Life on the road on a pink recumbent trike in nz

It's bike repair time... First a little background... Soon after I started riding the trike the drive side hub shell cracked and since its a old bike there's no way of getting a replacement hub so after some thought I too it to a frame builder (person who makes hand bikes) I know and they using a few things made it so I could ride the trike again - the new parts was a new part of the drive axle, a aluminum sleeve over the (steel) axle  and a 20 mm (GT) though axle front Mt bike hub - the sleeve was to bring the axle up in size so that the front 20mm hub would fit on to the axle - the end of the axle was then theaded to take a bot to hold the wheel on the axle and a hole was drilled though the hub shell,aluminum sleeve (that's part of the inside of the hub) , the spacer aluminum sleeve and steel axle  to take a 6mm nut and bolt to lock the hub shell to the drive axle - the sealed bearing and inside (aluminum) sleeve in the hub (between the sealed bearing was used in t...

Hi everyone - I'm in Masterton staying at a friend's place today and been working on the trike with my friend doing some much needed repairs on it - I will over time hopefully type up the last 6 weeks of travel as I can as well as type up my day to day travel stories from now on : ) - i will do some longer posts including about the work on the trike today as I am able to : )   

Eketahuna to Masterton 43 km After a days delay I'm finely leaving eketahuna after spending the last week staying in eketahuna Slowly Packing up my camp as my phones charge up I have a think above what to wear on the days ride - the weather forecast looks to be mix of over cast with a few showers around lunch time and some sun so I go for a pink top (hi-vise on the at times S.H. 2 main road) and bike shorts - been a while since I last rode in just bike shorts (with out leg warmers) so summer is slowly coming : ) - since I be heading in to a large town today I cover the bike shorts with a skirt (also adds more color : ) Onice my phones are fully charged and my trike is fully packed it's time to get on the road : )  I use some cord and a handel (with clips on the cord) to first pull the trike across the muddy ground then up the steep hill of the eketahuna Campground (a short but steep climb) Starting Strava on my phone I start the days riding - making a short stop at ...

Kaiaua to orere point Well the day didn’t go as planned  - I had planned to go much longer distance but my legs was really not working very well so I just cut the day short – it’s a beautiful road along the sea bird coast with not much traffic (can get busy at different times of the year though) and is a popular route for cycling between Auckland and coromandel (also popular cycling route is going by hunua) in places there’s been big slips on to the road that are still being cleaned up so there was some parts of the road that was (temporary) gravel what made for harder riding at times Slowly climbing away from the coast over some hills before getting to the turn off to orere point – very slowly at times I stop to check the cell phone for any messages /email /other online suff – (I have my phone on airplane mode when I’m riding) as I’m looking at the phone my mum just happens to call me at the same time so we have a bit of a chat about different things before I decide what I’m do...

Some where to kaiaua Long hard day on the road today – after packing up I ride on roads to paeroa – so why roads and not the cycle trail one might wonder? Well for a number of reasons..   My recumbent trike don’t like gravel that much (including the low hanging rear derailleur ) and with the 5 wheels on the ground it can be very slow on gravel roads and trails – there is a fair amount of anti-motorbike barriers to get the trike and trailer around as well as lots of narrow cattle stops to bump over (can be a tight fit at times) – some of the foot bridges on the trail can be hard on the trike and lastly but not less just for a change (note I have done the trail a number of times over the years including on the trike earlier this year)  the roads are not super busy so are fine for me to ride on with the trike In paeroa I stock up on food (first good supermarket since rotorua with the route I used) before heading towards kopu stopping for a few rest/photo breaks including ...

Some where to some where else : ) After a bit of a late start I hop out of the hammock and pack up my camp  : )   the road tends down hill at times steep down hill where I get up some good speed. A few km into the days riding I turn off the some what busy S.H.5 on to tapapa Rd – this road by pass’s a dangerous for cycling piece of S. H. 5 as the highway runs through a patch of bush with a road side cafe in the middle – a number of years ago when I was with my family coming back from a motorcycle rally (my family used to go to many motorcycle rallys around nz ) we was stoped at the café when a motorcyclists was killed in a road accident right in front of us and there has been a number of other road accidents over the years on that piece of road Tapapa road is sign posted as no exit but in fact links up with Harwoods Rd  - it’s a great road to ride on - narrow (about 1-1 ½ lanes wide – might be the reason for the old road gate at one end and the no exit sign) but ...

Rotorua to some where After spending about a week?  At my friends place in rotorua it time for this girl to get back on the road - and she has a new plan on where's she is heading next on the bike - The old plan was to head back to te kuiti but for a number of reasons it's now been changed to a new plan  : ) The new plan is to head towards Auckland in a some what round about way and not making very detailed plans : )   I been asked to help at horse event in taupo (again : ) - they must of like me helping at the last one : ) so I will need to be back in taupo just before that show starts  - besides that I don't need to be in any one place until the time of the event : )  so I'm doing a big loop ride - maybe stay a few days in Auckland but will wait and see how things go  - So what am I doing after I get finished helping at the event at taupo?  -  I'm just going see where the road takes me in my travels on the road less travelled (on my...

