Friday 11th March

I set off this morning at 8.30am from Upper Hutt for the 80 mile ride to Bulls on the West Coast in good weather and against the wind again. The first part of the trip involved a big climb over the Akatarawa Pass which runs due north from Upper Hutt to the Coast. The climb is just over 1500 feet and is very rolling so you end up climbing 2500 feet in total as the road keeps dropping down annoyingly after a steep climb meaning you have to gain the height all over again. It was a beautiful road though and I only saw about 6 cars for 23 miles. The road peaked at 18 miles and there was a great view towards the coast at this point. I took some photos but it was pretty cloudy by this point so they are not that great. The down hill was fantastic and went on for 5 miles with hundreds of twists and turns. I couldnt ge up any serious speed or I would have plummetted over a 100 foot drop but it was nice to take it easy and just coast down.
Once on the flat I stopped at Waikanae at a "Subway" for a breakfast meatball sandwich and got talking to a Kiwi bloke who kept asking me contentious questions about our Class System in the UK and why we all winge a lot.I so enjoyed his company!!. He then started to make comments about my thighs and asked me how I built them up so much, At this point i made a polite excuse and left leaving half a meatball sandwich and most of my coffee. Its amazing how quickly you can lose your appetite isn't it ?
Once safely back on my bike it was 60 miles of flat road ahead of me which in theory was great. The only problem was the dratted north westerly wind that insisted on blowing me backwards for the next 5 hours. Its so typical that as soon as I get a nice flat easy section to ride mother nature decides to break wind in my face.
Its a pity that the road I was on never really gave me a glimpse of the sea as that would have made it all so worth while. I got to see lots of trucks though and some of them up very close indeed !!!
Once at Levin at the 50 mile mark I pulled in and lookd for a place that may sell carrot cake as this is my personal rocket fuel. I dropped lucky straight away and sat on my own in a deserted cafe for a whole hour. It almost got that boring that I almost hoped the "Thigh Guy" would walk in........I do stress " Almost " though as he was quite strange.
Within a couple of hours I was peddling into Bulls where my Brother in laws mate Kvin lives with his wife and family. I was greeted with a beer in proper Kiwi fashion and have watched the rugby eaten a great meal and skyped home. All in all a great day and no real problems off the ankle. I think i may feel it in the morning though. Tomorrow is a 4000 feet climb up to Taihape so I will need a good sleep tonight. So far so good though. Catch you all later