Diana Cocks
13 March 2021, 5:00 PM
The wind was inescapable and wet-wipe bathing at the end of each day unpleasant but the mind-blowing terrain, the easy conviviality of fellow bikers and the sheer adventure kept the group of 50 cyclists buoyed through the challenge of completing 2021’s Goldfields Cavalcade into Twizel.
Wanaka local and ebike enthusiast Megan Page joined a number of other locals and people from as far away as Kaitaia for the five day journey through the Canterbury high country from Tekapo to Twizel.
Their average age was early 60s and they rode an average of 39 kms each day up hills, down dales, across riverbeds and through valleys most had never seen before.
Camping on farmland in tents and “bathing” with wet-wipes seemed minor hardships when viewed from the perspective of the country they’d travelled and the adventure experienced.
All the necessities of life were transported to their high country campsites each night, including portaloos.
“The rides were magnificent,” Megan said. “We were all just so stoked to be in this amazing back country with nothing and no one around.”
“It was very well organised, literally we turned up with our bikes and put a smile on our faces and it stayed there for five days.”
The trails were often ridden across working farms.
The adventure even started with an unexpected laugh. They met in Twizel to start the journey and, as they were about to set off, the group’s camp portaloos on a trailer were driven off to the sound of yelling from inside one cubicle “Stop, stop, please stop”.
“That's a lovely way to start,” Megan giggled.
The five day journey travelled in a circuit from Twizel to Lake Pukaki, Tekapo to Braemar Station, and Rhoboro Downs back to Twizel.
It wasn’t all uphill… some downhill trails went on for miles.
They each carried with them on their bikes a basic repair kit and spare tyre, but all their camping gear, change of clothes, food and personal items were transported to each new campsite, together with portaloos and a special sine wave generator designed to charge ebikes and the multitude of battery-powered technology carried - from phones to hearing aids.
Last year’s bike leg of the Central Otago Cavalcade had 25-30 participants. This year that almost doubled, Megan said, with 50 being the maximum the organisers would safely take on each leg.
Morning starts were often a quick cooked breakfast and straight on the bikes.
“Mornings were kind of scoff your food and get up; lunches were everybody just taking a break and trying to find some shade; but evenings were the times where people started forming little groups and the groups are never the same every night as people would move around. It was very social.”
Twenty-one of the 50 rode ebikes but the pace was set by the slowest rider and most ebike riders adapted and rode on economy mode or a lower power setting, she said.
The ride was scheduled to take six days but potentially snowy wet weather was predicted on the last day for the planned ride to the Ben Ohau saddle, and experienced trail boss Mark Horrocks made the call to end the ride a day early and “we were all happy with that,” Megan said.
With the exception of the last day, they had pretty good weather and managed “to dodge the rain” but struggled with the wind.
“We had constant big headwinds; it didn’t matter which direction we were riding, we never got a tailwind,” she said, adding it was a tough challenge for some on pushbikes “who did really well”.
The trails were a mix of well used farm tracks, single stock tracks cutting across country, formed Department of Conservation tracks, some Alps to Ocean gravel trails and stony riverbeds “which were probably the least favourite...but no-one complained, everyone was just laughing and got on with it.
“We had this really lovely mix of people from all over New Zealand and all sorts of backgrounds.” Some were novice trail riders, one lady had never ridden on gravel before, but most had some off road or trail riding experience.
One farmer opened his land to the cavalcade for the first time and, at one point, his grassy farm track “just dropped down off an escarpment... and most people just let go of the brakes and went fanging down,” Megan said.
She said opening up the cavalcade to ebike riders (supported by a portable generator for overnight charging) attracted a new range of people to take the amazing historic journeys that might not have otherwise participated.
“So the cavalcade is partly about exercise and getting out there and busting your guts and doing things but the other side is actually just connecting with all these people who have a shared interest from all over New Zealand and it was fantastic.”
“It's not actually about the riding; it's more about where you are in the countryside, and also connecting and chatting with people along the way.”
Highlights for her included waking to a clear view of Mt Cook, washing her hair under freezing water in a farmer’s slaughterhouse, and star gazing from their campsite, sitting on rocks “looking at this magic sky and feeling very little in a very big universe”.
“The whole thing was an adventure; there wasn't a day where you were bored; everyday had something a little bit different about it.”
While the interruption of Covid-19’s alert level two meant the planned final day festivities and hoedown in Twizel had to be abandoned, many bikers took the time to go into Twizel for coffee and breakfast to watch and cheer the arrival of the horseback cavalcaders.
“We were heartbroken for [the Twizel locals] as they had been planning it for months,” Megan said.
Next year’s Goldfields Cavalcade will return to the usual Central Otago back country and will terminate at Millers Flat.
Megan said it’s not country she has yet ridden and she would be up for another cavalcade experience.
PHOTOS: Megan Page