Martinborough Charity Fun Ride 2009 – I’m slow this year

I really disappointed myself with my time in my fourth annual ride in the Martinborough Charity Fun Ride. Yes, I was sore from last weeks epic in the Coromandel but really I’m plain not fit enough this cycling season. Not only was it not a PB, but it was a awfully slow PW (Personal Worst)!.

Ride Data:
Distance:	113km	5,416 Calories
Time:	4:06:43 (PW by 14 minutes)	27.4 km/h
Elevation:	Ascent: 1,132m	Descent: 936m
Ride Data:	Garmin Connect Player
Location:	Martinborough, NZ	8 November 2009

Craig's MCFR Results
2006	3:52?
2007	3:36:04
2008	3:45:51
2009	4:06:43

I was unable to remain in bunch while ascending even these benign hills. I am stunned how much my hill climbing has completely deserted me this year. It is vividly clear that this is the main element that I will need on in training. I have never been an ultra-thin, borderline anorexic able to boast of superior power to weight ratios when climbing hills. But, I am certainly used to being a lot stronger on the hills than I currently find myself. Lots and lots of training to do! Ugh! The dreaded hill repeats!!

Unfortunately with a breeze around, I was not able to make it back to the bunch after the descents. This left me far too much work to do and I was just wasn’t fit enough for it. It is not looking up for a good lap around the small pond of Lake Taupo in a few weeks :(.

It's going to be a long road back to beating the PBs!

June already, I now have 28 days until the half-marathon I entered a few months ago. I entered with a view of improving fitness and cardio to help achieve some cycling PB's heading into the spring and summer cycling events.

Training has been limited to non-existent. It is about 9 years since I last ran this distance. At the moment I have had the odd encourage training run, but really it has been mostly disappointingly slow "jogging". Its going to have be a good effort to get up to speed for this one. Due to my current slothful unfitness I am simply aiming to finish without stopping or walking in under two hours.

So, what do I do over a long weekend while lamenting on my lack of fitness? Well, not much in the miserable gales and hailstorms. Just sitting back and updating my blog of course :). It should be much prettier and more readable now. Thanks to the folks at freeskins.blogspot.com because editing and manipulating CSS certainly is not my forte. I've also added in my Twitter and Garmin Connect feeds for small updates when I am too lazy to write a full blog entry - which happens to be quite often.

This blog not been abandoned - honest!!!

I am still alive. I just haven't been posting anything for ages. Sorry.

Recently I have been doing a reasonable amount of road riding, but are well behind on fitness. Unfortunately not much to report on the PB front this past year, so I might try something new this winter and actually train. I thought I might do a bit of running which is something I have not done for some time. Must be eight or nine years since I last completed a half marathon. Sure am suffering when I take myself out for run. 

Since I have been so slack in posting of late, I have included my Garmin Connect data below. You can see I have been slooooow and suffering of late. I will rectify this and find some fitness from somewhere - promise.

I haven't been up into the hills tramping for like ever so must get back up into the Tararuas real soon. 

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?