BLENHEIM TO KAIKOURA
After a few days of rest of and a relatively short bike ride yesterday, we are in good shape for our longest ride of our biking tour so far. We have 130km to go and the highest mountain to climb is only 200 metres tall.
So we get up before the crack and we have gone to the grocery store and bought some supplies for breakfast and for lunch since there doesn't seem to be much in the way of anything on the first half of our journey.
We are on the road at 6:45am. It's pretty much still dark and quite chilly but we have kms to put behind us.
We begin our big climb of the day almost at once. All the way up to the 200 metre mark in the first 20 km. We are working hard but the sky is clearing, and the sunrise is amazing. Once we arrive at the top, the sun is out and the scenery is spectacular. You can check out the pictures.
Our trip down the north eastern coast ranks as our best ride of the trip so far. The wind was in our favor so we are making great time. Lots of stops for pictures for sure and the huge waves and the rugged coast make it hard to concentrate on the road. And it's important to concentrate as the road is busy. Lots of BIG double trailer trucks roaring by at 100 kph along with a strong wind make handling a loaded touring bike a handful.
The last 40 km of the ride was quite different. The wind, once our friend is now our foe. We struggle into the beach resort of Kiakoura with little energy left. And it is getting cloudy and misty.
So by the time we nail down accomodation we have little energy for much. We walk to a eatery and it begins to rain in earnest. We are wondering about tomorrow's weather. We have another 100km plus day tomorrow and a 500 metre climb. Doing that in the rain doesn't sound like much fun. Time will tell. We are asleep by 9:00pm. Party animals, I know.
STATS:
Distance: 130.3 km
Time: 5:51
Average: 22.2 kph
Max: 77.3 kph
Temp: 20 - 28C
Weather: Mist, Cloud and Sun
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