WRT

The WRT

What does WRT stand for? W=Waikato R=River and T=Trail. So, WRT=Waikato River Trail...Yay we can do math!!

This trail was depicted in brochures as one meandering along the riverside for roughly 100 km. Guidebooks also rated it as easy to intermediate-a trail 'the entire family can enjoy' sort of deal.

Let's just say that these guidebooks and brochures were misguided. Very very misguided.

We spent four riding days on the trail. From essentially Arapuni Dam to Atiamuri Dam. First day on the trail was one of the few road sections to Jone's Landing - a lovely campsite on the Arapuni Lake with towering cliffs behind us. We escaped the joys (sarcasm) of Mamaku Forest this day and after a brief stop in the stuck in the 70s architecture of Putaruru, we were treated with an incredible moon setting on the calm lake on a starlit night. The starlit night would gradually turn into a cloud filled sky creating the droplets of water falling from the air above- more commonly known as rain. Lovely.

We would spend much of the following day in the tent waiting out the rain before packing up to the trail head where we'd be greeted with 22 plus switchbacks down the valley to the river's edge.

We detoured to Mike's house for a couple days before the switchbacks and were happy to not have camped on the trail that night due to the pig hunting festivities explained in the previous post.

The switchbacks weren't entirely horrible- especially since we did have gravity with us instead of against us. Good practice for sharp turns as well.

Our legs were already scattered with bruises from Mamaku...but certainly the majority of them were yet to come. The trail from the switchbacks on were pretty much bundles of steep, gravely mess with a few good views here and there.

The country has a cycle way initiative going on now to try and create trails from the top to the bottom of the country. The WRT is one of the trails funded by this initiative...a $3 million investment, in fact. But word on the cycling street is that the makers of the trail weren't so much actually RIDING the trail but walking it after sections were completed. Part of the trail is actually a set of stairs 5 stories tall. We were informed of and well aware of this section, at least...and the swichback...but everything else in between was the misguided part.

Apparently well respected trailmakers for riding tried to give advise but the input wasn't going through so they had to let it go.

Long story short, Kate and my through-biking tour of the WRT left us battered and exhausted.

The last section from Whakamaru to Atiamuri was the most pleasant 25 Km section and most ridable, though there were heavily rooted sections and cattle guard gate things much too skinny for our trailers to fit through. At one point, once every couple of minutes we'd have to dismount the bikes, set one aside and haul the trailer and bike over the gate... Then do the same for the other one! Just another way to add a few more bruises to the legs.

So the WRT was kind of like a slap in the face... We were faced with incredibly steep (and long) inclines/declines that would have been challenging for MOST people WITHOUT hauling a loaded trailer. Better yet, most of these inclines/declines were littered with loose large gravel. The five story stair case, minimal water stops (fortunately we are geared with an H2O pump), the undersized bike gates, tight corners, etc all added to the fatigue and exhaustion we'd face. I can handle these things... But it's much more bearable when it's expected.

Sooooo, Switchbacks are actually our friends...well via mtn bike anyway - especially deceiving switchbacks that are actually switchbacks but you can't really tell they are switchback switchbacks. Those are the best. We were fortunate enough to take the W2K trail from Taupo to Kinloch - the trail skirts along a peninsula against the largest lake in the country, Lake Taupo and is regarded as a work of trail art by many. It was truly a treat to ride up an decent amount of elevation and thoroughly enjoy it as it meandered and curved (widely) through the bush. We arrived in Kinloch and also had our first swim and run on the trip (in preparation for the Xterra race near Wanaka next month).

Big aloha and many many Thank You's to Craig, Wendy, and Jak at the AvantiPlus store in Taupo. We were two exhausted and battered and stinky cyclist who felt refreshed and rejuvinated thanks to your kindness. My new cassette, chain and chain rings are running beautifully as well and we are slowly learning the wonders of GPS :). Take care and we'll be sure to visit on our return trip to the North Island.

And most importantly, thank you for the clarification that the Waikato River Trail actually is hard and poorly graded. It justifies our bruises a little bit more than the meandering along a river bank trail we thought we were meant to experience :)

Aloha!