Father Randonneurmas Delivers

Thankyou Santa Mark Thomas.

I was hoping Santa was going to deliver the Audax Australia Checkpoint Magazine today, but he chose to surprise me instead .
Thank you Mark, and perhaps Santa is from quite as far north as the North Pole, as previously believed?

Mark, was riding on Audax Australia’s Sydney Melbourne 1200k where I had a bit of a spill after a collision with a wombat (more on this blog soon, or see the Summer Issue of Checkpoint Magazine). Aside from  five fractured ribs and a separated AC Joint on my shoulder, I did destroy some clothing and left a few scratches on my cycle. As I’ve previously noted, finding genuinely reflective isn’t the easiest of tasks, so it was wonderful to receive this surprise in the mail.



It serves an example of the camaraderie between Randonneurs around the world.
Merry Christmas everyone.

Gerry Eddlemon sets UMCA records in New Zealand

I followed along in the support vehicle as Gerry Eddlemon set about creating a UMCA record* for crossing the North Island. With no established UMCA records in New Zealand, Gerry selected a end points of Raglan and Te Araroa to set a course that travelled due west between each side of the North Island.

Riding in the support vehicle were crew chief Ron Skelton, Tim Neal, Di Chesmar, myself and UMCA officials Christine Couldrey and Tracy Parke. Add-in Gerry's ten laps of Taupo (1 x Extreme Enduro; 1 x Enduro) and there were 107 laps of the Contact Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge crossing the North Island!

Long distance cycling is going from strength to strength in New Zealand. Now that there are some records set*, let's see if we can all encourage greater participation in the sport.

* These records are pending ratification by the Ultra-Marathon Cycling Association. Gerry also created a record* across the South Island recently.