Day 15- Palmerston North to Masterton

Well what a day!!

It started early with us on the road to the coffee shop at 7.30am. Trying to find a coffee shop in Palmerston North was almost impossible as the place was deserted except for the Subway shop.

The coffee there was quite good surprisingly!

After this it was off to Masterton and a big day.

The night before our ride I looked at the weather and it indicated a tail wind…. Well that forecast was out by 180 degrees as we had a head wind for most of the day! The last time I look at the weather forecast!

The day then started with a 10 km climb which despite having a coffee, proved to be most difficult. The first part of the climb was at gradients of 16% which meant for me it was a walk with the bike…

The rest of the climb was at lower grades but for most of it grades of up to 10% were not uncommon. Reaching the top was a real achievement for me.

The only thing was this was the first of 6 climbs for the day ….into a headwind with gusts you can see from the photo below from the weather map.

The day was to be broken up into 3 sections of roughly 40 kms each which gave us a lunch stop at Pahiatua and Eketahuna.

Travelling into the wind became a real slog so we did 1 km drafting for most of the day which worked out reasonably well. There were times when the wind gusts were so strong that on the flat we were in the lowest gear still struggling!

The lunch break was good and I had a sandwich and coffee to refuel and it was off again!

During most of the day we travelled through rolling hills except for the brute out of Palmerston North.

At the afternoon tea break at Eketahuna I noticed my chain was very dry and gear changing was difficult so an applied so lubricant to the chain…. This proved to be an unsatisfactory fix to the problem as we resumed the ride after the break. My rear derailleur was not allowing any gear changes and I was stuck in the highest cog! Bugger!!!

Fortunately we had been chatting to a lovely lady outside the cafe who offered to help us as she was on her way to Masterton… we said at the time that we were ok …. But now I was in desperate need of assistance. I made my way back to the cafe and luckily her car was still parked outside the cafe. Luck appeared to be on my side when she returned the car as she said she could transport me and the bike to our accommodation at Masterton. Chris and Steve continued on the journey on their bikes knowing I had a good outcome to continue the journey.

So I had a new best friend now. Her name is Diane Chesmar and after packing the bike in her car the final 40 kms of the ride were in the luxury of the car with no headwind to worry about.

I arrived at the motel at around 4.45 pm and I agreed with Di to meet again for a thankyou drink and meal. At this point Di left and I had a shower and clean up and gathered my thoughts on the whole cock-up of the mechanical problem and not finishing the ride to help them battle he wind on the last leg.

Tracking Chris and Steve proved to be easy with Garmin tracker and they seemed to be making good progress so I waited for them to arrive at the motel. They were buggered frankly after a big day of 113 kms and climbing 1262 metres!

After a recovery shower and drink ( cup of tea for Chris) we agreed to have dinner at the Lone Star restaurant in Masterton which was quite pleasant and the food was good. I shouted Di her dinner as a thank you for all her help. She was full of interesting information about her bike riding and exercise regimen and told us about her wonderful family and home. A truly wonderful lady who was a great help in my time of need… thanks Di and all the best !

After a day like today it makes you realise that these trips are as much about the journey as the destination and how you respond in challenging circumstances.

The pictures today are as follows:

The map of the entire route for the day that Chris and Steve completed

My shorter route

At the up of the first climb

At a rest point battling the wind!

The weather map at the afternoon tea break

A bad selfie of my new best friend Di and myself at the end of the trip….last 40 kms by car

A celebration and thank you to Di at the Lone Star restaurant