It is something Te Kuiti carpenter and former New Zealand under-19 triathlete Kieran Powell has learned so far on his marathon cycle journey around New Zealand to raise money for Hospice New Zealand.
The 31-year-old started out in Raglan on December 1 last year, and travelled up the west coast of the North Island to Cape Reinga before heading for Wellington down the east coast.
From Picton, he travelled across the top of the South Island, down the west coast to Invercargill, and arrived in Dunedin yesterday after travelling up through the Catlins.
Rather than take the main state highways on his journey, he chose to ride coastal roads — a journey that has been proving to be less than plain sailing.
"When I mapped out my route, I didn’t factor in the elevations. It’s been bloody hilly, but I’ve seen some amazing scenery," Mr Powell said.
"I just have to keep remembering that with every uphill, there is a downhill."
His next mistake came when he hit a stone and fell from his bike, breaking his scaphoid bone.
He continued to ride with a large black cast on his forearm — something that was painful at first, but was improving.
Then there was the dodgy chicken pie which gave him food poisoning and forced him to rest for several days in Nelson.
"There were no incidents of jet propulsion — I was lucky there," Mr Powell said.
And then there were the several wasp stings he had received along the way, which had left him with grapefruit-sized welts on his legs.
"Painful but not life-threatening."
While any one of those incidents would give most people an excuse to pack up and go home, Mr Powell continued on the journey.
"It has never crossed my mind to quit.
"The cause — raising awareness and money for hospice — has kept me going.
"Nana looking down on me, she would be proud to see me keep going."
He decided to do the 12,000km ride following the death of his grandmother from bowel cancer last year.
"She was 97, so she had a very good innings.
"She went into hospice care and she just raved about them — couldn’t talk highly enough," he said.
"Hospice are an amazing cause, so I’m raising money for them to help other people like Nana."
He hoped that the rest of his trip would be much less eventful.
"Tomorrow, I’ll head north up the east coast, back to Picton, and from Wellington I’ll head back up the west coast back to Raglan.
"I’m hoping to get back there by the end of February.
"All up, the journey will be just under 12,000km and I will have learned a lot of lessons."
