When I mentioned to Ruth that I was going to bike out along the Whangapraraoa Peninsula to Gulf Harbour or even Army Bay, she pretty much assumed that I had given up on life. A ride along Whangaparaoa Road really would be a death wish.
My intention was to get out there without spending too much time on that hellish bit of tarmac and some brilliant spring weather gave me the encouragement to give it a shot.
It actually turned out to be a suprisingly enjoyable ride. My 29km (return) route from the Peninsula Club involved only around 500m of riding on the main thoroughfare. The rest was along streets that were virtually deserted, some sections along the waterfront, through parks and of course for most of the ride there were great vistas across the sea; north to Kawau Island and south to Rangitoto Island.
It did involve a little huffing and puffing but overall I gave this short ride a top rating.
Everyone (except me) were at work so the parks were deserted
The sea was nearly always in view
A little huffing and puffing delivered some fine views
An all too brief ‘country section’ almost reminded me of Provence
Gulf Harbour – mmmm…..
A waterfront path along Manly beach
A beach ride along Stanmore Bay
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