SINZ Day Three - (Middlemarch - Oturehua)

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Distance

84km

Rider of the Day

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We awoke to a beautiful day.  Warm sun, without being hot, no wind.  Over a tasty pancake breakfast, we were pumped with excitement at the prospect of getting going on our first full day.  Then it all went wrong.  

As we rode to take commemorative photos at the start of the rail trail, a strong crosswind was making it difficult to ride, or even stand.  The famous South Island Nor'wester was in town.  

As we started on the trail proper, everyone was having difficulty, with only the more experienced riders able to make any progress at all.  

In stunned disbelief, we tried to walk through it to get to a sheltered stretch of trail.  After about 2km walking, we abandoned the trail for the smoother riding surface of the nearby road, but it didn't help much.

It was hard to even push the unicycles without them being blown off the road.  

Unbelieveably, the wind strength increased.  We tried riding with arms linked for stability.  The wind blew stronger still, picking up clouds of dust and grit and sending it stinging into our eyes.  At one point, Ken's Coker was blown from under him and deposited 10m down the grassy bank on the side of the trail (see video).  After 3hrs, we had made a total of 10km.  Shellshocked, we climbed aboard the support vehicles for a 20km hop down the road to Tiroiti.  There was just enough shelter from the wind to resume riding.  Peter Bier joined us here to ride the rail trail.  

Just as we were ready to set off, a news crew from TV3 appeared and interviewed Sean and Ken.  After a ride by for them, we hit the trail.  Now  the riding was easier, though with some nasty gusts.  But finally we were enjoying the rail trail.  The news crew filmed us enroute and joined us again at lunch at Waipiata.  Encouraged by the improved weather, we set off for Oturehua.  Then the wind picked up again and blew constantly into our faces through the long afternoons ride uphill.  Some of us made it home, very battered and newly wise to the power of the wind, some of us gratefully accepted a ride home with the support crew for the last 12km.  We had started in a gale, and finished in a gale- none of us will forget this day!!!!!

                                    

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