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

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.