I’m a “Super Randonneur” again..

 

The Super-Randonneur award is awarded for the completion of 200km/300km/400km/600km rides within a Randonnuering year (Nov 1 – Oct 31). It is also the qualifying requirement for many 1200km events, which was my primary motivation. This is the second time I have completed a Super-Randonneur series, the previous time being while qualifying for Paris-Brest-Paris in 2011. Here is the 2011 medal, I’ll need to wait a while to see what the 2013 edition looks like.

 

 

 

 

Randonneuring (or Audax) rides have a low profile in New Zealand, which is a shame because we have found some nice rides, in very scenic areas. If you would like me on any of these rides give me a yodel or see http://www.kiwirandonneurs.org.nz

 

 

400km – Marlborough Mayhem

Riders: Craig (22h36m); Rita (AB)

Time-limit: 27 hours

 

It is often argued that 400km brevets are the hardest to complete due to being longer than a 300km, but not reducing the average speed enough for a sleep break like a 600km brevet. So, naturally that is what I started with, jammed into the Christmas crunch, was our Marlborough Mayhem 400km brevet. With a desire to qualify for  1200km ride further afield later in the year, I promptly rescheduled my flights home for Christmas and booked a ferry across Cook Strait and back again.

 

As I rode up the long false flat that is the Wairau Valley the misty morning cleared albeit, not enough to allow us to see the mountain vistas of this area. As St Arnaud approached the false flat was replaced by real climbing as we made our way up to this alpine village. With Elaine's cafe which I frequented on many a past tramping trip no longer trading, I bought a snack from the general store, before heading to Kawatiri Junction and up over the Hope. It was soon obvious that I was not a climber as I struggled up the steep pitches.

 

I had a brief flat patch, with zero energy and feeling mildly faint just before reaching Nelson and had to stop for an emergency snack on the cycle way, just moments away from Nelson. I must say that I was very impressed with Nelson's  integrated, and signposted cycle network.

 

Leaving Nelson required climbing the Whangamoa Hill, with sea fog set in on a warm and humid night. There was another bump before dropping into the Rai Valley and onto Havelock well after the shops had closed for the night.

 

I waited a few minutes for Rita to arrive but unfortunately it getting too late, and tiring, she chose to abandon and take a 20km shortcut back to Picton via the hillier route on Queen Charlotte Drive. Meanwhile I proceeded the flatter, but more distant route via Rapura Rd, although I will admit that I did sneek in a much needed needed a ten minute snooze to manage my tiredness en-route back to Picton.

 

 

 

300km – Round the Tararuas

Riders: Craig; Simon; Tim – All 17h51m

Time-limit: 20 hours

 

After Christmas I returned home to Wellington and was joined by Tim and Simon. We were able to meet Paris-Brest-Paris ancien Ed Allen for a snack at our first control in Carterton. Before the devastating heat of the afternoon kicked in, with the thermometer well over 30 degrees for most of the day. In Wellington we think it hot if it reaches 20 degrees! This led to us many time consuming rest-stops to eat more ice-creams, in all contributing to over four hours off our bikes.

 

 

 

600km – Picton – Westport – Picton

Riders: Craig (38h57m); Rita (AB)

Time-limit: 40 hours

 

It briefly looked like we may have had up to five riders for the 600, but after late withdrawals, it was just ride organiser Rita and myself.

Two days beforehand we swapped the route around so that more services would be open, and the overnight rest stop at Murchison could be at 382km instead if 440km. This seemed like a good idea - until getting our bikes at 5am on Saturday morning and riding into a headwind up the long false flat that is the Wairau Valley. At the top at St Arnaud we were a mere 40 minutes ahead of the time limit, so it was starting seem a tad tight even at this early stage. Time for fruitful hours of sleep was already seeming unlikely.

