Day 12 - Palmerston North to Masterton - 113 km 1179 m


 WIND. Headwind into which we rode for most of the ride and it was not a gentle breeze it was a good Southerly and what direction did we have to travel - South! So it was a case of simply just get on and do it coz there was no alternative (well actually there was and a bit more about that further on). Coming out of Palmy there is a grunty wee hill with a 15% gradient so fortunately it is not a long one however a few km's after that the 380 metre constant climb began and it was simply a case of grinding it out to the top. With the wind that was blowing the wind turbines at the top of the hill were all turning around generating power and as majestic as they looked it was disconcerting to see them all facing the direction we were travelling which reinforced the fact it was going to be head wind for us. Part way down the other side of the Pahiatua Track as it is called we turned off the seal and took a gravel road for about 5 kms and with it being downhill it was quite a bit of fun.

Pahiatua was our morniung coffee stop and then on to Ekatahuna for our lunch at about 2:00 PM. As we were leaving we struck up a conversation with a cyclist woman who was also leaving the cafe. As you do.

It was about 3:00 PM and 2 km's out of Ekatahuna Peter commented on how strong the wind was especially and he needed a lower gear. As I was behind him I could see that he was in fact still in a high gear. So we stopped and investigated matters to then make the decision for Peter to head back in to Phiatua and hopefully re-connect with our new cycing friend "Diane". Stephen and myself decidedto carry on and ride the last 44 km;s into Pahiathiatua.

Peter's luck was in and Diane hadn't left for her home in Masterton (exactly where we were heading) and Diane offerred Peter and his bike a lift back in to Masterton.el  When Stephen and I arrived at the Motel three hours later here was Peter and oour new best friend Diane,

Long story short we then all went a good meal at the Lone Star and over dinner Diane shared some of the rides she has done - like the Grape Ride in Marlborough the same year as myself (2017 maybe?) - the tenth anniversay ride of the event and the year some people did the full course 10 times! The course I rode is 101 km's - Diane rode that 10 times or 1,010 km's!

With the problems we had earlier on with trying to get a shuttle to Whahoro and costing us a day out of our itenary we had decided to sacrafice the ride over the Rimutaka's and will attempt to take the train in to Wellington as this will also allow both Peter and Stephen's bikes to be serviced ahead of our South Island leg of the ride.

So that's tomorrow's challenge - getting our bikes on the train.

No pics today but there is a screenshot of the Weather - WIND - solid and like all day and it didn't stop at 5:00 like the screen shot forecast! 

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