ECNZ 2010 – Day 15 – Balclutha to Bluff part 2

ECNZ 2010 – Day 15 – Balclutha to Bluff part 2

Everyone was in good spirits for the roll out this morning although the profile looked like we were in for a tough day. After about 1km we turned off the main road and for the rest of the days ride we were on a great coastal road around the Catlins where it seemed traffic was limited to 1 vehicle per hour. The pace was easy and we were able to ride two abreast all day and have a bit of a chat. Whilst we had a few good climbs the wind was at our backs and the clouds cleared to a wonderful sunny day.

I ended up riding with Nick, Tara and Pete and we were in cruise control which was great as every time I seemed to stand I got a good flush of lactate through my legs. There is also quite a bit of sickness spreading through the camp as our immune systems hit ground zero, lots of coughing and spluttering. Another reason to take it easy on the final day.

From lunch at 135km we had a mandatory regroup and rode the last 50km together ‘friendly’. I got on the front with Rob Hill and rode easy, by this stage the “sea breezes” were really kicking in and we were rolling over 40km/hr at about 100-150watts, the sun was beating down, this was how we wanted to finish the camp. As we rounded the peninsula to Bluff we went straight into the wind but by that stage I really didn’t care.

In NZ we have two main bike tours (Wellington & Southland). The most talked about stage is bluff hill which is something like 3km @ average of 18% with a good pitch of around 25% at the top. In the tour the riders zig zag up the climb and many end up walking. I told the guys that unless that had appropriate gearing they really would struggle to make it up. It’s a dangerous thing to tell motivated athletes that they can’t do something and they all proved me wrong. A number of guys led by Molina made it up including Douglas Scott who back flipped off his bike in the steep section. I really have to take my hat off to those that made the choice to go up and make it, that’s was one hell of a way to finish the camp. The rest of us waited at the bottom of the hill and we all rolled to the lands end together and popped the bubbly. I was proud of everyone for making the journey and proud of myself for organising this circus and pulling it off without major drama. A very funny moment was when a pair of tourists came up to us for a photo, they has been at Cape Reinga two weeks earlier when we started and arrived at Bluff at the exact same moment.

To finish off the camp I had a planned run around the base of Bluff hill on the Foveaux walkway. Another stunning 7km run which ocean views. The only issue was that half way around the track veered upwards rather than around the hill and we ended up heading straight up to the top. Again, not in the plan but a calf cracking climb and quad busting descent was a fitting end to the camp. Then we were done.

All in all, a tremendous trip that will probably take some time to sink in for everyone. For all my pre camp fears about my own performance I came out the other side well and felt I reached all my goals. Whilst it was bloody hard and the last couple of days fatigue was setting in big time it was nowhere near as hard as I thought it would be. I think the weather had a big big part to play in this regard. We had very mild temperatures and a lot of tail wind (this was semi planned as during our summer the prevailing wind is from the North). If we had received a few baking hot summer days I think there would have been massive carnage. Days would have been tougher and recovery slower.

The highs for me on this camp were the coastal highways we rode in both islands (especially South of Oamaru) and the final day run. The low was the ride from Christchurch to Geraldine.

Other reflections

- Undercarriage - I didn’t get any chaffing at all. I couldn’t believe this. I applied a huge amount of Keywin chamois cream each day and often topped it up at lunch, it obviously worked a treat.

- Body - I was very lazy on stretching despite my intentions but our great team of massage therapists kept us together. I had a few Achilles tweaks and like everyone had sore quads for a few days after the first day 25km run. Also I was getting some pains in my elbows on the final few days from the big chip roads. I also think the minimal ‘racing’ we did on this camp held our bodies and health together.

- Route - The North island riding was a hell of a lot better than I though when we got off the main highways. Whenever we took the coastal highways it was just incredible

- Athletes – a couple of athletes came into this camp with question marks over there health and almost pulled out before we got started. Roger Wacker and Jordon Cantrell sucked it up and both got through the camp, nice work. Hats off to them and everybody for making this such and enjoyable camp for everyone. It’s very easy to get a few bad eggs to spoil things for everyone on such a long journey.

