NZ2050

Sunday, March 15th: It was dark when I put up my tent last night. It was dark when I took it down this morning. Another TA first for me. I had one of my coldest sleep’s yet. I had to resort to putting my feet through the short sleeves of my cycling thermal undershirt...

Saturday, March 14th: Sometimes good things just go on a bit too long for their, and your own, good. So it was today. The first three-quarters of the day were wonderful; the last quarter was tedious Still, this all happened in glorious mountains, and on a bike, so I’m...

Friday, March 13th: Well, it was cold last night. Probably a low of 6c. But I stayed warm wearing all the clothes I listed last night; and the beanie sufficed. The Lake Hawea Holiday Park was excellent, with a beautiful location by the lake...and a food truck serving...

Thursday, March 12: I love all three of our big mountain passes in New Zealand. Each has its own character and challenges, each is quite different from the other two. On the Tour Aotearoa we do two on consecutive days...Haast Pass today and the Crown Range tomorrow....

Wednesday, March 11: If you think a 126km recovery ride is an oxymoron, bike at a leisurely pace from Fox township to Haast on a beautiful day with long stops for excellent coffee and food. I was hoping for only a double digit average heart rate for the day. It turned...

Tuesday, March 10th: This was always likely to be the longest distance I’d travel in a day on the Tour. Indeed, it was 140km from Ross to Fox township through the more mountainous terrain of the West Coast. I left our creative container/bunkhouse at the Ross Beach...

Monday, March 9th: What a glorious ride it was today on the West Coast Wilderness Cycle Trail...107km from Kumara to Ross, most of it in thick West Coast bush plus an “urban” interlude in Hokitika. I was on the route for 9 1/2 hours, of which almost seven were riding...

I almost missed the sign to the Pike River Memorial Garden just before the road crossed the river itself. I made a sharp right into the side road and the Memorial was just down the way. This was not the official memorial which stands in Greymouth but a tribute by the...

Saturday, March 7th: I love the South Island’s magnificent beech forests. They are beautiful in their own right but also a little kinder, gentler than North Island native forests, which can be dark and dense. And I particularly love riding through beech forests, off...

Ooh, it was cold last night...5c. When I got into my sleeping bag at the beginning of the night the new superdooper thermal liner was very cosy. But as the temperature dropped during the night I woke twice to put on more clothes yet still felt quite cold when I woke...

I opted for the alternate road route this morning rather than tackle the off road route over the Maungatapu Saddle, for reasons I discussed in yesterday’s blog. Catching up with other riders later in the day who had gone over the saddle confirmed I made the right...

Wednesday, March 4th: It was fun feeling like a Wellington cycle commuter as I rolled down the hill from Hataitai to the CBD on this warm, grey and windy morning. But unlike them I was escaping the city. I headed to the docks and boarded the Interislander ferry for...