As ready as I can be.

I attempted one last training ride- the day dawned fine but very cold at 1° Celsius. I had so many clothes on that I didn't know where I was going to put the extra layers when the day warmed up. But the day only warmed up to 12°, so  I had the extra layers on for most of the day, it was only my warm hat I had to deal with, and I tied that to a loop on my handle bar bag. One very difficult part of riding in the freezing cold is that your sweat never dries off (yes I still sweat in the cold), so you are damp when the chill settles in at sunset. 3° with a with a wind chill on damp skin and hair is awful - Needless to say I had to call it quits then and only got in 160kms.

My god it was cold.

So training is completed, I've cleaned my bike ready for dismantling and boxing up. I've added one last thing to my bike of a thermometer. We had one for our trip across Canada and it added another fun aspect to the trip . When it was scorching hot we marvelled at high the temperature got and it helped to understand why we might be really tired. Also when it was a frigid 4° on Allison Pass - I realized it was hypothermia that I was feeling.

My 'coffee milk frothing' thermometer - notice it is only 9 degrees C.

Even though I have endeavored to keep my gear to a minimum, my panniers are full and I'm crossing my fingers that everything comes under my 23 kilo weight allowance for the plane.

Ready for boxing up.

Wish me luck.

Why aren't I nervous?

Two weeks to go till I leave for the States. Niel can't understand why I'm not nervous. I am not at all nervous about the cycling, but I am worried about having to do everything on my own. I fully confess to being old fashioned or old school when it comes to booking things - for example: I would rather look for accommodation when I get there, but these days everything is done online. So that will be hard for me. Also I'm concerned about coping with mechanical problems, although Niel has replaced and checked everything that was likely to cause me any grief. Again if I have a problem I'll have to deal with it with the help of my smartphone. I'm actually more worried about Bears, gun toting hill billes, and tornadoes than I am about the race itself.

Niel getting my bike ready for the Trans Am.

So thanks to my own personal bike mechanic, I now have new: tyres, and tubes, cluster and chain, brake pads, brake and gear cables, Jockey wheels for my rear derailleur, carbon fiber seat post and all bearings checked and regreased. I have a few spokes just in case and a rear drop out because if I broke one then that would be the end of the race as I wouldn't get another one in the States. I have a multi tool that should cover most eventualities.
The weather forecast for the weekend looks good, so I'll be out test riding my bike. It might be the last training I get before I go.

These new bits and pieces get the thumbs up.

Wow it's like riding a new bike except better it is molded and adapted especially for me. The new tyres are heavier but bomb proof and good on patches of gravel where the road was being repaired- but still narrow and responsive. The gears change like a hot knife through butter. With new brake blocks and brake cables - they felt great. The squeak I've had for months is gone with a new seat post. In fact my bike was so quiet - all I could hear was my puffing with effort. All that is left to do is change the batteries in the computer and sensor.
If you want to follow me on the TransAm I have entered under my blog name of Vespa Chick.

I hate grocery shopping.

 I’ve got to that crazy stage before going overseas. Basically I’ve got too much to do and not enough time to do it.  Last week was too early to start all my tasks, but this week I’m stressing that there isn’t enough hours in the day. It would be a piece of cake if I didn’t have to be super fit on top of everything else, but that is essential to the whole trip.

Here’s a sample of my list of jobs: Mammogram to have, visit the doctor to renew prescriptions and get cortisone injections in my feet to ward of pain for at least a few weeks, I have a court hearing about my ACC claim, a load of winter firewood is arriving to  stack in the shed, I have to get all my last  minute stuff for the bike  i.e. tires and tubes, chain and cluster and brake and gear cables – these need to be fitted and test ridden, at least one more mini tour, and lots of 200 km rides for training, the garden needs to be winterised, pruned, sprayed and new vegetables in for spring eating, I’ve just been told that I have to tell the newspaper what I am doing, and then there is the last minute stuff like a haircut, and dismantling and packing up my bike. That is just what I can think of off the top of my head. It doesn’t help that I am working full time. And when I do get a day off - it rains grrrr.

