EC NZ '10 Epilogue

EC NZ ’10 Epilogue

Well I just read G-Man’s epilogue while taking a break from finishing this one of mine here and I’ve just sent him a note to encourage him to take all the time he needs to re-consider his future involvement with these camps.
Now I’ve edited this one quite a bit as he’s got me thinking again as he’s prone to do.

Like many things in life what we do is mostly about time and place. Even the camp creators aren’t going to be able to do this type of thing forever.
One of the main goals I had when we established the camps is to create and incentive for me to be in super shape at some point each and every year. I also wanted a great environment to share the tri experience with some of the athletes I work with and like-minded people.
Those goals are still there for me and I hope to be able to do the camps for another 5 years. Since this one is the first one I really couldn’t complete satisfactorily (to me) I need to look at the way I’m preparing for them more closely and have more discipline in my approach. Running the 60km Kepler Trail race in December turned out to negatively impact my camp some, but it was something I really, really, wanted to do so I’m content with the outcome. It was another aspect of this wonderful little country to experience.
It was also an initial test to see if I was ready to start preparing for the Leadville 100 Trail run which is still on my list to do as it has been for over 20 years.
When G-Man moved from NZ one of the main reasons I bought all of his CAT altitude room stuff and treadmill was to be able to prepare for Leadville here at home. My dear wife doesn’t want to sleep in a tent (bless her heart….) and I haven’t been able to renovate this house enough to set up the altitude chamber properly but I’ve already bought my next house so perhaps we’ll move into that in time for me to renovate that and _then_ start getting ready for Leadville. I can play the long game! :-)
I will run that sucker one day. I can say that with 100% conviction and don’t mind putting it out there.

Although I’m still and always optimistic about my future running the last 8 years history of injury is a clear indication that I need to work harder and differently at being injury-free.
There may be some photos of me that my friends will put out there on the net to show me I really, really need to run to get my body back to some semblance of TERMINATOR shape. Don’t believe everything you see! There’s got to be at least one flattering photo of me we can put up on the site to dispel the rumors of my imminent demise……..

One of the un-expected bonuses of not being able to run well this camp was realizing just how much I take joy from others running feats. Seeing Steven and Tara out there running so much after their miserable injuries over the last year was an example. They were ecstatic. Seeing David Craig and Petro run waaaay more than they ever has was another. Seeing how much Blanco enjoyed his trail runs was another. There’s a lot of joy to be found in running and I continually vow to myself to keep that option open. At the moment I’ve got the opportunity to experience another of my lifelong goals – running the Boston Marathon. Erin and I are entered and I’m hell bent on enjoying it this April.

We adapt the points system a little each camp to keep it fresh and to challenge the Epic Vets in slightly different ways. G-Man’s suggestions for improving the points system are all good ones but some of them look tough to enforce. We’ll work on it though. The points system is designed to re-enforce my Epic Camp ethos – you only cheat yourself if you try to fake it. To me this sport is about the work and the camps try to provide the right environment to take that to a higher level.

This was a monumental undertaking for John who does all the ground work for these camps. With a energized young 2-yr. old teaching he and Belinda all about the “terrible two’s” and another younger baby he’s got more than enough to do with his normal day job of coaching. His commitment to providing a great experience for everyone on the camp; staff included; is a testament to his character and I hope he’ll be able to convince his dear wife to allow him to continue. Although the appeal to the campers to do all point-point riding is attractive its super hard on the support crew so we need to really look at how much of that we include in the future.

A sincere Thank You to Kay, Russell, Turps, Mair, Susie, Janet, Paul, Bruce and Dave for their hard work and great attitude.

Also big thank you to all the partners and family who’ve allowed your athlete to do this crazy thing, as it’s the shared experience with them that’s unique and special each camp.
Asking your partner to allow you to prepare for and the do something of this magnitude is a hell of a lot to ask.

