre, before cycling back to the car. I always forget how many hills there really are in Devonport!
. . .the video below taken on my trip to Henderson, through the bare branches of the trees and ducking amongst plenty of pedestrians and their dogs.

Still crawling along through winter - to Pt Chev this time

Sheesh, it's been hard to get out there these days, but today dawned blue and clear so Helen and I hit the trail from Te Atatu to Pt Chev - jostling between a mighty contingent of cyclists all enjoying the day out and about.
It was great to get some exercise, but it was painful to realise how much we'd lost in the way of fitness and form. Oh well.

The coffee stop was good, at Pt Chev.

Highland Park to Botany Downs and back

We had a few newbies today - this is the six of us about to set off from the carpark at Highland Park, along the green marked off road cycle route on Eastern Districts Cycle Map.
A pleasant and surprising path meandered behind the suburbs and followed the stream a long distance in and through Botany Downs.
Stopped for a photo at Howick Historic Village
Who'd have thought this was tucked away there in the burbs?


Eventually stopped for a coffee at the Kings Garden Centre in Botany.


I continued on by myself when we got back to Highland Park, and tried out the cycleway and pedestrian path which hugs the coastline by Pakuranga. Lovely.

Around Onehunga and Ambury

We took a ride around Onehunga yesterday and discovered a whole area previously not found: Ambury regional park, with its animals and the bike track that goes from there all around the coastline. Only managed to begin that portion of the trip before we needed to return, but it is fixed in mind for a longer jaunt another day.

Homewards in the dying light

After such a long summer and mild Autumn, the days are starting to get much shorter and more unpredictable. Last night I just made it back to Te Atatu before the sun dipped below the horizon. Still, it was satisfying to be on the bike and not one of the many cars crawling along on the right.
Just a few light showers but nothing like the weather today - strong gusts and sideways rain - so I'm glad I'm working from home today. I actually took the camera to capture images of some of the many motorscooters that use these cyclepaths, which personally, I find very annoying. Some of them go quite fast, and come upon you without warning. I don't know how other cyclists feel about them, but despite signs up to show they are not allowed on the cycle way, they still persist - even to the extent of taking their license plates off.

I didn't come across any last night. Phew. Just long stretches of open path, golden light, and tight streams of slow moving traffic on my right.