Wow; today's ride was the answer to the question "why do you go on bike trips?" Especially with the expectations: yesterday afternoon it poured; last night the downpours continued, with thunderstorms. The locals all agreed that it would be raining hard, the snow level was dropping, etc. So, we all expected to be in the van today with no riding.
But! After breakfast, it was not raining, though very overcast, so we headed out of town along the Haast river, leaving the coast for the rest of our tour. We were soon into the river valley, with steep, high mountains on both sides. All rain forest, incredibly green, with waterfalls every 100 meters it seemed. By far the most stunning ride of the tour, in fact easily top 5 of any ride I've ever done!
It went on and on, each turn of the valley leading to new sights.
We did eventually get some rain on and off, but it was not a problem. We climbed over Haast pass before dropping down the other side to Makarora, a spot on the road with some A-frame cabins and a cafe. The sun is out now, and this side of the hill is supposed to be more dry, but we'll see tomorrow. Awesome day!
52 Miles, 3,000'
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