Its good to be home.
I feel really content.
My own dear partner has put up with me doing these camps exceedingly well lately and after 20 years together our understanding of each other is still growing. I know I need to continually commit to growing as well and feel more motivated than ever to work on different aspects of myself. She deserves that at the very least.
Her allowing me to be me and loving me for who I am doesn’t mean its OK to not grow.
My daughter (Jenny) Rose is having a baby in March too so I’ll be grandpa Scott soon and look forward to helping my child grow with hers. Her and her husband live here in Christchurch so this year is going to be very special for us.

I’m not one to wear my heart on my sleeve, and I don’t usually offer un-solicited advice, but for those of you returning home to loved ones I do have something to offer you in appreciation for all you’ve given to me on this camp. It concerns commitment.
I’ll offer the lyrics to our (Erin and I) song which speaks to our level of commitment to each other better than I ever could.
The song is “The Way It Goes” from The Vocal Album by the Crusaders. I hope you get to listen to it one day.

The Way It Goes

The way it goes…..
Some day when my dreams won’t come true I’ll turn to you
When I need some tenderness to hold onto what will you do
And can I count on you?

The way it goes
This world may not give me a thing and I’ll still sing
And any blessings that may fall we will share them all together
Are you with me so far?

(Chorus)
If you know the way it goes
And if you want to go with me
I’ll be there when you need me to
I’ll be good as I can be
I won’t care which way it goes if you will love me every day
If you say any way it goes you won’t let me go
That will do…. I’ll go with you……

The way it goes
I see how the best things go bad
Its oh, so sad
And I know you see it too
There are so few who make it through
To where the sky’s shining blue

The way it goes
I need some one who will believe what I believe
There will come a better day
If we work and we pray together
Oh how sweet it can be

(Chorus)

Saxophone lights it up!

(Chorus)


Until next time…..

Train Hard,
Satiate The Need

THE TERMINATOR

EC NZ '10 Day 15 Balclutha - Bluff

EC NZ ’10 Day 15 Balclutha – Bluff

Every one seemed in good spirits last night at dinner. It is hard to fathom how 2 weeks have gone by so fast and just how much training and travelling has been done.
Tonight the support crew were starting to figure out:
1) how to get all of the stuff to our motel in Invercargill while supporting us on the road all day
2) collect us in Bluff after our ride and run that ends there which is 29km from where we’re staying.
3) How to get the 9 people (including support people) and the bikes along with all support gear into 2 vans and trailers back to Christchurch.
They’ve been working their tails off all day every day and I think they’ll be very relieved when this is all over.

We started at 6:30 with brekkie followed by a 7:30 roll-out.
The profile looks very lumpy with 6 significant climbs through the Catskill mts. We’re sort of following the coast but not the closest roads to the sea because that would add another 20-30+km to an already too-long day.

The “scenic highway” route we followed really does give you a good sense that you’re at the end of the planet. Its very remote. I was joking with G-Man at about the 50km point going through the little hamlet of Papatowai that it would be a good place to take the little woman for a nice quiet week-end get-a-way. He thought his chances of success with that idea were also pretty remote.
The hills on that side of the Catlins (mts.) were big and once the sun came out it was easy to see that there was nothing but pristine wilderness for a very long way.
We caught up with many of those who left early pretty quick as they seemed determined to be more tourists than athletes today and that’s understandable. Roger was riding great and Dr. Scott was determined to do it all on his own (no drafting) and he zoomed through the day and we only caught him at lunch.
Great to see David Langley rolling up all the hills with me relatively easily the last 2 days. He did hold back the first week+ as he wasn’t sure how he’s hold up for such a long camp but its easy to see he’s riding a lot better now. He’s got Port MacQuarrie coming up (is that right Dave?) and it looks like he’s set for a good one.

