Bob’s letter from the tandem: We made it!

Hi Ya All

It’s me Bob and I am now the only Angel Bear to have ridden around Aotearoa / New Zealand on a tandem bicycle. Guess that makes me kind of famous. Now that I am such a star, the GOTF has given me the task of wrapping up our posts from the bike because, on Tuesday, we made it back to Kerikeri. Now to say that I was happy is a massive understatement. One of the most distressing aspects of the ride was that I got to see and smell all of the critters that were spread along the road after coming into contact with motorised vehicles. I really did not want my fur spread along the road like those possums, rabbits, hares and birds. So when we pedalled into the Domain in Kerikeri I could bearly contain my excitement at having survived for 7,267 kilometres. It was paws for thought and thanks.

It was great to see my old bud, the RA, back on the stokers seat. I was sent back to keep her company, you know, chat to her and give a few tips on how to pedal as she was a bit rusty after the long break. After getting a new seat in Dargaville she was also a bit tender in places that I won’t mention. Started walking kind of strange after she had been on the bike for a few hours.

After Dargaville, we overnighted at a place called Trouson. The GOTF told us that the next day we were going to ride through some really impressive forest so I needed to get a good night’s sleep so that I would be wide awake for all of the ride. ‘Yes Bob, I have seen you getting some shut-eye on some of the rides”. I don’t know how I managed that as he was always going on about something as we pedalled along. “Hear the birds Bob”, “listen to the sound of that river Bob”, “what’s that tune I am whistling BOB? Bob are you awake?”. It was hard to get any sleep with all of that chatter. Little does he know that I was seriously considering going into early hibernation at one point on the ride back, especially when I though that he was losing the plot. I would have happily climbed into one of the panniers and stayed there for the rest of the journey.

Anyway, back to Trounson. He grabs me and the RA and drags us down to this river. I thought, “oh here we go again, we are going to sit on the river bank and listen to the water running over the rocks – river-ting fun”. Well we get down there and no, he shows me this heaving mass of slimy snakes. He called them eels. “What do you think guys?”. Well I thought that he was completely bonkers, one the one hand he wants me to get a good nights sleep and then he shows me something that is guaranteed to give me a sleepless night. It was traumatising. I had a terrible night. Every time I shut my little bear eyes I would start being chased by this sliding mass of hungry eels.

The next day, despite my exhaustion, I was impressed by the kauri forest and later the amazing view of the Hokianga harbour. The RA pretended to be impressed but I knew that she was struggling with her new seat and the big hills that she had to pedal over. When we got to Rawene the GOTF cheerfully announced that the ride had been the toughest of the entire ride north from Bluff. I could see that ther RA was ecstatic. He also told the RA that it is not a good idea to get a new seat before you embark on an expedition. Best to break it in slowly, before you leave. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option so the RA was getting broken (in) by the seat. It was some consolation that the GOTF was also experiencing a bit of discomfort in the same part of the body. Some sort of infection from all the hill climbing in the north. Talk about saving the best till last. What a couple of wimps, apart from looking a bit shabby, my body was in pretty good shape, especially after my hip replacement.

It was on that ride through to Rawene that I achieved my ‘claim to fame’. As we got to the Rawene turnoff I yelled out – “we have been here before! – I remember taking a selfie in front of that sign.” The GOTF confirmed the fact that the ‘welcome to Rawene’ sign did signal that we had now done a complete circuit of the country. He grabbed my paw and gave it a shake – “well done young fella – you are now famous”. We took another selfie although when I looked at the comparison with the earlier photo I was shocked. What had happened to me, I looked dirty, unshaven and a mere shadow of the handsome bear that had started out all that time ago.

It was a bit hard to get to sleep that night as I wasn’t sure what being a famous bear meant. Am I in the same class as Pooh or Yogi now? Do I have to learn how to write so that I can sign autographs? Will I have my own book or maybe cartoon series or movie on Netflix? My mind was spinning with questions. Just as I was about to nod off the GOTF jumps out of bed and announces that we need to get a move on as we are pedalling back to Kerikeri today and need to be there by 2:30pm. We are going home! I could hardly contain my excitement, tomorrow I will be able to be a normal Angel Bear again but, can a famous bear ever be normal again? I was so mixed up.

We had the tandem flying along the road. Me and the RA were telling the GOTF to pedal faster, in fact we pedalled so fast that we had to have a long lunch in Kaikohe so that we did not get to the Domain in Kerikeri early. We had been told that a few people were going to be there as they had never met a famous bear.

About 8 kilomteres from Kerikeri, the sky started to darken and the GOTF ordered everyone to don our wet weather gear. “Looks like we might get a splash of rain”. Well for those last 8 kilometres we didn’t just get ‘a splash of rain’ we got drenched. My full body rain gear worked great but I could see that the GOTF’s was showing the wear and tear of 4 months on the bike. I think he was as well. Anyway, a message came through for us to “pedal faster” as the welcoming committee were get the odd spot of rain on them as they waited in their covered shelter under umbrellas. Pedalling faster was pointless, we were now paddling as fast as we could and had the tandem aquaplaning across the now flooding road surface.

As we cruised (appropriate given the weather) into the domain I could hear the crowd applauding and chanting BOB, BOB, BOB – ah this is what fame is like. This is the sort of recognition that I could get used to. I was presented with bubbly and a medal and everyone wanted to shake my paw. In the end I had to be a little bit modest and admit that the RA and the GOTF had also helped, a little. I also met a cool girl bear at the Domain who lives with Erica and Rex – she gave me a beary nice kiss – things are looking up already! Forget about cartoons and books I can see another remake of ‘A star is born’ on the cards.

Well it has a been a big adventure for a little bear. Along the way I have seen what our country is like and I have to admit that it is pretty amazing. We also met some pretty amazing people, a few pushy dogs, crazed magpies and seagulls, homicidal wasps, sharp nails, cute calves & lambs, scary eels, silly sheep, multi-tasking cattle, crazy horses, laughing lamas and hungry goats. The GOTF told me that we had been turning the pedals for 428 hours and had climbed up 73,630 metres of hills. He said that was like climbing Mt Everest 8.3 times, from sea level. I have no idea what he is talking about.

Some of my memories

It hasn’t always been easy being an Angel Bear on a tandem adventure. I had two unruly humans to keep in line and had to ‘crack the whip’ on many occasions, especially after the RA retired to the bench for a big part of the ride north. But it has been worth all of the effort and challenges as Therese from Bald Angels told us that we had raised $10,333 which is really good news. They need all the help they can get in order to continue their great work of giving vulnerable children hope. If you want to recognise my efforts and help the Bald Angels, it is not too late to donate via our give-a-little page:https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/the-angel-tandem-two-70and-year-olds-riding-7500km

Finally, we do want to thank everyone who has supported us along our journey in so many different ways from: donating to Bald Angels, supporting us via social media or the blog, donated food and accommodation or just chatted to us when we stopped. All of these things have helped to keep the pedals turning for so long and have given this little bear a great insight into our country and the generosity of the people who live in it.

So it is with a little (tiny bit) of regret that I must sign off my last letter from the tandem.

Kia Ora

Bob the Angel Bear

PS: The GOTF is working on the rest of the videos of the ride and he will let you know when these are ready.