To Ride, to Race or to experience Adventure? – choose three!

My post-Taupo thinking, now that have the full collection of helmet caps is toward not only finishing but being competitive. I am certainly no natural athlete and are unlikely to come close to that top step. The goal is to be competitive with those that choose to race. To not be making up the numbers, a few of hours off the back. I have more than proven I can finish events, including those with high DNF rates. Time to step it up. I have always said “ride" when others have said “race”. Can I change my mind-set?

 

As I have always said:

Never again until next year

But next year, the goal is set, and it has set both early and high. The goal is four laps in under 30 hours in next year’s Maxi Enduro. This is a high-bar, an hour per lap less than 2012. To achieve this I am going to have to achieve a few things that are foreign to me – proper nutrition and a methodical, planned approach to training. This should see me drop 7-10kg of the “insulation-wrap” that I carry with me everywhere.

 

I have always favoured adventure, over racing in my outdoor activities and this no doubt, will continue to be. But for multi-lap events, and events I have done before I think it is time to “step it up”. To step it up, I will need to be leaner, fitter and stronger. It is always important to me to keep the fun, the adventure in all things. It keeps you fresh. It keeps you inspired. To this end, obtaining the base fitness I’ll spend more time on the mountain bike finding new places to explore, tramping and climb the odd mountain. Dabble in some trail running (or more likely marginal trail-jogging) and use randonneuring rides into new and different places as a means of building the base. It will be about incorporating the desire and fun of adventure with a more disciplined training focus. Without fun, without adventure, the risk of becoming stale and bored in training is too great. In boredom all fitness gains are easily lost. With careful thought, adventures will build the base, but 10 weeks beforehand a tunnel-visioned focus must consume me. A time to focus on the specificity of training what is required to achieve the goal that has been set.

 

Then there are other races, that are simply unobtainium. I was a bit surprised when Tim kindly pointed out I was on the qualified list for the hardest, most gruelling and most epic of all endurance cycling races: The Race Across America. I would have thought I was many hours behind the qualifying pace, but as errant as my appearance amongst far stronger, and many truly great riders – could anything else possibly be a greater motivation to attempt to train to such toward such a  high standard? [NB: I am unlikely to ever be of RAAM Solo standard, but I am huge RAAM fan!]

 

 

 

Buckle your seatbelts, and lets enjoy the ride, or is it a race?

 

For some final reflection on the 2012 Maxi-Enduro, few more photos…

 

More start-line, and Maxi-Enduro photos taken my Mum, Dad & nephew Jamie

Before the start with my Mum & my Dad.

 

Team Potato Guy

 

Assorted start-line photos

I wasn’t this near Joshua Kench for very long!

 

 

 

The official event highlights video:

Official event video – mostly the one-lappers on Saturday.

The Lanterne Rouge of the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge Maxi Enduro

 

I recently returned home from my annual pilgrimage to Taupo for the Lake Taupo Challenge. I've Now completed 7 challenges, and 18 Laps of "the pond". This year I entered the four-times round "Maxi Enduro 640km" category, and whilst this is my quickest 600km ride by about an hour and a half, this was no rando ride and I decisively came last out of the seven finishers. With this I can provide a definitive guide on how to claim the Lanterne Rouge in this category:

• Get really severely crook six weeks beforehand.
• Roll on the floor crying like a girl while passing kidney stones with five weeks to go. (Trust me, Strava doesn’t know what suffering is)
• Ride 1200km with mild heatstroke three weeks beforehand.
• Arrive in Taupo, on the startline overcooked but pedalling on all the same
• Stop at Burger King Turangi for a snack two or more times during the ride!

Ride Data:
Distance:	328.5km
Time:	34h50m
Elevation gain:	7,625m
Ride Data:	Strava / Garmin Connect
Starters / Finishers	15 / 7 (47% finished)
Location:	Taupo, Nov 23-24, 2012

Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge 640km Maxi Enduro 2012
Place	Rider	Time
1st	9810 Josh Kench	23h50m
2nd	9811 Rich Baty	25h02m
3rd	9805 Paul Lewis	25h55m
4th	9800 Colin-Wal Anderson	26h56m
5th	9801 Steven Berveling	29h29m
6th	9808 Alistair Davidson	30h09m
7th	9804 Craig McGregor	34h50m

 

Start-line

The start-line contained many familiar faces with legends Joshua Kench, Colin “WAL” Anderson, Graperide Ultimate Champion Greg Manson, Tim “The Potato Guy” Neal, Andrew Morrison and others. And others with non-riding support from Stu Downs, Lis, Helen and Tarbabies Paul Barnes and Rick & Jo.

 

Team Potato Guy was represented by Tim, Andrew Morrison and myself. Unfortunately Tim & Andrew were only able to complete two laps each, so we have since claimed to be the first ever 3-person 8-lap Extreme Enduro relay team as we completed the eight laps between us.

