Wow what an experience so far...
Hi guys n gurls... sorry it has taken me a lil while to update this but i have been a little bit busy and today is the first chance i have had to get to a computer.
At the moment i am leaving Christchurch heading towards Ashburton, after riding back from Akaroa last night.
I left Picton on the 1st of February and day one was a huge challenge, with a massive hill near the end of the day that took me inland towards the east coast of the South Island. I discovered three major problems the first day, the weight of the trailer, my shoes, and my seat.
The trailer is ok on the flat in a straight line, but as it is so heavy any variation in road surface means it will magnify significantly the resulting roll, and this is not predictable, meaning it moves differently each time. So at the end of day one i had pulled the load apart, sorted out what i didnt need and left it for someone more deserving of its intented purpose, then reorganised the weight distrabution, which is something i had to play around with a little bit until i found an even weight that did not try and throw me off the bike everytime i went down a hill over 30kph.
My shoes initally caused me so much drama that i did not think i would be able to continue on the third day, as my feet were so swollen and blistered i had used up most of a package of plasters already, but a little kiwi inginuity paid off and today, day 9, they are almost as good as new again. The problem was underneith the innersole there was a pattened sole, and because the innersole was so thin and all the pressure was in one place (where i was standing on the peddle) that it as effectively like standing on a patterned milk create for long periods of time, and once they had blistered i was simply making things worse by continuing to cycle on them.
The fix was to cut out new innersoles from 2 litre milk containers and insert the flat peices of plastic on top of the rough surface, glue them in place, and get good quality innersoles from the shop to go on top, which i had finally managed to do on my way into christchurch.
The third, and still on going problem i have, is getting my big bum comfortable for long periods of time on the seat of the bike, i have tried all sorts of things and even though it is 'better' it is still not 100% and 100% would make things much more comfortable each day.. but i didn't give up and this is getting better.. slowly.]
The distances i have travelled have been ok, only once, yesterday, did i not complete my intended goal for the day, which was due to the fact i spent 6 hours dragging my bike up Summit Road, a road that indicated its nature simply in its name, but something i completed with a huge sense of satisfaction, if some what exhausted.
I am not sure of exact distances, but i know today i am over 500kms into my adventure, and i have done it on a shoe string budget, carrying everyting with me that i need/use on this half on the journey, relaoding in wellington and doing the North Island in about one months time from now, but i do know that with each day the distances have challenged me, sometimes having me question if i will complete each day, and celebrating each day as i do.. Cheviot - Amberley was a milestone in that it felt like crossing the finishing line of a race in first place, because that was the first day i truely felt it was possible for me to complete this journey, up until then i had just been trying to see if i could, but knowing i would be able to do it was a huge achievement.
Week one was a learning experience, a massive learning curve that has be believing in myself more than ever, and regardless of what happens from now on I think i have done amazingly well all things considering, each day has presented a different challenge and each day i have over come that challenge to now be where i am, to be in a position to continue my adventure, and prove to myself that i can do anything i want to, even something as crazy as dragging a 60kg+ trailer around the coast of mainland New Zealand on my push bike.. life is good.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment