Day 6 - Living on a knifedge
My day started with a buzzing in my ear. Nope it wasnt the mosquito that had been annoying me all night but my watch alarm telling me it was 5am and time to get stuff sqared away. Why so early... well when youve bivvied.. ideally you want stuff to be dry ish and it takes a long time to get all the kit sqared away in my morning routine... even without the camping kit.
The night had passed peacefully enough. My bivvy was perfectly set up and when it did rain.. i heard the patter of raindrops on my tarp but didnt feel a drop. It was actually pretty snug under there. I had been very warm as well as totally dry... pretty comfortable (no hip pain bro) and aside for a couple of coughing fits had slept bloody well. The odd spider had of course found its way towards me overnight and I shook several off me as I got up.
The biggest nuisance had been the flies buzzing round my face until my headtorch had been extinguished and then went to find some other poor bugger to bother. I also discovered a wasp taking shelter (well if you do set up a bloody good shelter you should expect others to take advantage)
So I started packing up... dragging all my stuff to the campsite kitchen area to lay out before packing up. I had the whole place to myself as it still wasnt light... laying out wet kit... using the benches to spread out my camping kit and generally make myself at home. It seemed to take ages to sort everything.. in fact almost 2 hours and as I rolled my bike out to the exit .. I was annoyed with myself for taking so long.
Just as I was about to saddle up.. the reception man came out and started asking me about LHS. Inwardly groaning slightly cos I needed to get on the road, but mindful that a big part of this journey for me is spreading the word and getting others involved. Once Id given him the lowdown.. he wished me luck and gave me 10$ for the charity. How nice was that!! And worth the ten minutes chatting to him for sure.
My departure could be delayed no longer... I had to find food. The pot noodle (I had bought 2 last night) was donated to a better cause than my stomach - the bin- and I had nothing except a few cereal bars on me. Down the road I went... away from Oppononi towards Dargaville - my eventual destination. The road ran along the beach and the morning sun lit up the water and the golden sand dunes making them unspeakably perfect in that moment.
Enough admiring the view -said New Zealand - lets see how she copes with this!! Now as I discovered in my little jaunt across America.. the first ten miles of the day will always HURT anyway... throw in a hill - by hill Im talking mountain by English standards - shut the cafe thats just before the the start of it and what do you get... one teetering wobbly shell of the person you may know as Lydia, Lid, crazy girl.
It went straight up. The tarmac was of the kind that seemed to hold the wheels in place... so much so I was convinced my brakes had jammed on and kept checking them for a problem. Crawling on my knees would have been quicker for me to get up there. I kept stopping and taking an age to contemplate moving again. (Still a couple of gut wrenching coughing fits just to did the knife in) It was a hell of a downer right off the bat. This was just the first little lump in the road of what I was sure was going to be many today and it was taking too long. My slightly fragile mind was already stressing about getting to my destination that day... calculating time/distance as it would do for the rest of the day. Even though it seemed a bit early in the day for 'hike a bike' there was a stretch I got off and walked simply because a hill start was not possible.. such was the angle of the road.
Crap crap and crap... i was frustrated... my thoughts turning to failure and letting everyone down. I eventually reached the top but tge seeds were sown and throughout the day would creep back in uninvited.
I did of course eventually reach the top and as I turned round and leant on my aero bars (seeing my pain is weakness leaving the body quote) ... the view was unbelievable. In a very short space of mileage I had gained a huge amount of altitude and I could see across the stretch of water, whipped by the wind into a teeming mass of white topped waves, to the impossibly tall sand dunes. Just visable was a section of rainbow to top off the picture postcard moment. It held my gaze for a while and as it did Mike's song Breathe came around on my Ipod with impeccably good timing.
Couldnt stand around for long though... I had breakfast to find (you see Im trying to eat!!)
I raised the gears out of 'granny mode' and turned my bike down the other side...
Speedy downhill right? Nope .. still felt like I was peddling through treacle... what the hell was wrong????
Fortunately a short hop downhill found an open cafe and an impossibly large breakfast of eggs bacon beans and sausage along with a banana smoothie! Very nice and I sat there chilling for 5 when it walked three helmeted lycra clad women who informed me they were admiring my bike. Really?? But Ive transformed it into a beast of a bike... far from its clean sleek racelines. Then I looked at their bikes.. Mountain bikes with similar set up for carrying kit as me yet they still exclaimed over how little I was carrying for the ride I was doing. They were kinda doing the same thing... only in race format.. and their ride would be mainly off road. Known as the Tour Ateroa (hope spelled correctly) it is a self supported race from top to bottom... interesting!
Anyway eventually got back on the road and food had made my legs feel much worse. If I was in treacle before... I was now tethered to the road... so slow was my progress.. up/down/flat made little difference and I was just about to throw all my toys out of the pram.. when 2 unencumbered cyclists approached from behind - with a lot more speed- and informed me of the road ahead. Specifically... some downhill after the Kauri tree.. then a bit of up.. but the last 40Km's into Dargaville were all downhill and with that they whizzed off.. leaving me eating their dust.
this is a long one....
