Auckland-to-Hamilton: The Hard Way

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/new-zealand/ponsonby/237143783170

And by "hard", am I referring to the fact that I biked it the long way - 170km in all - in preparation of the Lake Taupo Enduro (2 laps = 320km)? Is it the fact that I left at 5am to get some nighttime riding practice in? Am I referring to several showers I got caught in on the way down? Maybe the several freshly laid sections of chip seal that I had to ride over (one at least a couple of km long)? Or perhaps I am referring the attach of the magpie, who I just managed to because it's pre-dive squawk made me look up with enough time to duck as it zeroed in on my head? Could it also be when my back light came off after riding over a railway line, and subsequently just before I went to pick it up, some van drove straight over the top of it? Was it my aching shoulders and back? Or even worse, the welts on my backside from the stitching on my bike pants (despite having wearing the same bike pants on many occasions and never having a problem with them)?

No, it was none of those...

The main reason this ride was "hard" was because, despite living in a land that is supposedly dominated by winds of a north-westerly persuasion; and heading on a ride that will particularly benefit from such favourable climatic conditions; I had to spend most of the six and a half hours plowing straight into a bloody southerly! Not only is it physically tiring and slows you down (I could only just manage 20kph on some straights), but worst of all it drives you bloody bonkers. In the end I let Anna rescue me from my torment, picking me up 5km from my destination.

Of no relief was Stu's text telling me it was "character building". I'll be reminding his advise as I sit on his wheel as he plows into the wind coming off Mt Tongario at 4am on the morning of November 29!