Gloria rides red bicycle

Feeling the Burn

26/5/2024

Stage 12, 13.0
North Hudson, New York – Freeport, Maine

290.07 Miles – 464.11 Kilometres
Total distance ridden 4367.13 Miles – 6987.41 Kilometres

We sat and cooked, listening to the bird-less bush and sound of our stove quietly heating our food. Whilst eating, a bus load of people arrived, all wearing quick-drying travelling clothes and most of them eagerly consuming the view. An Englishman spotted our bikes and rushed over and very politely asked the standard questions. He then apologised and went to admire the view. As soon as he had left, a couple from California appeared and asked those same standard questions, before rushing away to board their coach.

We breathed a sigh of relief as the full vehicle departed the lookout, and commented that the bra didn't deter people. Then at that very moment, a woman sheepishly approached us. She introduced herself as Katia Hetter from CNN Travel and asked if she could interview us. We said sure, and before we knew it, someone called Shannon was asking yet more questions while a photographer clicked away. Sharon had somehow managed to miraculously make her bra disappear.

More partial chapters of our wee bike ride are to follow.

You can read the full chapters by signing up to become a patron or by very very special request.

Become a Patron by following this link.

Sometime in the near future the complete adventure will be released as an eBook. Patrons will get a free copy of this.

Cheers Kel

Tuatara Iti Sponsorship Request

26/11/2023

Hello, my name is Kel and I am a 'tour' cyclist. According to my Garmin cycling computer over the last nine years I have cycled almost 13000km on many multi-day trips carrying my tent, sleeping bag, stove etc.

Next year I have decided to enter the Tuatara Iti. This is essentially an unsupported entry level cycle brevet or race that starts on February the 24th. The distance will be 500km and the organisers goal is to cause as much pain for the participants as possible. Most of the Iti is over gravel roads up brutally steep hills.

My goal is to ride from sunup to sundown for three or four days.

I am trying raise about $700 for those four days. This will be spent during the race, mostly on food and accommodation. We racers cannot afford the time to stop and cook, or the time to pitch and down a tent or bivvy.

What will you get for your sponsorship?

First, the joy of watching me suffer - you can follow my GPS tagged bike live from your computer. I will more than happily put your business sticker on my bike, but it is a bicycle so it will have to be a small sticker. With your permission, I will post your business on my socials and website.

Any surplus money will either be returned, or donated to Stepping Stones, which is a programme supporting adults living with mental illness.

The Website for the Tuatara
www.greatkiwigravel.com/tuatara-1000

Short film on the Tuatara 1000, the Iti is half of this
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSgHHQYttk4

My website for our 'Touring' adventures
bicyclewithwheels.weebly.com/adventures.html

Stepping Stones
psotago.org.nz/news/stepping-stones/

The set up for my shakedown ride

My bed for the night

Fairy Lights in the Barn

1/10/2023

Stage 11
Rochester, New York – North Hudson, New York
287.11 Miles – 473.73 Kilometres
Total distance ridden 4077.06 Miles – 6727.15 Kilometres

It was a pleasant enough trip to the cutsie town of Inlet. Once again we had been searching for a place to get our bikes serviced. Tour cycling is very hard on gear; with continual use our faithful bicycles wore out very quickly. I was delighted when, unexpectedly, I found Pedal and Petals bike shop. Without hesitating, we wheeled our bikes into the store. It was a bit confusing, the place seemed to be full of knick-knacks and junk with petals. Out of nowhere, a very grumpy voice demanded that we get our bikes out of the building. Offended and somewhat flabbergasted, I mumbled, 'we thought this was a bike shop, we wanted a service'. Sternly the voice told us to push our bikes around the corner into the basement.

We obeyed and found a pleasant enough mechanic operating out of a dungeon who gave our bikes a good service. I forgot to tell him to ask before changing anything and came back to discover I had new brake-pads. They weren't really ready to be changed and it was a job that would have taken me a few minutes. I had posh new ones in my tool kit that I was wanting to use. Never mind.

Stunningly Violent and Gorgeous

14/5/2023

Stage 10
London, Ontario, Canada – Rochester, New York, USA
275.87 Miles – 441.39 Kilometres
Total distance ridden 3789.95 Miles – 6063.92 Kilometres

Things were so perfect that we wanted to stop and enjoy it. We asked a local washing his car if we could sit on their Lakeside chairs, take some time out, read our books and make a cup of coffee. He was very obliging and even took our thermos with him. My nose quickly nudged into Prince Edward Island and the antics of Anne Shirley.

A few minutes later our host turned up with two mugs, a pot of coffee and his wife. They both sat down for a chat. I was momentarily confused. How the hang could they possibly understand that 'us' taking time out to read and drink coffee would include chatting with them? It took me a few minutes to buck out of my inhibited selfishness to put my book down and start listening to the standard questions.

Some trips are easy and some are like this.

4/2/2023

Click here to read full Daily Encourager article.

Mad Tractors and Crystal Clear Water

4/2/2023

Muskegon, Michigan, USA – London, Ontario, Canada
355.99 Miles – 572.91 Kilometres
Total distance ridden 3514.08 Miles – 5655.36 Kilometres

The next event was perhaps the lowest we stooped on the whole trip. We could not find a toilet in Midland. And of course it is pretty hard to cross your legs when riding a bicycle. We rode, we searched and we begged our bladders to behave, but eventually we had to let nature take its course. In total desperation we found some poor homeowner's front lawn. It had a few shrubs on it. We scurried off our bikes, quickly peed on the frightened flora and fortunately took off again without being noticed. One hundred metres later we rode passed an unlocked Portaloo and about another 100 metres after that, the town suddenly opened up into countryside. Och aye, we lived to tell the story and the plants are probably better off for it.

