The Rimutaka Rail Trail was one of the highlights of my bike tour up north. It came as a welcome break from state highway 2. The trail is only 18km but the points of interest along the way, like bridges, tunnels, old station platforms, and good signage, made it seem longer. 
The Xtracycle after riding though the Summit Tunnel built around 1877. It is 576m long and kind of scary to ride through.
The way up, from the South was a gentle, sometimes winding, incline typical of most railway routes. The descent of the northern side was something else entirely. A white knuckle ride all the way to the platform at Cross Creek. I took a moment at the bottom to check the xtracycle over. All loaded up on a fast rocky descent like that must be near the limits of what the bike and free radical can handle. I half expected to find some sort of damage, but the rig handled it fine. The final leg was a 20 min technical little single-line walking track through manuka forest.With all the weight loaded low, keeping my center of gravity well below my knees somewhere, the xtracycle not only handled this track fully loaded, it excelled, even one the slow tricky bits. 
Pakuratahi Bridge - 1876; 28m long, this is a "Howe"
truss bridge. It is the oldest truss bridge in New Zealand, and was
rebuilt in 1910 after a fire.
Pakuratahi Tunnel - built in 1876 and 73m long, this was the first concrete block structure in New Zealand. It was curved so you couldn't see the other end when you entered.... creepy.
A welcome sight.
7:48:46 PM 
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