Bicycle race

Cardrona to Queenstown via Arrowtown and Gibbston

85.3k.

'Confirmation bias' makes us fit the evidence to the hypothesis... This goes some way to explain why we were 12km off track before we realized. Two significant things have gone wrong today, threatening to derail our plans. To take the compounding problem first, a combination of a missing roadsign, ambiguous directions and me not knowing the difference between the Old Shotover Bridge and the Kawerau 'bungy' bridge led to the geographical embarrassment. We missed a right turn off the trail between Arrowtown and Queenstown resulting in following the wrong trail down the Gibbston Valley. We passed the Kawerau bungy bridge, and carried on...  Eventually we looked at Google maps, and couldn't make sense of where we'd landed up. Fortunately some cyclists came along with the trail app, and pointed out our error. So off we set down the highway toward Queenstown: 25km... When we got (back) to the bungy bridge, there was a bit of 'discussion' about staying on the road or reverting to the track: 33.7km. Now, I'm a bit of a purist, (surely not, Simon, I hear you cry!) and as we set out to cycle the TA route, I wanted to go back on the trail, whereras swmb(m)o wanted to stay on the highway to get to QT more quickly. To get to the bike repair places before they shut...

Which brings me to the primary problem: Marg's e-drive has gone kaput. It started making worrying noises about 2km before the Crown Range summit, but drove on up OK. Then, into the descent, her computer wasn't working; stop, reboot, boot screen, dead. Googled bike repair in Arrowtown, found Arrow Bikes, pushed over the hill to get there. Proprietess listens to our tale of woe, finds a loose wire from the computer mount, computer boots OK, takes a turn round the carpark, announces all seems fine, but will do a full diagnostic check. We adjourn back over the hill to the quaint main street for lunch. When we return, the bike has a clean bill of health: the test she did not do was to ride up a hill in e-mode... Every time Marg put her bike under load, the noise gat worse, until finally she announced 'It's not working at all'. I squeeze onto her bike, ride up a bit of a hill, and confirm the diagnosis. Tried to call one QT bike place and they don't answer, so decide to press on, in hope of arriving before they close. Which would have worked had we not taken the wrong route, over hill and down dale, and downwind.to boot! By the time the 'wrong-slot' was realise and corrected, real fatigue had set in. Every significant rise saw Marg stop, start walking, me power ahead, stop, walk back, assist with the bike pushing. Without the navigational error we may have made it to QT in this mode by 4:30. We got here at 7... It's most likely how we'll have to tackle the Vonn hill tomorrow, as I hold no hope of getting a repair that quickly. All sorts of options have been discussed, including me switching motors between the bikes; we've landed on transferring Marg's heavier pannier onto my bike, keeping the lighter one on hers and riding in non-e mode, walking as required. At least we'd already made the decision to camp tomorrow somewhere near Mavora Lakes, particularly in view of not being able to get our bikes on the staff ferry, so we're on the 11:00 Earnslaw sailing instead.

I don't believe in the ability to tempt fate, but only this morning I was reflecting on how reliable the bikes have been...

PS: did I mention the very helpful bike shuttle driver who did what he knew how in the Hackett bungy car park at Kawerau?

PPS: We did enjoy the trail, particularly the final 10 or so kms into QT. Crown Range road itself very reminiscent of Scotland or the Lakes, so perhaps less special for us than for most Kiwis.