February 20, 2025
Geraldine to Lake Tekapo.
This morning I enjoyed breakfast in the shared kitchen. These kitchens are a unique camping experience for me. Back home we don’t have these but generally our campgrounds are pretty outstanding with private sites surrounded by trees. My experience here at Holiday parks are more like subdivision camping with your neighbours right beside you. At any rate I’ve been enjoying the kitchens because it gives you the home luxury feeling while being on the road all day.
The riding today was really nice. The first 26 km into Pleasant Point was a nice combination of sealed and gravel with nice country scenery. Pleasant Point was a pretty little town but I didn’t stop much to look around as I knew the riding today would be a full day.
From Pleasant Point to Cave was very nice with a hard packed gravel cycle path that was really well done. They were actually still working on one part of it but it was special as cycle paths go. It’s part of a network for the area and I ended up on another 14 km later in the day into Lake Tekapo.
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Once in Cave I was craving a coffee. I was playing frogger with another biker I met last night who was on an e-bike. He was 70 and told me he hiked the entire length of New Zealand over 2 seasons. Now he’s also riding the S2S with an assist from his wife and their RV where she’ll meet up with him where possible. He wanted a coffee as well but we didn’t have any luck.
After Cave is where the more challenging riding for the day started with a big sealed road climb and then soon after onto a long section of gravel. The views today were outstanding and a combination of quaint countryside, combined with foothills and snow capped mountains. There was a really big gravel climb over Mackenzie Pass and once I crested I figured the rest of the ride would be a simple 40 km downhill into the lake. That turned out to be wrong.
Once I descended I was soon into this vast open valley that felt desolate similar to some of our experiences on the Divide ride. And the wind was very strong into me across that whole section that was about 10 km. From that point on I never really got away from the wind. It was sideways at times but not helping and mostly into me. There’s nothing like wind to make you work about 40% harder and feel like you are getting nowhere.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirsium_vulgare
----->Bill
1 week ago
With 14 km left for the day I could see that I was turning onto a major highway. I was not excited but then I spotted the brilliant bike path again. The path itself was great but the wind was unreal. I was barely moving and working hard for the whole rest of the ride into Lake Tekapo. The lake itself is an amazing bright blue colour similar to the ocean colour on the west coast. It’s surrounded by mountains/foothills and it’s stunning. And because it’s so nice it’s a huge tourist destination with people everywhere.
I thought about cooking another nice meal but with the testing ride into town I opted for a burger place that was descent, then to the 4-Square for tomorrow’s food and then to another holiday park. It’s really windy here. The wind is coming off the lake at what feels like 50-60 km/hr. I sure hope it’s not like that again riding in the morning because that will really break my spirit.
Last night sitting in the lounge room I met a couple other riders from the US. We were talking about their plans and they were asking what I’d been doing. They were a bit surprised by my plans and the one guy asked me if I ever wake up and feel like I don’t want to ride. I said no to which he responds. “You are a freak!” He said it jokingly but then followed up and asked what’s my motivation to ride. It’s a good question.
For me it’s multifaceted. I enjoy the challenge of hills and pushing my body. I love the feeling going down hills. I feel free. I love how I feel when I ride and likely high on endorphins. And travelling by bike is just all around amazing because it’s much slower than a car so you get to gaze at scenery, talk to sheep and cows, and generally experience your surroundings in a way that’s not possible by car.
Although I find this place beautiful it’s too busy for me and I won’t take a rest day here. Tomorrow I’m going to try and log a big day so that I can get to Omarama and the start of the climb over the saddle. We’ll see what the trail and weather delivers. It may be too ambitious.
Highlights:
-great cycle paths avoiding a major highway that had no shoulder and loads of loaded trucks
-amazing scenery all day
-great riding
Distance: 125 km and 1889 m elevation gain
Today's ride: 125 km (78 miles)
Total: 2,312 km (1,436 miles)
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1 week ago