One of the main reasons we can get through Epic Camp is that all you really need to focus on is train, eat and sleep. The support crew have been incredible. Dave Dwan, my right hand man, was the only member of the support team who was with us all the way. His professionalism and energy are a big part of epic camp and we couldn’t do it without him. Thanks Dave and all the rest of the team

Summary

Bike 190km

Run 7km

Camp Summary – 15 days

Swimming 26.2km

Biking ~ 2300-2400km

Run – 100.2km

Next camp is planned to be in Colorado in August – more information out soon.

Time to go home now and re-acquaint myself with my family and the outside world.

ECNZ 2010 – Day 15 – Balclutha to Bluff

We made it.
Great day, great sights, sunny day and tail winds. All good.

Off to celebrate now - more tomorrow

ECNZ 2010 – Day 14 –Waianakarua to Balclutha

ECNZ 2010 – Day 14 –Waianakarua to Balclutha

15mins to dinner so this is going to be quick.

A bit of sting in the tail of Epic.

First 50km was friendly riding – nice

Then an awesome stretch off the main highway via Karitane, some tough climbs and lovely views. Along with that the scariest moment of the camp. We were dealing with quite a few rail crossing then on a full speed descent coming around blind corner we hit a 25m stretch of shingle all the way across the road. I was behind Jo and Gordo who went in opposite directions trying to stay upright and I ended up just hitting the grass. Credit to everyone that they stayed upright – I made a quick U turn and warned all the others coming down.

Next up was the KOM over to Port Chalmers. Gordo put the first surge in then told me to take it – we were only a minute or two into a long climb so whist I went past I knew there was plenty of work left. A few more attacks and then Clas and I were away, I was working pretty close to max intensity and thankfully I could hear Clas breathing a little so at least I was giving him a bit of a workout. He told me about 500m to go that he wouldn’t come around me so a bit of a hollow victory for me.

We then came through Dunedin and got on another brilliant coastal ride. The final stretch of the coast road from Taieri River Mouth to Waihola was the toughest climbing of the camp without a doubt. The staircase climb was unrelenting and very very steep. We were very fortunate to have a tail wind here and for the ride into Balclutha. A long day in the saddle with around 2200m in elevation gains.

I made the call mid ride that we would cancel the planned the Aquathon in the Harbour at Dunedin. It was a cold day, the water was 14c and probably around 1/3 the camp are coming down with sickness. There was only one slight complaint, everyone seems pretty smoked tonight. That meant when I got off the bike I had to get to the pool to swim 200m and run 7km to ensure I met camp completion totals tomorrow.

Last day tomorrow. Looking forward to getting it dusted and getting home to be with the family. My poor wife has had to deal with 2 kids (9mths and 2.5yrs) for the last 3 weeks so it’s payback time in a big way

Summary

Swim 400m

Bike 188km

Run 7km

ECNZ 2010 – Day 13 – Geraldine to Waianakarua

ECNZ 2010 – Day 13 – Geraldine to Waianakarua

A couple of highlights today

1. The pool in Geraldine. A awesome 25m pool in a tiny town that none of us locals (Myself, Scott, Gordo etc) knew of.
2. The coastal ride from Oamaru to Waianakarua. The highlight of the camp for me so far. A brilliant stretch of coastal road, sun in the sky and wind at our backs.

Epic Camp has a number of traditions and one of them is the 400IM. Whilst we have a really strong group of athletes on the camp for most of them, swimming, is their weakness - that makes for an entertaining IM. Most of the big guns opened up in the first heat with Madman just edging out Molina in 5:55, not a special time but on day 13 of Epic that’s a good effort. Some entertaining fly was put in by Jo (who was a little water logged), David (who had already done the IM set) and Douglas.

I was in the last heat with just Pete. I did a few practice dives which went executed perfectly but when the gun went off I managed to semi dislodge my goggles, this got progressively worse so by the free leg they were completely full of water. My fly went well, back was very ordinary, breast – I went really strong and obviously brought it home with all I had left for the free. With the miniscule amount of swimming I have done pre camp (ballpark about 1-2km/week for the last 3-6mths) I was pleased with my 5:57, good enough for tied 2^nd with Scott. The Geraldine pool is the nicest 25m outdoor pool I’ve swum at in NZ.

As for the ride – I got on the front and led out group to the first aid station at 50km. A nice steady pace, very little wind and it felt like some gentle downhill. After the aid station Mark P got on the front and it was hammer time. Thank god after a quad crunching pull of about 20km Steven went to the front and the pace eased a little but it was still bloody hard in places. Some of the stretches of roads were also rough as guts and I guess that’s vaguely like what it feels like to ride Paris-Roubaix. Lunch was a welcome relief.

