Sunny Cyclers

We have managed to raise $7248 for The World Skin Cancer Foundation. Thanks a million for all the support, the sweet messages and the donations...
It all encouraged us to keep pedaling, smiling and sweating ;) for a great cause!
Much love Mik and Nina

On the morning of our last 30k's of cycling we peaked outside and it was sunny. There was a slight chill in the air that reminded us that autumn was on the way. As Nina has so kindly mentioned before, I am normally over enthusiastic about getting up in the morning and starting the day. This morning was different. I woke up thinking about reaching the end of this 2400km journey and instead of being overwhelmed with excitement, the idea was pulling at my heart strings... as a result, I was pulling the sheet back over my head. I took a few minutes to lay there and think back...

The idea for this entire trip started while Nina and I were on a hike. You all know the story...I was celebrating one year since my melanoma diagnosis and Nina was yearning for a big adventure and wanted to do something with me to celebrate. What started as "just talk" quickly became our reality and before we knew it we were researching routes and bikes, website design and sponsorship packages. I remembered the moments of hesitation I had when I first read about the steep ascents and scary traffic. At one point I think I even said to Nina, " what if we don't finish? Neither of us have ever done anything like this..what if it's too much?" I'll never forget her answer, "We are going to finish Mik, even if it takes 6 months". And so here we are...finishing. I let my head peak out of the sheets.

Still laying there trying to get my act together, I attempted to think about what I needed to do to pack up...that was the moment it really hit me...sort of like a piece of gravel in the spokes (sorry for the terrible metaphor, but after my two spills at Mavora Lakes yesterday, it only seems appropriate :) Over the past two months Nina and I have developed a system, a routine, for packing and unpacking our bikes each evening and each morning. All of a sudden I realized it would be the last time we would stuff our sleeping bags and check the propane to make sure we had enough gas to cook dinner. It was the last time we would roll up our mats and decide whether or not the tent was dry enough to fold up. It was the last time we would hit the reset button on Nina's odometer to clock our mileage, and the last time Nina would check to make sure I had sunscreen on my shoulders where I couldn't reach. It was the last time I would pack up my pannier bags so that I had all my camping and cooking equipment on one side and my camera, lunch, and rain jacket easily accessible on the other side. It was last time we would clip into our pedals and begin the days venture by rotating verses from Willie Nelson's song, "On the Road Again". I hid myself under the sheets again. I heard the other two rustling around in their beds and wondered if they were feeling the same way.

Reluctantly, we all eventually got up and I noticed (although I didn't say anything) that Nina and Giovanni were also moving in slow motion...All of this hard work and effort to reach the end and now it was as if these last 30ks were something we were all being forced to do against our will. "SNAP OUT OF IT!", I thought. I got myself together as best I could and we were finally on the bikes. The weather was perfect! We had a flat road with a slight descending slope. We had sunshine and a berm wide enough for Nina and I to ride side by side and do some reminiscing and share in a few good laughs. We stopped to take a photo at the Bluff sign that told us we only had 22km left. And then, just like that, the weather did a 180. It was as if the Island didn't want us to finish either. It sent in a massive headwind. Traffic grew from non-existent to an industrial truckers motorway, and since the elements come in threes, it also started pouring. The last 10 K's we couldn't see ten feet in front of us. Completely drenched I stopped and waited for Nina for a minute, "How dramatic!!" I laughed. She smiled with mascara and rain water dripping down her face and then we were both cracking up. We pedaled the rest of the way and arrived at Bluff with Giovanni to stand under the long-awaited, infamous, yellow sign. We hugged, laughed, celebrated, took a few photo's, hugged again, then looked at each other and said, "Ok, now what?!"

It was the strangest feeling. If you would have asked me in the beginning what I anticipated to feel at the the end of this whole thing, my answer would have been completely different from how I actually felt. I thought I'd feel tired, sore, ready to be done...but instead I felt full of energy, like I still had the capacity and desire to keep going. For the first time I felt an unfamiliar gratefulness for being diagnosed with Melanoma. I thought, "wow..it was a blessing". I would never wish it on anyone else, but at that moment, standing under the sign at Bluff, I realized that because of my experience with skin cancer, I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I have found something that I love and that I am passionate about and it has inspired me to continue doing my part to raise awareness. I looked across the road to see Nina laughing and hugging her Mom. I realized how grateful I was to share this experience with her and how much I loved her. I smiled.. "This isn't the end", I thought..."I can keep doing this for the rest of my life"... and just like that all of the anxiety I had over reaching Bluff, lifted, and I felt completely happy.

Until the next adventure...

xoxo

Mik

Whilst cycling the last 30km to Bluff there were about a million things going through my head;

" I can't believe I have actually almost cycled the length of NZ"
" This was amazing"
" S**t, this rain is annoying"
" Haha, I have a silly grin on my face"
" Wow those damn trucks are still trying to push me off the road... NO CHANCE"
" What am I going to do when I get there? Jump, cry, laugh, scream, giggle?!

After an hour of cycling I could finally see THE big yellow sign. I rolled down the hill, past my poor mom who was standing there with pompoms in her hands like a real cheerleader, right into the sign.
But non of the things that were going through my head minutes before actually happened.
We were all just standing there....
Mik and I gave each other a big hug, we took a few awkward photo's, G disappeared to go for a walk and even a random tourist sensed the awkwardness and decided to smash our champagne bottle....
It felt as if I was watching a bad, slow moving movie....
Not the end we expected really.....

Now I know this all sound a bit down-ish, especially after our other blogs ( promise it wasn't actually that bad, we still cheered, got to drink 1 zip of the champagne, my mom was there to give me a big hug and we took at least one good shot, you see, still fun :D)
But writing about it now, a week after, up North in a hostel where I just spoke to two other cyclists, I know why we were the way we were when we finally got to the point we had been looking forward to see for the past 2 months....