After the 90km drinks stop we had an amazing tailwind and were zooming along at between 40-55kph over rolling hills. When you roll over gradual 1km hills at 42-45kph that’s a decent breeze at your back!
Lunch was really good today as we had everyone there, lots of food and sun.
We stayed together cruising into Bluff and a lot of us when up the Bluff Hill which is a toughie ramping up to over 20% near the top. Douglas did a back flip trying to get through the steepest curve and cracked the back of his helmet. Otherwise he didn’t even have a scratch but he did say his pride was hurt………. His sense of humor helped keep me in a good mood the entire trip.
Some had to get off and walk. I had to work hard to make it up in my 34x25 but it’s a damn tough hill. Lots of photos at the top with Stewart Island in the background.
193km today.

The rest of the group waited for us at the bottom, had a coffee, and then we rolled the last few km to the end of the road where there were more photos, lots of hugs and hand shakes and some bubbly to celebrate.
Most ran the 7km track around Bluff Hill. Then we hopped in the vans to drive back to our accom in Invercargill where most people had to pack their bikes asap prior to dinner as they had early flights out the next day.
You probably don’t need to guess what I did! No shit!!! I also had a hell of a head cold so went off to get something to clear my nose and eyes which were watering as bad as I can ever remember. The meds didn’t do much but the beer did wonders for my mood.

We strolled down to the Lonestar in bright, hot sunshine and it was hard to believe we were actually done and in Invercargill which is renowned for its foul weather.

John and Dave chose that restaurant because of their huge meals and they didn’t disappoint although it did take a long time to get them. We also had a little frenzy as they brought out the deserts. Lots of Calories went down. Hope some photos of the stack of ribs a few guys ate comes up on the photo page. For the record Newsom killed Nick in getting through their plates of ribs. Even eating does seem to have a competitive aspect at Epic most of the time.

We finished the eve back at our hotel bar and Rob Q treated me to a fine whiskey and it was perfect.
More tomorrow in my Epilogue.

EC NZ '10 Day 14 Waianakarua - Balclutha

EC NZ ’10 Day 14 Waianakurua – Balclutha (another bloody 190km…….)

The town of Waianakurua consists of the lodge and the backpackers we stayed at. That’s all that remains of the town. Very nice lodge. Cozy and warm, great atmosphere and food.
6:30 – 7:30 breakfast, then we rolled out. There were a few early starters but not many today as we had a tentative plan to do an aquathon in the Dunedin harbor at Port Chalmers en-route.
Very casual 50km to the first drink stop, then a hilly 15km to the base of the KOM.
From the map it looked to be about 1,000ft climb and approx 7km. It did start out very steep so there was a pretty quick sorting out in the first km.
Gordo told me after the climb he saw some PB Watts numbers for best 5 and 20-minute readings. And he got dropped pretty quick. Steve and I had a good battle for 3rd but Newsom and Clas are clearly better. Clas can just sit on whoever is in the lead and then come around at the end. Newsom doesn’t let me have a crack at him with less than a km to go any more as I usually can summon up a good effort if I get that close at the top.
Tara and Jo also were in there fighting for position today and Jo had a particularly good climb today.
We had a bit of a wait after the climb to find everyone and changed the plan for the day to go through Dunedin so we could get to the bike shop as Charlsey broke his shift cable and Rob Q broke a spoke. So we dropped them off there and had Nick (who went to Uni here in Dunedin) escort us through the neighborhood of his youth and a steep bloody hill to get to Brighton where we had lunch by the beach.
The sun had come out and a good tailwind was blowin’ so the general mood was pretty good.
A van stayed back with charlsey and Rob Q but they were going to be a while so we rolled and the pace was pretty quick all the way back with the tailwind. There was one very tough climb to get over and it turned out to be way harder than I thought it would be. My back was feeling about 100 years old by this time.
At the last drink stop with 20+km to go the support crew brought out some of Nick’s grandmother’s home-made ginger oat slice and it was _divine_.
I’m going to get Nick to get the recipe for me. It had fresh ginger in it and it really gave me a lift. Perhaps the culinary highlight of this trip so far. No shit!!!

Even with the sun and tailwind 190km felt like a long way today. Some people headed off to swim at the local pool and some ran too. You can read about it in their blogs and get the jist of it when Gordo publishes the point totals. Its easy to see who’s been out there training a ton. You can guess what I did after the ride…………..

