ECNZ 2010 – Day 2 –Kataia to Whangarei

ECNZ 2010 – Day 2 –Kataia to Whangarei

On this camp we have approximately 2/3 epic vets and 1/3 newbies. This is a pretty common trend with many athletes coming back many times for there dose of Epic madness. One of the reasons the camps go down so well is the support crew who work their butts off and today threw some extra challenges at them (two broken trailers, a crash, 2.5hrs of rain and the usual daily tasks)

Super Dave Dwan – our lead man

Mair Mills – chief extraordinaire

Kay Cauldwell – first time supporter doing a great job

Andrew “Turps” Turpin – general dogs body

Russell Maylin (Action Potential in Auckland) – smooth hands – keeping our bodies in one piece with massage

We’ll be having a swap out of the crew for the South Island as the support role drains the life out of you whilst being fun and rewarding at the same time. Thanks for your help guys.

Today’s journey contained a solid profile which we now know included 2200m of climbing over 178km of riding. We had about 20-25km of flat riding before a KOM. We started in the rain and it got persistently heavier, on the flip side we did have a healthy tail wind. In an effort to discourage any crazy riding and not having to deal with spray I got on the front and pulled all the way to the bottom of the climb, a nice steady pace. As soon as the climb started I upped the pace slightly and it was game on with the attacks coming, first from Madman countered by Gordo. The only man keen to jump on Gordo’s wheel was wiley vet Roger Wacker who seemed to be inspired by his green jersey performance from yesterday (the coaches award jersey for personifying the epic spirit), Roger even lost his glasses out the back of his pocket but the KOM was more important to him (so if you’re after a new set there is still a pair sitting on the side of the road near Kaitaia). Impressively Roger held on for 2^nd behind Gordo and I was quite pleased with my 3^rd – unfortunately for Roger he lost concentration later in the day and crashed heavily.

The rest of the ride was friendly pace for myself and the Grupetto – I’ve got a deal with myself that I am going to ride easy for the most part of the north island unless it’s for points. It really was a spectacular route today between Kaikohe and Maungatapere

No swim or run for me today, just the minimum which was the ride.

Tomorrow is looking brutal with a tough profile and headwinds forecast.

Summary

Bike 178km