The most amazing 2 months came to an end, right then and there and we both just felt a little lost.... What to do now?!
To be fair, I still don`t know, but realizing now what we have done and accomplished leaves me with nothing but a big smile on my face.

All I know is that for the past two months:
The perfect place to be was in New Zealand
The perfect person to do this trip with was Mikki
And the perfect persuit of life was to cycle the length of NZ to raise money for The World Skin Cancer Foundation.

And what happens next?! We will see.... till the next adventure guys :))
xx Nina

We wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all of our sponsors! You guys have been amazing and so supportive, could not have wished for a better Sunny Cyclers family;
Absolutely Natural, NZSki, Minus 5 Icebar Queenstown, Brazz on the Green, Flame, EquipOutdoors, Icebreaker, Outside Sports, Nomads Queenstown, InterCity, Realjourneys

Sorry guys for the hold up. We HAVE finished cycling, but i guess it still had to sink in a little :))
Final blog is on the way :D xx

Tomorrow, we will cycle the last 30km to Bluff together to end what has been the best experience of my life. I would be lying if I said a big part of me doesn't want it to end.

Ps; to see more photo's go to our website www.sunnycyclers.com... :)

Laugh till you cry...it's good for you.
10-03-12 80km Mossburn to Invercargill

I broke out into hysterics as I looked over this morning to see that Nina had been stung by something during the night and her face was swollen like a blow fish. Terrible, I know, but some things are funny and some things are really funny and I just couldn't control myself. I handed her my mirror and as soon as she saw her reflection, we both lost it. We were laughing so hard that the belly ached and the eyes watered. It set the mood for the entire day. The flat, slightly descending, road didn't hurt either. We were 80 kms outside of Invergargill, the last town before Bluff, and we flew through it. We stopped in Winston when it started to drizzle and found a cozy little cafe. We had woken with such a huge amount of energy that we didn't realize how tired we were until 5 minutes after we sat down. Super Italian fell asleep on the bench, and I on the table. Dirty, wet, and smelly we must have looked homeless, but the owners of the cafe didnt seem bothered and let us rest there. After our power nap, we set back off on the bikes for the last 30K and found ourselves bright eyed and bushy tailed by the time we reached the Invercargill Sign. It was a little emotional because I think it was the first moment for all of us that we realized just how close to the end we were. We hung from the sign like monkeys and had a mini celebration before cycling the rest of the way into town. We treated ourselves to "azzip" (pizza spelled backwards) and the three of us just sat and enjoyed a cozy night together laughing and chatting about our adventures.

Xo Mik

Gravel Queen and the Electric Slide
09-03-12 65km Mavora Lakes to Mossburn

Today was FREEEEEZING when we woke up! All three of us were wearing every piece of clothing we had and could not manage to get out of the tents and on the bikes until the sun was up a little higher. As it slowly rose above the tree line we began shedding layers until finally we were able to gear up and get back on the road.
Still cycling on gravel like yesterday, the road started out pretty compact. We cruised with ease through sheep farms, cow fields, vegetable paddocks, even stopped to cut some vegetables growing on the side of the road for lunch.

As the road carried on, the rocks and gravel began to get looser and looser. Since the first week of cycling, we have not had much trouble with our clip in pedals. However, pedaling on loose gravel with clip ins brought back old memories. Well at least for me. Nina was a Gravel Queen! She flew along the loose rocks as if it were perfectly natural. I on the other hand fell...and then fell again..and then proceeded to ride my bike as if I were 90 years old afraid that the third fall would result in a broken hip and end my days of cycling. Now with my knee swollen (again) I was so happy when the gravel turned to pavement and I was back in my comfort zone. We stopped for a coffee, grocery shop, and bought another bag of peas for the knees, and then cycled another 25km to our camp spot. The evening allowed for a few good laughs as we ran out of gas for our stove and had to eat half cooked rice with raw veges. Shortly after that we realized that upon arriving earlier we had unknowingly rested our bikes against an electric fence.. the metal clip ins on the bottom of my shoes caused me to perform my own unique involuntary version of the electric slide :)

xo Mik

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” - Mae West
08-03-12 60km Queenstown to Mavora Lakes

"More FM" had us on the breakfast show this morning so we had to get up early, very early.
"Morning Nina!!! How are you feeling :D" Mikki said with a big smile.
I ignored her and cycled straight to the radio station.
Once on air I decided it was an appropriate time to express my frustration with her early morning enthusiasm. Mik mispronounced Maori names, but other then that everything went fine :D
Thanks again More FM for having us!
So today Earnie took us over to the other side of the lake. What a great way to start off our last stretch!
It was a pretty bumpy ride, but it was by far my favorite. I couldn't stop looking around me, it was stunning. Unfortunately I had to look right in front of me as well, as chances were big I would be on the ground in no time because of a misplaced rock.
None the less I had a massive grin on my face, could this day be any more perfect?!
Cycling with my American Sister, blue skies, the most stunning scenery, and a great camping spot.... Yep, I chose to be happy :D
x Nina

We are back in Queenstown!!!
06/07-03-12 0km Queenie

What an amazing few days we have had.
The hospitality of our old landlords (and kiwi mom and dad Jenny and Andy).
Taking a shower, sleeping in an amazing bed, cooking in a proper kitchen again to cook up a great feast, showing my mom around at all the places that i have loved for the past year and having a "quiet" night with our crazy friends that we have missed so much just to remind us again how fun it can be to be unhealthy :D
Thanks Queenstown for giving us that last bit of energy and boost to finish up our trip... :))

x Nina