 

We met up with Kiwi Randonneurs stalwart Duncan and Tony in Murchison, where after 290km into the headwind Rita decided it wasn’t much fun and chose to abandon. As for me, this was the only 600km ride I had available for qualifying so I pushed on into wind and rain down the beautiful Buller Gorge to Westport, where all businesses decided to celebrate my arrival at 9pm by either closing or ceasing to be serving anymore food. So, it was nuts and snackbars on a concrete step outside New World (thanks for the extra snacks Duncan – was looking grim).

 

Then it was a climb up to Murchison for a 90 minute sleep in the motel before setting off over the Hope and into Nelson. No sign of the rain of the Buller from the night before as a sun shone and the temperature soared, especially felt when climbing over the Whangamoa Hill. The strategic placement of a control point at Pelorous Bridge for a good pie, didn’t quite work out as all I wanted was anything frozen to help cool me down before the final push around Queen Charlotte Drive and back to Picton.

 

 

200km – Taranaki Spin

Riders: Andrea (12h30m); Craig (12h30m); Rita (8h45m)

Time-limit: 13h30m

 

This was “multi-sport” weekend for Kiwi Randonneurs, with Rita backing up from a half-ironman the day before, and myself from an ascent of Mt Taranaki. I mostly rode with Andrea who was visiting from Brazil, although I wasn’t sure if I was going to finish when I broke two spokes near Stratford. Thankyou ‘Z Stratford’ for the loan of some tools, which enabled me to loosen the in tact spokes so the wheel would turn between the forks and enable me to complete the ride, and my Super Randonneur Series.

 

Our route was a variation on the Round the Mountain which would have only been 150km. Ironically, some of the best riding was in the quiet rural roads, and the scenic finish along the New Plymouth Coastal Walkway (a shared path) which had been added to bring the distance up to the required 200km.

 

Surviving the Great Southern Randonnee 1200

This ride seemed to throw everything at me. From extreme heat to southerly wind and rain; illness & mechanical concerns.

!Training

To be fair, I didn't get much training in over winter. Actually, it may be more honest to say that I did not get any training in over winter. The weather was pretty awful, I had a short bout of illness. That said, following three road 1200's and a dirt 1100km event in eight months, I was overdue for some time off the bike. However I did get a small weather opening to get some hill training in :).

As you can see, from the snow and ice in shot, it was perfect weather conditions to acclimatise to riding in Australia in early summer, or perhaps it wasn't :>. That said, Mt Ruapehu has been warming up somewhat since then. (See: Mt Ruapehu could blow at any time).

I did get a pair of back to back 200's in shortly before departing for Australia. Whilst the wind served well for strength training, the rain on the 200 home may have been the instigator for mechanical issues experienced 900km later.

I’ve digressed, time to talk about the ride. The briefing mentioned being ware of kangaroos, wombats, and magpies with these black and white birds described as dressed up as New Zealanders. Fair cop. Obviously no need to mention wallabies, they have proven afterall, that they are clearly no threat. (Although the locals seem to be claiming a recent draw between the All Blacks and the Wallabies like a victory).

Moonlight

Ride Data:
Distance:	1,206km
Time:	89h00m
Elevation gain:	7,625m
Ride Data:	Strava / Garmin Connect
Location:	South-West Victoria, Australia  Oct 29-Nov 2, 2012

With the ride beginning from Anglesea at 6pm on  clear and calm night, for the initial Bellerine Peninsula loop. This first 200km began in the early evening and featured sunset followed by a still moonlit night, of which was most beautiful at the point when the moonlight was being reflected off the water over Port Phillip Bay.

Aided by good conditions and an early bunch, and a short time sucking Hamish’s wheel until I was dropped swapping my water bottles from my back pocket. Ooops, a little trickier to do in motion from under a reflective gilet. 197km & 3 controls (plus a secret control) down and a meal break in 8.5 hours, and I was well ahead of my planned schedule, a quick snack and I feeling great and ready to rock on!!!

Some may like it hot, but I sure don't!

