My West Coast Weather bingo card for today! Let's go through it.

There’s been a day of wet weather in the forecast coming up for about a week. It arrives tomorrow, and it's so rainy there's an Orange rain warning for it. That extends from 10am today, through to 2am tomorrow morning. Not weather to cycle in.

However. The next section I'd planned is 9 hours to Haast. There weren't any good places to stop, cut the trip in half. Or even roughly in half.

But Fox Glacier is two hours away. Cycling for two hours is like making a quarter-sized cup of tea. Same effort, woefully inadequate results, why did you even bother? But here it seems like a good compromise.

What I'm thinking is riding from 8am-10am. That'll finish before the Orange rain warning starts, and it'll reduce the stretch to Haast from 9 hours to 7 which means I'd get it done during regular hours, without overtime.

Things could go wrong, of course. I'm a bit worried about navigating a steep and tangled part of the State Highway, under monsoon-level rain, in strong wind, with heavy traffic and no shoulder. In fact that's basically the worst case. If it's looking sketchy I'm going to do a U-turn and head back to Franz Josef.

So I spent Sunday refreshing the weather forecasts like they were concert ticket resellers.

Probably shouldn't have taken a day off today; there's serious rain on Monday and I'm using up my last spare day then. So after this I'll need to ride, rain or shine. I also hope the weather forecast is accurate, it'd be annoying to avoid cycling on the Monday only for things to change, and the worst of it to arrive the next day...

Today I went out and did a few things while the weather is good.

Visited the Wildlife Centre, which has a really great Kiwi enclosure. The guide had a red torch, presumably the Kiwi can't see that wavelength - they didn't seem to notice the light when it was on them. It meant we could see them clearly, and up close, as they went stomping around. There were small bowls of food set out for them, but their instinct to forage meant they'd routinely stop and stick their beak into the ground, looking for grubs. Even though there were none, since this was a fully artificial indoor environment.

They must have been able to smell and hear us but didn't seem to mind.

It's another day on the bike, with all the usual stuff: State Highway 6. 1000m of climbing. Unrealistically steep mountains. Some drizzle. Even a bit of rail trail.

I've complained/griped/observed/whined/celebrated all these things before so let's talk about something new: one way bridges.

One way bridges are a pretty good idea: instead of a two lane bridge how about we only make one, at half the price? I'm sure it doesn't actually halve the project cost, but I can imagine it does reduce it substantially - and if that means the limited roading budget can connect a few more communities, it makes perfect sense.

Which brings us up to the present, when I'm trying to cross them. Traffic flows in alternate directions, of course, managed with politeness, and a big sign indicating which direction has priority.

There's enough traffic that there's usually a queue. So it means show up, wait for the traffic going the other way to cross, then go. But these bridges are long, and bikes don't easily keep up with the traffic flow. So to not fall too far behind and cause a delay, you have to do a full sprint. After which you're exhausted. But there's still hours to go and these bridges keep showing up. Isn't this fun?

It's a rest day! I slept in until nearly 9, oops.

Priorities:

Breakfast. I'm willing to go a long way for pancakes, and I can share that I needed to try three places before I found one serving them. (To be honest after #2 I used Google.) Indoors please, and keep an eye out for seagulls, they're taking bacon thievery to the next level.

Laundry. There's two laundromats in town, one of which has bad reviews. I arrived at the good one to find all washing machines busy, with a row of old ladies doomscrolling while they wait. I guess it's the new knitting. So I went out to find a $2 coin, because the powder machine takes coins only unlike every other shop, machine or person I've met on this trip.

Rest. How about taking a look at the Hokitika Gorge instead? Since I don't have a car, last night I emailed the only agency that does tours. Minimum group size is 1 and nobody else wants to go today, so they can't help. It's 33km away so I could bike it, but riding 66km on a rest day makes it a non-rest day. The very helpful lady at the tourist information suggested hitchhiking. Worth a shot. So I wrote "Hokitika Gorge" onto some cardboard, layered on the sunscreen, went off to the main road, and tried not to look like a psychopath.

Today I was following the Wilderness Trail all day, and it'll probably be the best day of the tour. I don't think I went on a State Highway at all, ever, I didn't have to worry about traffic, I didn't need to look ahead to anticipate the road shoulder disappearing. And there was a bit of rail trail!

So today has set quite a high bar.

Since I'm talking this thing up, here's the website: https://westcoastwildernesstrail.co.nz/

It runs from Greymouth to Ross, although I stopped in Hokitika which is about two hours before the end.

Anyway, rather than giving a chronological breakdown here's the highlights.

Change of plans today. The planned route to Greymouth included 33km of rough backroads, 4WD tracks or worse. And included visiting a backcountry hut, with the advice to sign the visitor's book for safety. A challenging mountainbike track apparently - but that's not a great fit for my gravel bike with 15kg of cargo plus water.

So I took the road instead. I'm still not sure if it was the right choice, but it's definitely the safe choice.

