TalulaT

20 km mountain biking and lotsa driving

Despite the cautionary tale spun earlier about the rear spokes, we just couldn’t resist the chance to make a final mountain bike ride on the way to returning Chandra’s bike in Christchurch. So, we headed up toward Arthur’s Pass in heavy rain. We decided that if we could find a camping spot and if the weather cooperated we would try to crank the Craigeburn Ride also known as The Edge (see photo below!). I figured that if I had trouble with the spokes I could replace them in Christchurch once again and still roll the bike onto the ferry.

We pulled into the picnic area/campground at the base of the ride and found the familiar home feeling of a climbers’ ghetto – all chalk bags, crash pads, and shoes. A few mountain bikers were around too and we totally felt at home! We had a bunch of leftover food from Christmas that we unloaded on some appreciative climbers and crashed for the night ready to shred in the morning. The climb up to the ski area was really long, but the ride once on the edge was spectacular! There were definitely some sections in the scree that were sketchy with huge cliff-like dropoffs to the side, but in between the singletrack was sweet! I got stuck under a tree briefly, but no big thing.

The wheel held up, and the only bummer was that we missed a 3-km section called The Luge and instead backtracked a bit for our descent. All in all a killer ride and we were both stoked to get a final mountain ride in before returning Chandra’s rental bike and heading out to Akaroa for some sailing and visiting friends.

The drive down the West Coast was scenic, but not much to say about it. We made a quick stop at St. Arnaud for Chandra to see including a visit to the start of the Rainbow Road. Oh – and it’s cool that there are penguin crossing signs, and sometimes you have to share the one-lane bridges with trains!

We tried to go for a mountain bike ride at the Kaniere Water Race while camping at Lake Kaniere near Hokitika, but I broke spokes. Again. Now, though, I see a pattern. Both spokes broken were adjacent drive-side spokes and they popped when I made a rough shift going up a steep-ish spot. I realized, when I replaced them at the campground, that the issue is some badly distributed spoke tension – as I have broken spokes and had to true the rear wheel alot, I usually tighten rather than evenly distribute spoke tension, so over the 1600 km to date, the issue is overtightening. After fixing with my final remaining spare spokes, my new goal is not for this rear wheel to carry a loaded trailer. The new goal is for the rear wheel to be rollable to get my bike onto the ferry and the plane from Wellington to Auckland where I will box it up. Sad indeed…

At Franz Josef, it was awesome to meet up with Matt and Lori! We cooked for each other, hooked up a sick batch of belly pleaser (coconut, mango, rice, love) with mimosas for Christmas morning and headed out to the Patrick Point hike overlooking the Franz Josef glacier. It’s about a 20km return hike but the second half of it is seriously approaching fourth class (not so bad in exposure but seriously scrambley on very slippery rocks!). I think it was worth it though! Lori turned back a bit before the end but Matt and Chandra and I made the end of the trail, snapped a few photos, then hurried back to Lori so we could all descend together. Not a bad way to spend Christmas on the other side of the world!

Ah, although it may seem like we have been biking in the rain forever, the bike trip was nearly to an end as we had just the very short 33 km (17 miles) into Picton remaining.  We cranked that out Sunday morning  (again in the rain) and arrived in Picton by noon.  We changed into civies and stopped at Le Café (discovered by Sterling and Emi during their trip with a highly recommended vegetarian sandwich and free internet access).  From there, we sadly packed the bikes and trailer into a rented Subaru Legacy and headed for Nelson and eventually Kaiteriteri, which is where the “hardship” ended and the luxury (compliments of some extra spending money from David and Judy) began . . . can you say hot tub on a balcony overlooking the ocean?  NICE!!!  More on Kaiteriteri later . . .

