ROSS THORBY: INTO THE UNKNOWN

ROSS THORBY: INTO THE UNKNOWN... "THE GENTLE ANNIE HIGHWAY”

Car-lotta and I paused at the intersection.

To the left was the Napier - Taupo Highway, winding its way through the known way to my final destination of Havelock North - it offered the safety and security of Transit’s finest open roads. To the right was the lesser known route - a 152 km drive following a road, colloquially known as “The Gentle Annie,” around the headwaters of the Rangitikei, Moawhango and Hautapu Rivers. Meandering past old farming stations sequestered in spectacular valleys and snaking through ancient gorges and along wild and rugged ranges, all with the promise of a final view towards Cape Kidnappers on the East Coast.

My parents had cautioned me against driving this route in the 7.4m long Car-lotta, but my interest was piqued, I was intrigued, “how bad could it be? and why call this road the Gentle Annie?” I asked. My parents who had plied this road on some far distant holiday sans their charming children, had only enigmatically smiled.

Left or right - the known or the unknown. I turned Car-lotta to the right.

We began by driving along a plateau fringed by tall hills, the horizon stretching into infinity. Changing gears, Car-lotta and I began our ascent. The only other traffic on the road appeared to be stock trucks and delivery vans; it seemed for some reason, typical tourists had forsaken this route for the much longer and blander Napier-Taupo Highway but I am not your typical tourist. The road narrowed with less straight stretches as I entered the foothills, the corners suddenly more abrupt and I needed to spend more time braking and wrestling with the steering wheel than gazing at the scenery.

It became a WWE match between Highway 49 and the suspension of my Italian motor chassis.

Amongst hairpin curves and treacherous corners, cupboards swung open and the minutiae of holiday baggage began to spill across the cabin behind me; then on a particularly sharp 180 degree corner, the fridge door flew open, exploding last night’s leftovers and tomorrow night’s pavlova all over the floor; stock trucks loomed, sharp embankments threatened and the road narrowed to another torturous turn that careered us onto a one-way bridge. The waters of the raging Rangitikei River below, threatening to envelope us should this driver make a hasty movement one way or the other and plunge us through the fragile-looking barriers.

With cream and strawberries sliding over the floor creating an art piece that Jackson Pollock would be proud of, I finally made it to the other side of the overpass and a rest stop - God bless you, TransitNZ - finally enough room to stop and recce the mess. My rear berth looked like an explosion in a gelato shop.

An hour later with dripping mop and saturated towels, it was time to rejoin the drift east. Was that my parents I heard chortling in the distance?

As light faded and the cattle trucks lessened, we finally crossed the crest of the ridge and began our descent into the Taruarau Valley, however there was no relief from the churning turns; the tantalizing views of spectacular New Zealand, including the promised views of distant Cape Kidnappers and Te Mata Peak, caught only briefly in the distance.

Finally 4.5 hours later, the gradient leveled and the road widened against the stands of pine trees of the Kaweka Forest where fortunately, there was room enough to park up my trusty steed and leave the driver’s seat to sit and pull myself together. The kettle boiled, (I wouldn’t dare admit to hitting the bottle) I sat quietly while my agitated eyeballs continually hit each side of my eye sockets in a relentless game of pingpong. It took an hour for my eyes and equilibrium to settle enough to hit the road and continue my path to Havelock. The stretch of straight road and bland scenery, a welcome respite … but then a lightning bolt hit me.

I got it! We had a Gentle Annie once, it had worried itself into oblivion, washing the sheets of my parents’ various motels for years - until finally passing out in a tangled and mechanical mess. Now I get it and now I know how it felt. (ROSS THORBY)  PN

“And I said to the man who stood at the door of the gate of the year ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown’ and he replied ‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God that shall be to you better than light and safer than the known way’”

LONGEVITY: BATTERY, BIKE, AND RIDER

Alan Dempsey of Ebo, explains why pedals matter.

Probably the three most frequent questions asked of me about E-bikes are as follows...

