The short story? Our first team outing with a canine crew member (Koki the staffy). And thanks to the new Hunua traverse link from Clevedon to Kaiaua, a trip away right on our doorstep. We hired a van, added 5 e-bikes, a trailer, 5 humans and a dog and drove to Clevedon. 3 of us rode the Hunua traverse while two and a dog drove to Kaiaua to the night’s accommodation. The next day we all set out to Thames via Hauraki Rail Trail and 3 ended up there and then we (well most of us) went back to Auckland!
A first for us – a ‘choose your own adventure’ ride, where some people are riding more than others. We consider our team trips away as professional development and the IRD surely concurs, so we’re always happy to ‘do what our customers would do’. That’s our excuse anyway when we rent vans, stay in indoor accommodation and do anything that some might not call ‘doing it tough’. We’re out here to have fun in the end. And for professional development.
Ready for the long story?
A short time (all the time?) before the trip:
Well I confess to having a bit on before this trip and could have delegated a little better. Fortunately at some point barely before departure day, Helen made a run list with small details like where and when we would meet and leave and what to bring. Which bikes we were taking, stuff like that. We take a mix of personal e-bikes and shop e-bikes for these trips, again, for professional development, eating our own dog food. Dear readers know about the dire state of regional trains around here and the exciting but somewhat limited possibilities of bike/bus travel (doesn’t work in groups), thus a rental van was in order. Armed with a spreadsheet of which bikes were coming and what items each needed, the plan was fool proof!
Thursday
I pedalled off to Metropolitan Rentals and brought back the van. The van was huge in its number of seats, but not so big for carrying bikes. Originally planning for 7 e-bikes, by Thursday that became 6 as illness spread through camp. 4 of the 6 bikes were to Traverse the Hunua which we decided called for extra battery capacity. Now if you pack on Thursday for a trip that leaves Friday morning, you have a battery charging issue cause you can’t charge the bike once it’s in the van! The lesson might be to pack on the day you depart (or plan before you pack?).
It was about this point that 7 became 6. We have a Thule e-bike rack (and the rental van had a tow ball) which will carry 2 e-bikes (a used Nevo touring 500Wh and a new Sinch Jaunt 2.5 630Wh), so that means the last ‘inside bike’ can go on the back seat. That’s Andy’s 2019 Riese and Muller Tinker, with spare battery (2 x 500Wh). And the Thule dog trailer, which collapses down, that can go on the seats too. So the van is packed for the night and we all meet the next morning at EBT according to Helen’s schedule, right on time.
Friday
It’s Thursday night/Friday morning when 6 becomes 5 as illness and injury reaps its final victim and Hiko is formally struck off the list (full recovery made by all). So which bike gets struck off? We tend to swap bikes around a lot during these rides (again, P.D.), so it’s not so straightforward which one. But it’s one of the Hunua Traverse bikes and at first we decided it was the Moustache J that would stay home because it was the last to be packed in. It was also brand new, so there’s a reasonably high ‘cost’ to us taking it on an offroad adventure. Then for a moment we considered just leaving all the bikes in – we’ve packed them already! But given we have to do all of this in reverse on the way home, it’s easier if there’s more space (plus theft etc). Ultimately the Corratec was out and the Moustache J was in. That meant finding a (half charged) 250Wh Powermore range extender and plugging it in for some last few electrons before departure. During this sojourn in the shop I’m writing and sending out the June EBT Newsletter to dutifully remind you all that you would find us closed for the public holiday weekend. A short drive to Clevedon, lunch and it’s time for re-assembly of the 3 Hunua bikes – Helen, Liz (and Koki) heroically took on the professional development training shuttling and drove around to Kaiaua for carrots and dip and a spot of dog training with the bike trailer.
We knew that the 250Wh Powermore battery wasn’t fully charged, but it was a surprise to turn on the Moustache J to find that the bike overall was only showing half charge. Unplug the Powermore and the bike shows no charge at all. Pull off the main battery cover and a dark cavern of nothing reveals all – there’s no battery in the bike. As per cell E5, it is still at EBT, belly full of electrons, just rearing to tackle those hills. It’s not on the charger anymore, that was disconnected to top up the Powermore and fortunately the charger was brought with us. But what to do now in Clevedon? Drive back for the battery? Nope. Tackle 1100m of climbing with half a 250Wh battery? Nope. The Moustache was swapped for the Nevo Touring with its (single) 500Wh battery. A phone call to Bob Cobb at Shorebird Cycles secured a rental e-bike in the event that the Shuttle Team of Helen, Liz and Koki were to go for a (longer than 125Wh) Jaunt in Kaiaua.
