Day 8 – St Arnaud – Havelock 170km
The weather summed up how I felt – a bit grim. Canned peaches for brekkie again, washed down with a king size mug of hot chocolate.
I rugged up – it was still windy & cold. No rain, but it had rained overnight. The first 4km to the turnoff were horrible. Straight into a freezing headwind and uphill, I plugged along at 8kph. Hardly a fast start! Things improved a bit after the turnoff, a tailwind for a little bit and some downhill, before things returned to undulating.
The weather got worse – cold & rainy. I couldn’t see much because of the rain & spray coming off the front tyre. Should have stopped before I did (there was a lovely grove of trees overhanging the road at one point – dry underneath), instead riding & hoping it would ease. It didn’t, and when I started shivering uncontrollably I found the nearest tree next to the road and headed for it – removing front drybag & grabbing my extra polypro to wear under my jacket. Had a small meltdown here – why is it so difficult!
Resumed riding – still shivering, but I needed to move on. Skipped a section of gravel road in favour of fast tarseal, hoping that the weather would break as I returned towards sea level. Not long after, I looked down at the cranks & noticed the non-drive side was falling apart. A big glob of what I thought was mud (actually grease) and the crank arm had a worrying wobble to it. Nooooo! Stopped & checked – yes, the crank was coming apart. Couldn’t tell at that point if it was the bottom bracket (bearings) or the crank itself (which may have been grease packed?), either way not good news, as the grease was in there for a reason. Possibly an expensive fix. Vowing just to ride until it completely came apart, I continued. This late in the ride I decided I’d rather not faff about in a Nelson Bike Shop & just get it rebuilt when I got home.
Wakefield! Dry, but still cold. A quick recce discovered the Bakery on the main highway promised the best food (but yucky coffee) and a cafe on a side street promised the best coffee (but minimal food). I ordered a coffee. Some time later (the slowest coffee I’ve ever had to wait for!) I got my coffee & went back around the corner to grab delicious bakery treats. The grass verge outside the Police Station on the main road provided the best impromptu picnic spot. I also had a good look at the crank – both bolts were loose and no more grease had fallen out, so just tightened things up as hard as I could with the multi-tool.
Navigating the Nelson Cycleways was not difficult, but I did find myself laughing a little at the context. After months of commuting in Auckland’s traffic I was well versed in car vs cycle activities and found the whole run into Nelson on cycleways a little quiet. There is a camp ground to be had at the beach on the western end of town – with McDonalds close by. Didn’t stop, as I’d end up at the beach, and not move for a long time. Found the text-in point and rode a quick lap of the town before settling on Columbus Coffee as my (late) lunch choice. Cafe was brilliant – nice outdoor area, good food & coffee and a filtered water tap to refill water bladders at. The cafe had music going over the outdoor speakers and as I was about to leave I heard a song I had not heard in ages – think it’s called ‘Ballad of a Cowgirl’ – “pack my bags and mount my horse, I going to ride on into the next town, ain’t got no shame, nobody knows my name, ride on into the next town” Summed up my current situation exactly!
It was here I made a navigational error. I decided to skip the walk up/walk down Maungatapu track (climbs to 1000m before descending) in favour of the much longer (on paper) road route to Pelorus Bridge, where the track re-joined, then onto Havelock. I misread a text from Sandra, thinking 41km to Havelock – so was confident I would get there before any takeaways closed – so did not buy any food to have as emergency dinner.
Leaving the coast, the road climbed – and climbed – and climbed some more. I was getting used to reading the land now and knew this was a biggie, as I couldn’t see any sign of a summit yet. No problems, not far to go. Wrong! After finally topping out ‘Heartbreak Hill’, the sweet run I thought I’d have didn’t eventuate. Instead of a fast descent and then the flat of Rai Valley, I had a small descent and an undulating road, before climbing the next monster hill. Passing the 50km mark, I knew I’d screwed up somewhere, confirmed when I did make it to the real Rai Valley. A map board showed the road ahead and distances – 27km more to go, with Pelorus Bridge (Cafe), then Canvastown (Pub) to come before Havelock. The map board showed the 3 places as roughly equidistant . It was just after 7pm. Food anxiety immediately set in. Jacket on (getting cold again) there was nothing to do but go as fast as possible and hope something was still open.
Undulating road to Pelorus Bridge didn’t help the food anxiety any. Beech forest, quite pretty, but also cold and dark. Rode into the DOC camping ground there (Cafe/Office all in one). Cafe closed. I enquired with the DOC worker whether she could sell me a can of food. ‘Can only give you food if you’re staying’ was the unhelpful response. I changed tack & quizzed her about the road ahead – fearing another ‘Heartbreak Hill’ was lying in wait between here & Havelock. After getting her assurance the road was flat, I quickly made to leave. DOC worker chased after me & gave me a pre-prepared salad sandwich (leftover from cafe). She said it was the day before yesterdays (making it 3 days old). I thanked her & quickly filed it in my bag, knowing I had something else to add to the 2 cookies and 3 (yucky) OSM bars I had left.
Head down, hunkered over the aerobars the forest suddenly ended and green fields abounded. Actually a nice evening once out of the tree cover! Made good time to Canvastown – only a pub there and I could see from the main road it was closed. Not a vehicle or soul in sight. Kept going, starting to get dark now, should fit lights, no, keep going, speed 30+kph, only 9km to go. Started to feel a bit light headed, need food, can’t eat any food yet as it may have to be my dinner, keep going.... I had been here before – my run to the start of Wharfedale was like this!
Suddenly, a sign. “Welcome to Havelock”, followed by a sign for “.... restaurant, open 5.30pm until late” SAVED! Hoping the ‘until late’ meant at least until 9.00pm, I kept going into the township itself. I passed some houses, a closed 4 Square and an Irish Pub (open), before spotting the sign pointing to the campground and the Havelock Hotel all in the same instant. The locals watering hole – lots of cars parked outside and it was looking lively. YAY!
Campground was only 100m from the Pub. Owners were fantastic – appreciating that I was checking in BEFORE my late dinner. I was able to leave the bike outside the Reception area next to their house, while I went for dinner Grabbing a polypro top (I had the shivers again), I headed to the pub.
Brilliant choice! There was a live band that had come over from the West Coast. I was able to order Fish & Chips at the bar & grab a table at the quieter end of the pub, where a beer and a packet of potato chips disappeared at emergency speed. Dinner arrived soon after (8.45pm). Awesome fish & chips! Eating & rocking out to the band that was playing was just fantastic! Dessert ordered & disappeared only slightly slower than main course (the bar lady reckoned I wouldn’t need dessert – the mains were usually big enough - oops). Kitchen closes at 9pm (give or take), pub is open longer.
What a fantastic final night! Sitting at my table I soaked in the atmosphere, enjoying the band & the atmosphere immensely. It didn’t matter I was still in lycra bike shorts and a jacket, bike shoes on my feet, looking (and smelling) like I had been living rough, I was welcome. I also downloaded a few more songs into my phone, as the MP3 battery was nearly flat, so having a new playlist on the phone tomorrow would be good.
Eventually I had to leave – still needed to pitch the tent & fall into it. I decided to finish the Brevet properly, by following the proper course to Picton and through Port Underwood Rd back to Blenheim, instead of just cutting down the main highway. I felt like I’d just been given a gift and finishing properly was the best I could do to honour it.
No comments:
Post a Comment