I had put my bike seat up which made a big difference for my quad. For the TA I had deliberately put it down from what it usually is to protect an injured calf but now that had turned out to be a mistake. Steve, John C, Sean and I left at about 8am. Sean immediately went into time trial mode which was a shock to the system but eventually we settled into a sustainable pace. Over the coming days a bit of a joke developed about a time trial suddenly breaking out. I have to say at this point I didn't have the energy left to instigate a TT or even do my fair share at the front. I was getting tired.
Steve, Sean and John, West Coast Wilderness Trail.
The West Coast Wilderness Trail is good fun and there were quite a few other, predominately middle aged people, riding it. We made good time and the morning was unremarkable except I got a wasp sting on my head after the pesky blighter got stuck in my helmet. Over the last few days there were a number of times when this happened but I was able to quickly stop and take my helmet off before I was stung.
We stopped at Cowboy’s Paradise for lunch. It was staffed by a number of attractive, young but glum blond foreign women. On the wall there was a questionable explanation/defence of the Confederate flag. I had chips and a pie for lunch. The pie was different from what I ordered but I didn't mind and it hit the spot. On leaving John asked one of the young glum blonde women if they came in from Hokitika each day. She said they stayed on site for a couple of weeks at a time and she hated it and was going to quit as soon as this, her first, stint was over. On that happy note we headed off.
Cowboy's Paradise.
The rest of the ride to Hokitika was nice but I was feeling very tired with a sore throat. There was a nice flowy section by the water race that inspired Steve to race the race. I couldn't keep up but we all regrouped and rode into town together.
Steve had to carry on to rendezvous with his wife, and Sean and John had friends to stay with. I too had a friend (Debbie) to stay with and had posted some supplies to her so I could restock. Included were some WTB Nano 40s to put on at this point. There was a lot of sealed road from here and these would roll faster than the WTB Riddler I had on the front and a Maxxis Ravager I had on the back. The Nanos on my Easton Arc 27 rims are super easy to inflate tubeless and I had no worries swapping them over adding some fresh sealant in the process.
