June 20, 2024
To Vienne
One of hardest days we have ever had
It’s so nice for us to be reunited with the family. When Matthew wa 7 we took the family for a cycle tour on the Hauraki Rail Trail for their Xmas present. It is so nice to be cycling with them again 13years later though we wish Carlotte and Jacob were here too
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I was worrying last night about a number of things Firstly it said it was going to rain most of the day and secondly what our route would be like. I knew it started doing complicated things in tunnels but in the end turned out to be the least of our worries. YR said that there would be rain from 10 till 11 then be fine until around 2. We decided the best thing to do was to leave at8.30 and hope for the best. It proved to be a good decision and although we got a bit wet it was never too bad
Through town was fairly hairy but we managed OK. Then we came to a small town and the others spotted a coffee place. I didn’t see it and went on over a couple of bridges and I think that was when we lost the track. A man in a van saw us and gave us some directions. We misunderstood them and set off on a small road that almost straight away became a terrible rocky track but we persisted
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We came onto a road and congratulated ourselves thinking the worse was over but it wasnt much worse was to come
It seemed so promising at first we followed the little road through a tunnel under the motorway then over the railway line and saw a sign. Via Rhona Provisional Route (My hint for today never follow a sign like this) a lovely little road led us up the steep hill into a tiny village but then it stopped and became a single track. Surely this wouldn’t go on for long. It did , it was steeply up and down hill. The rain had made it greasy and the track was deep. I fell off, then Mark fell off twice. After that everyone walked. This meant of course someone had to keep coming back to push my bike as there was no way I could have. It went on for 2 or 3 k and never has a road been so welcome to see. There was absolutely no way Ken and I could have done it without our powerful supporters
After that life returned to normal. We crossed the motorway, railway and river again. We found some lunch then got onto a beautiful track that led us to Vienne and our hotel
Today's ride: 36 km (22 miles)
Total: 614 km (381 miles)
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