Its about the journey and the stories we live to tell.
Day 9..
Started off well... out of the wierd crappy accomodation in good time and nose to the wind... leaving behind Auckland with every pedal stroke. Of course no sooner had I gone a mile or so.. a motel had appeared followed by several more. Bloody typical. When you want one.. you cant find one for love or money... now I dont need one they were popping up all over the place.
The aim for today was matamata... a reasonably ambitious aim given it was around 100 miles away... but had good info that the route towards the end was pretty flat... although maybe marred by the dreaded headwinds that accompany flatness. I had also got off to a good start out of the city as there was good smooth tarmac.
Always bearing in mind the importance of food I stopped off after a hours cycling for breakfast of fruit and pancakes... delicious and deffo the best breakfast so far.
It was all going well... traffic reasonable... hills but not bad ones and a general determination to get the miles done today. I passed through little towns on The Great Road South out of Auckland... ticking them off. My first waypoint was the turning off onto SH2... then South on the SH27 all the way to Matamata. I expected hills for the first 60 miles but after that a pretty pan flat run in.
Obviously as I was in the city still... the scenery was non existant. I have noticed how like American cities NZ ones are... with avenues of shops .. all one story high.. no people walking around town really either.
I reached Drury... the place I had been aiming for yesterday but hadnt quite made. I rolled into a roundabout to go straight on... out of the corner of my eye and somewhat in slow motion a car came from my left and just kinda drove into me... I had started to put the brakes on as had she (though I bloody had right of way... I had already been on the roundabout) ... and ended up half over the bonnet of her car. I put my hands out to try and protect myself from hitting the car too hard and I was still clipped in. .. once everything had stopled moving... i pulled myself up from the bonnet of the car... unclipped my feet and looked at the driver. Elderly ish lady... looked back at me...think she mouthed 'are you ok' before driving off. I made my way to the side of the road... stood astride my bike... now visably shaking. Helmet came off... and then the tears of shock. Through the tears two gentlemen walked up to me... helped me off my bike... led me to their shop.. The Bee Hive .. got a chair for me to sit on and told me theyd seen the whole thing and that id done nothing wrong (no wierd roundabout laws I didnt know of ). Anyway massive thanks to Greg and Andrew for picking me up .. checking my bike and making me smile after that. You guys are stars!!
So that had put a bit of a dent in the day. It did make me more determined and i headed to SH2 with determination. Did I mention it was ridiculously hot and all 25 miles of SH2 were coverless. I had been careful to cover my arms which meant I was even more ridiculously hot. I was getting through litres of the stuff. SH2 was not flat either and in order to get to it I had to take a road called Razorback... for obvious reasons. It was basically a very hot and hilly few miles and the tarmac was no longer the smooth city tarmac... we had gone back to treacle.
It certainly was an effort but made it to the SH27 turn off with a reasonable amount of time in the day left to do the last 45 miles. The promised flats didnt come for what seemed like an age and there was a climb that resembled snake pass in the Peaks for type of climb. .. but New Zealand generally rewards uphill effort well and sweeping round the bends was fun... especially given the view I had ahead of me. Flat fields with the road straight down the valley. To my left mountains in the distance... perhaps reminding me of what awaits me should I manage to get there. They were whispering my name... i could feel it. The scenery distracted well enough for thirty miles. Then I hit a wall. Despite being on the flat mainly a slight headwind had kicked up... just to slow the progress. I think the adrenaline from the morning had also worn off leaving me worn out and crawling along. .. so once again I phoned a friend (not Mark this time), the niece of a work colleague. Rachael (hope spelt right) had offered to rescue if stuck and offered a bed for the night. I asked for both and then sat in a layby awaiting a pick up.
Whilst I sat there I had a bit of an epiphany... yes this ride was meant to challenge me and push me to my limits but even more ... it is all about the journey and the stories I live to tell. And whilst Im not totally happy with the decision... it meant that I could be somewhere warm and safe. Also.. the wrist of the hand I had used to brace the impact of hotting the bonnet was starting to hurt slightly. All in all I want to get to Bluff and experience a journey along the way so I have decided in the grand scheme of things that pick up and drive to accomodation was the right thing to do after todays happening. Rachael and Chad were very accomodating in their embracing of the randomness... accepting a complete stranger into their home... cooking me a wonderful dinner and making me feel very welcome. Rescued me in every sense of the word... and my words cannot describe the appreciation I have.
Also Rachael works on a Stud Farm and thats where they live so got to satisfy a bit of curiosity and asked lots of questions... there are some similarities between what she does and what I do which made me laugh!!
So as I sit here blogging... it is with satisfaction for the day... I pretty much covered a massive distance over bumpy terrain and then put the metal to the pedal for as long as my body could possibly take... ive met some more lovely people ... and above all Im alive and living life to the full.
This country is creeping into my skin and the challenge remains met so far... but at the end of the day...
