Young Zoe had gone from almost too shy to be in the same room to not letting me leave. I'd roughly thought 9am would work but it was closer to 10 before I left.
I was straight into a headwind which would accompany me almost the whole distance. Luckily it wasn't my only company.
Leaving Stoke I headed out along the main road. There was a bunch of cyclists that I was shadowing, possibly even gaining on, but then in the distance I saw a couple of reflective patches on a bike. A tourist!
I started pushing a bit harder but luckily the rider stopped to refuel so I didn't have to burn any matches.
Tim was a Brit doing an around the world trip. His original plan was to reach Murchison that day, 130km away, but with the wind it was very easy to convince him to make a detour to St Arnaud.
We headed off and took the quieter road. Usually this would mean a very pleasant ride, and generally it was. Unfortunately it seems people are happy to give a solo cyclist space, but add a second and it becomes too much for them to handle.
My guess is we got abuse from a 10th of the cars that passed. Admitedly sometimes we were 2 abreast but with one car every 5 minutes we didn't feel the need to ride single file.
The elevation graph for the day showed 2 kicks with a gradual increase in gradient before each one. The first of these kicks was the hardest with me out of the saddle for a decent distance.
After that we lost a good amount of altitude and started the slow rise back. We barely noticed the second kick. Because of our late start and relaxed breaks we arrived in St Arnaud after 6. Later than my norm but not a worry.
As we parked out the back of the backpackers we saw another bike, with just a rear rack. In the morning I met it's owner, Sofia from Mexico.
While discussing our trip we discovered that myself and Tim had been following roughly the same route since leaving Auckland, having seen the Barcelona couple a day apart. From Wellington we were less than a day apart until Nelson. We'd have met up earlier, but we ended up catching the two different afternoon ferries.
Distance day 80km total 2417km
Ascent day 1250m 29,050m
We were all heading to Murchison so we rolled out in a Peleton of three. Sofia had done the same ride we had just the day earlier so we were all looking forward to using all the altitude we'd gained.
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| Tim doesn't look that happy to pass the milestone |
The day before Tim had passed the 8000km mark but was agonisingly close to 5000miles. I knew when he'd reach it so I sprinted ahead and stopped to capture the moment.
The day was very good. We rarely pushed very hard but managed a nice average. We did get a few bad drivers, including one very horn happy truck. One thing that always amuses me is when cars wait behind because there's not great sight around a corner but seem to get bored and pass anyway even if it's worse when they pass.
Towards midday the drizzles we'd had turned into rain. We were only only an hour away so I got on the front and put some power down. The others held my wheel and just as I was beginning to fade we got into town.
My state of mind is great riding with these 2 is very good, my budget not so good with all the hostels. The Lazy Cow hostel was great tho and we were offered a beer because we were cyclists!
A great evening followed chilling by the fire chatting with a couple of aussie fishermen.
Distance day 60km total 2477km
Ascent day 200m total 30,150m
Tim had a tighter schedule so in the morning we parted ways. Luckily Sofia was heading to Hanmer Springs like me so I got to enjoy her company.
I thought the day was going to be slightly tough but it turned out Google had hugely over estimated the elevation gain. The weather wasn't great so we were happy to get into camp. After we were setup the day became perfect. In hindsight we should have pushed on and camped on the other side of Lewis Pass but we both thought it was too much for one day.
Throughout the day we had a good chat. Sofia had been in NZ a few months then decided she wanted to cycle it, alone. Very gutsy for a 19 yo. It's always interesting to hear other people's stories.
This night would be Sofia's first night camping and was a decent test.
Distance day 88km total 2565km
Ascent day 750m total 30,900m
It rained all night. I was fine but Sofia had some rain get through. I also had a visitor in the night so I'm down 4 slices of bread and I note have a hole in my tent.
We stayed in my tent for a while waiting to see if the train would lessen. And it did, suddenly we could see all the mountains around.
I packed up my tent but it started raining again. Eventually we had to decide to stay or go. We were stubborn and pushed on.
Not long after starting we hear a short hissing sound. Had to happen today. Turned out to be a snapped valve. To make matters worse the bike shop Sofia bought the bike from had sold her a tube that wouldn't fit. Luckily I had the right size. We fixed it and headed off. A few hundred metres along another hiss. I kicked myself for not properly diagnosing the problem. A rope was dangling near the wheel and caught the valve.