As I’ve mentioned the final 30km stretch of today’s ride from Oamaru to Waianakarua was outstanding. Our group eased right off the pace taking in the waves crashing over beaches and rocks with not a car in sight (no joke I think we had 2-3 cars pass us in 30km). A great way to finish the day and help us to forget about yesterdays miserable ride.

Summary

Swim 800m

Bike 150km

ECNZ 2010 – Day 12 – Christchurch to Geraldine

ECNZ 2010 – Day 12 – Christchurch to Geraldine

Ahh the highs and lows of Epic Camp and the NZ summer. I really wanted to show off my favourite run in Christchurch to the crew today. It was always going to be tough throwing a hilly 17km run on day 12 of Epic. By the time we finished the run everyone was very happy we did it. If you come to Christchurch make sure you check out the Godley Head loop, it’s just brilliant running up and along the hills over Sumner and back along the sea cliffs to Taylors Mistake. Just awesome views and everyone agreed, the weather was perfect as well.

Today’s ride was always going to be one of the least scenic of the camp. Add to that some head winds, a fairly constant drizzle and a 20-30km stretch on state highway 1 and it won’t go down in the Epic achieves as one of our all time classic rides. The first 60km were ‘friendly’ to keep the bunch together. Whilst this is good for the group the low speeds were hard with lots of free wheeling and dodging wheels. Pete O’Brien went down and I couldn’t believe I didn’t follow. I was 3-4 wheels back, trying not to slam my brakes on full force I very nearly went into the back of Rich. Good skills by Pete though to fall left, not into the traffic – most others would not have those instincts. A few band aids and he was good to go.

After the ‘friendly’ zone I just wanted to get moving so went to the front and upped the pace. I was also on my Avanti Crono TT bike today so wanted to get down onto the bars. After some discussions about the change in pace David C and I ended up going off the front with DC doing the lions share of the work. Lunch couldn’t come soon enough as I was having a mini bonk starting to kick off. In the crappy weather I just didn’t eat enough (also might have got a bit dehydrated eh Gordo J ). Post lunch the legs were like tree trunks so I just rolled in pretty easy for the final 55km solo. It was nice getting some encouragement from athletes heading down to Challenge Wanaka in their cars along with some athletes I coach. Challenge is on this weekend – great race but slow course.

About 5km out from home I got a slow puncture but managed to nurse it into the motel and was well pleased to finish off the day

Just 3 days to go now!!!!

Summary

Run 17km

Bike 150km

ECNZ 2010 – Day 11 – Kaikoura to Christchurch (home)

ECNZ 2010 – Day 11 – Kaikoura to Christchurch (home)

I’ve made it home to my family so this will be very brief.

Ran to the pool and did 1km easy, 5x200 on 3min and 10x100 on 1:30 with Dan and Tara.

Bike threatened to be hellish with headwinds but they died away and we had a great ride – 182km with plenty of climbing and an average speed of over 32km/hr (very good for these kiwi roads and this particular route).

Great scenery today and I felt good with a strong 20km’ish pull to lunch.

Mistimed KOM as Clas, Molina and myself hit the top of the 2^nd climb. Clas and I had a gap at the top of the first climb but Scott managed to get back on. None of us really knew where the top of the 2^nd small climb was and by the time I realised it was too late. Never mind I am happy with the way my riding is starting to come around and there’s still 1 KOM to go.

We’re taking the guys on my favourite run in the world tomorrow morning. It will be a tough 16-17km followed by our only flat ride of the camp to Geraldine (150km)

Summary

Swim 3km

Bike 182km

Run 5km

ECNZ 2010 – Day 10 –Blenheim to Kaikoura

ECNZ 2010 – Day 10 –Blenheim to Kaikoura

After yesterdays rest day everybody looked keen this morning. I had a target on my back by putting on helmet cam facing backwards (for the TV crew). With a KOM only about 15km into the ride there were fireworks as we left town. I was more concerned about athletes falling off their bikes and missed the break. Whilst we worked at a good pace to try to close the gap we couldn’t close it down and hit the hill too far behind to be able to catch Madman. I was still happy with my climb coming over in 3^rd but Molina did make me work for it. After a fast start we spent the rest of the day battling into strong headwind. From the first aid station to the 2^nd I was at the back of the bunch which was misery. Lots of surging due to the wind which made for hard work. So from the next aid station I got on the front for a bit, Eric soon came around me for a pull. After a break I went back around him only for him to come back, he wanted the lead position and when you have a 6”8 steam train in front of you I rationalised that it was a good place to be.