I won’t be getting my camp completion totals due to me not running enough and that kinda pisses me off, but the shared experience with these people more than makes up for any disappointments I may have. I’m so glad we decided to go through with this monumental mission.

One day to go and its a biggy.

EC NZ '10 Day 13 Geraldine - Waianakarua

EC NZ ’10 Day 13 Geraldine – Waianakarua

Well this evening I’m in a much better mood than yesterday.
Yesterday I wasn’t sure just how foul a mood I was in but now I can clearly see it was one of the darker days I’ve had on any Epic Camp.
What I want most for these camps to provide for the campers is a fabulous experience and yesterday contained more misery than I would ever hope to inflict on any one. The day started off great with a great run and Jo Carritt also was able to see a good doctor to get a start on fixing her mysterious foot problem, but after breakfast it all turned to custard.
It wasn’t just that we had miserable rain and headwind, we also couldn’t see a damn thing. It certainly wasn’t the scenic ride through the Canterbury countryside I usually get. The section on Highway 1 was very stressful and one of my best mates Pete went down hard and he’s an excellent rider in a pack.
We used that section of road for the same reason we’ve used all the main highways we’ve used – to get from one end of the country to the other without having to ride 3,000km.
But we won’t be using that Highway again I can assure you.
I also re-injured my left calf again which has plagued me for 8 years now and some real negativity from that slowly took over my brain all day. My rear wheel rubbing on the frame for hours and ending up in the rubbish bin was just the icing on the cake.
But the upbeat mood of the support and the campers saved the day for me.

Today started with early runs for some before we started with coffee and a snack and then to the pool at 8am for those who wanted to swim 6km.
Our session today included the traditional 400 Medley which was made a minor points race and mandatory for camp completion so everyone had to do it. The 400IM was inspired by Tom Dolan who I always had tremendous admiration for. He would have made a great Epic Camper.
I didn’t start out intending to swim 6km but I knew I was way be hind in swim kms to get camp completion swim kms so I just got going and ended up doing 6 in the end.
The 400IM is always good value. Triathletes aren’t the best of medley swimmers in general and when you’re this tired it’s a damn tough event to get though. I remember getting a bit of schtick from my friend Billy (who was in the Army) when I only did 50 push-ups during the EpicMan comp we had a few years back. I actually trained hard for that competition that year and would regularly do 3-4 sets of 40 strict push-ups prior to the camp. But when you’re this tired it’s a whole ‘nother ball game.
Petro, G-Man, Tara and Steven were put in the first heat and after not being able to beat me in 10 previous Epic 400IM’s I figured this was the G-Man’s day to clobber me. I had just done 4km prior to getting up onto the blocks and I had felt absolutely weak in the water. My only hope was to take it out hard and make him blow up. I didn’t think I’d be within 15 seconds of Steven although I knew he must be knackered too.
My 1:21 fly leg put me way out in front but from there Steven reeled me in and pushed off onto the f/s with a body length and stayed there. He touched in 5:55, me in 5:57 and Petro in a remarkable 6:07. I say remarkable because Petro will do more in this camp than his 3 previous Epic Camps _combined_ . No Shit!!! He’s holding up incredibly well. I thought he’d be sick in bed by now. My guess was that either his immune system couldn’t cope or his digestive system would be ruptured from him shoving in so much.
Newsom matched my 5:57 which was also impressive as he had done practically no swimming prior to the camp. Just goes to show that guile and determination are no match for youth and talent.
I got a huge kick out of seeing Pete take it out in 47 for he first 50 and then his second 50 fly split was 1:13! Pete’s very good in all 4 strokes but he’s absolutely shelled. Talk about the piano being firmly strapped on the back………. It looked like he might actually drown.
In general the IM’s were a lot better than I expected. Both Rob Hill and David Langley have very decent fly strokes relative to their f/s. Ex-swimmer Nick obviously still hasn’t lost his technique completely even though he hasn’t really trained his swimming in about 15 years. Just goes to show that once a good swimmer, always a good swimmer. He could be at the front of his age group in the swim in no time at all if he were to jump into a decent masters group.

