The Green Bridge, Te Awa Trail

An early start from Wellington to catch the cheap flight to Hamilton, departing at 6:15 am. Fortunately we had access to our accommodation in York Apartments in Knighton Road immediately, and caught a shuttle to drop off our gear before a quick brunch and heading to the city to pick up the bikes from River Riders.

A festive welcome at Hamilton Airport: Kem, Paul, Dale and Kev

The bike shop was about 3.5 km from the apartment, so involved a vigorous walk to stretch out before our ride. At River Riders we were issued with the four colourful Gepida Asgard eMTBs, and given an intial briefing on their use by Dynell, before being given a basic tool kit, chargers for each bike, and instructions on how to access the northern part of the Te Awa Trail. Then we were off.

The northern part of the Te Awa Trail caters to people of all ages and abilities and was designed for both cyclists and pedestrians. The path is generally 3m wide, flat and made of concrete but does include a couple of very short but steep hills. One of these caught us all by surprise, starting immediately after a sharp bend, and inevitably finding all four of us in the wrong gear and wrong level of assistance. Once adjustments were made however, climbing that hill was not a problem.

The “Green Bridge” on the Waikato River, with an equally colourful Gepida Asgard eMTB in the foreground

The trail runs alongside the Waikato River all the way to Ngarawahia, crossing it once on a road bridge near Horotiu, and back again shortly after on the spectacular Perry Bridge (better known as the “Green Bridge”, and featured in the banner above). The trail passes through a mix of built-up residential areas, public parks and rural sites, also passing several golf courses en-route to Ngarawahia. Throughout the ride the Waikato River is rarely out of sight, providing a wide range of water views and glimpses of other recreational activities.

A quick “circumnavigation” of Ngarawahia on arrival, before lunch on the river bank marked the halfway point of our ride.

Waikato River at Ngarawahia

The return ride along the same route passed relatively quickly, with both Paul and Kev deciding to take advantge of unused power and forge ahead – or at least as far ahead as the 25kph bike limit would allow them. Even riding more consertvatively Dale and I were not far behind when we arrived back in the city centre.

The largely flat, smooth pathways, with only a few on road excursions, and two relatively steep – but fortunately short – hills provided an ideal course to familiarise ourselves with the eccentricities of riding eMTBs, before the more challenging ride on Saturday. In reality e-bikes are not needed on the Te Awa trail, as there are few real challenges to overcome. However it was an opportunity to refine our riding and battery management skills, to ensure that we retained enough power to get home on the longer rides to follow.

And once again the weather played ball, with a comfortable range of around 20 degrees throughout the ride.