We rolled into Kaikoura in light drizzle but it’s a place I always enjoy coming to. I had a few organisational issues to sort out then fell asleep on the couch. It was the first time I felt wacked on this camp but I think it was mainly a bit of a dehydration issue today. Got out for my run and got into a good stride knocking out just under 11km in 48mins. I’d sent everyone on a beautiful run out to a seal colony, the views are just spectacular, if you come to NZ put Kaikoura on your route.

The camp made it onto national TV tonight. The TV crew following us got a 30sec clip on Prime news which was great of them.

Looking forward to getting home and seeing Belinda and the kids tomorrow. I think it’s going to be very hard leaving again.

Summary

Swim 3km

Bike 128km

Run 10km

ECNZ 2010 – Day 8 – Wellington – Picton - Blenheim

ECNZ 2010 – Day 8 – Wellington – Picton - Blenheim

Today is a mandatory re-group day. An Epic first if I am not mistaken. We’ve got varying levels of fatigue through the camp but nobody is complaining. I actually feel pretty good, we’ll see how tomorrow goes.

Thankfully we had a smooth ferry crossing today, a 3hr trip from Wellington to Picton. Then a quick 28km ride to Blenheim, tail winds again… nice.

We often get asked what we eat at Epic. There is never a shortage of food. Here’s a run down of what I think I took in on the day 7

Pre swim

- 2 glasses Orange juice

- 3 pieces toast with plenty of peanut butter

Swim 3km

Breakfast

- About 5 scrambled eggs

- A few fried up left over potatoes

- Large bowl of Tasti cereal with plenty of yogurt, milk and strawberries

- 4 pieces of toast with peanut butter

Bike 200km with long steady spells on the front

First 65km

- about 1.5 bottles of High 5 sports drink

- 1 High 5 Isogel

- 1 Tasti nut bar

To Lunch (~130km)

- 2 bottles of High 5

- 1 Em’s Power Cookie/Bar

- 1-2 High 5 gels

Lunch

- 2 wraps with chicken, carrot, mayo, hummus, lettuce…)

- Handful of sweets

Last 70km

- 1 bottle high 5

- 1 bottle coke

- 1 High 5 Isogel

On arrival

- 1 bottle of High 5 Protein drink

- Small bag of cashews

- Handful of potato chips

- Banana

Dinner

- Restaurant meal of steak, vege’s, mixed potatoes, desert…

- A Steinlager

- Plenty of water

Whilst we finished the North Island there is a feeling in camp that we are almost done. I’m going to need to keep reminding myself that we still have around 1000km to go in the next 6 days, that’s a lot of riding. That said I am going to try pushing things a little more at times in the South Island

Summary

Bike 28km

ECNZ 2010 – Day 8 – Masterton to Wellington

ECNZ 2010 – Day 8 – Masterton to Wellington

Good old windy Wellington delivered again. I think every time I have been to the capital in my life it has been miserable and I’d estimate I’ve been here about 15 times.

I changed today’s plan, which was to swim first, to being straight on the bike and try to avoid the gale force winds that were forecast. This worked well for a couple of hours but by the time we reached the Rimutaka climb we’d been looking forward to the wind was in full cry. The climb was a good one and I guess around 6-7km with a mix of steep and moderate grades. What made it tricky was the wind. Poor old Jordon and Jo who weigh a fraction of some of the big guys literately got blown to a standstill and had to clip out. Whilst I didn’t quite get to that I did have one incident when I was trying to surge to the front and attack, I got stopped in my dead in my tracks and had to regroup.

The climb was fun. Molina was the first to show his cards followed by Pete O’Brien, next Lee Wingate went off the front and almost got whiplash from the number of times he looked back to see what was going on behind. As the grade steepened Molina made the decisive move that split the bunch - Gordo, Clas, myself and Scott were away. We traded blows for a while before Clas surged with Gordo. Scott put in a great turn to slowly but surely pull us back up to them. Nearing the top Clas surged again and Gordo popped. Not wanting him to get himself together I went away as well to take 2^nd with Scott and Gordo following in. Everyone had a few stories from the climb so a fitting way to finish up the North Island.

