Auckland City 50k Cycle Route

Yesterday afternoon I finally got my act together to do the 50k cycle route around Auckland. Best intentions of getting up early to do this had failed miserably.

I had always wondered about the little signs on a number of streets around Auckland.



There is one on Shackleton Road which is the next street over from my house. According to the internet this route is around 20 years old and is intermitantly signposted. 50k isn't that far (on a bike)... I figured it would take a couple of hours and change on my hybrid.



The first 1km or so was modified from the signposted route because of holiday roadworks.

Took 2:12:53 for 51.9km (23.4km/hr). The little bit extra was me getting onto the route from my house and probably the detouring. The first half I was averaging about 26km/hr but started to fade at the back end. Not used to longer rides.

The route itself was a mixed bag. The first 15km meandered through Balmoral, Western Springs, Westmere and Herne Bay. Parts of it were quite familiar from running training routes and part of Run Auckland Race 4. The section through Herne Bay was nice and I can see why this is an expensive suburb. Along the waterfront from Westhaven to St Heliers was part of the Auckland marathon course. That sure brought back some memories! I stopped for a water break at the top of Cliff Road at Achilles Point. Great view from here.


Looking back towards the city from Achilles Point.


Achilles Point Boardwalk

The rest of the ride was not all that exciting save for the heart in the mouth stuff through the Panmure roundabout. It did get a bit windy in the second half which made the hills fun. I'm not familiar with this part of Auckland so it was interesting to tiki-tour this way. A mix of industrial and less well heeled suburbs through here.

The last 5km or included Cornwall Park and this was as pleasant as always.

If the route signposting can be refreshed and prominent this route would be more popular and well known.

Bit sore last night but a good little two hour adventure. Now to plan this group run this morning. Hope I can keep up.