The Hunua Traverse is a grand ride and although it has a lot of access limitations (weekend only during our trip and at time of writing, closed till October 2025 for pest control), it is just fantastic to have it on the map at all. Plucky locals have been more or less doing this route for a while by jumping over locked gates and evading rangers. Or more often having to go back out the way we’ve come in. Now that the ride is on the map, the road surface seems to have improved so it’s become more accessible to more people. Not having to jump a fence and hide from authorities helps too.
The hills are just as big as ever and Alex was keeping power use to an absolute minimum up the hills, making his 500Wh last.
Being a real ‘up and over’ meant a long, scenic downhill cruise to the coast at Kaiaua. There’s something special about long rides that traverse regions. Kaiaua is another world from Auckland and getting there by bike makes it more noticeable. There’s also the anticipation that the next day you’ll be somewhere else again on the bike.
Team shuttle did not take up Bob’s offer of an e-bike hire (with an adult sized battery), there were plenty of carrots and dip to attend to. So thanks to Alex’s heroics, we survived the first day of our battery blunder.
Kaiaua is a lovely spot and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Sea Urchin Cottage. The local pub was packed at dinner so both riders and bikes were well watered.
Saturday
For most of us, the day’s destination is Thames and 500Wh is plenty for such a trip. However, Liz has plans to continue to Paeroa to meet family, making some 80km all up which is generally more than you want to do on 500Wh. And the Moustache J’s kid sized 250Wh battery is now fully charged but still half a battery – less than you’d want for Kaiaua to Thames. The final piece of the puzzle is that the van is in Kaiaua, not Thames, so someone (me) might be doubling back to get it. Did I mention that not a single bike we have in our stable has interchangeable batteries with another? That’s the price of progress for you – new fangled stuff keeps coming out. For Auckland’s finest e-bike providers, we’re certainly making a trip on a recreational trail sound like hard work! I don’t think we can even claim professional development here, this is just a low grade balls-up. We deal with it by putting the ever stoic Alex onto the Moustache J and he rides mainly on leg power. Liz is on the 500Wh Nevo Touring. Helen takes the 630Wh Sinch (which will need it pulling a trailer). Andy is sitting pretty on the 1000Wh Tinker. And I make the bizarre decision to leave the larger of my two batteries in the van and just take my 8 year old 48V battery on the Torq (hadn’t learned my lessons from the past it seems). Every B-grade epic needs a Deus ex machina. Enter Bob Cobb.
Bob and Connie were living in Auckland and coming to Kaiaua every weekend to do up their holiday house that they never spent any time holidaying in and decided to sort that out. They’re full time in Kaiaua now and staying out of trouble by renting out bikes and e-bikes with customers heading in both directions – Auckland bound on the Hunua Traverse as well as towards the Hauraki on the rail trail. They happened to be heading to Thames for the day and very kindly took our van with them and left the key with the fish and chips shop, saving one of us (me) a long ride back to get the van later. That’s not an official service of Shorebird Cycles, so my apologies to you and Bob if you try to get him to do that for your trip after reading this! Thanks Bob!
Logistics out of the way, we headed off into the mist on a very moody Hauraki Rail Trail
We did have another variable in the equation that all parents are familiar with. Koki seemed to have different biking aspirations to mum.
Rail trail bingo – a cafe full of bikes! Liz’s Nevo battery put on the fast charger while the humans recharged their legs. Koki would go no further than this and found a comfortable spot at the table to wait for the van.
Andy, Alex and myself headed on to Thames. That’s 3 out of the original 7 who are now in 4 different towns. Sounds like success to me. Loaded the bikes back into the van and picked up Koki and Helen on the way back into Auckland. Liz reports making it to Paeroa just as the battery ran out with enough time to make dinner for everyone. Andy had his bike cleaned and like new before bed. The van was returned that night and the Moustache J has been reunited with its battery. Koki hasn’t jumped back into the trailer as yet, but there’s every confidence he will. And the EBT team is now even more professionally able to help you with all your biking needs, though you could be forgiven for not wanting our help in trip planning and battery management!
