Timeline
Mark J Thomson went cycling
April 18, 2026
A sketchy ride
Learning how to sketch quickly... practice time. Rocky and Miss Ari B along for the ride and got to meet some scary monsters!
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Mark J Thomson went cycling
March 20, 2026
Hamilton 200, Equinox ride
A 200km loop taking in some great countryside in the Waikato. Rolling along the Waikato River, up the Waipa River, back across to Cambridge, climbing beyond Cambridge with a great descent past Te Miro. Then on to Morrinsville before the final sprint home.
Really fine ride with 5 of us…
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Mark J Thomson went cycling
March 4, 2026
AWA part 4 of 4
Part 4, Raetihi to Auckland, One sleep
Event day 7, 274km, Raetihi to Ngahape Road
One more sleep, 2 more rides. This is the business end now. Get as far north today as reasonable then strike for home the day after. That will give me a finish etime of 7…
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March 9, 2026
Fantastic ride Mark. I've been waiting for this Komoot report, exciting to read. Amazing endurance and talent to find your way - so pleased you stayed safe and everything on the bike and body kept working
Mark J Thomson went cycling
March 2, 2026
AWA part 3 of 4
Part 3, Wellington to Raetihi, 2 days, Two sleeps
Event day 5, part 2, 248km, Beehive to Palmerston North
06:45, Jack has headed off to his warm office, I’m back on my office heading north, tail wind, still lots of rain but it eases off through the morning.
OK, new…
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Eric, Borndisturbed and Bruce Bennett 🇳🇿 like this.
March 8, 2026
Great report!
Mark J Thomson went cycling
February 28, 2026
AWA part 2 of 4
Stage 2, Turangi to Wellington, 3 days, 2 sleeps
Event day 2, part 2, 88.6km, Turangi to Ohakune
This section of the ride is time critical. Normally SH47 is a tourist route, but between 19:00 hours to 06:00 hours the next morning, the main north/south route is closed through the…
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Eric, Borndisturbed and Bruce Bennett 🇳🇿 like this.
March 9, 2026
Made it to the Capital! Well done in the cold and wet. It is fantastic that view riding into Wellington right alongside the water. That "bike lane" is plenty wide enough to be untroubled by the speeding cars. - as I remember it. Congratulations, that sure was a big ride under the belt. Shame you couldn
Mark J Thomson went cycling
February 26, 2026
AWA part 1 of 4
Stage one, Auckland to Turangi – 2 days, one sleep
Event day 1, 289km, Auckland to Arapuni
7 Riders representing 3 nations, New Zealand, Canada and Hong Kong, all ready to go, at the John Logan Campbell Statues at the entrance to Cornwall Park. 05:00 on a clear, pleasantly cool…
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March 10, 2026
Smoking it, great average speed, That steel bike is strutting it's stuff!
Mark J Thomson went cycling
February 26, 2026
Ride to the start.
Very early... up at 2.30, riding by 3.30 for a 05:00 start to the Auckland Wellington Auckland 2000km Randonneur ride. I went the route I thought would be better, the original one I tried took in a lot of lights... this was easily 10 minutes, or more, longer...meh, such is…
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Eric, Borndisturbed and Bruce Bennett 🇳🇿 like this.
Mark J Thomson went cycling
January 23, 2026
Kiwi Randonneurs Anniversary 400
In the world of Randonneuring, you can qualify as a Super Randonneur. Compete a 200, 300, 400 and 600km ride in a season. This will be the last ride I need to complete for the set.
It’s a new 400km route, tested by Jo Sharpe earlier in the season, she…
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January 25, 2026
That road to Kawakawa is not a fav in poor light esp with boat trailers....well done indeed!
Mark J Thomson went cycling
January 1, 2026
Festive 600
4 signed up, 3 started, 05:00 at Phyllis Reserve in MT Albert… and yes, it was early.
Not sure about the weather, expecting it to get worse in the afternoon, but to start the skies are clear and the wind is down, off we go.
We wind our way through…
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January 4, 2026
an adventure indeed… not sure to keen on the lean to 😆and the mention of the 17degree accent…
Mark J Thomson went cycling
November 21, 2025
Hamilton 200
A perfect day, sunny, little wind, 2 of us set out to do the Hamilton 200. Lunch stop at Cambridge, hot climbing through French Pass,pie and drink stop in Morrinsville before a sprint across the plain back to the start.
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Eric and Mark Maxlow like this.
November 22, 2025
Great ride
Mark J Thomson went cycling
November 7, 2025
Season opener, Far Canal 300
The opening 200/300km ride with Kiwi Randonneurs. 4 riders did the 200 route, Jo and I did the 300 route.
07:00 hours, no wind, clear sky, amazing day to start. The 6 of us rode out through fresh seal, and spun down to Waitakaruru, chatting easily in the quiet traffic.…
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November 9, 2025
Nice average!
Mark J Thomson went cycling
October 30, 2025
Kopiko day 8, Waihau bay to Opotiki, all done.
The last day. We are both tired, there is a lot of climbing in this route. We got well sorted last night so the pack up and preparation for riding is quick, easily on the road by 06:45. The aggressive fridge partially froze my omelette, that was gross, but I…
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Eric likes this.
Mark J Thomson went cycling
October 29, 2025
Kopiko day 7, Waihau Bay to East Cape and return
Up, fed, teeth cleaned, poop done and on the road by 06:00 – look at us go! The goal today is the cape and return, about 140km round trip. We are carrying food and water, no other gear.
I loaded the wrong course onto the Garmin, so for the ride…
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Eric and Brian Brown like this.
Mark J Thomson went cycling
October 28, 2025
Kopiko day 6, Opotiki to Waihau Bay
Navigation today is pretty easy, if we turn off the main road we’ve gone the wrong way!
Up and packed, moving our gear to the hallway, and in the kitchen early to beat the hoards. We finished our breakfast, cleaned up, I left my kit together to dry, when I…
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Eric and Brian Brown like this.
Mark J Thomson went cycling
October 27, 2025
Kopiko day 5b, Rotorua to Opotiki
The route is mostly downhill, with 2 climbs before we drop down a 12km descent from the plateau to the plans though Edgecomb, then a final climb from Whakatane to Ohope followed by about 40km of gentle rolling coastal riding to end the day out. Add to that a tail…
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Eric and Brian Brown like this.
May 2, 2026
Great frame colour 👍😁