EC:NZ'06 :: Day 8 :: The Longest Day, Riding With The gMan

Everybody knew today was going to be long. The question was – how long. Was there going to be headwinds? Turns out there were headwinds, so the 225 to 230k took the group I rode in just about 8hrs. Then I ran 50min and swam 3000 meters. Close to a 10hr day.

Back to the ride; I left with Mark P. and Scott D. at 6:40am. Gordo left with Monica at 6:45am. They joined us outside of Nelson and the pace immediately picked up. Gordo proceeded to pull our group of five riders for the next 8hrs. Remember, there were headwinds that could be called ‘wicked’ right from the get go. Additionally, we did over 6000 feet of elevation gain. It was a challenging ride. I am thinking it would have been over 9hrs without the g-man’s monster pull.

Let me explain why riding with Gordo was so nice:
1) he pulled for 8hrs
2) the pace was constant
3) he was not trying to rip anybody’s legs off
4) he knows where he is going
5) he purposely kept the group together
6) we never wasted time on breaks ‘cause Big Daddy kept it snappy
7) nobody wants to crack under his watch

We have a run that begins tomorrow morning in about 10hrs from now. As I am feeling a bit shelled, I am opting for bed over a trip downtown to an internet cafe. It was a stellar day today. I am sure many of the other campers outside of our group had great rides as well. For me – personally – this was the most scenic ride, the longest ride and my best ride. Epic!

See Yaaa …