Saturday 15th June 2013
It has been two weeks since I have been on the bike, and I really missed it. We were away for Queens birthday weekend at the beginning of June, and last weekend it was too wet. The forecast for this weekend was not great either, and it seemed that if I wanted to get in a dry ride today we would have to go out this morning, relatively early.
It was a bit fresh outside only 6 degrees C so dressed accordingly along with gloves, track-pants and jackets. I am determined to get to Brightwater eventually so thought today we would see if we could get as far as the cycle bridge at the end of Pughs Road.
We started off at Jubilee Park, it was 9.45am and the park was full of kids playing rugby, and soccer, and their parents braving the cold showing their support. Car parking space was at a premium but we managed to find one close to a big puddle. There has been a lot of rain in the Nelson area over the last few weeks so the ground is very wet and muddy.
Luckily the bike trail is weather-proof and is nice to ride even if the weather is a bit rough. As it had been a couple of weeks since I had been on a bike, and there was a head wind, I couldn't bike very fast today. The first ten minutes or so my legs were hurting but I have found if you can get through this then the pain will go away and the rest of the ride will be okay. I don't think I got faster than 12kph, which is very slow. I think next time I will take a scarf to stop my face from getting frozen!!!
We had done the first part of the ride a couple of times before but managed to make it to the turnoff at the bottom of Pughs Road before it started to rain. I know the bridge is not much further than this but we decided to turn back so we could get home before the rain really set in.
The ride back is downhill and no head wind, so can go a lot faster. I think for a short spurt there we got up to 20kph. It is amazing to me that only five to ten minutes bike ride from Richmond and we are out in the country. There were several other riders doing the same ride, and people walking their dogs, and also parents with kids doing the trail.
We made it back to Jubilee Park before the rain started to come down, we had biked 13.2 km the most I have ever done. I don't think we will get out tomorrow as there are heavy rain warnings out, for most of the day.
Roll on next weekend, I hope it is fine and sunny.
