A2O Kurow to the Ocean at Oamaru

I spent last night alone in a three bedroom hostel in Kurow. I had all the usual things like a fireplace, tv, wifi, kitchen, great shower, and the entire place to myself all for $16 US. I took advantage of all those things and then left at 7am to ride to the ocean. I went looking for coffee but there was none, nothing was open so early. I decided to ride to the next town where it would be 8am when I got there and by then things would be open. Wrong. Closed for the season signs on all the cafes in town. I did not have my stove so I could not make my own. I hit the road hoping to find some later. No such luck. There was nothing until Oamaru which was my endpoint of the ride.

The ride was fairly easy except there were some grades and switchbacks where the gravel was too soft and loose to ride so I was forced to walk a short distance. The scenery again was great. I was hoping I fixed my camera last night but I discovered that it was still broken. Boooooo. I want to take pics. I kept taking them and will try to recover some of them like I did yesterday. I just do not know which ones I can recover and which ones are lost for good.

It took a bit over 4 hours to do the ride of 82 km or 50 miles. It was a bit hilly and gravel most of the way so it kind of tired me out. I ran out of water despite having three liters with me which is just under a gallon. The air was cold and dry and it kept drying my mouth and throat out so I kept sipping water. I think I drank more water per mile today than I have ever done before. I also think I got some frostbite on my toes. When I was finished I took a hot shower and my toes hurt like hell when they hit the hot water. It was below freezing all day until I got within 16km or 10 miles of Oamaru. My water got ice crystals in it as I rode along. Made it taste great but probably not the best for me.

It was satisfying to finish this Alps to Ocean (A2O) bike ride what with all the cold bad weather and my health problems. I like the feeling of overcoming obstacles and challenges. It just makes me stronger for future ones. Next I am off to Christchurch again.

I will post any pics I can recover later but now I need to go eat and drink for a while. Lucky for me the brew pub is in crawling distance of my campground.

here are the recovered pics