Day 2: Nelson-Tapawera
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!
The closest one (basically next door) has a look, doesn't have a replacement brake/shifter. Maybe I could replace the whole handlebar, changing to flat? This'd mean both shifters would need to be replaced. He gives me a price that sounds so low I mentally double it. But it seems like a good option, if all else fails.
On to the next. The mechanic isn't in, can't help, and they don't have any gear for race-bike handlebars. Next bikeshop has shut down. The last is closed today and looks like it's been closed for quite a few days beforehand too.
The last and best option is Village Cycles. It's about 11km away: the reason it's the best hope is because it handles bikes with drop handlebars, unlike all the others here. They close at 1230. It's about 1100 now, and it'll take 45 minutes to get there.
So I get moving. The route takes an underpass which is flooded to pedal height, I can get through. The next one I need is also flooded, but it looks deeper so I don't try.
From left to right: cracked unit. Rail trail to Richmond. Underpass that wasn’t too badly flooded. Underpass I didn’t even try. Bike getting surgery.
At the bikeshop it's still before 12. They do have cable shifter/brakes, and might have one in store. It's a carbon fiber thing, the price will be extortionate but it's worth it. Then he realizes there's an 11-speed shifter out the back that will do the job and isn't carbon fiber, much cheaper! In twenty minutes he gets the old unit off, hooks up the new one, pulls the brake and gear cables, balances the gears, rewraps the handlebar and I'm ready to go.
So nice to have gears again! I have 10 gears not 11, so there's likely to be some skipping and maybe some noise but it's manageable.
I take a break for lunch, and to plan out the trip and accomodation. Komoot predicts four hours; no big offroad sections so I'll trust it.
From left to right. Vineyards. Great cycling weather. Good suspension bridge. More excellent scenery. First closed trail section. Second closed trail section.
Today's route mostly follows State Highway 6, but it's on the Taste Trail which is a bike path which is mostly great. Only mostly; there was a flood a while back which washed out sections of it. On two occasions the route is closed and I have to go back to SH6. Worst was the approach to Spooner's tunnel: it looks like the cycle route follows the contour lines (more or less) while the road takes a more direct route - with a long, long climb.
There's a particularly pretty section just before Tapawera, red soil through trees. After that it changes to gravel - flat and straight and fast.
From left to right Going under the motorway, but it looks trollish to me. Bridge over a dried up river. Flood damage. The pretty section. Truffula trees? Evacuation Plan for Room 1 is an artwork. Sunset from Tapawera.
I arrive after four hours and ten minutes. Considering how many rest breaks and photo stops I took, I'm surprised it's so close. It's very nice to finish before sunset, when I still have time and energy to do the next day's planning. Hoping for more days like this.