A quick run to the pool and 3km swim and we’re done.

So one Island down and one to go. I seem to be getting stronger on the bike which make sense as my fitness coming into the camp was low. My energy levels remain good. The body is holding up well, just a slight tweak in my Achilles. The undercarriage is good but a little sore on the flatter days.

Overall I was impressed with the riding in the North Island. I had much lower expectations and the traffic was nowhere near as bad as I though. When we got off the main state highways it was right up there with the best riding I’ve done in NZ.

Tomorrow is a re-group day. We have the ferry across the Cook Straight then just a 28km bike the Blenheim. The committee have decided to make it a mandatory re-group day so everyone can regroup and not feel any pressure to train

Summary

Swim 3km

Bike 135km

Run 4km

ECNZ 2010 – Day 7 – Wanganui to Masterton

ECNZ 2010 – Day 7 – Wanganui to Masterton

The bottom of the North Island is in sight and it feels good. A couple of days back we didn’t seem to have made much progress after some tough days but now we’re getting somewhere.

I had to drive the van to the pool today so no run for me. To avoid swimming aimlessly I hooked up with Molina and Tara for a set of 10x200 on 3:05, holding 2:50’s. It’s was pretty cruisey swimming but made the time fly. I did a 500m warm up so after the 200’s had 500m to kill. A few of the guys started rolling into a 200fly for a bonus point so I decide to get that done as well. The secret with the 200m fly is starting as easy as possible, good streamlines and not getting too vertical. As expected the last 50m was pretty ugly.

The ride today was over 200km. Thankfully the wind gods were again kind to us with predominantly tail or side winds. When you get these sort of winds it’s just as easy being on the front dictating the pace and not having to deal with surges than sitting in the pack. So after a 4km warm up I got on the front to the first aid station at around 65km, we made some good time. Our tail end group had thinned even further down to 8 today so I was careful not to put in and big surges on the rollers and keep things together. All in all Gordo thought I was on the front for 140km of the ride today, that might be a little on the generous side but I’ll take it

We had a couple of brilliant sections of riding today. First was the Pahiatua track just past Palmertson North, whilst a bit narrow in places there was a great (unexpected) climb in there. Second was from Eketahuna to Masterton on the 52 via Alfredton, a rolling route with tail wind, we held some great speed.

Overall I felt quite good today. Everything is holding up well.

Tomorrow is going to be interesting with gale force winds forecast!!

I’m now 0/7 with doing any podcasting but Bevan is calling through tomorrow night so we should have something up soon. I have posted some pics on the Epic Site for the first few days

Summary

Swim 3km

Bike 203km

ECNZ 2010 – Day 6 – Turangi to Wanganui

ECNZ 2010 – Day 6 – Turangi to Wanganui

Today’s profile showed us descending from a high point of 900m elevation to sea level. On the face of it I thought it was going to be a relatively straight forward day. However throw in about 1.5hrs of persistent rain to start with and a total of 2000m of climbing and we had another tricky day. I took it pretty easy all day and opted out of the optional tack on up Whakapapa ski station. My sole mission is to make the South Island in one piece and then on to Bluff, no tack on’s for me

Overall it was a relatively uneventful day for me until after lunch other than a puncture. After lunch we then hit roller after roller and on the final descent I lost concentration and consequently contact with my small group and had to ride the final 35km solo. This ended up being a misery as the wind really began to gust and I was generally feeling pretty sorry for myself. That was pretty similar to yesterday so mental note for the next few days is to ensure I have some riding buddies for the run.

10km run off the bike with Russ and I thought we were holding a reasonable pace for day 6, better than previous camps.

Today was the first access to some free fast wi-fi (I’ve been surviving on a slow Vodafone connection) so I was stoked to be able to do a skype call with my wife Belinda and 2.5yr old Thomas. Technically this is a working holiday for me but I miss them both a lot and can’t wait to see them next Wednesday night when we roll through Christchurch.

