Throwing a sickie in Lawrence

This southbound leg of our ride is literally coughing and spluttering to its conclusion as we have had our second unscheduled layover of the ride, deciding to stay put in Lawrence for another night to give us both a chance to recover from head colds and avoid exacerbating the ailments by riding in the rain that is predicted for later today.

Since the RA’s update in Twizel it has been a roller coaster of a ride. Her final day before she handed the Angel Seat over to our first guest stoker, proved to be a highlight of the ride for her. Strangely, it was the first of a couple of rides that the GOTF had some concerns about how the big bike (and the GOTF) would handle more challenging single track. The Tarnbrae track from Lake Ohau to Omarama had a few sections that I remembered from my last ride, they were not RA friendly! Narrow, steep drop offs, a rough surface and a climb up to just over 900m not to mention being well north of our average daily kilometres.

However, the day was clear, we enjoyed a brisk tail wind and, despite our first tumble of the ride, the RA enjoyed it more than I did. I was totally focussed on keeping the bike on the narrow track and avoiding the large loose stones that often littered the track. Unfortunately, coming off a bridge, I failed as the steering went awol when the front wheel became acquainted with some loose stones. We ended up on the deck but we were going slow and it was a soft landing so the only damage was to the GOTFs pride.

Omarama was always going to be a highlight for the RA as she got to pass the batten onto 85 year old Rod Brown who had foolishly agreed to ride as guest stoker over the next four days to Clyde. Rod had, a few weeks earlier, travelled over Danseys Pass in a small bus and the bubbling confidence displayed when he signed on to the ride, seemed to have gone when we met him. Our arrival in Omamara coincided with the town having just become waterless. No water for showers, no meals at the pub, it was not looking good. We were assured that the water would be back on by 5pm. We headed down to the pub (unshowered) for dinner but confusion was reigning. There was an initial flurry of meals coming out of the kitchen but then the server came over to us and announced that there would be no more, the water is still off. After a bit of grumbling we reluctantly agreed to move on but just as we got up to leave the water arrived. All was saved.

The second ride that I had doubts about was around Lake Benmore, for the same reasons as the Tarnbrae Track. Unfortunately, this was also Rod’s first day on a bike since he was in short pants and had acne. Potentially not a good combination given Rod’s somewhat fragile confidence. However, once the bike was teetering on the precipice he quickly learned the basic survival skill-set for this terrain. Avoid: sneezing, passing wind, entering into political debates or anything else likely to create unnecessary movement of the body. Keep your head down and feel free to close your eyes if needed. It was a stunning ride and we managed it with comparative ease, or as Rod is in the habit of saying, “no perspiration”. The thing with tough sections of tracks is that plan b is to get off the bike and walk it through the dicey section.

The trail around Lake Benmore

Unlike single tracks, Danseys Pass is mostly at least a car width wide so riding it was not going to present the same technical challenges for the GOTF as the previous two rides. I just needed to make sure that we had enough power to get us over the summit. We were again favoured by a tail wind and made it to the summit with plenty of spare battery. As we hurtled down the other side we met up with a Swiss couple and their two young children who were on two recumbent tandems. They were pushing them in the soft sandy gravel of the road and into a building head wind. It was late in the afternoon but they were not bothered by the challenge ahead, they had food, water and tents and were in good spirits. We hoped the wind was not too strong the next day.

Rod found the Danseys Pass ride far better than he had been anticipating. Sure it was a decent climb but it was a straight forward ride. I certainly found it easier than my previous ride over it on a manual bike.

The weather forecast was not great for our next ride with the chance of some rain and brisk winds. They day dawned overcast but calm and these conditions continued for the first couple of hours. As we headed towards Wedderburn on the Otago Rail Trail, the wind started to get pretty strong and just past the village it really started to blow. It was now a side wind and I was having extreme difficulty trying to keep the bike on the trail.
Wham! We got blown over and once on the deck, the wind picked Rod up and tossed him over the embankment. As I grappled with the bike in the now storm force winds and tried to spot Rod I saw him slowly scramble up the embankment. Wham! Another violent gust sent him airborne and down the slope again. After finally regaining our composure we agreed that the conditions were unrideable. Our loose plan was to try and push the bike to the next roadside settlement about 8km ahead, stow the bike and get Ruth and Christine to come and pick us up. I sent a text to Ruth telling her of our predicament and our ‘cunning’ plan B. The conditions continued to deteriorate and now we were both battling to hold the bike and ourselves on the trail. Progress was going to be very slow. Ruth phoned back a little later but we could not hear one another above the noise of the wind. I managed to find some long grass and lay down in order to have a slightly less wind impacted conversation. It transpired that they were checking into the pub at Ophir and while they were relaying our plight, a local patron offered to come and collect us. The pub offered their van and Shane (the patron) had a trailer and thus a rescue mission was launched. Their plan that we retrace our route back to Wedderburn, a mere 4 km behind us, was much more sensible plan. Why we didn’t think of that is baffling, maybe our brains had been scrambled by the wind. We managed to claw our way back to the Wedderburn Tavern to await our rescue. As the van arrived, a much younger cyclist that we had seen at Naseby, appeared from the tavern. He had been blown off his bike three times and was hoping that he could cadge a lift back to Omakau with us. Many thanks to Shane and to Blacks Hotel in Ophir for being real trail angels.

Over a medicinal pint in Ophir, we discovered that Shane owned the local community radio station in Alexandra. He was also very aware of the challenges in Tai Tokerau having whanau in the area and he invited us to talk about our project on the next mornings breakfast show. I guess every cloud has a silver lining but not sure that we want to go to those extremes again to secure some publicity.

The last day of riding for Rod was probably more in keeping with what he had imagined but after the previous three days, he probably found it a little mundane. Although we did come across a large tree that had been blown down across the track which proved a challenging obstacle to wrestle the bike over. We mused about needing one of The Friends of the Wairoa Stream and their chainsaw. We know for sure that a certain part of Rod’s anatomy was delighted to no longer be sitting on a bicycle seat. Thanks Rod and Christine for being part of the adventure. I know Ruth really enjoyed her four days break.

Ruth slotted back onto the rear seat effortlessly and was soon back in video shooting / navigating mode. I had decided to see if we could book the boat ride that links the two sections of the Roxburgh trail. Alas, just as in 2021, the boat was getting its annual survey so we again rode along State Highway 8 until the Roxburgh Dam.

Yesterday’s ride along the Clutha Gold Trail was another regularly interrupted by negotiating debris and trees brought down in that same wind storm. One tree proved very challenging. We had to unpack the bike and slide it over the tree trunk without losing it down a bank and into the fast flowing Clutha. I sensed that the RA was having second thoughts about holding the bike but she put in a super human effort and we get to continue our ride. Sitting in Lawrence, tissues in hand and dosed up on Panadol, I am sure she is already regretting rescuing the bike.

Tomorrow we head across to the Catlins and on Monday we bike through to Invercargill which is the end point of this southbound leg of our journey. The RA is making noises about her getting comfortable during our Christmas break and possibly not wanting to participate on our journey back north in January. Bob has tried to tender his resignation but as head of security he has to remain in Invercargill and guard the bike. Since his bath he has been very subdued. He doesn’t like heights, wind and especially dust and has ridden the last 500km in his wet weather gear. To top it all off he claims that he is also sick.

We have certainly had our moments but as we have pointed out before, we chose to do this and the discomforts we have faced are temporary. That is not the case for vulnerable children and if you want to help to make a difference this Christmas consider a donation to The Bald Angels via our give-a-little page or share our story with others. It may even help to motivate the RA to return after Christmas.