This afternoon, me and my bike spent some quality time together...just the two of us.

I took Granny (that's what I call my bike due to the large amount of time that I spend in 'granny' gear...that's the lowest gear possible) to the beach.

Sitting on the pier, watching the surfers on the waves, was where I broke the news...she couldn't come with us to Nelson, Picton or any of the northern part of the South Island.

She didn't say much, but I could tell she took it pretty hard.
We sat in silence for a while.
I explained that it wasn't goodbye for good, just a little while. She would have a nice dry home in Rich and Col's garage in Christchurch, her chain wouldn't rust...she could think of it as a holiday.
I think she was thinking what I was thinking....sure, it would be nice, but the pain of watching Rich and Col take their bikes out of the garage daily for long rides might just be too much to bear.

I promised that I would put her in a spot where she couldn't see what was going on.
Eventually she came around, I could tell she understood that this was something I needed to do.

We rode home in the sunshine, enjoying the little time we had left.