but a bit nervous too...Getting into the groove...
I'm starting to relax: I'm never going to catch Johan so why bother trying. Instead I'm settling into a nice easy cadence that I can keep up forever whilst inching my way up the slopes.
I get there in the end, it isn't that much slower, and note the "keep up forever" comment. :)
Light rain again this morning, which again gave some interesting photos (I hope) given how the mist & cloud combined with the spectacular scenery between Punakaiki and Greymouth.
The run to Greymouth was fairly fast without too many nasty hills (at least I could usually see the top of the hill even with the poor visibility) and the scenery was superb.
The rain was clearing by the time I reached Greymouth and was gone an hour or so later. Yay! Unfortunately, so was the best scenery. Boo! I took more photos of course (there was still room on the memory card so I had to :) ), but I'm expecting the morning to produce some of the best shots of the day.
I had to navigate a couple of railway bridges which were...interesting experiences. Unlike the helpful signs warning cyclists about being pitched over their handlebars wasn't an issue; getting a wheel jammed in one of the tracks was.
The road from Greymouth to Hokitika is really busy, and is apparently exclusively populated by aggressive (to the point of insanity sometimes IMO) drivers. Rest assured gentle readers that my right front wheel was on the shoulder whenever I had room to put it there. On several occasions I shouldered off completely and stopped just to let the madness pass.
Between the madness of the road, and feeling in the groove, I actually took a detour that involved some hills and extra distance. OTOH, it was a quiet tourist road (much appreciated under the circumstances), and the descents were as always entertaining.
Brief stats: 91.78Ks today, 389.08 for the tour.
I get there in the end, it isn't that much slower, and note the "keep up forever" comment. :)
Light rain again this morning, which again gave some interesting photos (I hope) given how the mist & cloud combined with the spectacular scenery between Punakaiki and Greymouth.
The run to Greymouth was fairly fast without too many nasty hills (at least I could usually see the top of the hill even with the poor visibility) and the scenery was superb.
The rain was clearing by the time I reached Greymouth and was gone an hour or so later. Yay! Unfortunately, so was the best scenery. Boo! I took more photos of course (there was still room on the memory card so I had to :) ), but I'm expecting the morning to produce some of the best shots of the day.
I had to navigate a couple of railway bridges which were...interesting experiences. Unlike the helpful signs warning cyclists about being pitched over their handlebars wasn't an issue; getting a wheel jammed in one of the tracks was.
The road from Greymouth to Hokitika is really busy, and is apparently exclusively populated by aggressive (to the point of insanity sometimes IMO) drivers. Rest assured gentle readers that my right front wheel was on the shoulder whenever I had room to put it there. On several occasions I shouldered off completely and stopped just to let the madness pass.
Between the madness of the road, and feeling in the groove, I actually took a detour that involved some hills and extra distance. OTOH, it was a quiet tourist road (much appreciated under the circumstances), and the descents were as always entertaining.
Brief stats: 91.78Ks today, 389.08 for the tour.
PS: A wobble in the right wheel has been traced to a bent rim; the trike is in a bike shop now and we'll see what happens. I should be able to get through the tour but may need a new wheel when I get back to Australia.
