I was pretty stoked with my effort today up the Remutaka incline section of the Remutaka Rail Trail.
The trail is a fantastic idea and so much vision and work must have gone into making it a reality.
I rode from Kaitoke over to Cross Creek and back. It took me a couple of hours to complete the ~30km or so.
The way up to the old Summit station from Kaitoke didn’t really feel like much of an incline, although I realised when I was coming back down the hill how fast I was able to go and that it was a bit steeper than I had thought.
The climb from Cross Creek – a grade 3 climb according to Strava – was daunting. But I cruised up taking it pretty easy and according to Strava it took about 30 minutes. It’s amazing seeing leader boards with folks who have covered the 3km ascent 10 minutes. I need to lift my uphill efforts!
The ride was pretty easy overall, I mean I could feel I was working in places, but it certainly didn’t feel hopeless at any point. The presence of many small kids on bikes was pretty reassuring to me too.
I only encountered very minor issues:
- my front light died at the pitch black entrance to the longest tunnel. Fortunately I had a good flashlight will me, but had to hand hold that through the tunnel. Some lovely folks let me follow them through the tunnels on way from Siberia to Summit which saved me a bit of faffing.
- I was unsure going down the Wairarapa side to Cross Creek how far there was to go, and nearly stopped and turned around. I’m glad I went on, it was not a particularly long descent, I just had no idea how far I had remaining. That descent had some pretty loose gravel on it, I dragged the brakes a lot, but didn’t want to find myself going too fast on that surface.
- The tubeless tyres were great, I was a little concerned that the pressure was too high, but it was just right for the conditions.
Overall it was a fun ride and I was pretty stoked that I was able to do it with no dramas.