 

 

 

Lap One

Off the start-line I was able to hold Josh’s wheel for at least 3 metres – in the “neutral” zone! I didn’t see Josh again until he lapped me on the way up Waihi Hill on my third lap. The last 50km of the first lap, following the left-hand turn onto SH1 was in reasonably heavy, but friendly traffic with many cyclists arriving for the 160km and relay events beginning the following morning. I also received great support from some of the Onslow Tarbabies on their way, with Mike Faherty & Dave Flynn stopping to wave their Tarbabies jerseys as support flags – thanks guys. I really appreciated the support. I rolled around the first lap in 6h30m which was a half hour outside expectations. I found myself amongst some of the next days one-lap riders out for light spins, enquiring about the Enduro events on the way into, and out of the Caltex Station that acted as the interlap checkpoint. Traffic in Taupo was heavy as I idled my way through town, More concerning however, were the stats coming out of my heart-rate monitor. I knew that I would not able sustain these stats for another three laps, with my heartrate well up on where it should have been relative to the effort. This most likely pointing to a lack of recovery from my previous ride, the 1200km Great Southern Randonnee.

 

 

Lap Two

 

I stopped for a snack at the farmstay 10km into the second lap, which turned out to be well timed as the a heavy rain shower passed over while I was dry inside. In the first half of the lap, Alistair and I rode past each other a few times whilst faffing about eating, or organising lights and/or reflective clothing etc.

 

With Mt Tongariro letting off some steam earlier in the week, I thought there may have been viewing in the night but the live screening of “Volcano” had apparently been abruptly cancelled.

 

I had Tim on my wheel as I approached the Turangi checkpoint. Whilst I felt like some solid food, as good as the Hammer is, I need to chew and popped inside for a late night burger. A French Patisserie would have been more ideal?  

 

I came back out for my bike to find Tim in the van icing a sore knee but was soon back on his bike. We exchanged places a few times en-route to Taupo, where Tim was unfortunately unable to continue. Two meal stops on a 100-mile lap, may make the 8h50m slightly more respectable. I certainly wasn’t racing and had very much slipped into 1200k generous time-limits cafe-hopping rando mode.

 

Lap Three

 

I knew that lap three would be key for me. It would be a lap in the darkness and this is where fending off the sleep wombles becomes critical, especially once the moon goes down. Thankfully, I had good support with Dad tailing me and just before day break I jumped in the car for warmth and a 15 minute snooze before sending him back to the farmstay while the road was open. Alertness did not fully return with the arrival of the sun which has been my usual experience as I struggled to get the legs going after day break. As I made my way through the Kuratau and Waihi hills, Joshua Kench came through and lapped me. It had to happen sooner or later. He was sounding a little disappointed to be outside of record setting pace as we exchanged a few sentences.

I was feeling a bit clammy and exhausted by the time I reached the Turangi Checkpoint, and shockingly returned to Burger King for breakfast, where I was able to swap “nutritional advice” with iRONman Skelton who had just finished first in the Extreme Enduro for the second year in a row. I also briefly saw Paul Rawlinson at this bustling establishment as he grabbed some food to go while supported some 2-lap Enduro riders. I seemed to be riding better with more food in my stomach as I departed BK to get the job done, passing a supportive Stu Downs who was rolling into Turangi on his touring bike. The elite race went through like I was standing still, but I did receive a rousing reception up Hatepe and into Taupo. I suspect none of these people had any idea I still had another lap to go! I was a little surprised to see Andrew Morrison cheering from the grassy slope on the way into Taupo, but he had unfortunately been forced to withdraw after two laps (his blog post here).  Now realising I was the only TPG rider still rolling I was even more determined to finish.

 

 

Lap Four

 

Unfortunately I was too late through to gain the benefit of any of 160km bunches and I ambled through a very hot lap. This was my 18th lap of “the pond”, and the first time I can recall absolutely no wind or movement, nor cloud or rain around the back of the lake. The tar was melting, and the stones from the chipseal sticking to my tyres. On this lap I had pretty much had enough of riding of the rough chipseal that had seemed to have been dropped on wet tar, with no roller applied afterwards. I did not want to see it again! I was struggling to find any pace and appreciated the opportunity for the chance to get an ice-cream in Turangi to help cool down before final 50km to an anti-climatic finish with no timing equipment at either the Caltex checkpoint or the Great Lake Centre finish line.

 

Job done. I have now earned the full set of Enduro helmet caps. Yellow for the 320km Enduro, Pink for the 640km Maxi-Enduro & Green for the 1280km Extreme Enduro.

 

 

 

Post Ride Thoughts

Riding around the Lake, in clear weather, without a requirement to keep a close eye on a wheel in front, or a bunch around me showed many more points offering great views over the Lake than I had previously noted in single lap 160km events, or enduro’s in more inclement weather.

 

I find myself more of a randonneur than a racer, which can make these multi-lap events with a much greater focus on performance  a conundrum for me. Should I race them, or should just ride them? Should I try force myself to save time by staying on the liquid on-bike fuels the whole way? Could “racing” them make me a stronger randonneur?

 

Could I train myself fit enough and light enough to “race” such events? I’m not sure, but I do feel like I have some unfinished business and am likely to give the Maxi Enduro another crack next year, with an aim of breaking 30 hours. This will require quite a different lead-in to the event to this year.

 

 

Thanks to

• Keith Crate & Lynley for volunteering your time to running the Enduro events.
• Mum, Dad & Jamie for supporting me on the course, even if I was occasionally grumpy
• Stu, Matt Oliver and anyone else whose photos I ripped off Facebook :)
• The other riders that help create the event
• All those mentioned above that provided moral support
• “David” who gave me a wheel to follow into the Caltex checkpoint on lap one.
• Random strangers passing me food on laps three & four

Ruapehu Crater Lake: Summer & Winter

This past weekend I completed the second weekend of a Snowcraft course with the Wellington Tramping & Mountaineering Club. On Saturday we had good weather and made it up to the Crater Lake at the top of Mt Ruapehu. Having previously visited these parts in the height of summer, I thought contrasting the summer and winter photos from the same location would be interesting.

