Makin’ movies: On the rail trail to Ranfurly

Distance: 64.25km. Time: 5:23 hours.

I settled in to the Middlemarch pub and spent the afternoon updating my blog. In the evening the pub was full of ploughmen, who were in town for the long weekend to attend a ploughing competition, and like most country folk were happy to share a yarn over a beer.

Overnight the temperature dropped sharply, and when I looked out my window this morning, there was a fresh mantle of snow on the hills.

Eventually I got my panniers packed and the bike loaded, and headed off to the station for a photo before the obligatory stop at the local café for a second breakfast – a cappuccino and an excellent steak pie. Then with a muffin for morning tea, I set off, with a cold and brisk southerly wind at my back.

The rail trail started just out of town. The surface looked reasonable, so I set off to see how the bike would handle the conditions. And it handled them very well. As rode along, I could see snow showers falling on the hills, and few of them caught up with me so I had to stop to put my rain jacket on.

After 15 kms the highway crossed the rail trail. At the junction a film crew (well, a cameraman and a cyclist), were making a video about the rail trail. I was the first of several encounters with them for the day. I soon met them again at a monument to a train disaster.

I left the rail trail and continued on the highway, which proved to be the much faster surface, reaching Hyde in time for lunch and my third encounter with the film crew, and was included in a scene having lunch with the actor/cyclist., and on his advice, returned to the rail trail for the next section through a narrow gorge where the highway climbed several steep hills.

This section included a tunnel and viaduct, and some great scenery through the gorge.  The film crew appeared several more times along here.

Clearing the section I returned to the highway for the last 20 km. For the first 5 km the wind was at my back, but then the road veered around and the wind blew in my left ear for the rest of the ride, with a few showers of sleet for good measure, and I was very chilled. It seemed the longest 15 km I’ve ridden, and by the time I reached Ranfurly there was no feeling in my hands.

The holiday camp was conveniently located near the town centre, and after a few minutes I was standing in a warm shower thawing out. The bed looked comfortable so I sat down on it for a few minutes, and promptly dozed off. When I woke up it was almost 8 pm so it was off to the pub for a beer and a meal, but I could hardly keep my eyes open, so it was straight back to the holiday park and bed. 

Boofle's keen to go...

On the Otago Rail Trail, at Hyde.
That cyclist across the bridge is being videoed by the cameraman behind the fence...

Kakanui Range - Danseys Pass is somewhere up there...