After breakfast we rolled out East to the Coast, then south. Newsom generously pulled the last group for 40km to begin again and it was a calm, cool, nice day. Bliss compared to yesterday.
G-Man decided to chill and coast (well 100-160 Watts for him is practically coasting) the whole 150km to our accom which I thought was unlikely. Guess he just wanted a little personal time. He did seem in a pretty good mood at lunch when he caught up having skipped the first drink stop.
Petro took it up to 40-44kph after the drink stop at 50km mark and after about 20km of that Steven kindly offered to give him a break and took over thus saving the rest of the group from being completely shelled. Jo was yo-yo-ing quite a bit and sweating buckets and Steven could see she was about to pop like a balloon so he wound it back to 37-40 so we could all stay on.
Lunch was superb. The crew made us some delicious wraps so we didn’t’ have to do it ourselves and they also bought some yummy chocolate chip muffins filled with mocha crème pudding. No shit!!! I had 2 of each and a crisp cold Cantina to wash down my caffeine pill and vitamins. Perfect………

The last 50km were neat. Once we got through Omaru (which seems like the longest little town in the world) we hit the coast for a magic last 30km of rolling farmland along the ocean. Great road.
The lodge we’re staying out is ours for the evening which is also really nice. Everyone seemed relaxed and happy to have a decent day. Great company and a scrumptious dinner, some massage from Susie and Janet.
The “committee awarded the green jersey for camper of the day to Jordan for once again riding most of the day on her own into the wind. She must have done about 1,000km so far without a wheel in front of her to block the wind and there have been quite a few campers who seem to not even have done 100km in total into the wind – yours truly included!

EC NZ '10 Day 12 Christchurch - Geraldine

EC NZ ’10 Day 12 Christchurch – Geraldine

When planning this camp this ride of 150km looked like it would likely be one of the easier rides of this camp. On previous camps we’ve ridden 90km further to Tekapo to get 240km for this ride. That’s why I thought we could do a swim in the ocean from my place before doing one of my favorite hilly trail runs. But it didn’t turn out that way at all.
This is how the day went………
John prudently decided to skip the swim and just do the run prior to breakfast. It took around 1:50 for the tail-enders to do this run which was very good considering how much they’ve done leading into it. This 19-20km loop has about 2,000ft of vertical gain on it and when Clas was ripping it to pieces here one summer he was doing it in just under 90 minutes.
I made it to the 40-minute mark before deciding my sore calf was getting close to the tearing to bits point and took a shortcut and walked back home. That was a 45 minute hike. Lucky it was a nice morning and my dear wife caught up to me and walked in with me.
I was very happy that most of the campers could do that run though as it is a neat part of the world to see.
Some tacked on to make it a 25km run for extra points and after yesterdays super long day I thought that was a bit silly! Steve just needs to keep healthy now to take yellow and David Craig and Petro have got to be on the edge with all they’ve done. Petro is in no danger of being kicked off of team Sumo though. The guy can eat! He even started this run with enough snacks to get across the Sahara desert.
Nice to see Big E get around those hills too. The guy is getting fit.
Tara didn’t rip or break anything either which was a huge relief to me.

Drive back to the motel in town for breakfast and then a 10:40 roll-out towards Geraldine. The forecast was for southerlies increasing (headwind) and rain later.
We had a headwind straight away and the plan was to keep the group together until 55km when we went over the Rakaia bridge which is a mile long and super skinny. That way we could have the tail vehicle right behind us and not let any traffic try to pass us. Well it took a f…n long time to get to that bridge in the headwind and Pete also came to grief on Hwy 1 and took a good chunk of tissue out just below his knee. The support crew bandaged him up and got him going again and it looks like he’ll be able to finish the camp. In windy conditions like that when every one is looking for some shelter there’s always a bigger risk of touching wheels.
It was getting colder and wetter by this stage and at the next drink stop we put on all we had in our day bags. Tara’s SRM was reading 12 C and with the rain and nasty head wind the wind chill was certainly way lower. Petro had 3 layers on his legs! Once all his layers got wet and in addition to the bucket full of snacks he was carrying he must’ve weighed close to a thousand pounds.