Pinnacle Ridge

Dome Shelter

Cathedral Rocks

Crater Lake

It’s just a Little Pond - The Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge Extreme Enduro

 

Why?

Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge 1280km Extreme Enduro 2011
Place	Rider	Time
1st	9907 Ron Skelton	69h39m37s
2nd	9902 Craig McGregor	90h45m
3rd	9904 Arthur Schwencke	92 hours
4th	9905 Colin-Wal Anderson	102 hours
	9903 Neville Mercer	DNF

I approached the Extreme Enduro with two simple purposes:

1. To prove that this is only a little pond to cycle around.

2. To complete 1200km in less time that I took to complete the Paris-Brest-Paris in August.

 

I had convinced myself riding eight laps would prove that it was only a little pond and that without the plentiful supply of pastries and crepes to distract me, I could surely complete this 1280km ride in less than 85h32m. Ultimately I proved this to only be a little pond, however four days of gale force winds was a much greater hindrance than the plentiful supply of pastries, flans and crepes in France.

 

 

The Startline

At the start-line for the eight lap Extreme Enduro was a small field of RAAM finisher, Ron “iRONman” Skelton; Cape Reinga to Bluff record holder Colin Anderson, Arthur Schwencke, Neville Mercer, myself and Bill Lane who was about to start his third lap of ten. Nick Dunne was already well into his third lap of ten. Ron appeared focussed and determined to win at the start-line and four days later it wasn’t so much as daylight between Ron and the rest of the field - it was almost an entire planetary rotation with a 21 hour gap between 1st and 2nd place.

 

With five others, we rode together until turning-off from Control Gates Hill into Pohipi Road. Colin Anderson wisely advised me it would be a lonely ride from here. He wasn’t wrong. I did briefly see Colin later in the lap but I certainly was mostly riding solo aside from the regular swapping places between Arthur and myself for the next eight laps. We certainly were similarly paced with the ebb and flow of proceedings having one of us the stronger than the other at different times over four days. It was mostly riding in solitude, although I had the company of endurance cycling fan and future NZ Outdoor Track 24hr record aspirant Stu Downs for about the first 40k of lap five (or was it six?). By lap seven, the main event had begun with the elite races, 160km solo and relay events all underway. I had been planning on being on my final lap at this time, but not to be with a brutal slow ride of battling the breeze. I rode amongst a number of different riders during lap seven, most of whom thought was crazy, insane or just plains stupid for riding eight laps. I felt obliged to point out it was excellent value at only $12 per lap compared to their  $99 per lap .

 

 

The Wind

 

The 2011 Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge is destined to be remembered as the year of the wind. In the case of the Extreme Enduro it was a case of an entire four days of gale force wind - making the Extreme Enduro far more extreme than I had anticipated in advance. Friday night was by far the worst. With the wind gusting beyond 85km/h there were branches flying past me, and the road became a slalom course of broken branches to avoid. There was a point of almost stopping during these conditions. After brief reflection, I was simply too stubborn to quit with only one and half laps remaining. In the light of Saturday, the Huka XL mountain biking event was cut short due to trees falling. I assure you by that time the wind whilst strong, was not as fierce as it was in the early hours of the morning! Given the branches flying past me on the road in the night, I can assure any disappointed competitors from the Huka XL,  that it would have been incredibly dodgy in the forest and I suspect impossible to run the event safely.

 

 

Mechanicals

 

Accessories - Unbelievably after thousands of kilometres of riding in New Zealand and France with an identical bicycle and lighting setup I had nothing but trouble with my lights on this ride. I think this was large the result of a chip-seal roads that had a lot of trucks peeling some of  chip-seal from the road making it a reasonably rough ride for a sealed road.  I had a few issues with the bumps bouncing the battery cables out of my Ayup lights and a few similar instances reset my Garmin 705 bike computer to zero (possibly related to my auxiliary Duracell power supply). I also lost my backup light overboard, never to be found again when descending Kuratau Hill in the middle of the night. The Busch & Mueller Ixon IQ was an excellent light powered by Nimh AA rechargeable batteries with both a good range and spread of light emitted. Unfortunately, the mounting system was not as good as the light unit itself .

 

Worn out tyre induced puncture - I suffered one puncture on this ride. This was caused by wear. I should really have put new tyres on before the event began, but I was hesitant to add to my array of half worn tyres. Early during lap seven I had to replace the tyre and inner tube after puncturing with the tyre worn through to the canvas around its entire circumference. I continue to be pleased with the performance and relative lack of punctures that I am experiencing when using 700x25C Continental Grand Prix 4 Season tyres. In over 10,000km ridden on these tyres, while I have worn through two rear tyres I have only suffered two punctures, this being the second.

 

Gear cable - On my final lap I assumed I had a severely frayed the rear derailleur cable. Following the post-mortem, it turned out to be gunk preventing cable moment within the cable casing. The original casing has since been replaced by some higher quality shimano cable outers. Thankfully with a support crew in-tow I was able to swap from my Trek Madone “Black Beauty” onto my Specialized Roubaix “Blue Angel” for the remaining 100km.

