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.

Tour de Roadworks

Tour de Ranges Roadworks 2010

It was not the best start to the weekend when I was trapped at Wellington Airport for an extra 90-minutes due to rain and fog in Wellington. Waking up in Auckland on Saturday morning it was not any better with rain and mist covering the entire region witnessed during the drive from the North Shore down to Clevedon at the other end of the City.

 

The start of the ride was a little unusual with ‘GO’ being spoken without a proceeding countdown causing some confusion among the cyclists at the front of the start line. Once off the line there was the usual helter-skelter start as riders tried to get the preferred bunches at the front of the field. The hills through the first ten kilometres ably performed the duty of sorting the riders into groups nearer their own fitness and ability.

Ride Data:
Distance:	108km	5,358 Calories
Time:	3:58:55	27.1 km/h
Elevation:	Ascent: 1158m	Descent: 1168m
Ride Data:	Garmin Connect Player
Location:	Auckland, NZ	23 January 2010

 

The route of the Tour de Ranges Roadworks has the potential to be a brilliant mix of scenery, undulating hills and very low motor-traffic volumes. Unfortunately the road conditions for 2010 were a let down due to roadworks and to a lesser extent the weather. Personally, I would not train on roads in this state. The gravel on the roads equates to shredding expensive tyres and potentially dangerous blowouts. Having ridden in other events that have altered their courses in the past, the further into the ride witnessing all the puncture repairs I was a tad surprised that the course had not been changed or relocated to elsewhere in the Auckland region today. It was certainly enough to give those at the elite end of the spectrum rather potty mouths! Fortunately I did not have lightweight race tyres on today and managed to complete the course puncture free. It felt like I was in the minority not puncturing today!

 

While I witnessed many punctures in the first 10-15km, with a smidgen of loose gravel sprinkled over the sealed roads the real trouble was further up the road. To call it roadworks may be kind, as that would presume that there would have to be some road. There were two or three large sections of roadworks in which the road became a loosely formed track with its surface consisting of rocks rather than bitumen or even gravel. Along these sections the distance to puncture ratio continued to decline rapidly with countless riders on road edge swapping inner-tubes and re-inflating their tyres.

 

Somewhere near Hunua my right eye became irritated. I presumed I had water and spray in it from a wheel in front of me. Unable to clear it, and regretting leaving my cycling glasses on my dining table in Wellington I was riding as a one-eyed alien the rest of the way to the finish. A combination of being half blind, rain and mist meant I completely missed the promised views of the Hunua Ranges from with the Tour de Ranges Roadworks gets its name.

 

A gradual incline from Mangatawhiri led to a sweet descent down to Kaiaua bringing us to the coast and even some sunshine! Wow! Without the rain and mist it was nice fast ride along the Seabird Coast before the route became more undulating with a couple of short climbs before the King of the Mountains climb up Snake Hill. The KOM, U23 and line honours went to Tom Findlay an hour-and-a-quarter in front of me – best I stick to my day job!!

 

Once over Snake Hill, it was back into the rain and mist with the last 20km was gentle and undulating offering the chance for me to regain my breath before I made a sprint at the line to ensure I finished in under four hours – 3:58:55 phew!!

 

St John Ambulance kindly rinsed my little eyeball at the finish but in the end it was a visit to the doctor and with aid of his magic gue and a couple of days it sorted itself out. Must not ever leave my glasses behind again!!!

 

Looking forward to returning with the roadworks completed and the hope of more sunshine. Any meaningful statistics on punctures today would make enlightening reading. There must have been 100 or so? More?? Not what one normally thinks of when speaking of cycling a century!