Labouring Labour Day

(Sorry for the delay - due to technical difficulties we have had to submit this post a day late)

Amy here taking on blogging duties tonight.

After an early wake-up call, we were on the road at 8 a.m., heading to Dannevirke 107 kms away.

Despite the weather forecast the sun was out and the sky was clear. Our first stop of the day was at Mt Bruce's NZ national wildlife centre, a stunning spot to check in with each other and get some refreshments (the best coffees so far).

Making our way to lunch in Woodville alongside heavy traffic returning from holiday was no simple task. In our path were nasty magpies who had a swoop at us, cattle trucks who gave unexpected mud masks, and our ever-present support vehicle.

Not to outdo the fantastic job the support crew did yesterday getting stuck for 4 hours, today they managed to really get stuck - pulling over on the side of the road to help a rider, but ending up with half the van and trailer in a bog on the side of the road. Luckily several riders were there to help them get out.

Lunch was both enlightening and mortifying for me upon discovering that I am the only person wearing underwear when we ride. Not that we are all naturists, but apparently underwear is not the done thing when wearing cycle shorts. The padding built-in to our shorts is supposed to be all that is required, eliminating the chance for chafing due to rubbing seams. The shorts get washed every day, I'm told in protest! Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not willing to follow the pack. I don't suffer from chafing and I'm going too fast for anyone to see my VPL.

"Leader of the Pack" Mark, who doesn't let the fact that he's on a mountain bike slow him down, led the rest of the way to Dannevirke.

The good news tonight is that we are each in single rooms due to the unique configuration of this accommodation building. (It used to be a nurses' home.) We had curry for dinner, and individual rooms will be appreciated, as it may be tail winds tonight, in addition to the tail wind forecast for tomorrow!

Each night we also hold a series of riders awards - King/Queen of the hills (gifted to best effort, best grimace or anything else our support crew decided made that person the best) Best quote of the day, Hazard of the day, Sorest bum of the day, Pimp my bike award (goes to the first person to get off their bike and walk)

Tonight Mark and Robyn won King/Queen of the Hills, Maureen won Quote of the Day, the support crew won Hazard of the Day, Brian won Sorest Bum of the Day and I won the Pimp My Ride due to a spectacular accidental horizontal bike dismount. Success all round. Who'll win the awards tomorrow?...