 

Night Riding

 

One of the lessons I learned when riding the Paris Brest Paris was how much less tiring a little moon was, than the pure darkness that zero moon and zero sun represent. I should have checked the moon phase before entering the event. During the rain of the first night, the moon rose before the sun. From that point on, the moon was rising at or after sunrise, thus providing no assistance for night riding during this event.

 

I have climbed Waihaha Hill many times, but when ascending at night it is far more ominous than it is during daylight. Without being able to see the top, climbing a hill without corners or changes in gradient the climb to the top of Waihaha Hill seemed like it was never going to end!

 

As I am more of a randonneur than a racer I am not accustomed to having a support crew. It may have been hard work for me into the wind but I noted that this type of event is even more tiring for the crew than it is for the rider. I was thankful to have a support crew provided by Mum and Dad (thank you). It was much more comfortable riding at night with a support crew behind me – much more room given by other traffic. Having a support crew was particularly useful during a couple of particularly cold moments in the middle of the night, jumping in the car with all the heaters on was very useful!

 

 

Sleep

 

I had my first sleep a lap sooner than anticipated. With accommodation in Turangi, my plan was 2 3/4 laps, but a combination of darkness in collaboration with rain and strengthening head winds left me tired and exhausted after only 1 & 3/4 laps to Turangi. I successfully set the alarm on with my phone  - in silent mode :) and got a healthy 4-5 hrs sleep before departing for Taupo to complete lap 2 . I was now well entrenched into last place. On Thursday and Friday nights I got through two laps a day plus a 2-3 hour sleep and then rode through Saturday night. All up, this would have to be considered a luxurious amount of sleep during an ultra-cycling ride. Typically in these events, those who approach it as a ride get a lot more sleep than those who approach it as a race.

 

 

The Finish

The finish was part personal glory, part anti-climax and a few hours later complete surprise. Before the event I had envisaged finishing in 75-80 hours which would have had be arriving shortly before or during the prize-giving festivities. After battling the wind, and sleeping far more than intended I did not finish until 6:45am on Sunday morning. I rode as hard as possible from Turangi trying to finish in under 90 hours, but with no tailwind and nearly 1280km in my legs, the first 20-30km went well but it was a slow crawl into Taupo in exhaustion. Whilst I received some encouraging toots from early departing traffic carrying Taupo riders and their bicycles south, it was no grand arrival. There was no-one there and the timing equipment had all been disconnected and packed up. I recorded my time in paper at the BP station and made my way to shower.

 

 

I hadn’t realised how well I had placed until my belated arrival at the Enduro Breakfast when talking to other Extreme Enduro riders. While 21 hours behind Ron, 90h45m in the wind was good enough for 2nd place this year.  Randonneuring is not well in New Zealand and I had hoped to introduce randonneuring and the Paris-Brest-Paris to the riders that we there from the 2 lap Enduro and 4 lap Maxi-Enduro events. At the time I was so exhausted that I could barely keep my head above my shoulders and as a consequence may not have expressed this as well as intended.

 

 

Reflections

• Lake Taupo may have a surface area of 616 square kilometres, but on bicycle it is merely a little pond.
• There is much, much more solo riding in the Extreme Enduro event than in the ‘Solo’ category.
• I continue to love riding my bicycles. Even in the adversity of riding in the wind, without the benefit of drafting for 1280km I still had a smile on my face the whole way.
• In trying conditions attributes of determination and stubbornness more than made up for my lack of speed or natural cycling talent.
• Ultra-cycling events are just as brutal in the form of exhaustion for the support crew as they are for the rider.
• Stopping for numerous pastries en-route is not as time consuming as riding into a headwind for four days . Yummmmmmm!!!

Twice Around the ‘Pond’–The Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge Enduro

Often referred to as a pond by cyclists that have been ridden around it many times, Lake Taupo is New Zealand’s largest lake with a surface area of 616 square kilometres. I have previously ridden around ‘the pond’ four times, one lap in each of the past four years. For me, the 2010 Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge featured a stolen bicycle, a brand new Trek and two enjoyable laps of ‘the pond’.

It was a disrupted lead in after my Specialized Roubaix Expert was stolen just 12 days prior to the event. Thankfully AMI resolved the case promptly, albeit at second-hand value and not replacement value of the bicycle. Capital Cycles gladly accepted my “emergency visa”  to top up the insurance and had me going on a new Trek Madone 5.2 quickly. They were also kind enough to loan me the factory wheels while they built some strong and durable Mavic Open Pro’s with a full compliment of spokes and Dura-Ace hubs. I was lucky to work like this done at the last minute immediately before the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge, New Zealand’s largest cycling event. These wheels are more suited to my sturdy frame and the ultra-distance endurance cycling goals I have over the next twelve months. Capital Cycles finished building the wheels on Thursday morning, so I only had a chance for 10km commute home before travelling up to Taupo the following morning.

Ride Data:
Distance:	315.47km	15,078 Calories
Time:	12h42m50s (elapsed) 12h10m53s (moving)	24.8 km/h (avg) 25.9 km/h (avg moving) 75.5 km/h (max speed)
Elevation:	Ascent: 3,512m	Descent: 3,516m
Cadence:	Avg: 86 rpm	Max: 123 rpm
Ride Data:	Garmin Connect / RideWithGPS
Location:	Taupo, NZ	27 November 2010

On Thursday evening I tried to swap the light and fast but not particularly puncture proof Bontrager tyres that came with the bike. Will be handy tyres next time I ride a shorter race or perhaps a criterium. Unfortunately, while I am usually able to change tyres without the use of tyre levers, this tyre and rim combination was simply too tight for my bare hands. With my tyre levers still in the toolbag on my stolen bicycle, the best of  intentions to be prepared in advance came to nothing and I was buying tyre levers at the event hours before my 1:30am start.