I was still making good time to arrive at Apollo Bay (271km) before 7:30am, with a mere further 213km planned for the day, I was on schedule to arrive at Port Fairy (483km) at about sunset (8pm-ish) as planned. Unfortunately, it was a bit uphill & downhill for me all at the same time me as the morning became day and I started coming to a grinding halt unable to keep myself cool. In New Zealand I would have dunked my head in a stream to cool off, but here is Australia ‘t'is a dry and barren land with no such options available. I found the Lavers Hill climb to be arduous. On the one hand, this was a mere "Australian Mountain" and not much more than a false flat by home standards, but with the sun beating down, a lack of shade and the temperature at 32degC and rising, the energy was being sapped from me turning this into an epic climb. I consumed my three water bottles consumed in a mere 31km, and once I reached the top, there was a fairly hefty margin applied by the proprietors of the store on top of the hill. AUD$21 certainly doesn't go far there!

Following the joy of the descending, the ride through to Port Campbell (367km) was scenic, but featured as little shade as possible, with views of the ocean to taunt me by never quite close enough to offer the chance to jump in for a swim. The temperature continued to soar, with my Garmin fenix watch peaking at 37 degC. I can assure the last and warm mouthful of water in a bottle is neither thirst quenching, nor refreshing.

An ice bath would have been great at the Port Campbell control but I settled for beans on toast followed by some COLD ice cream. After spending an hour so at the control, gaining some respite from the sun I headed back out bound for Hopkins Falls and Port Fairy. I was soon struggling in the heat and pausing for rest whenever a shaded opportunity presented itself. The time advantage built previous evening all but evaporated as I arrived for for a quick break for soup at Hopkins Falls (435km) on dusk. I started experiencing cramps at this control but pushed on for Port Fairy. Riding late into the evening, without the temperature seeming to get much any cooler, eventually arriving at Port Fairy (483km; 11:25pm) struggling with the heat and unable to eat and promptly collapsed into a heap obviously the floor in the corner, hoping to feel better after I woke up. The offer of a comfortable bed being a few too metres away for me at the time lol.

90 minutes later I woke with simultaneous cramps in right calf; left quad; right foot & left hand! I felt rested and awake but also like I was being slowly roasted. Still feeling hot and flustered I was struggling to eat and get food down, and could barely drink a cup of tea! I was incredibly uncertain of my capability to complete the ride. In fact I was almost certain I would be recording a rare DNF at this point. Peter McCallum was quite big on telling me to HTFU (refer rule #5) at this point and advised me it hadn’t been hot at all of course, hails from North Queensland. I must invite over for some winter rides, perhaps in the deep south? A big thanks to the vollies at Port Fairy who helped me get back on the road.

Randonneuring is all about the finishing and not racing, or lowest net time. It is crucial to never redraw until it really is absolutely impossible to complete the event. I made some calculations of latest time I could leave for the next checkpoint at Macarthur and keep within the time limit. It came down to, if I could keep scrambled eggs on toast down I would continue. With this successfully I achieved  Phew, not feeling great but I was still rotating. Julian and I set off for Macarthur together.

Arriving at Macarthur (532km) right on the close off time, I had soup for sustenance and headed onward for the well setup Dunkeld (600km) control where I was able to move on soup and consume a solid baked spud before heading up and through the Grampians with Mick. We tried to ride together but had different strengths so as the it briefly warmed on a sun exposed clibn and I soon found myself riding alone again climbing, at least until reaching a temporary road closure for a quick snooze during a 46 minute wait before charging with springs in my legs for Halls Gap (665km). I appeciated both the scenery and increased shade that this hillier, and more forested section of the ride presented.

A brief snack at Halls Gap before heading out for the return trip to Moyston (697km). This section seemed to drag on for a mere 31km, but after getting my card signed and turning around with a tailwind, I could understand why. This provided a nice quick return back to Halls Gap (729km).