Lunch was at 100km but we didn’t’ linger long. Too cold. David Craig took off inb order to get warm as much as anything and soloed to the motel. Some of us hopped on Clas’s wheel and he motor-paced us for 30km to warm-up and catch all of the early leavers from lunch, then our group settled into a nice echelon for the last 40km. My back wheel had a spoke pull through the rim and I limped in the last 10km. I’ll be sad to see that rear wheel go as we’ve had about 4 years, 7 Epic Camps and lots of other great rides together.

I take my hat off to Jordan Caldwell once again today. She’s one tough cookie. She’s hanging in there doing all the sessions even though she’s in the company of some super fit pros and lunatic age groupers at the pointy end of the field. Today was a shit day for riding and she hung in there even though the gorillas kept disappearing up the road. Of the 500+km she’s done over the last 3 days about 300+km of it has been into a nasty headwind. Only 3 more rides to go and I can see she’s determined to make it. These camps are specifically _not_ designed for people of Jordan’s current fitness yet she’s managing to make it through.

For this camp for inspiration I’ve brought along a small book about New Zealand’s first Tour De France cyclist. His name was Harry Watson and he rode the Tour in 1928. The race was soooooo much harder than it is now. Its just mind boggling how hard it was with the dirt roads over the mountains, only 2 gears. They started some stages at midnight and the Pyrenean stage I just read about last night took over 18 hours! It helps with perspective when I’m feeling a bit sorry for myself and I’ll try to get through a few pages tonight.

EC NZ '10 Day 11 Kaikoura - Christchurch

EC NZ ’10 Day 11 Kaikoura – Christchurch

We woke to clear morning and could see fresh snow on the mountains. Very nice sunrise. For most of us the first thing on the agenda was a 2km jog to the pool and back and a 3km swim in the 33m pool in our wetsuits. Last time we swam in this pool it was about 17 degrees C I think so we were prepared for the cold. It turned out to be around 22 C so not bad at all.

Last night at dinner I learned that Steve had run 40km all together and put the points our of reach for any one else if he gets his camp completion points at the end. All he has to do now is conserve, not get real sick or blow to bits and he’ll have his 3rd Yellow Jersey in a row.
David Craig has been running a ton too so the battle for the old farts jersey is getting closer between he and Petro. Both Steven and David have been doing way more than their fare share of pulling us along every day too. Very inspiring to watch.

The last bunch rolled out from Kaikoura around 9:00 I think. Not sure as my watch has bit the bullet so I’ll pick up another one from home tomorrow.
We thought we might get some southerlies again today but it turned out to be very favorable wind or none at all most of the way.
The KOM turned out to start at the 25km point of the ride so nice w/up.
Newsom made the first jump and it was a good one. After about 1km it was down to the usual suspects plus Blanco making a re-appearance. When the pace slackened a little Steven went to the front to keep the hurt on, but Clas and Newsom’s accelerations were decisive enough o gap us. G-Man went OTB quite early so I was relying on Steven to .bridge us back up to Newsom and Clas on the descent in the middle of the climb. On that descent Steven lost 2 bottles due to the bumpy road and one of them almost took me out on a bend at about 45kph!
I did manage to get back up there and lose Steven and just get Newsom with Clas only a few seconds ahead at the top which none of us knew the location of.
Good battle.
After that it was a very steady 140km to go! Lots of rollers and then the last 50km was flat. Not much to report except for Daniel McDonald leaving us to race home as he has to hurry down to Challenge Wanaka for the expo as he’s working there.
We had a drink stop at Cheviot at the 65km mark and somewhere after that Clas’s GPS watch popped off his wrist and he didn’t notice it until we were 15km down the road. So he pulled over and had the support crew drive him back to Cheviot where he proceeded to ride slowly looking for his watch on the side of the road!!! As ridiculous as it sounds he actually found it about 500m from the drink stop. That put him about 30km behind us so he had 70km to ride on his own to lunch in Amberley. Gordo kindly waited for him there to ride with him back to town and it was a chilly, long wait. I won’t be surprised if he calls in a favor or two because of it during the rest of the camp! J

