Rain and cold and hills!

Monday, 27 October

Woke up to rain rain rain this morning. The good thing was that my tent proved to be a very good one – I, along with all my stuff, was perfectly dry, and by the time I had breakfast and packed up, the rain had more or less decreased to a drizzle.

Looked at the guys’ amazing videos after breakfast (they have incredible GoPro footage of mountain climbing, beach walking and jungle trekking), then said good-bye and headed out.

The ride from Havelock to Nelson was just under 70km and there were two large hills to conquer. There’s something about riding in grey, cold and windy conditions that makes riding up hills seem more challenging than normal. In the end I always make it up… slow and steady. The rides down were COLD (because inside my rain jacket my shirts are wet with sweat, and when I’m riding fast down hills it makes for a chilly cruise!). The wind was really strong, and as trucks pulling boats rode past me with gusts of wind blowing at the same time, I had to slow way down to maintain control at times. It really did feel good, though, to get back on the road again for a longer stretch.

I arrived just north of Nelson at 4:30pm – an hour and a half before my Warmshowers hosts would be home. Since they live north of the city and there was no place warm to go and sit for an hour, I stopped in at the local Four Square (small grocery store chain) and used their bathroom to put on dry clothes – and the guy working there made me a cup of hot coffee.

Being warm again, I sat outside and caught up on emails until 6, when I headed to David and Ann’s house. Super cool American family, super into every kind of cycling imaginable. Their 13 year-old daughter is a very serious road bike racer and their garage was full of bikes!

Ann made three incredible pizzas and I so enjoyed talking with them over such an awesome dinner. Really great hosts!! I can't wait til I get to spoil all my Warmshowers visitors in Phnom Penh just as I've been spoiled by my Warmshowers hosts here... I now fully appreciate the somewhat comical name "Warmshowers"... it only really makes sense once you are on the road yourself!