Stay ChatTY 500km

A visit to Mimo ☺️

Man I love Tassie. The NW 😍😌

Eudaimonia team ☺️

Wanted to ride my bike all day 😍

Where do I even begin to describe today? There were a lot of things about this first day that has had me on edge for the weeks leading up to this trip. The timing of my flight, the weather (particularly in and around Arthur’s Pass), the distance (although that’s always manageable) and of course the nature of soloing such an ambitious route. I arrived into Christchurch at midnight this morning, built up my bike so I didn’t need to think about it in the morning, then slept (or more descriptively, napped) at the airport before setting off this morning. As I discovered, Christchurch have some funny policies with sleeping at the airport. Every time a flight lands, the security go around the airport ensuing everyone is awake and in an ‘orderly fashion’. Which is fair enough. I guess they think highly of first impressions. It did however severely interrupt my intended sleep schedule. After being woken back up at 5am for the fourth time during the ‘night’ I decided to get myself ready to depart. After a bit of a detour and toddle through Christchurch I went on my way toward Arthur’s Pass. All was good. A bit of rain, a bit of a headwind but really, the scenery was pretty bloody amazing so who’s complaining? Plus bike packing in the rain puts you in some kind of elitist ‘boss’ category, doesn’t it? At some point after the 4hr mark things took a turn. As I climbed my way further up the pass the temp was quickly dropping. Being surrounded by and physically snowed on is absolutely awesome, for all of 5mins, but then the novelty wears off, you get cold and you realise how bloody unsafe riding without visibility on a pretty sketchy surface can be. Anyway. We solider on. After 3hrs of trying to convince myself I’m not hypothermic I finally made my way to my accommodation for the night. It’s taken me about 3hrs to gain functionality in my fingers and apparently my toes still have a bit of a way to go. But wholly hell I made my way through today. 
When people talk about the highs and lows of endurance events, I can assure you that today showcases that for me. Today was hard but it was pretty bloody awesome... although I would still like to request a bit less rain and maybe a mercury reading that doesn’t begin with a negative sign. 

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Sofia Tsamassiros

NZ Day 1: Christchurch - Arthur’s Pass

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Stay ChatTY 500km

A visit to Mimo ☺️

Man I love Tassie. The NW 😍😌

Eudaimonia team ☺️

Wanted to ride my bike all day 😍

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