Exactly a century ago, 1923, newspapers carried an enthusiastic article about Charles Barwell, an extraordinary Auckland cycle tourist who had just pedalled 3600 miles (5700km) around New Zealand in 10 weeks. “Those who maintain that the push bicycle is becoming a ‘back-number’ in these days of motor transit will probably feel inclined to modify this opinion upon learning of the tour just completed by Mr C Barwell,” the report declared.
“Equipped with tent and camping gear, he has journeyed from Te Reinga in the far North, to Stewart Island… [on the return journey he] continued via Napier, Gisborne, the Motu and Whakatane.” Riding a heavy steel bike laden with gear, wearing a suit, at 60 years old, Mr Barwell tapped out inspirational distances of up to 126 miles (202km) in a day.
“A man will ride a bicycle when he is 20 [but] he ought to ride one when he turns 40, for his health’s sake. As a rejuvenator and a health-restorer, [cycling] is the nearest approach yet found to the ‘Elixir of Life,’” Mr Barwell mused.
Over the 10 years to 1933, newspapers featured several accounts of Mr Barwell’s exploits. While I haven’t found specific detail of his tackling the hilly roads and tracks between Ōpōtiki and Gisborne, he definitely rode that way and surely must have had grand adventures. It often strikes me, riding the mighty Motu Road, that in many respects the remote hills today wouldn’t be much different to his epic trips of those bygone years.
Motu Trails stretch between Ōpōtiki and Gisborne, in the eastern North Island. Options include Motu Road, Pakihi Track, Dunes Trail, and Rere Falls Trail, with the riding ranging from easy and quick, all the way to hilly, multi-day back-country missions. Motu Trails is not only for cyclists, with the