Taupo to rotorua After packing up camp it’s time to get back on the road after a busy weekend helping at a eventing show (horse event) and the day starts with a climb before getting to a high point and then it’s long  fun down hill  before the road flatings out with just a few up and downs to add to the fun I’m using a mix of back roads and main roads today partly as I’m having a few issues with the trike and trailer (including the cheap tire (as the bike shop on taupo didn’t have any in the size I need) so might need a hand  or  a lift from some where along the way There’s a big rain cloud over head playing with me and finally catching  me near the ohaaki geothermal power station (what with its large cooling tower looks a lot like a nuclear power plant) In places I pass flooding in paddocks from all the rain lately – at one point it really starts to hail so it’s a cold ride especially when my rain jacket starts leaking and letting the (cold) water in – a...

Mangakino to taupo Another day on the road and if all goes to plan I should be in taupo by some time today – as Im packing up I noticed that the tire that I swapped yesterday had partly come out of the rim so I let down the tire and put it back in the rim with a little less air this time (well it is only a cheap wherehouse tire) then its time to get on the road – first filling up on water (there’s a water tap in the play round next to the library) then a bit of food from the shop before leaving town – it’s a busy 10 km of main road to ride until I turn off onto more back roads next to another dam/ power station  passing some small buildings on 2 truck and trailers parked up on the side of the road (over size loads – I’m happy not to be on the road at the same time as them : )   on the back road I pass by a school having a sports day  and a bit more on up the road have a chat to a passing farmer about the weather ...

Some where to mangakino Packing up the tent in the rain (yep still raining – when ever some one asks what I do when it rains my reply is “I get wet : ) “ - riding in the rain on the bike is a mix of good gear and mindset )  first up I finish the last few km of the long hill I was climbing yesterday – near the summit I passed what would of been a better camp site than when I had put my tent last night – such is life : )  finally I reach the summit and there’s even a sign saying so : )  after a few photos of the trike next to the summit sign its time to enjoy the hard earned down hill – there’s a few more ups and downs over the days riding at one point passing over a high bridge over a river and in the distance I can see the waikato river – when I was doing the tour aotearoa ride a few years ago part of the route went along the waikato river trails so back them I saw the bridge ( that I’m standing on now) in the d...

Te kuiti to some where After spending the last 4-5 months staying in one place with no bike touring over that time I’m finly back on another adventure by bike  - it’s been very odd to be staying in one place for so long after spending most of the last 10 years or so on the road by bike or on foot around nz – so why have I been in one place for so long?  Well it’s been a number of different reasons.... To spend some time with my mum – because of a few reasons including that I’m lbgt+ the rest of my so-called family won’t have any thing to do with me anymore so she is the only one out of my so called family that I’m in contact with anymore – I do talk with her over the phone about every 1-2 weeks or so depending on cell phone reception and see her a few times a year but have not spent that much time with her in the last few years   also I had some Dr suff to deal with including a lot of Dr appointments both in otor...

Hi everyone this is a post about my recumbent trike and bike trailer set up ... First up the trike... It's a 2002 hase kettwiesel recumbent delta trike with 20" wheels that's on long term loan from a friend (he offered me the trike partly as it was not being used and was taking up to much space in the house : )  but also because he is a good friend of mine who offered me the trike to help me out - I kinda wore out my other bikes that I have and because of my disabilitys have issues with trying to ride most bikes so when I was staying at they place for a while as I was getting ready for a big ride around Lake taupe nz (that ride is story on its own (the plan was to do 40 laps of the lake in 40 days - I did do 17 laps before I stoped because of a number of different reasons - might do a post on that ride at some point in time) any how i have upgraded the trike since I got hold of it Inc lower gearing  - it did come with a odd 2 chain ring set up in front (from what I can ...

First post of the new blog ... Just a bit about me Damiana day is a young disabled woman who has been living on the road by bike and on foot full time in New Zealand for about the last 10 years or so and lives in tent all year round and she takes photos of the many different things she sees on the road as she traveleds around nz mostly on a bike but some times on foot (including having walked the length of the north Island along the te araoa trail). The bike she is riding on at this point in time is a 2th hand 2002 hase kettwiesel recumbent  trike with her other bikes being a old 2008 avanti atomic Mt bike (mosty used of off road riding) and a 2008 bike Friday pocket larma that had been the main way she gets around for the last 9 years and 100,000 km all around nz before she got the recumbent trike (that is now her main way of getting around nz) to ride on around 12 Months or so ago - every day on the road is a new adventure / challenge including meeting new friends /seeing old ...