The road to the beginning of the Waipura forest was up and down and sapped all my energy and gave fuel to my levels of rising despair. Despite this I managed to look around and appreciate the country I was suffering through. Green pastures all around.. dotted with trees and fences. It could have been England.. or Wales... and bits reminded me of Italy. Until I reached the forest. Madagasgar jungle foliage closed around the road.. the birds and crickets continuing their never ending chorus. It just switched... like that! With the jungle came the up. Very similar to the Manganuka gorge I went through yesterday in terms of up and bend.. more up and bend in a neverending parody of itself. And there was me... a small dot struggling up it. Within this forest lay my first goal of today. The Kauri tree... specifically the biggest known living one. It was another hour and a half of uphill grind before a quick descent to the visitors centre. A climb which drove me to the edge as it just felt like there was far too much resistance to the wheels going forward. Treacle tarmac again. So much so I had to pedal the downhill section or I would have stopped.
I pulled in and followed others across the road to the walkway that led to THE tree. The jungle calmed me... immersed in the sounds and smells of nature brought my mind back to sense again and I marvelled at the tangled vines and the dense undergrowth. And then there was the tree. And yes it was big... but that wasnt it. Held as sacred by the Maori .. you can feel why. It emenated permanence where all around was change. Things lived and died around it and it continued .. unmoved. I felt in awe in the true sense of the word. And it was just a tree. Maybe because next to it.. we all dwarf into insignificance.
Difficult to describe but I left exceptionally glad I had stopped and seen it. Much better than a man made 'worlds biggest'. I then got ripped off for tap water to refill my bottle... just to bring me back to ground level.
The following descent was on better tarmac and swept past more ancient Kauri trees.. not as big in stature but impressive nonetheless. I counted about 15 that I swept past... not quite Sean Kelly but not bad for someone on a loaded bike on damp roads (did I mention more rain) which contain cars!
The rest of the day was spent awaiting that 'all downhill into Dargaville' that the cyclist told me this morning. As I met them on their way back... they were probably going oh shit.. now she has worked out we were lying. With the reply of ' but it gave her something to look forward to throughout the day'. There was so.e down... but it was not the equal of the up and each up was a granny gear grind. These ups im referring to... whilst not like the Mangamuka gorge climb or tge Waipura forest climb of today were of the category of the climbs in snowdonia and The Peaks. Thats a kiwi version of a small hill... or not worth mentioning hill... Englands biggest ones!
I eventually reached the final ten miles... big hills behind me... flattish road ahead. And then the wind hit... not a tailwind... that just wouldnt be allowed. Side headwind marred my progress those final miles... just to finish me off. I crawled towards Dargaville and came across a lodging with vacancy sign... no thought involved... negotiated a discount and was shown i to a 'unit' consisting of living room.. bedroom and bathroom. I then proceeded to spread my kit everwhere so must be careful tomorrow morning to retrieve everything!
Food next problem and a huge problem it turned out to be... approx 1km away was a fast food takeaway shop. Hmmm cycle... no way in hell... my arse hurt and needed a break.. walk then. Down a hill... round bends.. round more bends and no sign of takeaway.. not even in the distance. Totally fed up I walked the considerable distance back. Which is why dinner consisted of a can of tuna... some cashew nuts... and 2 plums (from campsite) not to mention the gummy snakes that I had bought as something different to eat on the go!
So why do I do this. Struggle and suffer by choice. For those that dont know me .. it began with a song .. Let the River Run... or it may have been The Wind blows away my words. Regardless of which song it was by The Alarm and most importantly Mike Peters... it began a journey. An interrupted one but one that now shines through in my life. You see Mike Peters is not only the lead singer of The Alarm but writes songs that speak to my soul. Oh and he is battling cancer. And he has more energy and drive than you or I put together.
He started Love Hope Strength Foundation and as I followed the music I found myself following him.. the charity... the way he leads his life .. a total inspiration to us all.. whether we suffer from Cancer or not. More recently another who is made from the same mould as Mike is another daily source of inspiration for me (and many others I might add). It is people like these two men that drive me to live my life to the full... to be a stronger.. better version of myself... to help spread the word to fight cancer back! My pain and suffering , real though it is, is a temporary thing. But in my pain and suffering I hope you read between the lines and understand what drives me. Everyone has it in them. This is just the game I choose to play to try and raise more money and awareness.
So if you are enjoying the blogs from the comfort of your armchair.. please help me in my quest and do as so many of you have already done. Help spread the word.. read about the work that LHS is doing and how you can become part of the family I am in (www.lovehopestrength.co.uk).
If you feel you can .. please donate to my bike ride page www.justgiving.com/GoWithTheCrazy and help keep the smile on my face no matter how bad my day has been!
Like my facebook page and share with others www.facebook.com/OneChallengeAtATime
Become a bone marrow donor - its not the painful procedure it used to be
www.deletebloodcancer.co.uk (our partner charity for getting people on the bone marrow donor list)
Together we can Fight back against Cancer!
Thank you for being part of my journey.
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