With a stiffer frame on the new Trek compared to the stolen Specialized I opted for 25C instead the “standard” 23C tyres. This allowed me to run the tyres at lower pressure without risking a pinch flat. 95-100 PSI both feels better over chipseal and offers lower rolling resistance than at 115-120 PSI I usually run at with 23C tyres. With the chip-sealed roads in New Zealand I am surprised the use of wider tyres for the many of us over 90kg is not standard practice. You may wish to read the excellent article "Tyre Pressure and Load by Jan Heine” which appeared in Adventure Cyclist in March 2009. Thinner tyres are not always faster.

My replacement Ayup headlamp mounts had not arrived from Australia before I left Wellington (In hindsight they had arrived just seven minutes after I left!). Thankfully my work colleague Phil was able to loan me a mount to use, which I fitted when he arrived at the cabin next door. I matched the Ayup light with a Cateye HL-EL530 headlamp to meet the dual lighting requirements for Audax rides. It also gave me a combination of a rechargable system with long battery life, and an backup system that could run off off-the-shelf batteries. Both have a good run times and are bright enough to be used alone for night-time road riding. The EL530 has a small concentrated bright spot, with plenty of less lit, but acceptably right area around it.to see all you need.  The Ayup lights are smaller, yet brighter and offering a far broader and consistent coverage area. The Ayup system offers better lighting, but the EL530 runs on four easily purchasable AA batteries.

With the bicycle complete, I had enough time for about two hours sleep before it was time to get up and head down to the 1:30am start. Tiredness was not a problem for me when I woke. I was excited to get out for a good long ride and see how my nice new Trek would perform. On arrival at Redoubt St, there was a lot of broken glass about but thankfully I did not hear any tyres puncture from it.

I started near the back of a field of about eighty of riders. At 1:33am we were off. To my astonishment as we rode through the initial 16km of predominantly ascending to the highest point I was still holding comfortably in the main bunch. If you are a regular reader my web-log you will be aware that I am quite used to being dropped on climbs. Whether it was training, the enforced 12 day break or the new bicycle I was adamant my new Trek was a “Rocket Ship”’!



The “Rocket Ship” verdict was confirmed through the night as I continued to stick with the bunch up, up, up and over Waihaha, Kuratau and Waihi Hills. I tried to jump the bunch to give myself time to get my brevet card signed at the Turangi Truck Stop. Ultimately, this effort was futile. Even a stop of just a few minutes, is a lot of time on the road. At 30km/h it was a matter of losing 500m per minute to the bunch. With no-one else stopping here I was obviously the only one in this bunch riding as a 300km Brevet to qualify for the Paris-Brest-Paris in August.

The remaining ride through to Taupo was mostly in solitary, although there were a few moments with two other riders. Unfortunately were unable to find speeds that we were able to ride together at. Once through to the Caltex in Taupo in a handy 5h45m. I had a short break, getting my brevet card signed, putting on a clean shirt and swapping two empties for two more bottles of perpetuem. I put some sun block on too, but by the finish it was obvious that “some” was not even nearly enough! Thanks Mum and Dad for meeting me at the controls with my pre-made drink bottles and things.

I passed through Taupo to start my second lap at about 7:30am and instantly was inundated with one lap riders with fresh legs riding straight past me. It was almost impossible to hold the bunches because someone with fresh legs would undoubtedly lead a new wave of attacks at the slightest sign of an incline. With one lap already in my legs I was feeling much more in the mood to ride in a consistent speed and effort zone than for following attacks and accelerations.

The hills sure seemed harder during the second lap. Was it just from having more work in my legs? Had the darkness flattened them during the night? Does heat make them this much harder?

The first 3/4 of the second lap was a procession of riders attacking each other and passing me. After the stopping at Turangi Truckstop for the second-time to get the third row of my brevet card signed there was a dramatic difference in the one lap riders I was riding with. With the stronger one-lappers well through now I was now leading packs, passing one-lappers with cramp or sleeping in any piece of shade they could find. This was surely the hottest day of the year? By Hatepe, I was cooking myself and a brief stop in the shade before riding up the hill past numerous other riders, some of whom needed to use the ‘two-foot’ gear. I am convinced that the key issue with Hatepe hill is not only that it occurs late in the ride, but that there is little shade, maximum sunshine and it can be stinking hot riding up here. At in 140km (or 300km) already ridden in the legs, and this non-mountainous hill suddenly feels like a wall.

Once over Hatepe I focussed on efficiency, ensuring to keep my head down and arms narrow downhill ensuring good speed without needing to pedal. This gave me excellent recovery and I was back to full power on the pedals to cross the finish line in 12h42m looking fresh, strong and ready for another lap!

More distance is certainly coming up. This ride counted as the 300km qualifier for the Paris-Brest-Paris. I now need to focus on the 400km and 600km qualifiers and then onto the 1200km epic in France in August 2011.