60 km

After a restful night where the wind blew itself into a frenzy until it eventually wearied itself and rested, we continued on northward through more rain (but not wind!) towards Blenheim.  The hills were a bit more steep and numerous than we had anticipated (although perhaps the cold rain made them seem that way), but we persevered through the rains and the hills (and I got a flat) and edged into NZ’s famous Marlborough country, with the sheep giving way to grapes growing in their ruler straight lines.  We pulled into Blenheim at about quarter to one, soaking wet and looking a bit bedraggled.  Mike quickly and efficiently located a warm dry room at a backpacker place called The Grapevine, had the woman there book us on a wine tour van, and we threw off our wet biking clothes, jumped into a hot (but quick) shower, and were on our way to wine country by a quarter past one . . . and, of course, the sun came out.

m!ke’s two cents:  Touring with Chandra is so much different tan touring on my own.  I found some advantages to being on my own in the month prior to Chandra’s arrival, but they pale in comparison to how we work together.  Bad conditions are a perfect example.  I can be quite a lightweight when the weather gets foul.  I can handle whatever gets thrown at me, but I tend to get a bit whiney.  I think Chandra was thinking the whine tour was replacing a wine tour as I got grouchy about being totally soaked going over hills bigger than I thought they would be. Luckily she’s tough and one quick pointing out about my humbug attitude snapped me out of it. As our friend coach said in Alaska, you can’t hate the rainy days.  You can like the sunny days better, but you have to like the rainy days too.  Does this contradict what I said before about unnecessary suffering? Perhaps.  But a slight shift in attitude turned what was kind of les Miz. into another fun experience.  We didn’t have to try and dry off in a tent, and the sun came out anyway. The ride over the last mountains of our cycling travels together, dripping with rain (but without wind!!!) will remain in my memory.  Fun times….

80 km

The next morning, Friday, December 19th, we headed north on Highway 1, leaving Kaikoura behind us and with Picton a couple hundred kms and couple days ride ahead of us.  I’ll let Mike write about the details of the day, which included some hills, a fair amount of rain, and a little wind (luckily, we left early in the morning to try to avoid as much as possible), a couple of broken spokes, and a slog through gravel and a strong cross wind to a beautiful little protected enclave, designed specifically to satisfy the needs of weary bikers (including one GREAT shower), called Peddler’s’ Rest.

m!ke’s notes on the day:

We took off under a threateningly cloudy grey sky with forecast of “severely heavy rain.”  I had set up this part of our riding with short days in case Chandra was jet-lagged (she was not!) so we were prepared for a potential grunt-fest up the coast.  Besides, we had been warned by many people (but tellingly not Brian whose advice I trust above pretty much anyone else on matters bicycle in NZ) that the wind would be howling and the Kaikoura range would provide little or no shelter.

Our reward for braving the potential storms? A totally gorgeous day along the coast (like RIGHT along the water!) all day seeing and hearing seals, passing crayfish (really rock lobster) shacks along the way, and a generally allaround blissful ride.  No wind.  No rain.

Toward the end of the day, I hit a pothole and broke two rear spokes (more on spoke issues later) on the drive side.  It was a bit of a drag to pull off the cassette and change two more spokes on the roadside, but with kind weather we were making good time and the break was nice anyway.

Soon after the spoke repairs, we reached the end of the shelter of the Kaikoura range from the Northwesterlies that were ripping through and I felt like I hit a wall going downhill as I was cruising at around 40 kph and was slowed to 10 kph in an instant as I hit the wall of wind.  It only lasted for 10 km or so, but as Chandra said, at Pedaler’s rest, it continued to howl like a gale and the sky kept darkening provided foreshadow for the next day.  but….Pedaler’s rest was a blissful retreat.  It’s not run by cyclists – just an entrepreneurial farming couple with a smart use of the old shearer’s shed on their land.  They are located at the perfect place to stop for cyclists on the coast, 1.5 km off the main road (so quiet and secure) and the shed is utilitarian and absolutely perfect for what touring cyclists need right then.

So, a restful night was met by rain in the morning….

19 km

Thursday, December 18th (Happy Birthday Chonan!) was our very sunny rest day in Kairkoura, which we spent hiking around the Kaikoura Peninsula and inefficiently going shopping for food (four visits to three different stores), before coming back to the Top Ten Holiday Park for some Dan Jackson inspired “Sea Creature Stew.”  (See pic, yes, there are banana prawns, mussels, and salmon packed in there!)

NOTE FROM m!ke – the sea creature stew was tear (of joy) creating and I could not have been more stoked.  Especially since we missed the fish and chips we were seeking earlier in the day!