December 27, 1991
To Pelorus Bridge
The ride to Nelson was fast, flat, and easy, once we made short work of 'breakfast' at the pub - toast and tea. Shortly efore Nelson we passed a bike store and took our opportunity to get a proper-sized tire for Rachael, replacing the oversized emergency replacement we picked up days ago in Haast. Rachael has been coplaining o fatigued legs for a few days, and getting a better tire greatly improved matters for her. Two blocks from the store I broke a spoke on my rear wheel, so we went back and spent another half our in wheel repairs before finally resuming our ride to Nelson.
Nelson is quite a colorful town - a lot of interesting characters on teh street, some sidewalk musicians. We did our usual range of urban errands - visit the info center, hit up a a bank, stock up on food. Also made bookings for the ferry to Wellington and the train up the east coast - alogether coming to only $205NZ - and booked a cabin for the night at Pelorus Bridge. Unfortunately we were unable to find a sea kayak to rent - we are really here at the worst time, over Christmas vacation - so many things are booked up.
The 50k ride from Nelson to Pelorus Bridge was correctly identified by our guide book as hilly and a bit difficult. The first 10k were flat, following the bayshore closely - then the road veered inland and climbed steadily and at times steeply up a narrow, winding 8k strech to the Whangamoa Saddle. We had been warned of this climb by a speeding, smiling cyclist going the other way - 'You've got a monstrous hill up ahead!' -but Rachael, with her new tire, persisted nonstop to the summit. 10k of descent followed, and then another climb (this time in the beginnings of a rainstorm) to Rai Saddle - and finally a coast to the village of Rai Valley where we stopped for tea, snacks, and a break from the rain. The last distance to Pelorus Bridge was dampish, but flat through lovely agricultural valley encircled by steep, rounded hills.
Our cabin at Pelorus Bridge was inexpensive ($16) but 'very basic', as we had been warned - no electricity, quite a rough interior, but in a very pretty area (Pelorus Bridge is in the center of a scenic reserve). One of its more interesting attractions was a trio of young men who, disgruntled by the facilities, told Rachael they were going to throw a stone through their windows when they left as a protest - and would she like them to toss one through ours as well?
Today's ride: 56 miles (90 km)
Total: 764 miles (1,230 km)
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