the country road Manawatu cycle classic

the country road Manawatu  cycle classic

up at 5:30 am to be ready to leave by 6am (as I was seeing some friends at 7 am at the start of the ride. just as I was leaving I saw I had I slow leak so I stopped to put some more air in the tires before riding into town to the start of the ride where I see my friends and get ready to start the fun ride at 8 am with me near the back of the starting group of riders and then we off around the square and out thought town by summerhill ( over the first hill of the day ) riding around 25-30 km/h over the mix of flat and a few rolling hills going though ashhurst. after raumal the hills start and just keep coming. seeing some friends of the side of the road gives me a boost as I speed up and pass a few riders. after a bit I stop to put some more air the the back wheel and eat some food then its time to get back on the bike. as I’m riding up one of the longers hill I see my back tire need more air so I stop to change the tube after I get the tire off I see the tube has I lot of small holes is it so after a good look at the wheel and tire I see that the tire is breaking down so after a bit of a think I put some duck tape around the inside of the tire to stop it making any more holes in my tubes (all ways have some duck tape on the bike  as it has a lot of uses on the bike)(taking about 20 mins to do this) after I make sure I have even thing I get back on the road. after a few more hills I get into apiti (as there are just packing up the rest stop)whereI get my drink bottles full up and eat more food. after apiti theres a nice fun down hill and a long up hill near kimbolton. the road after that is a mix of flats and rolling hills. riding around 28 km/h with the rain setting in around cheltenham  just after that I stop to put some thing under my helmet to keep the sweat  out of my eyes .after colyton I start to slow down to around 15 km/h going though? the back roads until I get to the long down hill into raumal after that I start to speed up to around 25 km/h going though ashhurst and into palmerston north to the finish line  being the last rider to finish the course (my time for the ride was just over 8 hours what is the same time I though it would take me base on how long it takes me to do lake taupo what has around the same up and down)  at prizes given I find out that I get the lantern rouge prize (It is awarded to the last person to complete the ride)