Woof! What a day! Straight up and straight down and it was steep. It was mostly hike-a-bike up, over and down ratched chunky rocks but…
It was a gorgeous day with bluebird skies. Though the sun was out all day, the temps were cool. And there weren’t any biting horse flies (hardly any on this tour at all!)
In fact, since New Zealand doesn’t have snakes or large land mammals, there was no need to worry about cougars tracking me when slogging uphill with a 55 pound loaded bike or sitting down to picnic by Mr. Snakey Snake.
The saddle is almost eight miles up, all off road, and winds up one side and down the other.
My rear brakes totally gave out halfway down the decent – nothing left of them. Tom had to replace the rear brake pads and adjust the front ones halfway down.
We ate so very little today and spent so much energy pushing loaded bikes uphill and then wrestling with them to get down without letting them get away from us.
We cruised into Nelson (great little town), checked into our campsite and then walked almost a mile (sans loaded bikes) into town for the biggest sandos we could find.
Easier tracks coming tomorrow and we’re chasing Amelia, Sarah and a new friend that has joined them for the South Island. Will we catch them?
Click on the image below to view today’s video.
Keep Calm and Pedal On 
Whatta a burger‼️ Beut of a sky
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From the comfort of my chair, that looks like a fantastic climbing day.
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And there is always another one tomorrow!
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