Day walk: Ruapehu Crater Lake

I was in Ohakune for the Ruapehu Classic which I cycled yesterday. Earlier in the week at work when I was looking at the weather maps and said I would go up Mt Ruapehu’s Crater Lake, my friend and colleague Mike said he would like meet me on Sunday and come along too, well it was more up than along actually :D.

 

When arriving at Iwikau Village at “the top of the Bruce”, the Bruce Road being the road up to the ski-fields of the Whakapapa side of Mt Ruapehu it was less familiar than it should have been for both of us, considering that we had been here many times before - in winter for snowcraft courses and mid-winter alpine trips with the Wellington Tramping & Mountaineering Club. On this occasion the volcanic rocks were not covered in snow and ice. This side of the mountain, with all the ski-field infrastructure had a relatively industrial appearance.

 

We followed a route up the Rock Garden underneath the Rock Garden and Waterfall Express chair-lifts with the occasional conversation heard above us as others had chosen use the chair-lifts instead a pleasant one hour walk to begin the day. Actually, we must have been the only self-respecting trampers on the mountain today as we did not see anyone else walking from the car-park to the top of the Waterfall Express chair-lift. When we reached the top of the chair-lift it was an industrial looking site with a digger present and construction of a new cafe for the pending winter ski season underway. This is part of the effort to repair damage from arson attacks in early 2009.

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As documented by DOC there is no official marked route to the summit. No problem, Mike and I had our brand-new Topo50 BJ34 Ruapehu maps and about three sentences of vague route information from one of Mike’s books. The three vague sentences were especially “useful” since each place name mentioned was not named on the Topo50 BJ34 Ruapehu map. After the trip I checked the older 260 series T20 Ruapehu map and they were not named on that map either. This wasn’t a problem. I took a very rough bearing to where we needed to go. Actually, it was such a rough bearing that Mike mocked me for moving the map as I rotated the compass dial. This sent us following the Knoll Ridge t-bar and approximately along the Knoll Ridge route from Mike’s book. With no official route to follow we had no problem complying with Craig’s three rules for off-track travel:

1. Travel in the correct direction
2. Choose a easy route - we’re tramping not rock-climbing!
3. Avoid bluffs and other insurmountable obstacles

Having not done a lot of tramping recently I certainly was not able to travel as quick as Mike. No problem, I know that Mike likes to play with his camera, so this allowed him plenty of time :D.

 

Being the height of summer, with the exception of a couple of snow filled gullies there wasn’t any snow to travel over.

 

As we approached Glacier Knob, we most likely chose the harder route by going directly up a scree slope when we could have sidled around it, to ultimately arrive at the same saddle. from the saddle a worn path around to Dome Shelter Equipment Shed. That said, our higher route provided a splendid view of the Summit Plateau and Cathedral Rocks before it was obscured from incoming cloud. Sidling around the side of a hill always feels a bit unnatural to me and when in doubt I always take a spur or ridge straight to the top.

 

Now at over 2600m a conversation ensured about the highest places we had been and how we got there.

• Craig: This is the highest altitude that I have been at except in a aircraft.
• Mike: Having been over the Andes in a bus, this is the highest I have been unless in an aircraft, or a bus

Following the worn path from the saddle below Glacier Knob we arrived at Dome Shelter and the sat above a view of the Crater Lake. Not that we could tell this immediately, since the cloud had moved in and surrounded us. As we nibbled our lunch, and some less deliberate high protein insect garnishes the cloud drifted in and out revealing excellent views over the Crater Lake and across to the Cathedral Rocks.

 

This is when we met Graham and Jane who were on holiday from the UK. From what

we could gather, they had arrived here via Te Heuheu after following the east-most t-bar (if I were a skier I may know what this one is called), and joining Pinnacle Ridge at some point above the pinnacles from which the ridge is named. Graham’s boots were falling apart. The small hole developing in mine was no contest for his complete adhesive failure on the soles of both boots! The grippy part was gone and he was now wearing our the squishy bit before getting down to the inner-soles and then his bare feet. Jane mentioned that it would be nice to know that were some other people around on their way down. I think she was a little more exhausted than I realised at the time.

 

On the way down we picked up a trail from the saddle below Glacier Knob that led down the Restful Ridge route. We caught up to Jane as she was slightly nervously descending a snow filled gully. This is by no means unusual for people who have descended snow a lot. Mike and I assisted her down the snow section as both Graham and Jane were becoming concerned with reaching the chair-lift before it stopped operating at 4pm.

 

After the snow section Mike and I ended up a little ahead, and following our noses headed further eastward to get back to the Waterfall t-bar that leads toward the Waterfall Express chair-lift. Having now lost sight if our British visitors we turned to see which route they were taking. They appeared to be moving toward a different chair-lift that was not operating, and also in a direction that was not  a direct-line toward the car-park. While the conditions were good and their should have been sufficient time and light for them to change their direction and reach the car-park, knowing that they were tired and now probably suffering from a case of get-there-itice, it did seem prudent to assist them back to the Waterfall Express chair-lift. It wasn’t until we arrived home to Wellington that we read the media reports of a Greek tourist who had spent the previous night on the mountain. We scrambled down the moraine to where they were and assisted them in the direction of the chair-lift. Mike went ahead to let the chairlift operator know that we were coming and not to stop it. We were scampering over moraine less straight forward than where we had been but we were travelling in the right direction and managed to thread our way between the undesirably steep sections before crossing the stream, and onto a track in front of mound hosting the Alpine Club Hut. Form here there was a more worn route directed us to the Waterfall Express chairlift.

