Cycling Adventures

I first meet Tim in the early 90’s through the Tuesday Cycling Group when we used to meet at the Taupiri Tavern.  Sadly, Tim passed away on 3 April, 2020 in his 87^th year.

Tim, it has been an honour and a privilege to have known you and have you in my life.  I will miss you.  You have been “inspirational” in that ‘age’ has never been a barrier to you in pursuing your goals and adventures.  Whenever I begin to doubt my age about doing anything adventurous, I think of you!

Here I have attempted to “show” you Tim, just in case you have never meet the man.   Tim had the physical appearance of an endurance athlete; lean, sinewy, and wiry, not carrying an ounce of unnecessary weight, some might say “he was downright skinny and needed a good feed or two”.  He had kind blue/green eyes; thinning straight white hair that fell softly.  He had an upper-class English accent, spoke softly and eloquently.  He never sought attention to himself, but happy to express his views or opinions when required.  Tim had a  “dry” sense of humour.

Thank you, Tim and Kim, for sharing your family home with me and many fellow cyclists.  We celebrated your birthday Tim and shared many pre-Christmas lunches with the Tuesday Group, where we’d often cycle out to your place, eat the food, and cycle home or if we were lucky hitch a ride with someone in their vehicle.  Because we shared a common interest these occasions enabled us to get to know each other better.

A little bit of history – the navy days

Tim’s early years were spent in The Royal Navy which enabled him to travel the world: Scandinavia; Korea; South Africa; Suez Canal, Yemen, Cyprus, Iceland, Dakar, Madagascar, Angola, Singapore, Japan, South Atlantic to name a few. Being part of the Navy Tim experienced a variety of planned and unplanned incidents, naval exercises, war zones, and of course on-shore social life when visiting ports.  These experiences have no doubt contributed to Tim’s charming, gentle manner and never getting rattled personality.  He was an easy and appreciative person to be around.

Tim the entrepreneur

Tim had a very entrepreneurial spirit as does his wife Kim (they had been married for 46 years when Tim passed away). After Tim left the Navy, he and Kim had a diverse range or successful and unsuccessful ventures ranging from horse trekking in the Widecombe-in-the-Moor and North Bovey areas; Kim designing and Tim building unique wooden rocking horses.  These were sold world-wide (British Royalty have a couple) and were displayed in Harrods and Haymarket Design Centre, London.   Through attending trade fairs all over the world lead Tim and Kim to visit New Zealand in 1983 when they brought a 500 acre farm out the back of Huntly.

In the early years, Tim and Kim’s neighbours shared their farming knowledge and methods, and assisted them when required.  Their farming practices and skills were tested on many occasions; with the end of farming subsidies in 1985; the ups and downs of goats and deer farming; and interests rates hitting 22%.  Bull farming was the next plan which eventually lead onto dairying farming. 

I recently learned that Tim was an international judge and breeder of Limousin cattle and mountain and moorland ponies.  Learning these interesting facts about Tim highlighted for me, there is always so much more to a person than we ever know or imagined.  Tim, I should have more inquisitive and asked you more questions about your previous life and involvements.

Cycling adventures begin

“The best part of holidays is anticipation and then recollection”

These words are from one of Tim’s diary’s “A Bike Ride in Europe” July 1998.  The rest of the paragraph includes :

 “Age has certain benefits, one may have to look hard for them, but they are there.  The sudden release from day to day responsibilities coinciding with a few years receipt of the old age pension was a marvellous excuse to take off and test oneself with a reasonably strenuous bike ride.  Continental Europe is a mecca for cycle touring, so I dug out the map, considered where the prevailing wind was likely to come from, and decided that bottom to top seemed the obvious route.  Gibraltar to John O’Groats.   The best part of holidays is recollection, then anticipation, so the middle part has to be memorable.” 

Joining the Tuesday Group

Tim joined the Tuesday Group in the early 90’s.  “I turned up for my first ride with the group complete with sandwiches in the saddle bag on my heavy roadster.  The half dozen riders were very polite and encouraged me for the first 10 minutes before I gave up exhausted.  That Tuesday group were so welcoming that I’ve struggled on for the next 17 years!”  Tim that is not true you have been an inspiration to us all. 

