The Longest Night Ride

If you were a regular visitor to Bushlove, you might be mistaken that we are all XC sifters. Some of us though, just like going on bicycle rides.

I was invited to go on a ride with Paul and Mike from Inspiring Riding, and was promised the occasional tow from Owen. Paul's adventures had been very inspirational for me personally, and to be invited on one of his rides was an honour indeed. The "Longest Night Ride" was originally planned for the actual longest night of the year, but scheduling conflicts meant that the ride left a couple of weeks later. The weather gods were potentially not going to be helpful to our cause, but more layers that I can count, and patches of sunshine as we drove up helped quell my nervousness.

The plan was to ride from Havelock North to Greytown, for a grand total of ~320km on the back roads from the Hawkes Bay to Wairarapa. I had never ridden that far before, nor have I covered any meaningful distance recently. We eventually covered between 266.88km or 288km depending on whose Garmin you believe, discretion meant that we opted out of riding the motorway to Greytown and ended in Masterton instead.

Nervous smiles before we start
Credit: Mike Wilson via blipfoto

I won't bore you with chronological minutiae of our ride, but will point out a few highlights instead.

Credit: Paul Smith via Facebook

Credit: Mike Wilson via Facebook.

Long black #1.

The good sorts at Bay Espresso. Beautiful slice and a great long black to start us off. We also spared them our faffing and stripping, opting to get sorted out at Beth's pad for the night instead. 


The grinds and brownie were magic at ~6 or 7am.

Paul toughing it out.

Paul eschewing the comfort of a warm couch inside (just behind him), preferring the cold, hard concrete to eat his dinner instead. This spot was also to mark the end of our Twitter (#thelongestnight #fail) plans - thwarted by the lack of any real cellular connection once outside Waipukarau.

Moonbows (a real thing!), shortly after we started our ride. This was highlighted by a long stretch of road where we rode in the dark and the sky was relatively clear. The route was perhaps not as "pancake flat" was I was hoping for, as the constant rolling hills and the final climbs into Wairarapa were definitely testing. Some excellent high-speed descending in the dark were good rewards though.

Getting closer. Credit: Owen Pahl via Google+

The inevitable faffing at both ends of our rides were excellent opportunities for banter. Paul, Mike and Owen are definitely excellent natural talents at sandbagging.

Before. Credit: Paul Smith via Facebook

After. Credit: Paul Smith via Facebook

This would not have been possible without our partners, present or absent. Beth did a stellar job of getting this bunch of smelly, sleeping cyclists home.

Credit: Paul Smith via Facebook (he was the only one still up).

Aeropress coffee at dawn was a highlight for me. I had carted 3 paper cups through the night, desperately trying to preserve their shape in my bag. Greedy guts here had two coffees.


What did I learn for next year?

1. Ride what ya brung. Don't worry too much about your bike and packing different parts to what you normally ride, chances are you'll be fine. * 
2. Bring a treat. Coffee, beer and slice might be heavy at the start, but you'll shift the weight from your bag to your belly gladly.
3. Dress warmly. It can get extra cold between 2am and 6am. Pack spare dry gloves if you anticipate rain.
4. Fenders ftw. Enough said. 

Happy eating at the end of the ride
Credit: Mike Wilson via blipfoto

Thanks to Paul and Mike from Inspiring Riding (check them out on Facebook and Twitter) for organising the ride, and putting up with my multitude of noob questions; and Owen for putting up with my occasional grumpy whining (the stretch to Alfredton was the longest 5km I've ever ridden) and giving me a tow or two.

Kah

*Unless you're a slamthatstem fan. It works for rides up to 4 or 5 hours, but 14 hours on the bike was a different issue.