It's about the journey
X
Started off well... out of the wierd crappy accomodation in good time and nose to the wind... leaving behind Auckland with every pedal stroke. Of course no sooner had I gone a mile or so.. a motel had appeared followed by several more. Bloody typical. When you want one.. you cant find one for love or money... now I dont need one they were popping up all over the place.
The aim for today was matamata... a reasonably ambitious aim given it was around 100 miles away... but had good info that the route towards the end was pretty flat... although maybe marred by the dreaded headwinds that accompany flatness. I had also got off to a good start out of the city as there was good smooth tarmac.
Always bearing in mind the importance of food I stopped off after a hours cycling for breakfast of fruit and pancakes... delicious and deffo the best breakfast so far.
It was all going well... traffic reasonable... hills but not bad ones and a general determination to get the miles done today. I passed through little towns on The Great Road South out of Auckland... ticking them off. My first waypoint was the turning off onto SH2... then South on the SH27 all the way to Matamata. I expected hills for the first 60 miles but after that a pretty pan flat run in.
Obviously as I was in the city still... the scenery was non existant. I have noticed how like American cities NZ ones are... with avenues of shops .. all one story high.. no people walking around town really either.
I reached Drury... the place I had been aiming for yesterday but hadnt quite made. I rolled into a roundabout to go straight on... out of the corner of my eye and somewhat in slow motion a car came from my left and just kinda drove into me... I had started to put the brakes on as had she (though I bloody had right of way... I had already been on the roundabout) ... and ended up half over the bonnet of her car. I put my hands out to try and protect myself from hitting the car too hard and I was still clipped in. .. once everything had stopled moving... i pulled myself up from the bonnet of the car... unclipped my feet and looked at the driver. Elderly ish lady... looked back at me...think she mouthed 'are you ok' before driving off. I made my way to the side of the road... stood astride my bike... now visably shaking. Helmet came off... and then the tears of shock. Through the tears two gentlemen walked up to me... helped me off my bike... led me to their shop.. The Bee Hive .. got a chair for me to sit on and told me theyd seen the whole thing and that id done nothing wrong (no wierd roundabout laws I didnt know of ). Anyway massive thanks to Greg and Andrew for picking me up .. checking my bike and making me smile after that. You guys are stars!!
So that had put a bit of a dent in the day. It did make me more determined and i headed to SH2 with determination. Did I mention it was ridiculously hot and all 25 miles of SH2 were coverless. I had been careful to cover my arms which meant I was even more ridiculously hot. I was getting through litres of the stuff. SH2 was not flat either and in order to get to it I had to take a road called Razorback... for obvious reasons. It was basically a very hot and hilly few miles and the tarmac was no longer the smooth city tarmac... we had gone back to treacle.
It certainly was an effort but made it to the SH27 turn off with a reasonable amount of time in the day left to do the last 45 miles. The promised flats didnt come for what seemed like an age and there was a climb that resembled snake pass in the Peaks for type of climb. .. but New Zealand generally rewards uphill effort well and sweeping round the bends was fun... especially given the view I had ahead of me. Flat fields with the road straight down the valley. To my left mountains in the distance... perhaps reminding me of what awaits me should I manage to get there. They were whispering my name... i could feel it. The scenery distracted well enough for thirty miles. Then I hit a wall. Despite being on the flat mainly a slight headwind had kicked up... just to slow the progress. I think the adrenaline from the morning had also worn off leaving me worn out and crawling along. .. so once again I phoned a friend (not Mark this time), the niece of a work colleague. Rachael (hope spelt right) had offered to rescue if stuck and offered a bed for the night. I asked for both and then sat in a layby awaiting a pick up.
Whilst I sat there I had a bit of an epiphany... yes this ride was meant to challenge me and push me to my limits but even more ... it is all about the journey and the stories I live to tell. And whilst Im not totally happy with the decision... it meant that I could be somewhere warm and safe. Also.. the wrist of the hand I had used to brace the impact of hotting the bonnet was starting to hurt slightly. All in all I want to get to Bluff and experience a journey along the way so I have decided in the grand scheme of things that pick up and drive to accomodation was the right thing to do after todays happening. Rachael and Chad were very accomodating in their embracing of the randomness... accepting a complete stranger into their home... cooking me a wonderful dinner and making me feel very welcome. Rescued me in every sense of the word... and my words cannot describe the appreciation I have.
Also Rachael works on a Stud Farm and thats where they live so got to satisfy a bit of curiosity and asked lots of questions... there are some similarities between what she does and what I do which made me laugh!!
So as I sit here blogging... it is with satisfaction for the day... I pretty much covered a massive distance over bumpy terrain and then put the metal to the pedal for as long as my body could possibly take... ive met some more lovely people ... and above all Im alive and living life to the full.
This country is creeping into my skin and the challenge remains met so far... but at the end of the day...
It's about the journey
X
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