The Official Changing of the Guard

29/1/2023

Gepida - Albion Pro - 2011

Crucial Custom Cycle - Neringa - 2022

We were almost a year without our bikes. Though the transition to custom built bicycles was difficult, the result has been well worth it. Our new Crucial Custom Cycles glide across New Zealand's trails.

Our New Bikes

29/1/2023

Update #14

5/10/2022

Sharon's bike.

Feel free to check Sharon's bike out on Anders' website. Crucial Custom Cycles.

Feel free to check Kel's bike out on Anders' website. Crucial Custom Cycles.

Update #13

5/10/2022

Sharon's bike.

Feel free to check Sharon's bike out on Anders' website. Crucial Custom Cycles.

Feel free to check Kel's bike out on Anders' website. Crucial Custom Cycles.

Update #12

5/10/2022

Sharon's bike.

Feel free to check Sharon's bike out on Anders' website. Crucial Custom Cycles.

Feel free to check Kel's bike out on Anders' website. Crucial Custom Cycles.

Update #11

5/10/2022

And now it is time for Sharon's bike.

Feel free to check Sharon's bike out on Anders' website. Crucial Custom Cycles.

Feel free to check Kel's bike out on Anders' website. Crucial Custom Cycles.

Update #10

5/10/2022

Feel free to check it out on Anders' website. Crucial Custom Cycles.

I am currently waiting for the bike to be delivered.

Update #9

6/8/2022

Feel free to check it out on Anders' website. Crucial Custom Cycles.

The bike is currently soaking in acid and will be powder coated next week.

Update #8

28/7/2022

Feel free to check it out on Anders' website. Crucial Custom Cycles.

Update #7

26/7/2022

Feel free to check it out on Anders' website. Crucial Custom Cycles.

Update #5

7/7/2022

Feel free to check it out on Anders' website. Crucial Custom Cycles.

Update #4

5/7/2022

Feel free to check it out on Anders' website. Crucial Custom Cycles.

Update #3

29/6/2022

Feel free to check it out on Anders' website. Crucial Custom Cycles.

Another Update

28/6/2022

Feel free to check it out on Anders' website. Crucial Custom Cycles.

Our New Bikes

18/6/2022

Unfortunately due to sudden illness our bike builder was unable to complete our new bicycles. After much searching we were fortunate enough to find another builder to continue or restart the process of manufacturing our new bicycles.

Anders Waiker of 'Crucial Custom Bicycles' is now in the process of constructing our bikes. We have had to seemingly measure every bar on our Gepida bikes and every bone in our bodies. It has been a fun exercise.

Below are photos taken by Anders of the front forks of my bike.

Friends, Frank and the Fonz

1/5/2022

Marquette (Cedar Rapids), Iowa – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
215.88 Miles – 437.43 Kilometres
Total distance ridden 3158.90 Miles – 5083.76 Kilometres

Eventually we stopped in the dodgy town of Mt Hope. One of the annoying parts of keeping ourselves hydrated is that we have to pee every five minutes. Fortunately this seedy-feeling town had public restrooms. I bowled on down to the toilet block, pulled the door, it moved about 2 cm and slammed shut. Because I'm a slow learner, I immediately pulled the door a second time and again the locked door slammed. A movement caught my eye and I looked up in time to notice two hornets. They acknowledged me and quick as a flash, flew down and stung me just above my lip. The nasty little things drew blood and immediately my face started swelling. Sharon gave me one of her antihistamines. There was nothing left to do, really, other than leave this miserable place. We rode out, stopped on the edge of town and peed on the side of the road.

Sharon's account of our last ride on our old bikes.

6/2/2022

Click here to read full Daily Encourager article.

Mississippi Madness

30/1/2022

St Joseph, Minnesota – Marquette (Cedar Rapids), Iowa
385.03 Miles – 619.64 Kilometres
Total distance ridden 2943.02 Miles – 4736.33 Kilometres

Sharon ran into a grocery store in the town whilst I waited outside, trying to avoid people. I failed on the avoiding people part. An older woman walked out of the shop with a sulky young teenager. The woman looked at me and said, 'we had our kids, they grew up and left home, it was great. Then suddenly this one pops out, we were using contraception, we didn't want her. Now I'm known as the oldest Mum in the military.' Trying to divert my eyes and feign disinterest, I looked down at my bike and realised that my front gear cable had frayed down to one strand and was about to snap. My brain switched into panic mode. 'What time was it, where were we and where is a bike shop?' In the meantime the mother was droning on, 'so now we are retired, we should be in an RV travelling the country, but no, we are stuck here raising this.' She spread her arm to encompass the view of her daughter pouting in the passenger seat. Then without a goodbye, this petulant parent jumped in her car and drove off.

Good Bye Beloved Bikes

30/1/2022

Our last ride on our bikes.

Before it was stripped for useful parts.

After everything was taken off.

All useful parts are in the process of being sent to KiwiBikes to be used for our newly built bikes. ETA for them to arrive, at a guess, is the end of February.

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