Actually maybe it wasn't the safe choice either. Most of the day was spent on State Highway 7 and it's not a good road for cycling. The shoulder was slim to nonexistent. And there was some fairly heavy traffic. So the day was spent riding down the white line, using the shoulder whenever possible, listening for traffic coming up from behind, and head checks when it wasn't clear. Several times there were trucks coming past with something in the other lane, and I'd roll onto the grass verge to make space, so we weren't three abreast. (I still won't trust other drivers.)

Another complication: the bridge into Greymouth I was planning to take was closed for maintenance. To avoid it I had to cross the river early and come into Greymouth on State Highway 7.

It was the worst section. There were often bridges and cuttings where there's barriers or walls instead of white lines and road shoulders, so I had to ride completely within the lane. Since there was no space at all during those sections I'd pull over and wait for the traffic to clear before going through. Then stand on the pedals to get through fast, duck left onto whatever shoulder there is afterwards, headcheck to see if anything is coming, and slow down or keep pace depending whether I need to give way or not. Hard work. No scares, but luck was probably part of it.

Today and yesterday make up the 9 hour ride to Reefton; 5 yesterday and 4 today. Which makes today an unusually short day.

It's a really nice sunny day! And given how wet it was yesterday I wonder if I should have stayed in Murchison instead, and cycled the 9 hours today.

It's an uneventful and low stress day. The ride started with a brief stretch on the State Highway. The only excitement was in a section with no shoulder, when a 4wd surges past at the speed limit, and I notice a sign on it saying "Pilot vehicle - wide load". I promptly rolled off the road onto the grass verge to get clear. A huge piece of construction equipment, bigger than a single lane, swept past at great speed moments later. (There would have been space for me - but I'm always happier if it doesn't matter.)

After 2km of State Highway the route turn off down a sideroad. It was so quiet I got out the selfie stick and tried to get some pictures in the middle of the road, and didn't even get interrupted. Flat road, no traffic, easy going.

The second half is back on the State Highway. Traffic is fairly light so it's OK. There's mountains on every side, tall trees surrounding the road, it's a great environment. I take one-handed photos whenever possible but they're not going to do it justice.

It's a short five hour day today! Practically a day off. I will explain.

Rain was forecast. Also, the next section has some awkward distances. Reefton is the next town but it's 9 hours away. A bit long, especially in the rain. So I was motivated to look for somewhere in the middle: and there’s a place five hours away, which breaks the trip up nicely.

Even though today was short, there was still 850m of climbing. For context, in Sweden I was riding 7-8 hours each day, and doing about 1000m of climbing. There is a lot of climbing around here: the Picton-Nelson section had 1800m which I think is a record for me. One which I'm not interested in surpassing.

Anyway. I spent a bit of time deciding whether to put my raincoat into a pannier, into the stuff pocket of the pannier, or the drinks bag. There had been a drizzle but it wasn't clear how bad the rain would be.

It's a moot point. Five minutes up the road and the rain is so steady it's raincoat time. I'm worried about the phone getting wet - my memory of the "Liquid has been detected in the Lightning connector" error which ended my run to Germany last month is very fresh…

So I stash the cellphone in my raincoat pocket with my bandanna; the pocket is zipped closed with just the headphone cord going in. The bandanna ought to keep the phone dry. (Turns out, it doesn't.)

Last night was in a rather nice and exceptionally cheap room, attached to a bottle store/pub. It closed at 9 so I had to finish my homework in my room.

Today started on the Great Taste Trail, which is well maintained and easy going. I'd been on it for most of yesterday, and there were some really pretty sections; it also meant I wasn't on State Highway 6 which I like. Unfortunately we parted ways early in the morning, but the route was on a quiet asphalt backroad so it's fine.

The weather was excellent. Bright blue skies, not too hot, maybe too much sun, but I should not complain. Quiet roads, almost no traffic. Past lots of farms. The road turns to gravel and heads into trees and into the mountains. A 4x4 with three people buzzed past, going way too fast. A helicopter is flying very low over the ground spraying something. I can't get a good photo.

Getting the bike fixed is the first thing to do today. After breakfast. Most bikeshops open at 10 but a nearby one opens at 9 so I'll be there.

I get some french toast from a nice cafe, lean back to get a photo and WAIT THAT SEAGULL JUST DID A TOUCH-AND-GO LANDING ON MY PLATE AND STOLE MY BACON! A waiter comes out and performatively swings a foot at the bird, but it's unbothered and skips away and keeps necking my bacon. (The waiter did bring me more in a minute.)

Back to the bikes. I show up at the first store at 9 on the dot, the mechanic is fully booked today but takes a quick look. I'd noticed that my right shifter/brake could bend, and after taking off the rubber surround, we see that the case is badly cracked. That explains why both I was having both gear and brake problems. Do they have a replacement? No ... and finding one will be tricky, most shops here only stock for flat handlebars, not my road-bike style. Only thing to do is try them all.

