Day 19 of TA - Lamb chop night?

Wednesday 22nd October
Distance: 73 km
Elevation gain: 1113 metres
From the town of Hunterville to Makoura Lodge
About 5:30hrs elapsed from 8am to 1:30pm

The Station Hotel in Hunterville is right beside the train line so overnight I was woken a few times by the rumble of a freight train. Otherwise it was a fine place to stay and Brain the owner really goes out of his way to make you feel welcome. There was even Vegemite on the table for breakfast. That's a luxury I've missed for nearly a month now.

The ride today was meh. There was 11K of ugly gravel roads. To complicate matters the road was being graded so the grader blade smoothed out the road but it was no longer hard packed. More than once I checked my tyres to see if I had a flat because there was no roll - just bogged down into the loosely smoothed gravel. It was hard going.

Then there was the luxury of tarmac roads with a strong NW wind. Provided I was pointing south there was a boost but with the twists and turns today there was lots of headwind riding. There were also two angry magpies that had a go at me today. Maybe the chicks emerge later in the season as we travel southwards? I hope it's more a feature of the remote location.

On today's ride there were no open shops and so no opportunity to stop and have a feed. I really missed my daily stop at a bakery for a sweet treat and coffee. And nowhere to provide lunch. I feasted on my rations - snakes and chocolates. Not a healthy lunch but plenty of sugar to keep me going.

I'm staying at the Makoura Lodge tonight. It is about 65km from Palmerston North. They have a restaurant for special occasions (or large groups) but don't really have meals for single travellers. Luckily there is a private function tonight, a Christmas dinner BBQ being held for a work group. I'm able to get a plate from the kitchen with some bits and pieces from the BBQ. Breakfast will by my own porridge / oats. I hope the BBQ dinner fills me up.

Tomorrow's weather forecast is for 40km/hr winds with gusts above 100km/hr. That will be a new experience. I hope I can still ride the bike in that kind of wind. There is also very poor phone coverage and internet so I'm not able to book any accommodation for Thursday night. I was hoping for something in Palmerston North but when checked yesterday there were a lot of places that had no vacancy. Maybe the long weekend holiday is already impacting availability.

Today's theme song is by The Panics - Don't Fight It
On the trail there is always another hill to climb and I need to accept this fact and stop fighting against reality. All too often I'm looking at the map at the end of the day and thinking 'this is the last hill today' and invariably there is another one around the corner. I need to focus on the here and now…just get over this hill and don't be concerned about what's around the next bend.

I hope lamb is in the menu tonight.  I'm starving and have ridden past so many sheep I'm starting to imagine all kinds of lamb dishes. 

The grader smoothing the road.  Not a good result for a cyclist. 

I had my suspicions but it was confirmed when I arrived and the 'Closed' sign was out.  One of the downsides of cycling in spring.   Apiti is a very small place and the pub only opens Thursday to Sunday at this time of year. 

Quintessential farming village golf course. Keep the sheep off the greens with electric fences. I thought it was just one proactive farmer, but then cycled past the sign that said it was the Apiti golf course.