Day 4
Mon. 01 Mar. 2010
Dist: 55 km.
Av. Spd: 20 km/hr.
NRG: 802 Cal.
Ride Time: 2 hrs 46 min
This is the day it’s supposed to get easier! I’ve split the Dargaville to Wellsford leg into two easy days to rest a bit after the fast and furious start. So breakfast at Blah, Blah, Blah wasn’t until 9 and I didn’t get on the road until 11 - very cruisy start. Breakfast rating: not bad… probably a 7. The road out of Dargaville is straight and flat, luckily the wind was from the side so I was able to truck along at 25ks for the first hour to Ruawai without too much effort.
The road makes 90 degree turn to the east at Ruawai, and yep, that was straight into the wind. Had lunch at a nice café in Ruawai but I won’t mention the name because the service was so bad. I did manage a power nap at the table though and it seemed to perk me up after I’d been feeling as flat as the terrain all morning. Five km south of Ruawai the uppish bits start and it was quite rolly polly all the way to the camp ground Paparoa.
I got to the camp at three and just lounged around all afternoon trying to rest everything. I did treat my riding gear to a wash with actual soap though - Ok, it was dishwashing liquid - same stuff, just different smell huh?
Nothing special about today, it was just a case of moving on at an easy pace without using too much energy and getting plenty of rest. The calorie count is interesting; only 1/3 of the calories of the previous day and yet the average speed was well higher!
the day after our chat at your going away i listened to a guy in the iditarod dog race. "the dogs were cruizing, the conditions were great and the northern lights were going off". he said he just turned off his head light and enjoyed the moment! so hope you are having plenty of those?
ReplyDeleteGaz
We don't want any of those "Runga Nuts" Now Nenish Tarts, thats another story.
ReplyDeleteHey Gazza
ReplyDeleteThe Ididarod - now there's a challenge. What an amazing thing to do. Hmmmm?
Have certainly had some moments when the bike is purring along at good speed with minimal effort and the scenery is cool. Riding at night would be awesome, especially with the full moon at the moment - I reckon about 3am when there's no traffic. It might be something to consider for the South Island passes... a gravel road, tussock and a full moon. Sweet as NZ.