Of this and that

[Bob Culver]

Lloyd Geerings life story is very interesting, sad and unlikely. A remarkable bike ride was by a teenage girl Wilson from a pioneer family in Levin with a girl colleague or two to Taupo in the very early 1900s. The 200 mile road a mere dirt coach or cart track (less if via Desert Rd) and they would have seen noone for mile after mile. The total population of the few settlements passed through would have been just a few hundred, and the destination almost entirely native. All on single speed fixed drive bike with a push down front brake. A Levin colleague of mine started work in Wanganui and used to ride his 3 speed 60 undulating windswept miles home when rostered off. He later bought a flatbed Bradford, which compared with my then stock RP seemed like a sports car! 
Considering that practical cars can be bought for $2000 (L1000) and no insurance is required, it amazes me the number of mostly solitary oversea's visitors who slog and sweat their away around the now tedious main roads by bike