Leaving Halls Gap, just before dusk left a chunk of night riding back to Dunkeld (794km) and featured a certain amount off kangaroo slalom as I made my way through the Grampians to Dunkeld, during which the wind turned and the temperature finally began to cool  down. At Dunkeld I enjoyed another spud and a two hour sleep during much of the rain before heading back to Macarthur (863km). With the wind now a south-westerly with showers in the air, I was more-or-less riding home conditions now. With the weather bringing my body temp down, I was feeling much better and felt like I had powered down to Macarthur and onto Port Fairy (911km) regardless of the strong head and cross winds. Some of the other riders told me later that they thought they were going bit be blown over, but blowing at 50km/h – surely a mere gentle breeze?

I was pleased to arrive in Port Fairy (911km) in better health for many reasons. Perhaps one of the more important was that this time I would be able to the apple crumble that I unable my previous time through this control.

A pain in the ball bearings

On the ride back to Hopkins Falls (960km) I began to feel some movement in my cranks for the first time, and by the time I reached Port Campbell (1028km) it was becoming excessive. While I ate dinner, some of the helpful volunteers took a look and soon had the very worn ball bearings living in a grease bath that would hopefully survive the remaining 200k. All the grease had been washed out in by rain some time earlier, so the bearings wore themselves out.

I don’t usually ride the Madone  in the rain unless it is during a 1200, so with no play before I started it was disappointing to encounter this issue in the middle of such a long ride. I did get drenched at home the weekend before departing for Australia, so that may not have helped.
.
I have subsequently discovered that Trek uses a proprietary flavour of bearings in the Madone, that can only be ordered from Trek. A Madone BB90 is not like other BB90's. Non-standard components are not exactly ideal for long distance cycling. My LBS suggested riding with them so worn was not a good idea because with this design (no press-fit bearings and no sleeve) as it could lead frame damage.

The return trip over Lavers Hill in the dark seemed to take an age, conscious of the bearings and crank movement I took it easy and battled a fare amount of tiredness too. I rode some of the section through to Hordern Vale (1102km) with Sarah & Bec (see Sarah’s GSR Video). The climb up to the Hordern Vale control sort of reminded me of the uphill arrivial at the controls on PBP last year.

Bringing it home

I was able to get a couple of hours sleep, once again at the same time as heavy rain before leaving on rain break for the descent to Apollo Bay and a coffee to warm up before the final push back to Anglesea (1200km).

By the finish I was having reasonable difficulty changing the front derailleur due to extensive crank movement, so spent most of it pushing the big-ring (refer rule #90). It felt a strong finish in my legs, but likely only in the context of already have 1100km in the legs.

I was pleased to finish, following an over-time-limit on the Kiwi Hunt, and after it wasn't looking good at Port Fairy, after riding in the heat on day one. To top things off, the Town Crier arrived at the post-ride barbeque and welcomed all the international riders (including those from New Zealand even). We were presented with Aussie flags and kangaroo pins.

Completion of 1200’s continues to leave me with a feeling of accomplishment, and I’d like to think I have more many more 1200’s in me yet! With 1200 routes selected proudly by local organisers to show off there part of the world, they present an excellent way to get out and see the world. I felt well looked after on the GSR, and think I will be back again when it is next schedules in 2016.

Apparently I was not the only person to suffer from the heat. About a quarter of the 1200km field, and 10 of the 12 1000km riders were unable to continue. I hope you all find conditions more in your favour for your next rides.

And a huge thanks to ride organiser Stephen Rowlands and the army of vollies that organised the ride, kept us fed, watered and rotating for 1200km.  (sorry I can’t recall all of your names right now. And a special thanks to Dave for transport to and from Melbourne.

Also see:

I didn’t take many photos on this ride, but you can enjoy more multimedia from the ride visit the links below.

• Audax Australia’s GSR 2012 Photo Gallery
• Cath Stephenson’s “Best Of GSR 2012”
• Cath Stephenson’s GSR 2012 Deeper Water Video
• Sarah Chaplin’s GSR2012 Video
• Audax Australia's GSR2012 Results (google docs)

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.