50 Miles ridden, Elevation gain 3960
I was so bushed last night I just couldn't write the blog. Since this was only 50 miles I thought it would be a fairly short day. I knew it was going to be one long uphill, but how tough could it be? However, I did start out pretty tired because I had woken up at 3:30 and could not go back to sleep. Oh well...
We left Waneka with a short stop in the local park to snap a photo of the pretty cool tree growing out of the middle of the lake. And within just a few short km we had an 11% climb out of town, my legs screamed just a bit as they were just not warmed up.
Most of the day we had a bit of a headwind but it was not terrible and riding with Margaret we just kept changing the lead to make it a bit easier. Our first stop was at The Cardrona Hotel for a coffee. Right before we got there we saw an interesting fence loaded with bras - not sure why, but it was quite a collection.
The hotel is very old and probably pretty much looks the same as it was when it was built.
A great collection of flat whites ordered here.
Then up the hill we went. The climb was slow and steady averaging about 6-7% but doable for 15 miles and then we hit the tough part. We had the 6 miles of 9-16% grades and lots of turns. This was one tough mother! I even had one of those - "I'm doing this why" moments.
At our last stop our guide told me it would be about 6 miles up so I was surprised when it was half of that prediction. And it really did not come too soon either as I didn't know if I had another three in me.
Kudos to all at the top and we had a well earned killer-fast downhills
Here's a view of a portion of the twisty downhill and if you look closely you might see our bikes on the road.
We had lunch in the vey tiny and quaint village (and tourist trap))
Last 12 miles in were low and lovely. Glad to have a rest day! Last night it was laundry, dinner and a face plant into bed for a very well-deserved sleep.
3 comments:
Time to buy t-shirts in Queenstown ;). And hopefully your rest day really is a day off to rest. Maybe you can get carried around to rest your legs...by the way, your bicycling is inspiring me! Stu and I went to the gym today and I rode a stationary bike three miles! No incline but I am a newbie. Great photos, loved the one of the windy hill that looked like the kiwi version of Stelvio pass.
The Cardrona Bra Fence was started after Christmas 1998, with 4 bras. Reason unknown. It has been growing ever since. I have seen estimates of between 7400 and 10,000. Come on it wasn't that tough a hill. At least it wasn't pouring rain. Nice looking ride.
One tough girl! One beautiful country!
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