Day 3 Nelson to Murchison

Distance traveled: 163 km, mostly gravel

Time: 9 hours, 50 minutes

Travel modalities: Mostly bicycling, maybe a little walking

A crack of dawn start meant nothing was open in Nelson. Nothing was open in Richmond except McDonald's, so I pressed on. Everything in Wakefield was closed, save the bakery. So I had pie for breakfast. (That's a vegetable pie with a potato top.)

One of the highligh's of this ride is a really long railway tunnel. Headlight required. I can't think of too many things creepier than riding alone in the dark for a mile.

There are too many impossibly beautiful photos to sort through right now. This one has my first glimpse of snow.

Here's my bike resting in front of Lake Rotoroa. The black flies were all over me in seconds, so the break was short.

Some impossible greenness. My phone died somewhere around here, so I was unable to look up the word "ford", which kept appearing on signs with exclamation points.Don't worry, I figured out after the third or forth stream crossing. 

Relive video