 

Once at the chairlift, the friendly chair-lift operator, Jane and Graham convinced Mike and I to take the lift instead of walking as we had intended. Incidentally, the chairlift operator was also a marshal from the Ruapehu Classic cycle event the day before :).  About 13 minutes down via the Waterfall Express and Rock Garden chair’s was probably saved us about half an hour of walking.

 

Once back at the carpark, Jane and Graham kindly made us some coffee in their campervan which we enjoyed before the long drive back to Wellington. Thanks for the coffee, I hope you found some boots and that you are enjoying the rest of your holiday.

Chasing the Lanterne Rogue – The Ruapehu Cycle Classic 2010

After a gorgeous night sky sleeping under the stars near Ohakune I was amped up for the Ruapehu Classic. It was a cracker of day. My only concern was the potential for a long “time-trial” with limited opportunities for drafting with a smallish field. In the end it was an unusual and eventful day for me out on the course.

Not far out of the start in Ohakune, I found myself in a small group of 6-8 riders. Regardless of jittery beginnings with different approaches to operating as a bunch we were soon all taking our leads and then peeling off for a rest at the back of the group. My legs felt good and we were travelling well along the Desert Road with views of Mt Ruapehu dominating the landscape.

BANG!!! It sure did sound like a firearm, but no, it was not from the live firing military site beside us. That was my back tyre. So loud and echoey, my initial reaction was not ohno, I have a puncture but do I still have a tyre to continue on? SIGH!

Ride Data:
Distance:	143km*	6,214 Calories*
Elevation:	Ascent: 1715m*	Descent: 1714m*
Ride Data:	Garmin Connect Player
Location:	Ohuakune, NZ	6 February 2010
* Some missing data due to short ride with SAG etc.

Surveying the damage, the bead that holds the tyre to the rim was, well, holding onto the rim. However, the bursting explosion, (or in this volcanic area should I say eruption?) of my inner tube had pushed the a large section of tyre away from the bead. Hence, the bead was holding onto the rim, but the tyre was not holding onto the bead :(.

Conventional wisdom suggests that a tube failure of this nature occurs when the inner-tube is not correctly located within the tyre walls, and the explosion occurs from part of the tube being exploded outside the tyre wall or from pressure from the tyre bead. With some 1000km since my previous puncture, including events over the previous three weekends of 150km, 110km and 152km without incident it is hard to understand how this could have been.

[[I would have an impressive photo of the tyre to go here if I had remembered to collect it from SAG after the event]]

With no sign of the SAG Wagon or any mechanical support I pursued the futile endeavour of replacing the inner-tube and attempting to mount the tyre. Nope. I just proved it was broken like I already knew! About 40 minutes later the St John Ambulance came by. The had lots of bandages but no tyres and told me that the SAG Wagon was still a further 20 minutes behind. The SAG Wagon arrived 58 minutes after my tyre went BANG!. Unfortunately no spare tyres were on offer so I reluctantly loaded my bicycle into the van after a mere of 31km of riding. It seemed all over for me today.

Travelling in the SAG Wagon (well van actually) we followed and accounted for the last few riders in the event as we travelled up and down this section of the Desert Road a few times before following them into the first relay changeover point at Tukino. While I was shaking my head, musing about only riding 31km and quite possibly sulking in disappointment, I was offered the use of one of the relay riders bikes. The sizing didn’t look too good for me and I negotiated to borrow a tyre. Thankyou #359! The only condition was that I put it back on her bike afterwards :). After swapping the tyres over and getting my things back together I was soon back on the course, but being substantially behind last place I was now the new lanterne rouge. It would be a handicap race now and a matter of how many places I good make up.

Excited to back on the road after a two hour delay I was travelling well along the Desert Road as the dominant views moved from Mt Ruapehu to Mt Ngauruhoe considering the unavailability of any other riders to draft. Following the twists and turns through the Three Sisters I had to wait about five minutes for the oncoming traffic before I was able to make my way through the road works. Waiting with a rider here, once we were through I lost the title of lanterne rouge.

Soon through to Rangipo, it was time for what I believe is the worst climb of this route up past Ketetahi. It is not steep, but it does keep coming and the road surface is not particularly smooth with very large stones used in the chipseal here. I must have been doing okay as I picked up another 3 or  4 places on the way over this hill.

By the time I was on the set of hills that make the climb past Mangatapopo, I was certainly slowing. I think this was some combination of some over enthusiasm as I rejoined the event, not seeing any riders ahead of me to aim for and well, far enough ahead of the SAG Wagon now to not get caught slacking :>. In fact it wasn’t until about 9km to go that I picked up a further two places. I finished with another ride in sight sight that I was unable to reel in, even with a big sprint at the line. The event timing had my finishing time as 7h38m40s, which didn’t seem too bad with a two hour delay and a lot of riding by myself.

I had a lot of fun today. Certainly the day did not unfold how I expected, and paying for new parts is never fun. Beautiful weather and a scenic course. Back again next year for hopefully a less eventful ride.

The Ruapehu Classic takes place over a beautifully scenic course. I think that riding across the Desert Road, where many drivers often appear to think that speed limits do not apply puts many cyclists off entering this event. With a 7am start, and blowouts excepted leaving the Desert Road by 10am doesn’t make this as much of a problem as is perceived due the distance from here to the major cities.

