Epilogue day 1: Christchurch

I'm not sure if I should reveal what I did today, it may seem a little eccentric. But that's how it is with cyclists. We sometimes do very strange things, probably in order to play games with our heads because when you're in a long sportive or race you can always think back to that crazy training session you did which was much worse than what you're currently going through.

So, inspired by the fantastic book I'm reading - "Open" by Andre Agassi, I'll be open ;)

There's a park near the hostel, Hagley Park, where a lap of the southern half is 3.27 kms. It's as flat as a pancake, with 3 metres of altitude on each lap!

There's a Strava challenge each month - ride 130 kms in one ride. I've done them all this year, but not yet the December one.

My bike's on it's last legs. The shifter has stopped working so I've got one gear, medium hard, so any prospect of riding the December challenge requires me to either find a good bike shop or a flat course.

I've just completed a 39 stage "ride around in circles" around New Zealand.

Put that all together and it's obvious what I spent over 5 hours doing this afternoon and evening. I rode 39 laps of Hagley Park South. 133 kms. Mission accomplished.

During each lap, which lasted just over 7 minutes, I slowly went through what I had experienced on each of my 39 days here. Talk about therapeutic!

A memorable ride.