Rod’s mission accomplished
FONTERRA TANKER DRIVER ROD RUTHERFORD HAS completed his cycling adventure from Bluff to Cape Reinga and says the accomplishment leaves him with some mixed emotions.
“I’m so glad I did it and I really enjoyed myself. But it’s hard to believe it’s over and I feel a bit bewildered and I’m thinking `what’s next?’ says Rod.
“Part of me is looking for the next thing to do. I can’t go back to work because I don’t have a license.”
Rod’s goal of cycling the length of New Zealand has prompted by a cancer diagnosis in December 2020. He continues with that fight, which keeps him from returning to his driving job.
He says the idea of the cycling trip came to him in a dream and after telling his family his brother presented Rod with an e-bike.
The South Island portion of Rod’s adventure was covered in the June issue of New Zealand Truck & Driver.
After a break at home in Cambridge he returned to Wellington and began the North Island with the objective of finishing in July. Rod reached Cape Reinga Lighthouse on July 25.
“The roads were a lot busier in the North Island although I did go around East Cape where it was a lot quieter,” Rod says.
“The [East] Coast was wild and wonderful. Tolaga Bay is a great memory but so was sitting on the wharf in downtown Auckland and just looking at how busy everyone is.
“I had wondered if people in the north would be the same as they’d been down south. It turns out they are and wherever I went, and whether I met kings in castles or with paupers, everyone was good to me.
“The interesting people I met are one of the biggest memories I have.
“Quite a few truck drivers must have read the stories about me including in New Zealand Truck & Driver. I got a lot of toots from truckies after the magazine came out.”
On the last stretch of the northward journey Rod had company.
“For the last four days my brother and my wife cycled with me, and we had a wonderful time.
“Just at the last part of the trip my Go Pro lost its battery. As luck would have it, when we got to the Cape the only other person around just happened to be a professional photographer.”
Rod says he cycled through plenty of rain but managed to avoid the worst of the winter storms.
“I think sticking near to the coast helped in that regard. We arrived at the Cape on a nice afternoon. And after we had finished, we drove home through Northland in probably the worst weather I experienced anywhere on the trip.”
Rod’s latest medical check confirms he has four tumours, three in his lungs and one on a kidney.
“I feel okay apart from a few aches and pains, and I go for a walk each day. I went to work the other day to do a fire-fighting course, but I’m not allowed to drive.
“A friend of mine said ‘the way to beat cancer is to stay active. It’s when you stop that it gets you’.”
Rod says the fund-raising element of his journey, to raise funds for cancer research, has been a success.
“We’ve raised almost $7000, and the money is still coming in. I hope to get to about $8000.
Anything we can do to learn about cancer and try to beat it is great.”
T&D