Anne-Marie’s Adventures – A Very Long Day!

You know these days that don’t end up the way they should have? The ones where you regret a bunch of decisions? That trail that I shouldn’t have taken, the point where I should have turned around when the hill was too steep and muddy and slippery, that junction that I should have investigated more…? We are now sitting in our sleeping bags waiting to be rescued.

Kelsey in the centre of the North Island!Kelsey in the centre of the North Island!

Yesterday was a varied day of riding. We started with rolling hills through farm country, then got onto gravel and the caught the Waikato river trail and enjoyed fun and bumpy singletrack, punchy hills, and light dirt trail. I ended up crashing, feeling over confident riding down a gravel hill with my luggage packed cyclocross bike. Just scratches, but lesson learned, I will not try to show Kelsey my downhill skills again!

Endless trails...Endless trails…

Today started the same as yesterday, but we took a more remote trail to try to get to the Timber Rail Trail. It was awesome being in the middle of nowhere! We got on the skinniest suspended bridge I have seen, old ATV trails and lots of big climbs. We were really happy when we found our lunch spot, the marker for the middle of the North Island. It is after eating our dried salami and M&M’s that everything went south or west or… ? We took a trail that wasn’t meant to be ridden and even difficult to walk. After walking for 5 hours on a trail that was supposed to be 2.5km, I made the 111 call.

Narrowest suspension bridge ever!Narrowest suspension bridge ever!

Search and rescue found us and brought us to Taupo. We will ride and relax here for a couple of days. Enough excitement and remoteness for now.



Anne-MarieAnne-Marie is the owner of Liv Vancouver, the first female focused bicycle boutique of its kind in Canada. An avid cyclist & bike packer, she has ridden down the coast from Vancouver to San Francisco twice, among other exciting two-wheeled expeditions. She is now on a bicycle tour through New Zealand with her daughter Frederique & colleague Kelsey. Visit Anne-Marie’s personal blog here.

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