Exploring Europe

Tim was 63 when he saw an opportunity to do something that had been at the back of his mind for several years – going on a long bike ride.  He decided on Malaga (Gibraltar) to John O’Groats (top of Scotland) because he had family and friends he could visit along the way.  This ride was 4,067 kms long.

The next inspiring trip was from Palermo through Sicily, Italy and France averaging 166 km per day.  His longest day was 272 kms, 16 hrs riding – AMAZING.  All the time I have known Tim he has had this amazing ability to ride all day!  He had incredible endurance and seemed to have little need for food or water!

Vancouver to St Johns

In the summer of 2002 Tim cycled across Canada from Vancouver to St Johns with an organised group covering five time zones and 7,400 kms. The youngest rider being 21 and the oldest being Tim at 68.  They had a support truck carrying their gear, tents and mobile kitchens.  Everyone had to have a turn with meal preparation and clean ups. 

Perth – Sydney

One of Tim’s cycling friends Peter suggested a ride across the Nullarbor Desert.  Tim’s reaction to this was “I could think of nothing more boring, comparing it to the desk on Monday morning”.  But Tim accepted the challenge anyway.  There didn’t seem much point in just riding the desert, so they started in Perth and after the desert Tim beavered onto Sydney.  Where rumour has it, that Tim got his first puncture riding into Sydney and his spare tube had a hole in it!  Can you imagine riding all the way with faulty spares – oh he was lucky!!  To add to Tim’s misfortune, he was robbed in Sydney but thankfully he had a reliable old friend who came to his rescue.  

Other cycling achievements

Tim was well into his 70’s when he rode twice around Taupo, total 360 kms.  He completed many of the Mid-Summer Madness rides (120 km time trial around Waihi – Hikuai – Kopu – Paeroa circuit), often being the eldest competitor.   He was always up for a challenge. Tim (then in his 80’s) joined a group of Tuesday riders and rode Cape Reinga to Bluff.  As already mentioned, he had this amazing ability to ride and ride and require very little fuel.

Norm & Tim’s adventures

“All in all, cycling is wonderful, but it’s even better with a friend.”

Quote from Norm (US based), one of Tim’s cycling buddies. Tim and Norm shared many adventures.  Here is a re-collection of Norm’s memories:

Novi and I bought a house in Hamilton and lived there part of each year from 1996 to 2013.  I met Tim through the Tuesday morning rides that began first in Taupiri and later in Gordonton.  Being of similar age, he, Peter Johnson and I formed a natural group and were often riding together.  I have no idea how many miles I’ve ridden with Tim, but it’s an awful lot.  A good rider in every way, what was most impressive was his stamina.  Like the EverReady rabbit, he could just keep going and going and going….

We went racing together, too.  In one multi-day race we were beaten by a visiting Scot, with me taking the silver and Tim the bronze.  But our most notable times together were tours.  Around the Coromandel, around the East Cape, in Virginia and Colorado, in Vietnam, and in Czechoslovakia-Austria—the latter two with Pedaltours.

On the East Cape ride we were joined by Dave Robinson of Colorado, a friend of Peter Johnson’s.  This led to an invitation to ride the Rockies with him, which we combined with a six-day Bike Virginia tour in 2007.  Tim, Peter J, Brooke and Sharon came to the USA for those two weeks.

That year’s Bike Virginia was in the historic area around Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown, quite lush and beautiful in the summer.  I recall Tim bemoaning the American revolution and wishing that all this could have been part of the Commonwealth.  I told him that “if the British had only been more accommodating, it might have been.”

In Colorado, we rode the mountains, topped by a climb of Mount Evans, which features the highest paved road in North America.  We started part way up the peak, and that was plenty of climbing, reaching a height of 14,264 feet—about 2,000 feet higher than Mount Cook.  Hard to both breathe and pedal up that high.

I had wanted, when we were in Virginia, to feed the New Zealanders biscuits and gravy, a traditional Southern dish that our family likes a lot, but we couldn’t work it in.  Before the Mount Evans climb, we had breakfast in a restaurant at the foot of the mountain, and the menu listed biscuits and gravy.  I recommended it to everyone, but it was nothing like the Virginia version—very spicy and peppery.  Tim hated it.

