The mission has been to creat a testing type adventure down in Otago, with bikes , “Bob”our bike trailer , Barb my intrepid cycle buddy and our new Hilleberg tent , a very special tent ( Swedish ? ) . A tent we think ideally suited to a couple who want to engage in serious long distance cycle touring . Our mission statement is to test out all equipment , including ourselves and see if we could ( in theory ) commit to a long distance long time frame cycle tour in Europe , Putin willing .

The the end of this trip we will book for a 2 month cycle tour in France into Germany , Holland if we pass the test . Has to work for both of us and this trip will help us answer the question .

It’s an interesting very roomy tent that allows one to have space to store all the kit without compromising the sleeping area . Too heavy to tramp with , but with Bob , anything’s possible . Our friends Carl and Rose are also proud Hilleberg owners and maybe … maybe they will join us in our EU ambitions .

We parked up at Cromwell then had a prequel day on the testy trail from Cromwell to Clyde ( covered in a recent vid ) NOT FULLY LOADED .

It was a challenging ride for us both ,particularly Barb who has not been indulging in any recent bike riding , so cycling fitness not so good. This amazing rides had a couple of longer climbs that require some muscle work . As the ride progressed Barb started to “ tank out “ complaining that she was riding on empty .

Was a strenuous day and Barb did a bit of bike pushing up the steepest hills and confessed to using a bunch of swear words ( very unusual ) I waited at the top of the big hills and she had this frustrated look on her face that made me attempt to guess her train of thought . My 2 guesses below .

“ I wish I could trade this bloke in for an older ( slower ) guy

OR ,

I wish I was riding one of these e-bikes ( that kept whizzing by)

OK — the second thought more probable .

Our approach has been to load up my bike to slow me down a bit and keep Barb with a more conservation load to make it a more “ even “ effort .

We parked in in Alex and loaded up all the gear as we headed down the Otago Rail Trail. But a small problem emerged from left field .

Barbs front hydraulic brake on her bike seems a little flaky , spongy and weak so I had a quick play without the right gear and in fairly short order complete stuffed it so that it was 100% inoperative… damn

What to do ?? We had committed to an early departure and now this problem . I briefly engaged Barb with the proposition that “one good brake “ should be ok. I lost that short debate in very short order so our new plan was an early diversion to town to get it fixed at a bike shop .

Fortunately the bike shop was able to service the brake by 10 am ( lost 2 hours ) , get it into some semblance of relative function , not fantastic but now it does function.

We departed Alexandra at about 10 am into light showers but not cold .

Barb and I had a bet about how many cyclists we would encounter on our ride to Lauder .. she won but the number was modest at only about 10 . Mostly couples on nice E bikes , cycling close together like “ fused at the hip “ close . Not the way Barbs and I do this . Mostly she was well ahead and in indulged in playing the “ catch that chick “ game .

She did very well . We stopped at Chatto Creek for coffee then a pie at Omakau for lunch then just another 7 kms to Lauder for our destination . Free camping close to the old Lauder rail Station

Day 3 was Lauder to Ranfurly with a coffee stop at the historic Hayes engineering establishment.

So here we are at Ranfurly and we have declared a “ 48 hour BUM STOP “

A day off to allow sensitive tissues around the “ sit bones “ to adjust to the regime of long days bike riding . The campground here at Ranfurly is very comfortable .