Some friends, Gordon and Raz, were visiting from North Island and decided to spend the day in Akaroa. A sunny weekend with the crowds in Akaroa didn’t really appeal to us, and anyway we had plenty of chores to keep us busy in the morning. Thus we agreed to meet them in Pigeon Bay in the afternoon, probably around 6pm. The plan being to cycle the double fence line track, traversing over Mt Fitzgerald and Mt Sinclair, starting and finishing in Port Levy.

So after much faffing in the morning and a longer than expected drive me and Grace finally managed to start cycling at about 3pm. Much later than we’d planned. Also this day turned out to be possibly the warmest day of the year. The initial 600m climb up western valley road was a bit of a nightmare. The trees provided a bit of shade, but it was still extremely sweaty. I reached the top of the road first, my go fast but stop often technique being slightly quicker than Graces slightly slower but non-stop method. This allowed me to soak in the awesome views and relax with the slight breeze that the col offered.

After a short rest and de-sweat we started on what we hoped would be a much more interesting and fun section. The next 8km or so over to Mt Fitzgerald was a mix of 4WD and single track, with a few more climbs than descents. Overall we felt like we were going alright and could still make Pigeon Bay at 6pm. But then the track transformed, it got very narrow and very overgrown for about 250m. This meant I had to carry both bikes through, Grace was struggling a little bit. This combined with a phone call from someone Grace hadn’t spoken to in a while meant we were very quickly behind schedule when we emerged out of the bush.

Fortunately from here the track was good and quite quick. From the top of Mt Sinclair the track is covered in quite long grass which made for an exciting and fast ride. We ended up cruising down the road into Pigeon bay about an hour late, but Gordon and Raz didn’t mind. They were enjoying the sun, fishing off a jetty. So we stopped for an hour, chatting, lazing in the sun. I think Grace was most pleased by the gourmet fudge they’d brought from Akaroa. The initial climb up Western Valley road now seemed totally worth it.

When we finally set off again we realised we had no water, but fortunately the campsite had a readily available tap that we could refill from. So off we went, refreshed and ready for the last climb, but now with the slight risk of being benighted. After rounding the bay, I noticed that my rear tyre was going very flat. The huge amounts of matagari I’d cycled over on the ridge had taken its tole. So a quick tyre change and a bit of a push got us to the top of the hill, just as the sun was about to go down. The gravel road from here is great and very fast, so 10 minutes later we were at the car and ready for tea and medals.