So with my second and last tube used we headed off. The climb up to Lewis Pass was much gentler than we expected, just the weather made it hard. Near the top we actually got some direct sun.
During the descent it got pretty bad. Both of us were freezing but I knew we had a long day ahead so I found some shelter, made us hot drinks and ate. The temperature was hovering just above freezing.
Eventually we pushed on, and a short time later we were saved. The rain passed and we had nice blue skies and warming sun, and to top it all of an amazing tailwind.
Before this I was close to sticking my thumb out. The sun made the ride spectacular. Unfortunately we could see the next front approaching. It eventually passed so we got to enjoy the sun for the rest of the ride.
Although it was dry I wasn't too unhappy staying in a hostel.
Distance day 91km total 2656km
Ascent day 1200m total 32,100m
My next goal is to do the Rainbow Road, but I want good weather. This means I could be around till Sunday.
Thursday was spent doing a few errands and a few hours in the hot pools.
While traveling solo has its perks, the great thing about traveling with someone else is you can share some of the workload. This meant a massive pile of roast veggies and sausages for myself and Sofia.
A few games of cards followed, then I got to teach 500 to everyone else. Unfortunately the game ended when the bed beckoned.
The next morning Sofia headed off. I figured I'd be bored within the hour so I grabbed a few things and tagged along.
With mostly downhills and a slight tailwind we made great time, so 3 hours in and 67km from Hanmer we bid our farewells.
The worst thing you can do is to cycle with a tailwind on an out and back trip, but it was fairly light in the morning so I wasn't too worried. Unfortunately the wind really picked up towards midday. I was never worried as I had a long time to make it back.
A bit before Culverden I came across another tourist. He'd just done the Molesworth track. Sounded like he had it rough getting battered by the same weather we had over Lewis Pass.
In Culverden I had a quick lunch before joining a trio of cyclist heading to Hanmer. I had to push pretty hard to stay on but it was amazing the pace we could make in sometimes brutal headwinds. Luckily one of them had similar fitness to me so I was able to just hang on without blowing up.
At the turn off to Hanmer I continued on. With plenty of time and approaching my record for distance I felt like pushing it a bit. Luckily this time it was into the wind so when I turned around at the top of a hill 10km on it was an easy ride back to the turn off.
My legs were starting to feel the kms so it was great to reach the hostel. A bowl of ice cream served as my post ride recovery snack. It's been a while since I've felt this tired and it feels great!
Thursday was spent doing a few errands and a few hours in the hot pools.
While traveling solo has its perks, the great thing about traveling with someone else is you can share some of the workload. This meant a massive pile of roast veggies and sausages for myself and Sofia.
A few games of cards followed, then I got to teach 500 to everyone else. Unfortunately the game ended when the bed beckoned.
The next morning Sofia headed off. I figured I'd be bored within the hour so I grabbed a few things and tagged along.
With mostly downhills and a slight tailwind we made great time, so 3 hours in and 67km from Hanmer we bid our farewells.
The worst thing you can do is to cycle with a tailwind on an out and back trip, but it was fairly light in the morning so I wasn't too worried. Unfortunately the wind really picked up towards midday. I was never worried as I had a long time to make it back.
A bit before Culverden I came across another tourist. He'd just done the Molesworth track. Sounded like he had it rough getting battered by the same weather we had over Lewis Pass.
In Culverden I had a quick lunch before joining a trio of cyclist heading to Hanmer. I had to push pretty hard to stay on but it was amazing the pace we could make in sometimes brutal headwinds. Luckily one of them had similar fitness to me so I was able to just hang on without blowing up.
At the turn off to Hanmer I continued on. With plenty of time and approaching my record for distance I felt like pushing it a bit. Luckily this time it was into the wind so when I turned around at the top of a hill 10km on it was an easy ride back to the turn off.
My legs were starting to feel the kms so it was great to reach the hostel. A bowl of ice cream served as my post ride recovery snack. It's been a while since I've felt this tired and it feels great!
Distance day 134km total 2790m
Ascent 800m total 32,900m
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