Day 9: Franz Josef-Fox Glacier
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, to 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 stay in Franz Josef.
So I spent Sunday refreshing the weather forecasts like they were concert ticket resellers.
Sunday night, forecast looks OK. Monday morning: overcast and wet outside, but no rain and no wind. I eat breakfast (out of a teacup), pack everything up, skip sunscreen and insect repellent, and head off just before 8.
I'm wearing my high-viz raincoat and webbing, with the expectation that it's going to rain and rain hard. The phone is in a zipped raincoat pocket with my bandanna. I don't have headphones in, in case the cord going out of the pocket is the reason it gets wet in there. I've turned the volume up so I can hear the directions but there shouldn't be any: the route is simple; follow the State Highway until it gets to Fox Glacier.
While there's only 2 hours of riding there is 670m of climbing. Which some serious height for such a small time. I need to start slow, and let the leg muscles properly warm up before the hard work begins.
Just out of Franz Josef is a one-way bridge. I'm still warming up and don't want to sprint so I pull to the side to let the traffic behind me go through first. It's a bus, and it waves me to go. But the speed limit on the bridge is 10km/h? That's a cycling-level speed limit, I haven't seen that before! Out of habit I indicate I'm going to pull over; usually I need a breather. I'm not sprinting so I don't need it, but loop around and take some photos anyway.
Traffic is light. Not many trucks leaving Franz Josef; and since it's 8am not many coming the other way either. I was worried about people leaving before the heavy rain, but there weren't many cars either: the next big stop is Wanaka which is 4 hours drive away.
So it is low-stress riding. The shoulder was not big enough, but traffic could and did use the other lane so I can't complain.
From left to right: rain forecast for today. Geared up for rain. New favorite warning sign. Some spectacular switchbacks. Fog and low cloud. And vistas.
Some heavy rain starts. I pull the hood over my helmet and pull the jacket closed around my neck; that will hold it in place unless there's wind. My right knee starts to complain. The South Africans I met had their tour ended by knee injury; I don't want that so I ease off and try a few different heel angles. The roadsides are cliffs, there have been rockfalls, in some places the slope has eroded back to the asphalt. Stay a safe distance away, going a little wide in the wrong spot would be mean some epic freefall.
The rain is more off than on. Low cloud or fog on the mountaintops. I'm near the top of the first peak of the day, a car is behind me and it doesn't know it's safe to go ... when it levels out and the shoulder expands I go wide to let them by, they wave and shout congratulations as they pass! Guess they were watching me finish instead of being held up.
The rain starts up again. But I'm feeling optimistic; if the weather and traffic don't escalate too much it'll be a straightforward run.
From left to right: trees, river, layered fog. Selfie practice. Another bridge, no cars so I could get a photo. Looking back; the weather is threatening. Early finish meant I could get a coffee or two here. And the rain got serious; burst mode photos mean it’s actually visible!
Second peak. Lowest gear because it's steep. I pull off the road to take a drink, wave at a passing truck and get a multi-honk salute in return.
Last peak. The rain is back. I try to text an update but despite being in my raincoat pocket the phone is wet; the fingerprint sensor denies me and the onscreen number pad doesn't notice the presses. I dry it a bit on my shirt, but rain is dripping off my nose and onto the screen so it's not better. Eventually I unlock it and send a few words, but it takes so long I don't have time to explain about the water.
Final downhill now. Stay visible on the corners. Watch for slick patches. Fox Glacier town comes into view, I do a very careful double-check to ensure there's no traffic coming behind me before I move over to the centerline, for the righthand turn off to where I'm staying. It's barely 10am and checkin doesn't open until 2. Reception is unattended, but eventually I connect with someone: is there a place I can leave my bike? They let me have a room early! I get showered and warmed up and into my casual clothes and put on my fleece, which is getting an unexpected amount of use. I spend half the day hanging out at the local cafe, while the rain works itself up into a tropical storm. I’m very glad to be off the road.
That's a lot of words for two hours of cycling. Seven hours tomorrow, rain or shine. If this rate keeps up it’ll be 4000 words about going on a bike ride, which is clearly beyond sense and reason.
