Charley who owns the "bike museum" isn't an early riser so again today I had time for a leisurely breakfast, a look round the Ohura State Prison where I slept last night and a walk around the sleepy hamlet of Ohura.
Apparently Ohura had 3,000-4,000 inhabitants at it's peak, mainly due to coal mining and the cross country railway which went through town. Now there are barely 100.
Charley was a racer and a keen tourer back in the day and he proudly showed me his collection and shared a few anecdotes. He wasn't aware that he was mentioned in the story on the Rapha website so I popped across the road to within coverage of the pub wifi, opened up the website and showed him it before emailing him a link.
Charley then mentioned that he had the key to the town museum around the corner, so he duly collected it and met me there.
Ohura and Charley gave me 24 hours I will never forget.
From Ohura I then joined the Forgotten World Highway, a heritage route through the rolling hills, deserted farms and mining hamlets and beautiful valleys all the way to Stratford, which lies at the foot of Mt. Taranaki.
On the way I stopped for lunch at the
Whangamomona Hotel in the eponymous "republic". Story goes that the authorities drew a boundary line through the middle of the village so half the inhabitants were in one county and half in another. They revolted and declared independence. Apparently the village goat was recently voted in as president. Weird place. The locals all looked like stall holders at Camden Market, but the goat looked friendly.
After lunch I drove on to Stratford from where I'd planned to cycle up Mt. Taranaki but the weather was quickly closing in so I just quickly drove up to check out the road in case I get a chance to ride it in better weather tomorrow.
Could hardly see anything above me when I got to the end of the sealed road. Pity. Here's what it looks like on a clear day from above.
As it wasn't looking like it was going to clear up I just drove on to today's destination, New Plymouth, where I did some quick food shopping and checked in to the backpackers. The lady on reception was very helpful and pointed me in the direction of the coastal cycle path which she said led to a velodrome!
True enough. A fantastic coastal track for cyclists, runners and walkers which skirts the coast, cuts over a purpose built bridge and brings you straight to a cycling training track and a 400 metre long outdoor velodrome.
It's here I got another extremely lucky break. If I'd arrived one minute later or one minute earlier it wouldn't have happened but I turned up just as Jeremy from the local track club was locking the gates. "Are you closing" I asked. "Yep, we've got club racing every Thursday evening". "No chance of just doing a quick lap before you start?". "No, sorry" replied Jeremy, "but if you want to race we've got a track bike you could borrow if you stick your pedals on it".
So I spent the next 90 minutes or so racing track with about 25 others from 3 local clubs. Even got to ride "Keirin" - the race where you are paced by a motorcycle. Managed a 4th place in the elimination race and a 3rd in the Keirin. Could not believe my luck!
After a great time on the track I thanked all the others for their hospitality and made my way back along the cycle path to a hearty dinner, a refreshing cold beer and a happy ending to yet another outrageous day!
With 2 entries for the velorama of the day.
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