Very tempting goodies at work.

I have managed to keep the weight off that I lost over summer doing my mini - tours; it’s a miracle really when I am surrounded by such yummy food at work every day. Most of the weight loss has been from my backside and legs, which isn’t surprising considering the millions of pedal revolutions I have done in the last few months. I worked out that I turn those pedals about 10,000 times on a ride of 200kms. How many times in a year I wonder? I have no idea, the numbers would be amazing.

Niel helping me with the weekly nightmare of grocery shopping.

My biggest problem I have when working full time is finding time to do the weekly grocery shopping. Most people have a car and can slot the shopping in after work, when you don’t have a car it takes twice as long by bicycle. I simply don’t have the 3 to 4 hours to devote to do the shopping, and I can’t leave it at work all day and ride it home after work – it is such a curse. I have to ride in to the supermarket on my Vespa scooter early in the morning, because the Vespa is faster than my bike, do the shopping and meet Niel outside with his bike and trailer, load his trailer bags, throw down some food and rush off to work. Then on finally getting home – I have to put the groceries away. Yes Niel does attempt to put them away, he has lots of skills – but putting away groceries isn’t one of them. That is my weekly nightmare called grocery shopping.

3 more weeks of full time and then 2 weeks of part time, and then Trans Am here I come.

Night is not the enemy.

Mini tour number 5 completed. I must have virtually crossed America in training kilometres by now. Actually my odometer on my bike computer has just clicked over to 12,000 kilometres in the year that I changed the battery in it. Considering in winter time I struggled to do 150 to 200 kms a week then most of that distance was done this summer. Also bearing in mind that I also have another bike I use mostly for commuting, so that is a lot of mileage clocked up in 12 months.

I'm off again on another mini tour.

This mini tour was only 3 days as I'm working now and that is all the days I could scrape together, and I felt great. After 6 weeks of feeling jaded, I finally felt like I'd got my 'mojo' back . I know the weather was favourable but it was more than that. I felt like I could just keep going and going.

Just a hint of Autumn colours in the willows.

I am happy and enjoying the early morning riding.

Talking of keeping on going, I recently helped out with a week of extreme long distance cyclists all endeavouring to do all the qualifiers for the Paris / Brest / Paris in one week. Credit to them - they all achieved it. It was an eye opener to see how these riders achieve such long distances. They seem to enjoy riding at night.

I can see the positives of riding at night:
- it's calm and peaceful.
- there's very little traffic.
- the wind dies away to nothing.
- it's cool and you don't suffer from hot foot.
But I like to see the scenery, and it's definitely an advantage when the shops are open. But I totally admire the dedication of these riders, and I did learn that night is not the enemy.

Yes I have a new job - and I really enjoy it. But the best bit of all is that they are going to keep my job open  for me while I am away doing the Trans Am. Most of my training is completed now, I might get one more 3 day mini tour in at the end of next week and possibly a small trip away at the end of May before departing for the States. I'm guessing that the northern hemisphere folks are just getting started on their training. I hope I  don't loose what I have gained in the 6 weeks I have to work full time in April and May, I will have to be really dedicated on my days off to go for really long rides.

Not a bad photo from outside the public restroom in the Marlborough Sounds.

Bike and Bee's.

Mini tour number 3 was a bit messy, as I couldn't get 7 days in row to do it, I kept getting interrupted by domestic chores,appointments and rain. Actually the rain is a god send, as we have only had one other day of rain since new year. I know what you are saying - just ride in the rain anyway,  and yes I would if I was on the road,  but having just got home and lying in bed listening to it pattering on the roof you don't want to get on your bike an go out in it.
Actually this trip was memorable for the swarms of Bee's.  They were attracted to the bright colours I was wearing.  If you stop for any reason then they were all over you. Needless to say I got stung. A lady I met told me that swarming Bee's are nature's way of telling us that we are in for a cold winter.  I don't know how accurate that is, but I won't be here for most of the winter so I'm smug about not caring what the winter is like.

