Cycling The Globe

Distance: 115.8 km
Ridetime: 5:06:21
Average: 22.7 km/h
Max speed: 48.5 km/h
Total distance: 18428 km

On the South Island it doesn’t get dark until 21:30. With that in mind I thought I could fit in a couple of hours of hiking up to the Mount John observatory before starting the 110 km ride I had in mind for the day.

With the clear blue sky, the turquoise water of Lake Tekapo, and the snowy mountains in the background it was a great hike.

Back on the shore of the lake I was about to leave Tekapo when one of my panniers fell of and got stuck in the wheel. A screw must have worked itself loose. I was quite happy it didn’t happen on a 60 km/h downhill. Luckily my back wheel seemed to have survived the encounter. If you are travelling with Ortblieb panniers, make sure that the screws that hold the fitting to the rack are tight.

Towards Mount Cook the cycling only get more and more amazing until the mountain revealed itself.

At a rest area I met a New Zealander who said that most locals had not even seen Mount Cook on such a clear day. I also met two more cyclists while having my lunch. Michelle from Canada had started her bike trip around New Zealand from Christchurch, and a German cyclist had been all around the country and was about to finish. He had reserved five days around Mount Cook to be sure he would get a nice view. He already had that now.

In Mount Cook village I sat up camp at the White Horse Reserve just behind the Mueller Gletcher. Tomorrow I plan to go climbing!