Distance: 71 kms. Ride Time: 6:36 hours.
The plan for today was to ride to Owaka,
buy supplies for dinner and then continue for a few more kms to a pleasant
holiday camp at Pounawea. What I hadn’t
realized is that this part of the route is very hilly, in fact it’s more than
that, there are a least four serious climbs along the way. My legs by now are
not much troubled by hills, but they do slow progress significantly.
I set out fairly early without eating;
planning a return to the delightful Niagara Falls café, but when I arrived
at around 9 am it wasn’t open. So I elected
to continue on to the McCleans Falls café, about 20 kms away. But within a
few kms I found myself grinding up the first steep climb, and after a rapid descent,
ground my way up a second steep climb to reach the café. This is another very
pleasant spot, and I lingered long enough for a combined breakfast and lunch.
Approaching Papatowai I came to the third
(Florence) hill, with a stunning outlook over the coast, and when I stopped for
a coffee was informed that the biggest hill was still to come. And sure enough,
soon after leaving Papatowai the road began to rise, and continued on relentlessly for km
after a km. Eventually after a series of
false summits I finally reached the top and started a white-knuckle descent.
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