Eight days of bliss!

Ah, this is the moment I love best in training! Tapering off…resting up for the event itself.

My last ride was Monday, a delightful 65km loop in glorious weather through the Hunuas with Brian Nelson who is riding a stage with our North Island team.

And now I’ve had to sit around all week, off the bike…just thinking about the Tour itself, imagining the great days ahead on the road.

By the time I roll up to the start at Bluff at 10am on Saturday I’ll be jumping out of my skin, very eager to ride.

But I’ve promised Sarah, my South Island co-captain, I’ll take my cue from her world of climbing. I’ll treat the first day like a leisurely walk into base camp…tuning myself up for the two big days of climbing thereafter – the Crown Range on Sunday and the Lindis Pass on Monday.

Then, of course, there are the following four days up the rest of the South Island and the final stage in Wellington a week on Saturday. These will be just as rewarding: the company, the scenery, the challenge…and above all just being on the bike, riding.

It was way back in the middle of last year we decided at the Hikurangi Foundation we just had to ride the Tour. Right from the earliest days of the Tour’s development we’d been supporters, just as we’ve been helping some communities develop their cycle ways as part of the new national network.

So, we really wanted to join the fun on the road…and raise some money for our cycling projects.

Training’s been delightful. I got lots of good rides with my friends in the Queenstown Pedallers while my family and I were holidaying down there over Christmas. Highlights included a round trip to Glenorchy from Queenstown (very hilly!), the ride up to Coronet Peak skifield and the screaming descent from the Remarkables skifield on my mountain bike….a 1,300m drop in 14.5km in 33 minutes.

Back home in Auckland I saved my long rides for Saturdays and had a chance to get in lots of my favourites such as the ride from home in Mission Bay, across town, through the Waitakeres and then the spectacular descent down to Piha. After a coffee and a leisurely ride along the beach, there was, of course, no choice but to tackle the big climb back up into the bush and home.

The Tour itself will be particularly sociable. In the South Island, Sarah and I’ve got 13 riders joining us for various days and we’re also expecting a good turn out from the Queenstown Pedallers on Sunday to keep us company over the Crown Range to Wanaka.

Ashlee’s done a brilliant job organising the complicated logistics…and above all Lynn will be with me as our team driver…and eight days riding! Bliss!