Had my first beer today. We are very happy to have a camp sponsor in Steinlager http://www.steinlager.com/ - it’s a great tasting beer and the troops led by Molina have been cracking through it

Summary

Swim 3km in lake taupo

Bike 170km

Run 10km off the bike

ECNZ 2010 – Day 5 – Matamata to Turangi

ECNZ 2010 – Day 5 – Matamata to Turangi

On most Epic Camps cracks start to appear on day 5 and this camp is no different. After a fairly torrid opening few days everyone is getting tired and some, myself included, a little cranky at times. I got some negative thoughts as we were hammering along well above the pace I wanted to go but being in the KOM jersey I decided to hang in there. I got over it pretty quickly at lunch and just moved on. It’s funny that at the start of today which was a tough 180km ride I didn’t even think about the distance being long, I just got in with it. That’s one of the most important lessons epic dishes out, Ironman just doesn’t seem as hard when you do 15 days of solid training back to back.

We set off on good time and rode friendly to our first aid station at 60km. It was nice riding two abreast and having a bit of a chin wag. The bunch was then splintered and the hammering commenced and didn’t stop until lunch. God knows what speed we were going, it was uphill but with a slight tailwind. In normalised conditions I’d say we would have been sitting above 40km for close on 2hrs (others can verify this). We started with 13 in the ground and were down to 5 by lunch, then it was time for me to put up the common sense white flag and I rolled in solo for the final 60km.

I am somewhat surprised that I’m still feeling pretty good. There’s not too much muscular damage going on with my legs that I can feel and energy levels seem OK.

This evening had a nice swim in a choppy Lake Taupo which I’m sure helped recovery. I had to brush off my run to put out a few fires and do some organisational work. All I’m looking for in my totals is to swim the 26km through the camp and run 100km along with all the biking. Sure I’ll have some fun with some of the points racing but that’s secondary.

Everyone’s bikes are back in working order for tomorrow which Rip and Mark P are relieved about.

ECNZ 2010 – Day 4 –North Shore / Coromandel to Matamata

ECNZ 2010 – Day 4 –North Shore / Coromandel to Matamata

Long day and I am short on time.

I don’t remember who made the suggestion to get a ferry to Coromandel from the North Shore but is a brilliant idea. It didn’t cut any distance, we avoided riding through Auckland and the route out of Coromandel was awesome.

After a 2hr ferry we set an eyeball Aquathon course of around 1km Swim / 5km Run. I knew Gordo would kill himself to win and Clas would run hard from behind so all I planned was to swim hard and then run as easy as I possibly could to get 3^rd. This worked a treat. Whilst Molina, Madman and the curly freight train were tucked in behind I felt OK and saved some energy for the KOM’s.

Onto the bikes and we were straight into two tough hills with a KOM on the 2^nd. I pushed to the front at the bottom of the first climb and we had a group of 6 form. I pushed hard on the 2^nd climb but Clas is a much stronger as you would expect and I didn’t quite get Gordo as he buttoned off in the last 200m. Still enough to be tied for 2^nd in the KOM with Clas and with Gordo in yellow it rolls down to us so we’ll each have a day in polka dot jersey. I;m still waiting for Molina and Tara to come smoking past me on one of these KOM’s some time soon.

With about 120km of flat riding today the under carriage was under more pressure but everything seems to be in place. Everyone seemed to be moving around in their saddles a little more and standing up a lot.

A bit sleepy now so time to sign off.

ECNZ 2010 – Day 3 – Whangarei to North Shore

ECNZ 2010 – Day 3 – Whangarei to North Shore

We opened up the day with an easy 2km run to the pool and I did the 3km IM set (12 x (100IM / 150 Free – continuous). This was made slightly more challenging as the main 25m pool was closed this morning and we hade to swim in the wave pool – I took in a few mouthfuls. There didn’t seem to be too much madness in the pool this morning although Molina might be looking for some new toe nails after his 1000m bands only.

Today’s ride was another hum dinger as Scott would say. Like yesterday we had a massive amount of climbing with over 2000m in a 172km day. I wasn’t in a happy place for the first 3hrs of the day, the pace was above where I wanted to be but as we were getting buffered by some head winds I was reluctant to drop off. We had a few stretches on State Highway 1 (SHW) as well which wasn’t much fun (lots of traffic) and I was generally pretty grumpy until a place called Welsford. I then seemed to come right and did a nice pull on the front as we hit some doozey hills on SHW16. I’m beginning to think my 39/23 might not be enough for this camp. I was having to put in a bit of effort in places to keep it turning over. Lunch was appropriately timed for everyone and from there I more or less pulled the grupetto in for the last 60-70km. I simply tried to set a pace that was easy enough so as not to drop anyone (that wasn’t completely bonking) but fast enough that it wasn’t going to take forever to get in.