One thing I worked out on this trip is that even when you've got your gear down to a bare minimum it is still too much. What can I go without?even less clothes? I've already taken tent pegs out, left my hairbrush at home and weighed all my non cycling shoes to find the lightest pair and my warm non cycling top to find one is 100 grams lighter than the other. I have crossed off cold weather cycling clothes as cold weather (if we get some) will be short lived and I can live with being cold for a day or so, or if it is really bad - sit it out and have a day off. There really is nothing else I can eliminate from my list. Some things you just can't skimp on like adequate water and spare tubes for punctures, (and being female) toiletries are essential - Men might be able to wash their hair with soap but I need a bottle of shampoo and conditioner.I realise that my toiletries bag weights as much as most racing cyclists bike, but some things a girl needs.

At least I'm not as bad as this lady.

One thing I should have taken and have added to my list for the Trans Am is an adaptor to use the tire compressor pump at petrol / gas stations, and a tire pressure gauge. I had a puncture on my first day and although I used my high pressure hand pump to pump it back up, there is only so much air you can push in without needing a foot pump to finish it off. Of course there is no bike shops in the back country and I had to ride on a not fully inflated tire for 3 days until I found a support vehicle following a bike race that had one in their car.Yes I could use car valves, but I like high pressure valves.
I think my next trip will be to Christchurch and back and if rains then I'll just have to ride in it.
I met a man on the road who worked out that I was the wife of 'Niel the wheel'. He had read Niel's blog and knew everything about  him. That was amazing to met a complete stranger who knew all about you. It is reassuring actually to know that these blogs really do get read and that the effort we put into writing them isn't wasted.It is also nice to know that people enjoy hearing of Niel and my adventures.
Speaking of adventures - it is only 3 months until I leave for the Trans Am. I can't wait. I have already worked out my next adventure for 2016. Niel and I want to finish SE Asia, after which I want to ride home through Australia, but I'm not sure whether to go through the middle of Oz or around the coast. I've got plenty of time to think about it.

Frozen drink bottles.

Mini Tour number two done and dusted.

This is such excellent training. Even though I’ve been cycle touring constantly since I met Niel in 1983, I’m still learning tricks and ways of coping with things.

Nelson on a beautiful summers day.

Where did I go? Well, nowhere actually. A big unexpected bill came last week that took the dollars I had put aside for a week’s cycling, to pay for it. So I pretended to go touring. I loaded up my bike with panniers full of old shoes, containers of fluid wrapped in towels, a tent on the top of my carrier and a full handle bar bag, and off I went every day, doing rides of varying distances. Niel joined me for most of it, so it was good riding, good weather, and good company.

Niel at the top of Spooners Range.

My last mini tour ended after 5 days with heat exhaustion, but I’ve learnt how to overcome that now. It seems that when you are dehydrated, no matter how much sun warmed water you drink from your drink bottle, it just doesn’t sate your thirst or cool you down, but an icy cold drink bought from a shop, instantly hits the spot and refreshes you. Is it the sugar in the shop bought drink, or the icy coldness of it? I put my drink bottles and a third container of sweetened juice in the freezer overnight, and voila – problem solved. As the ice slowly melts – you drink icy cold fluid that instantly cools and refreshes you. It felt like a ‘eureka’ moment. True – when you are camping – you don’t have access to a freezer (unless you are in a well-equipped campground that has a kitchen). But most petrol/ gas stations sell bags of ice, McDonald’s restaurants have ice with the drinks dispenser, and bars and cafes will have ice.

Frozen juice - Yum.

