Arising pre-dawn at 5-30am so the bed could be packed away, we rode to another excellent buffet breakfast.
Leaving town just after 6-20am, I rode into another stiff headwind and the first of 2,000+ Ride the Rockies cyclists. The 1st hill climb was reasonably steep and combined with the wind, a 7+ mph 1st gear grind.
It took over 2hrs to reach the sag at 28 miles. Unfortunately I beat it there so carried on.. There were only a few riders in front of me by then, all Rockies. Another much longer and gentler climb (with much less wind) lead to the summit for the day. A couple of good downhills and a slight tail wind in the last 30 miles raised the average speed quite considerably.
Scenery varied – very Canadian like in places while others were low scrub bland areas. A lake which we rode along and crossed was very Canadian.
The roads varied wildly – some good shoulders to none at all. The last few miles were very rough.
I cruised at HR 110-130 as I did not want to arrive too early. At 10-24am I arrived at the hotel with no luggage truck visible. So, I cycle to the airport, about the same size as Napier, and then up town. It is a one road town with most places a mile or more from the hotel.
The ride to town was 63.3 miles in 4hrs 4m with a maximum of 38.4mph.
Dinner was not only over a mile from the hotel (walked), in a room of about 45 capacity (75 to feed) but also limited in choice to green salad, lasagne, pasta and strawberry shortcake with cream. A very poor effort all round!
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