Epic Camp Day 12

The theme for today was cold.

But the day started well. Very well in fact. We took the van to Scott's place at Sumner Beach and did a run up into the hills (Godley Head), looping back to Scott's place. It was a beautiful morning and the scenery from the ridges, while perhaps shaded by that at Kaikoura a couple of days ago, was nonetheless impressive. Scott said he did this run every week for about 10 years. I can see why.

I ran with Rich most of the way. As well as being good company, he's a good runner and leaves me for dead on the downhills - a legacy of his Xterra experience no doubt. We did the loop in 1:35 (17.7km), which wasn't too shabby given the hills and the last 11 days. We tacked on the extra to get to 20km.

Then back for the standard massive feeding frenzy of breakfast. Just about then, ominous signs were developing that our beautiful day was to be short-lived. Sure enough, just as we rolled out, the skies blackened and the wind turned southerly. Soon there was rain. Stupidly, I didn't bring enough clothes for the ride, even though we knew what we would be facing. Given that the first 50km to the Rakaia Bridge was "speed controlled" while we got out of the city, I began to freeze in the bunch. I just wasn't putting out enough effort to warm myself up. Then there was a little clash of wheels at the back and Pete and Nick went down. Pete cut his leg open a bit, but seems to be ok after being patched up in Geraldine.

The only highlight during this miserable period was sitting behind Big E (Eric) as he lead the train. As bad as the conditions were, I had to smile as I tucked in behind a 6'8" guy sitting up on his road bike. That's as good as it gets!

It was great when the speed restrictions were lifted after Rakaia, as it gave me a chance to generate some body heat. John and I went off the front and pulled into lunch ahead of the others. We had a quick turnaround and then headed off for the final haul to Geraldine. John opted for a more leisurely pace, while I still needed to go harder to stay warm. It was actually quite a pleasurable ride - going at my own pace, iPod playing, and thoughts wandering all over the place without having to concentrate on a wheel ahead.

And what better welcome to Geraldine than warm chicken soup and toast. After that, a tack-on 10k run (30 for the day) and a shower, I almost felt human again. But I've learnt my lesson from today - be better prepared for the conditions!

147km, 5:10, 195w AP (but about 170w for 1st 2 hours, 230w for last 3 hours), 215w NP, 377m total ascent (flattest day so far, but crappiest conditions!).