Training in New Zealand, take 2 (15th of January)
An early start for another day on the bike, starting from Cashmere I headed up over Dyers Pass and around to Diamond Harbour, Purau, Port levy, then on to Pigeon bay. From there I headed up Middle road to the Summit Road, boy is this a steep one and at about half way it turns into a shingle road to make it even tougher. I was happy with my riding up there fully loaded and with a 1 x 10 set up with a 34t up front and an 11-36t cassette at the back. (this is not the bike I will be using for the Tour Aotearoa).
From there I continued along the Summit Road until the descent into Akaroa. It was seriously windy up there (Nor West) but I managed to stay on the bike and road thankfully. I was also amazed that from reaching the summit road to the descent it was another 1000m of gained elevation. Heading down to Akaroa was not as much fun as it could have been due to the wind but nice all the same. Akaroa was full of Tourist thanks to a cruise ship anchored in the harbour but I still managed to find a bench to sit on all to my self and enjoy the views and my lunch. Frome there it was then back to Christchurch via the bays, Little River and the Rail Trail. I enjoyed a nice coffee and a chat with an enthusiastic local at Little River. She had done many cycle tours in a previous life and was intrigued by my Revelate bike packing set up. In the end I had a very enjoyable 168km with 4100m of gained altitude and 10 hours on and off the bike.
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