The Greater San Fransisco Area

Continuing my quest to travel the world.

It has been my quest to cycle around the world for a very long time, although I have ticked off 16 countries to date, I still haven't achieved the ultimate goal of cycling the world. I cannot wait any longer for the conditions to be perfect, age is catching up with me, so it is now or never.

picture drawn by Jim my Step - Father on our trip across Australia

picture drawn by Jim my Step - Father on our trip across Australia
After our trip to Vietnam in 2012.

Thursday 26 July 2012

Extra daylight hours.

I seem to have been very busy lately. I know, I know....... who hasn't. The short days of winter restrict the use able hours down to between 11am and 4.30pm. Getting things done in these hours are a bit of a rush. When out on a bike ride, you know you have to turn around and head home no later than 2.30 or 3 at the latest, or you get caught in the very cold and dark of early evening

The setting sun a few kms from home.
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I had to make a rushed trip to Christchurch last week to see the surgeon for my post op check up. It was lucky I managed to get there. Both highways out of Nelson were closed due to flooding and mudslides. The powers that be, managed to get the northern then eastern route through Blenheim and Kaikora opened just in time for me. It was very dramatic with paddocks under water and debris stuck in the top rungs of the wire fences. The river was huge and wild. There were still patches of flooding to drive through. There were uprooted trees and forestry logs all over the road and 3 expensive looking cars who had tried to cross the flooding and had floated away into the paddocks and into the edge of the river. All of them were festooned with debris and mud. On the way back home again the other road was open again, so I went that way via Lewis Pass. The paddocks were muddy quagmires with no blades of grass left. There were a great many mudslides. The bizarre thing is how localised it was. Nelson was unaffected by the rain, and the east coast was warm and sunny.

My little rental car and the warm and sunny Kaikora coastline.

The top of Lewis Pass with my walking stick.


The normally placid Maruia falls after the flooding.


My trip was followed by a full week of work, covering a work colleague on holiday. It's been a busy month, no wonder my leg's are more swollen than they should be. Never-the-less, I am cycling well, doing good distances and plenty of hills, I would like to get strong enough to ride off the saddle.

Yesterday Niel and I did a lovely ride of 90 kms in perfect winter weather over 12 hills of various sizes. I'm feeling strong and the important thing is I have no pain what so ever, which means the operations have worked. I can now use the ball of my feet again. I can't wait to see what I will be able to achieve now.

Niel and I having a break at our turn around point, Riwaka wharf.

The view behind us - looking across Tasman Bay back to Nelson.



The days are definitely getting longer. But in just over 3 weeks we will be in S.E. Asia and back to short but tropical days.

Sunday 8 July 2012

Getting Better.

I want to get better so quickly, that I've done too much this week and my leg, ankle and foot have ballooned up to twice the size of the other leg. I once said I don't make a good sick person, ditto with being physically impaired. It's only been 2 weeks since surgery and I've been standing on it for up to 6 hours a day and that has really slowed down my recovery. Strangely enough cycling on it loosens it up and makes it feel better. What would I do without my bike? I know in a weeks time I will be heaps better and not be feeling so frustrated.

Our tickets to Hanoi and home from Singapore have been paid for, they are non refundable special fares, so there is no changing of minds. S.E Asia has the delight of being always raining somewhere. If it's dry in the north then it's wet in the south and vice versa. Let's face it we are going to get wet. It's also tropical and even doing nothing will bring you out in a sweat. So I have bought myself a cape or rain poncho.

My new rain poncho, but where is the rain? Notice the "moon" boot on my right foot.


What is it like being married to a mad cyclist? here is a snippet of my life. I prewarmed the oven to bake a cake. I took the cake tin over to the oven, and Niel yells "just a minute" and pulls his forks out of the oven!! [He was drying some paint on them.] Even the kitchen gets taken over by his bike stuff - now the tea towel has bicycle grease on it.

Niel taking over the oven with his bike bits.


I'm about to leave on my bike to town over the new cycle way and cycle suspension bridge that only opened yesterday. I am off to the travel doctor for my first lot of vaccinations. Rabies for example takes three injections, so you have to allow time to get all these done, and it's only 6 weeks till we go.

That will be a 65 km round trip, If my leg handles that I'll do a 75 kms ride later in the week. You can see how impatient I am to get better.