In the car on the way back to Dave’s house Tim said, “This has been the worst day of my life.  Biscuits and gravy in the morning and Mount Evans in the afternoon.”

Vietnam Tour

In 2009 we toured Vietnam together, riding from Hue to Ho Chi Minh City, along the coast and into the highlands and back down to the rice paddies.  It was fascinating and exotic and fun.  The food was terrific and our hotels often luxurious—the result of the French occupation of so many years.   

In Nha Trang we decided to go for dinner to a restaurant on the shore and were approached on the way by a young man and woman on a motor bike.  She hopped off and began following us, dancing around us and asking, “You like good time?  Want boom, boom?”  She was all over Tim.  We said no and walked on, but before we reached the restaurant, Tim discovered that his wallet was missing!  Well, we learned something there.

In 2015 I felt that I wanted to do one more tour before I got too old and tired and sick and stupid to ride that far, so I asked Tim if he was interested.  We met in Prague and rode to Salzburg that summer–not as exotic as Vietnam, but historic and interesting.

All in all, cycling is wonderful, but it’s even better with a friend.

Norm Melchert  –  norm.mel@verizon.net

Peter’s most memorable memory

Peter and Tim have known and cycled together since early 90’s when Tim joined the Tuesday Group.  They have had some very memorable times and adventurers together.

My favourite memory is from the days when Tim and I rode tandem – enabling us to go fast enough to make life difficult for younger/faster riders in the “Tuesday Group” who would normally leave us in their wake.

On one occasion, after our morning tea stop at Gordonton, Tim and I mounted our tandem – or so I thought – and set off for my home. Imagine my surprise when after a kilometre or so a car overtook us with Tim leaning out of the car window gesticulating madly.

There are two versions of what had led to this state of affairs. Tim put the blame on me for failing to check that he, as stoker, was in the rear seat of the bike before I set off. I didn’t deny this but pointed out that I had ridden a considerable distance without noticing Tim’s absence, thus raising questions about the value of his contribution to our supposedly joint effort.

I’m happy to report that Tim and I have remained firm friends and his death saddens me enormously.  RIP Tim.

Reg Churton

There are two things I talk to others about Tim, they are:

1. When I first went riding with the Tuesday group about 14 years ago (I would have been 56) coming back along Woodlands Road I got dropped.  Tim also dropped off and we rode back together, me struggling to keep up with Tim.  He had his cycle shirt with the Ride across Canada on it.  I asked him when he did this.  He told me it was to celebrate his 70th some years earlier. I was so impressed.
2. The other thing was Tim also said a few years ago about having to give up the Tuesday ride as he was struggling to keep up and I as well as many others told him to get an e-bike which he finally did.  I can remember adding that I hoped he would not find our group to slow and decide to ride with the fast group.    He kept riding with the slow group but always rode at the back.  When talking to others about e-bikes I bring up Tim and said it was so great Tim got an e-bike so he could keep riding with the group, and further what a gentleman he was not taking advantage of the motor to blow us away.  

Thanks, Tim, for the memories. 

 Don Bright

 He will be missed by many of us such a humble and lovely knowledgeable guy.

Colleen Coleman

Tim was such a true gentleman, I used to enjoy his company on many a ride, he was so interesting, he always reckoned he didn’t chat too much & was always glad when I was there, I think mainly cause I couldn’t shut up.  Another part of the special cycling family we had gone to ride in peace.

Look forward to celebrating his life when all this lockdown over.

Claire Sing

He was such a gentleman. However, he had a fantastic life and lived it to the full of the stories I heard from him at coffee! I am thankful he went without too long a lingering or the need to be put in a Geriatric facility waiting to die!!  Morbid I know . But I have just been giving Flu Vaccines at Nursing Homes and I can’t handle the thought of anyone having to end their life like that !!

Tim’s life is definitely a Celebration and his cycling around the world was inspirational to me!!

Finally, we will miss you Tim and we will often recall and remember all those fantastic times we had together.  It is comforting to know you will be in good company ‘up there’ with some familiar Tuesday Group cyclists: Brooke, Peter S, Peter E, Bevan, and Dave. 

Our thoughts are with you Kim, Wogga and rest of the family.  RIP Tim

Heather Wickham (Goldcard Gal)