Nelson does seem to be a pretty good place to have bike problems; there's a lot of bicycle repair shops. There's five within a block!

Lucky escape with the ferry. I was booked on the 2030-2400 sailing, but when I showed up for checkin it turned out it had been delayed by four hours. That'd mean I didn't need my hostel in Picton, but I'd be doing the first day on little sleep .. and that's really not a good idea. First days are when problems appear.

So I rolled back into town, and passed another ferry that looked like it was getting ready to depart. Turns out it was a massively delayed 1330 sailing, and they could accomodate me! Usually on ferries I ride on after all the cars, and tie up on the side. This time I loaded the bike into the back of a truck, and then the truck goes on the ferry.

It sailed about 2000 so I arrived about half an hour before my original schedule, which is the kind of fast footwork I appreciate. It's likely I'll never get back the ticket price for the ferry I didn't take, but I have no regrets!

Stayed the night at the Atlantis hostel, it's big and well run, and headed out about 8. Needed a few things before getting on the road, starting with somthing to cover up the comedy sunburn I got after walking the Pukerua Bay-Paekakariki Escarpment track yesterday. The top of my head is red, and there's a nice sharp border where it changes to unburned. Hats and caps don't fit under my helmet, I was even looking at infant sunhats ($30!) before the shop assistant suggested a bandanna.

After all that it was about 0930, a bit late, but Komoot says it's 8 hours to Nelson so it should be fine.

Time to pack up the bike and get on plane.

Happily, I do have a bikebox!  On Thursday morning I planned a pilgrimage around all the local bikeshops, followed by a trip to arrive at Decathalon at 10am as I was advised.  But the first bike shop had a box I could take!  So that problem got solved early.  I'd visited them last weekend and they'd offered to call if they got a bikebox.  I guess I'll know better next time.

I did manage to dig up my gear list from previous trips and check that I still had everything.  I haven't gone through videos on all the various repair techniques this time, so if I need to replace a chain link, there may be some guesswork.  This trip is not getting quite the same level of effort and care that previous ones did...

Last training ride today. I went out for a 120km loop through some routes that looked interesting. The weather forecast said that Saturday was dry and Sunday was not, so it was another early Saturday start.

Realized I hadn't tweaked the handlebar camera to point the other way, and I hadn't replaced the broken safety loop, and I hadn't charged it, so no handlebar video today. Unfortunately I haven't done that gear check yet either, and I'm feeling increasingly guilty about that, so I don't have much leftover shame for the camera.

The weather forecast was 4 degrees all day. My usual strategy for dealing with the cold is "ride faster" but I'm starting to understand that this doesn't always work. So I put on a sweater and fingerless gloves before heading out. Figured that if I got too hot I could take them off.

That was a wildly bad misjudgement…

Two weeks to go!  Time is getting so short that the milk’s expiry date is after I leave. The bike has been into the shop for a service; it got cleaned.  The gears were re-lubed and it was noticeably easier to pedal, which probably means I should have spent more effort looking after the drivetrain.   I also wish I'd done that gear check I talked about last week.  I’m sure something is missing or needing to be replaced and it’s going to get complicated or expensive.

3 weeks to go. That means just two more training rides! I'm not really feeling the benefits from them, maybe I should have done more? Too late to change now, time is running out. Specifically, time to order and receive replacements from the nice budget places I shop online. Do I need more tyre milk? Do I have those spare valves and the removal tool? Is there anything missing from the toolbag? It's a good moment to do a full gear check, just to be sure.

Wish I'd thought of that earlier in the weekend, but I didn't until it was so late into Sunday evening that the hour had crossed from "weekend chore o'clock" into "nope".

Change of plans because of injury. On Friday I went down some stairs and when I got to the bottom, my left ankle wasn't right. In fact it was so painful I needed to have a bit of a sit down. It did improve quickly though: walking on it is fine now. Going up stairs is fine too. But downstairs is definitely not fine: there's some warning pain when it's bent too far forwards, like when coming down off a step.

But that's why I'm not going for a long ride to Germany this weekend.

I've been looking around for new destinations for the weekend ride, and found a good one: Germany!  I can get over the border and back to Nijmegen in about 7 hours, then it's a two hour trainride back home.

Took a long ride this weekend. This isn't the disciplined execution of a professionally prepared training plan, for this trip the philosophy is to just ride the distances I'm planning to do. Well, once a week anyway.

So this weekend I rode to Arnhem. That was about 120km, with 540m of climbing - rookie numbers by NZ standards, but excitingly high for the Netherlands. It's a repeat of a route I took last year while training for South America, because it had a surprising amount of climbing. And while I have the energy to ride for seven hours, I don't have enough to plan a new route.

I've got seven weeks before I get on a plane to NZ. I'm only planning two weeks on the bike, and some unhelpful thought keeps trying to tell me it's too short to be a challenge. But motivation is a problem.