1) How far can it go? 2) How long will it last? 3) Do I need to pedal it? Interestingly, questions 1 and 2, are defined by the answer to #3, which is.. “Well, yes and no”.

I know this is a little weird, but how far an E-bike will go is dependent on the amount of drain per km the rider puts on the battery. By pedal-assisting the bike, you’re putting in Weetbix power that your battery doesn’t need to. So let’s say you’ve set your bike at 100 Watts and you're applying 100 Watts of legpower; then the bike is being propelled by 200 W of power, going from ~ 15 km/hr to ~24 km/hr ( give or take) - therefore your leg-power PEDAL ASSISTANCE is close to doubling the range per hour of the bike.

So, the answer as to how far can it go? is answered by knowing how much pedal assistance you’re happy to apply to assist the motor. A perfect example follows: An Ebo SuperTourer carrying an 80 kg person on throttle alone has a viable flat terrain distance potential of around 55-65 kms, but with moderate pedal application that goes to over 100 km; I did a ride of 108 kms on the prototype of the Ebo SuperTourer, with a 690 Watt-hour battery. The new SuperTourer battery is 735 Whr so in theory should be good for another 10-ish kms. The conditions and roads were pretty much perfect (Bavaria, old monastry breweries tour - fun!), so there’s the proof. If I was running throttle only, I’d expect about 65 kms.

As for how long will it last? If you pedal assist it, the motor is unlikely to fail inside 5-10 years. Even a small pedal assistance takes an enormous amount of torque load out of the internal reduction (3 or 4:1) gears in the motor. Pedal assist the bike to take that torque load off the motor and Wattage drain off the battery or you will certainly shorten the life of the motor somewhat, although by how much cannot be guessed; we’ve only had one motor burnout in 2000 bikes - a lovely customer riding up Queenstown Commons (20% !) daily on throttle alone. No motor can handle that and how it lasted 12 months is anyone’s guess. So, if you want your E-bike to last and last, definitely pedal it too.

Do I need to pedal it? The answer is no, you don’t NEED to, but you’d be strongly advised to.

And how does the longevity/rider bit apply from the title of this wee ditty? There’s no better exercise known than cycling for fitness and therefore longevity. Riding an E-bike isn’t blowing the foo-foo valve, but it surely is mild yet effective cardiovascular exercise. Even on hills the bike’s doing the work. You’re just along for the fun, the ride and the ensuing endorphins and grins.

Cheers folks. See you out there.

L.A.B. TO STAR AT COCA-COLA CHRISTMAS IN THE PARK, THE NATION’S FAVOURITE FREE CHRISTMAS PARTY!

Producers of Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park have announced exciting new plans for the nation’s much-loved Christmas musical spectacular, returning to an even bigger stage after a two-year Covid-19 related hiatus.

Multi-award-winning Kiwi supergroup L.A.B. will headline a star-studded line-up that includes crowd favourites Vince Harder, Lavina Williams, Tom Batchelor, Ella Monnery, and Nyree Huyser.

A new arena-style stage, screens and sound, a 22m state-ofthe-art upcycled Christmas tree, and a spectacular fireworks finale are just some of the treats inside this Christmas cracker of a show being held at the Auckland Domain on 10 December. Creative director and award-winning musician Dixon Nacey says, “We’re thrilled to have such an exciting headline act joining us for this year’s show. After a two-year break, we can’t wait to be back on an even bigger stage performing in front of a massive live audience. It’ll be a magical night of world-class Kiwi entertainment with show highlights that include lighting up the incredible new Christmas tree and the all-stars-on-stage fireworks finale.”

Since the first concert in 1994, Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park has raised much needed funds for New Zealand charities. Proceeds from this year’s events will once again go towards Youthline, who help support and develop thousands of young Kiwis every year.

Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park will be held at the Auckland Domain on Saturday 10 December 2022.

To see the full programme and performer line-up go to www.christmasinthepark.co.nz

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The collection is available from Ligne Roset in Grey Lynn.