I then did a hoax 6km around the track to get my 10km for the day. I think it looked pretty silly as some high performance track athletes zipped up and down the sprint lanes. It was great to have Big E for company for a few laps.

I looked at the map of NZ last night and realised how little distance we have covered and how far we have to go. That said, my quads were feeling better tonight than this morning and my energy levels seem pretty good. The undercarriage is holding up well – I almost slid off my seat first thing this morning I had so much chamois cream and vas downstairs.

All in all a good day for everyone I think. Thanks to Annette Lee one of the production crew everyone’s bikes are now in full working order and the guys involved in the crash yesterday seem to be on the mend.

Summary

Swim 3km

Bike 172km (2000m climbing)

Run 10km

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

ECNZ 2010 – Day 1 – Cape Reinga to Kataia

ECNZ 2010 – Day 1 – Cape Reinga to Kataia

We’ve got a TV production company following us on this camp so all you readers can forward to a documentary of what we are doing some time down the track. When they shoved a mic in front of me at the start of today and asked me how I felt I said I was simply relieved to be getting underway after all the planning and travel

Cape Reinga (The Northern most road ending of NZ) is a long way from anywhere but it was a spectacular start to the camp. There is a great white lighthouse on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. After some photo opportunities we were off. We were opening with a 22km run (+ optional tack off to take it up to 25km for an extra point), this was split into a 12km at your own pace then a 10km race to the finish. I’ve plotted all the profiles for the bike routes but not the runs. We were greeted with some reasonably serious “kiwi rollers” for the duration of the run with the last 8km or so being a single road. I had a few takers on my run walk strategy – I’d simply walked the top sections of any hills to get a little recovery and keep my HR down. The thermometer was heating up as well and by the time we started the 10km race it was probably mid 20’s.

The 10km race was a chance to see how sensible athletes would be on day 1. I had a plan and stuck it pretty well. Push it a little on the climbs, pretty easy on decents (to preserve my quads) and moderate pace on the flat. Early on there were a few fireworks going off as everyone tried to sort things out. Gordo and I went off the front early and as expected Clas came steaming past of the first decent. From there Gordo pulled away to take it from Clas and myself. A few of us did a hoax tack on of 3km to get a few bonus points, it really was a woeful display of aimless jogging. We basically did lots of little short laps around our lunch base as there were hills in every direction.

The first 60km of the bike was uneventful. It was a good tailwind and instead of dealing with a surging bunch I dropped off the back and just rode touring pace to the start of the TT. Like everyone else I was light on fluids, I more or less went through 2 bottles on 1 hour after loosing a lot of fluid on the run. It’s baron countryside up north with just a spattering of farms. Finally I came across the only store between the start of the ride Kaitaia. I promptly got of my bike, went to fridge and got myself a cold drink. I was salivating looking forward to nice cold drink. As I got the checkout and reached for my cash I realised I hadn’t anything in my pockets as I’d thought it was such a short ride I wouldn’t be needing any money. I won’t be making that mistake again!

The final 28km’sih TT was a pretty cruisey/weak effort by me and I took a good pasting in the standings. I just didn’t want to fry myself on day 1

With a 20min break we were off to the pool. 1km warm up then a 1500m mass start race. As I pushed off the plan was to go straight on Madman’s (Steven Lord) feet. Only problem was straight off the push off both calves went into full lock. Gordo also decided to pop under the lane rope into our lane. In normal circumstances I would have pounded the crap out of him and tried to pin him under the lane rope but I was having such issues I was struggling just to swim. Once things settled a little I tried a lane swap of my own to try and get past Gordo, this completely back fired as the cramps camp back and I actually lost time. Then all of a sudden “The Curley Freight Train” (Mark Peitrofesa) and Gordo were standing at the end of the pool, I thought for sure we have a few hundred to go so I popped my head up to see them both grimacing with cramps. I went round them but was laughing so much I didn’t make much headway. Meanwhile the whole pool was a sea of athletes with cramps which was quite entertaining.

Whilst we effectively only did a half ironman today the heat and intensity has everyone looking forward to a good sleep.

Summary

Run 25km with 10km race

Bike 90km with 28km TT

Swim 3km with 1500m race