Day 14

I woke up feeling a bit under par. The camp cold had been threatening for a day or two and my throat was a little sore. Once I got moving and took some drugs and more importantly had a bowl Latte I was feeling pretty good about life and the fact we only had two days for camp completion. The Mill House that we stayed in was very impressive. The original old stone building renovated into accommodation and restaurant. The day was cool but not threatening rain and promised a tail wind. The plan was 180km total from Waianakarua to Balclutha with a stop in Dunedin to do an aquathon. Reports were coming out of Dunedin, via a friend of Nicks, that the harbor water temp was only 14 degrees. This info along with the cool wind and the fact that a number of campers including Gordo were starting to get sick put paid to the open water aquathon idea. A very good call in hindsight.

The first 50 km of riding was great. Tailwind and a good draft. I was sitting behind Big E and experienced the much talk about draft from the 6ft 8inch Eric. His is a very good bike rider so I enjoyed following his wheel. A better view than he had as he was behind Russell who’s cycling shorts had seen better days, wearing a bit thin, not a good look.

We headed towards the KOM for the day the Hill before Port Charmers. It was a really tough climb with some very steep sections. I felt good and gave it a nudge. By half way the usual suspects were up the road. I hung on to Jo’s wheel for a while until Tara came passed as well as the machine David Craig and Petro. They rode away so I concentrated on keeping as good a pace as possible to avoid getting caught by Dave Langley who was in sight but still far enough away to hold off. The views at the top once again did not disappoint. On the way down Petro, Tara and DC stopped to take a photo with the sea views behind. I joined them so will get them sent to me so I can post up on line to show you what we saw. Then it was on through to Dunedin. We had our tour leader Nick who lived here and went to med school at Otago. A stop in town at the bike shop for Charlseys bike repair. His de railer cable broke so was climbing the hill in a 14. Despite being an unbelievable cyclist he had to run 2k up the hill so was keen to get it repaired.

Out of town we took the coast road but not before climbing another bloody steep and long hill. He headed towards Brighton on the coast road for lunch stop at the 115km mark. The ride along the coast was once again fantastic. Riding with sea views, beaches and headlands makes it’s so much more enjoyable. This was turning out to be one of the best rides for me on camp. A total contrast to the Coromandel but just as spectacular.

The pace as always was solid. It seems if its not Lordy its DC or one of the other strong riders willing to keep the pace strong at all times, that’s 35-40km an hour depending on the wind. Of course it’s always your choice to stay on or drop back to your own pace.

After another great lunch provided by the support crew who do everything for us. We headed towards Balclutha. We were warned about some hills but once again as previously today they where some of the hardest hills we have climbed all tour. The climb from the coast at the Taieri Mouth was very steep and went on for a long time with lots of drops down and just when you thought the next steep rise was the top it would descend again only to climb once more. We then had a fast decent down to join the main highway. Then towards Milton. Rob Hill and I had been talking about a coffee stop and Milton gave us the opportunity. With a strong tail wind and around 20k to go we stopped at the only cafe open. It was perfect. Couches and really nice coffee. So good we had two rounds before we could extract ourselves and re mount the bikes. A hilly but nice ride due to the tailwind into Balcutha.

A lot of the group are feeling pretty tired. I had a really enjoyable day and feel tired but upbeat and really happy about getting through with now only 1 day to go to reach Bluff. Time for dinner so until day 15 of Epic Camp