So over the last year – I have learnt to ride 200kms with ease, solved heat exhaustion problems, I have learnt how to prevent ever getting saddle sores and chaffing (a combination of women’s hygiene pads and anti- chaff cream), and lastly but certainly not the least – the pain of oversized pinched nerves in the ball of the foot, bought on by ‘hot foot’ and excessive amounts of cycling. You use ‘Voltarin Emulgel’ cream(an anti – inflammatory pain killer) rubbed in when they first start to feel hot, wear your socks for as long as possible to prevent your feet chaffing, then dispense with the socks, use more emulgel and when the pain gets too much – use pain killers. Even in a 30 degree sunny day, pushing up huge hills for a ride of 12hours - all of the above will work. The only thing I still have trouble with is knowing what to eat when it is really hot and you have no appetite, and no saliva to chew on dry things like muesli bars. Fruit is good, but heavy and not very sustaining. Ice cream hits the spot every time, but you need a shop to obtain ice cream, and it’s not particularly good to eat it all the time. I’ve tried sandwiches with a moist filling that won’t go off in the heat of your bag or pocket, cold cooked sausages are good, and they don’t crumble as you ride along. Any suggestions are welcome. One bonus of having no appetite is a loss of 9kgs of weight in 5 weeks – I’m not complaining.

Another hot day at Marahau beach watching the tractors pick up kayaker's and boats at low tide.

Mini tour number 3 in a couple of weeks’ time. This time I might actually go somewhere!  

Writing is where your future lies.

I've never been happier since I left my job,  but part of me felt bad for not contributing financially to the household coffers - so I got a job harvesting the boysenberries.  I lasted a week.  Employers of seasonal workers need to buck up their ideas if they want to retain their workers.  10 hour days doing the same brainless job at speed with no days off at all is no way to treat people. But then what right have I got to comment,  I'm just a frustrated  person rendered brain dead with swollen wrists hankering for a day off to ride my bike.
So I left and I am happily riding my bike with a vengeance to make up for my wasted week doing the boysenberries. You know it is funny - on reflection ; why should I feel guilty for having some time off working? I have never willingly been unemployed before, I never had children that meant years off paid work to bring up kids, and I am not a burden to society as I don't qualify for a benefit, so there is absolutely no reason to feel guilty.

All loaded up.

 Actually I am on a mini bike tour.You know when you are dehydrated - you stare at discarded bottles on the road side wondering if there is anything worth drinking in them. You'd drink puddles if you didn't get a mouthful of mud in the process. River water is a god send when normally you wouldn't touch it for potential bugs, but when you are that dehydrated - you don't care. Needless to say I suffered over the last 10kms to St Arnaud and had to drink 2 litres of Powerade and 3 cups of Tea before my stomach could accept any food. And that night I had terrible cramp But then this is why we train, or we wouldn't know how to cope with it or better still prevent it happening. It is the joy of summer riding.

My only cool day in the week of riding and it was bliss. St Arnuad - Nelson Lakes.

I still ponder how I can earn a few dollars,  when a friend told me not to worry but to concentrate on writing my book as "writing was where my future lay". Well what a lovely thing to say.  I know what a real writer is like - my brother is a real writer, but it would be nice to achieve some literary prowess when my old English teacher at school encouragingly said I would never pass my exams - I did pass my exams no help from her. I wish there was performance pay for good teachers in my day and then we might have actually had good teachers that care. But I'm getting off the point.

A swim at the beach would have been heavenly but I'm not into crowds.

It was secretly my ambition this week to ride 1000kms in 7 days while carrying a load. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't know if I would achieve it -.I didn't quite make it - I did 700kms in 5 1/2 days, and had to rest and recover for a day before completing my mission a day later, why? heat exhaustion and rapid weight loss. I lost 6 kilos in 6 days in the hottest week of the year so far and carrying 20 kilos of load over countless hills unable to eat due to dehydration and loss of appetite.I haven't felt this tired since crossing the Death Valley in 2010. I learnt not only to carry more drink than I thought I'd need and have a big breakfast as I don't know when my next mouthful of food will be, and try to take something other than muesli bars that are impossible to eat when your mouth feels like sandpaper.
But now that this mission is over I have the time to go back to my writing. Although that was such excellent training I am going to do it again.

I ride past this view every week and I still love it - looking towards the Richmond ranges from Motueka.