A big thanks to the people in the SAG for rescuing me, sorry forgotten your names now, and to #359 for loaning me the tyre that enabled me to make it through to the finish. Hope you are enjoying the sunglasses that you won today.

A spluttering and deflated Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge 2009

I knew I was going to be struggling to pull out an always sought after PB around the Lake this year. Not only were my times in the lead-in events far below my PB’s from prior years (which always disappoints me), but I had picked up this awful cough and cold that everyone seems to have the moment. Well, perhaps not quite everyone, but it is certainly prevalent with every bus or train I catch at the moment.

Ride Data:
Distance:	156km	7,543 Calories
Time:	6:06:06	25.6 km/h
Elevation:	Ascent: 1704m	Descent: 1718m
Ride Data:	Garmin Connect Player
Location:	Taupo, NZ	28 November 2009

Craig's Taupo Results
2006	5:34:38
2007	4:58:36
2008	5:34:54
2009	6:06:06

 

As I coughed and spluttered my way up the hills that make up the first half of the race. Some time taken pondering if I would make the finish. I persevered on and was fortunate to have two other riders around me that seemed to be ending up in the same place regardless of incline or road surface. This always gave the ability to surge back onto the bunch as we fell a short way off the back approaching the crest of each hill.

 

With a steady south-westerly breeze blowing at 30-40km/h there wasn’t exactly no wind, but among those in the bunches it seemed those whom had ridden in the Tour of the Wairarapa two weeks ago had failed to notice it :>. Complaining of the breeze could be heard from numerous cyclists whose hometowns were not listed as Wellington on their race numbers :).

 

Having never before had a puncture during a cycle event I was mortified and deflated after only 68km - on the top of the Waihaha hills. Not only do I not get punctures during events, but this was an evil and slightly unusual front-wheel puncture! (Rear-wheel punctures being the norm due to higher weight loads on the wheel)

 

From analysing the data from my Garmin Edge 705 I was able to ascertain that it took 8:40 to:

• Curse at the fact I had a puncture
• Remind myself that I do not get punctures
• Pull out my tools
• Curse the fact that I had a puncture
• Check for sharp objects in the tyre lining
• Swap the tube
• Cuss to myself some more about the fact I had a puncture
• Re-inflate the tyre.

While the Garmin does indeed collect much data, like all technology it has its limitations and cannot distinguish between the productive time spent actually changing the tyre and the unproductive time spent cursing the fact that I had an evil puncture.

 

Once moving again my motivation was totally lacking and with some rain around Kuratau I really could not be bothered and rode gently and continued moaning to self about getting the puncture. All up, including all the cursing and reduced motivation a puncture is probably an extra 20-30 minutes of time on the road during an event like this.

 

With 50km to go I picked up a sizable bunch to travel along SH1 at good speed, giving me a few glimmers of hope that I could at least make it in under 6 hours. Unfortunately, the rumours of a specially built cyclist-only tunnel under Hatepe Hill were proven false. T

With evil cough and an evil puncture I finished in my “personal worst” time of six hours and six minutes and six seconds. Ugh! 6-6-6!

Cycle: 2009 Ruapehu Classic

I had intended to ride in an event around Taranaki two weeks earlier which I missed due suffering from bronchitis.

It was touch and go as to whether I would make the start line for the Ruapehu Classic. With a perfect weekend of weather forecast I made a late decision to go for it anyway.

With the start at 7am I thought could make it through to Waiouru (30km) by 8am. After that it would be time to climb up the Desert Road. I was apprehensive at riding the section along the Desert Rd since it is the main north-south highway in New Zealand and many drivers seem to drive fast there. Rangipo (80km) by 10am was in my thoughts. From there with downhill in reserve I thought I could pull out a 6-hour finish time.

I hit Waiouru at 7:59am, right on schedule - yay me! Then it was onto the Desert Road. I have to say riding along here was a pleasure. In the morning in the middle of a 3 day weekend (Friday was Waitangi Day) was a pleasure. Generally good, smooth seal and plenty of sun with awesome views as I rode with the mountains of Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro to my left.

I was finding myself drifting to the back of the bunch on the climbs and easily back to the front on the few downhills. This mostly being due to keeping my head much lower than those in the surrounding pack, so the aerodynamics took me straight through the bunch each time.

My heart briefly raced as I went downhill approaching a 25km/h signposted corner. It was all sweet and under control until my rear wheel rolled over a small rock on the apex of the bend. I saved the fishtail and stayed upright but slowed substantially as I regathered my senses and saw the entire bunch ride straight past me on the immediately following hill.

Of course riding by myself made it a bit harder, but I was still through to Rangipo at 9:45, well ahead of schedule - yay me!!

By myself, once I turned left at Rangipo it got very tough going. Heading up hill past the Ketetahi exit from the Tongariro Alpine Crossing I was really struggling. The rougher chipseal was of no help whatsoever either. In agony I persevered on to yet more climbing up to the Mangatepopo entrance to the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.



Soon I was done. Regardless of mostly downhill ahead of me I was shot. This is the first time I haven't finished, and may it be the only time! I found some shade and called on my parents bring my car around and rescue me. While I was waiting another chap was pretty exhausted too. So we gave him a ride back to Ohakune with us.

Garmin Connect doesn't provide options to embed ride stats yet, but here is some HTML fun that should return the correct Adobe Flash object?