Petro headed right out for run when we got to the motel and I think Steven did too. I had a shower, 2 beers and a massage! My dear wife came to fetch me so I could spend a night at home as the run tomorrow morning is starting and finishing at my place.
It’s a hilly beast of a 20km trail run around Godley Head and I hope like hell I can manage it because it will be a damn long hike home if I can’t.

Glad everyone had a good day today. I haven’t heard any tails of woe yet. 180km is a long way when you’re fresh. After what we’ve done so far it seems a hell of a lot of ground to cover but everyone seemed to handled it just fine.

EC NZ '10 Day 10 Blenheim - Kaikoura

EC NZ ’10 Day 10 Blenheim – Kaikoura

We had about a 10 minute walk to the pool for a 6am-ish start today.
3 lanes booked as that was all they would give us and it was pretty tight once again.
Mostly it was just about getting it done but G-Man gave our lane a challenging set that included quite a bit of IM which was nice for a change today.

I do like the walks to and from the pool as it gives me some time to reflect on things and clear my head. Today I was remembering when Pete and another buddy Dave ran along the river here back in April the day after a 200km bike race the day before. That race is coming up again this April and we’re already committed to putting in a team effort there again.

We rolled out just before 9am towards Kaikoura knowing we’d likely have a headwind the whole way as well as some rain. The rain never really came until the very end but it was damn tough day to do this ride in this direction today. Some days on point-point rides you just get hammered and we did sure today
We had a KOM on the schedule with the climb starting about the 12km point and at about 4km into the ride Nick hit it hard and got the ball rolling.
From there it was a bike race to the bottom and I just missed the first bunch which included Steven and Clas. I knew I wasn’t going to beat them up the climb anyway, and although Petro made it into that bunch I guessed he wasn't going to be all that snappy on the ride today. In the pool in the mornign he wasn't looking good at all, and at breakfast he must've ate about 10,000 Calories.
So just had to mark Newsom and G-Man for the most part. I had Daniel with my group and he seemed keen to get up there but after towing us for a couple of km decided to not be quite so generous as to tow us all the way to the base. So some of us had to do a little work! :-)
G-Man missed the train so I tried to sit on Newsom and did OK until he hit the gas again with about 600m to go and spat me off his wheel.
Down the other side I knew it wasn’t going to take long for Daniel to come past so just had a drink and a snack and waited.
Then David Craig and Daniel proceeded to rip it up until Daniel’s aero bar bolt broke and he chose to sit on as to not knock anyone over.
It was pretty sweet sitting in the Bigger Sexier’s vortex for a while though and I was more than a little bummed to see he wasn’t going to tow me for the next 100km. David Craig stepped in and took over and pulled the whole damn way to Kaikoura. No shit!!
The guy is looking stronger as the camp goes on and he’s been running a ton too. I’ve barely been running at all yet I could barely hold his wheel.
.
Following David Craig today reminded me of riding behind one of my early training partner in Dan Diego around ’83 – ’84. His name is Ron Smith. He would have been around David’s current age when I was about 23-24. His nickname was “King”. He was built like David but a little thicker in the upper body from throwing around the big steel for years.
When he was training for the Spenco 500-mile ride he has these cushy hand rest grips on his drops and he would stay on them for hours without budging. We did a lot of 120-150 mile rides together on the coast and I often had to stop in and see my chiropractor Barbara Stewart in Carlsbad on the way home because I was so f…d from holding onto Ron’s wheel all day.
I don't know how he put up with this pesky young punk wheelsucer for so long but I'm eternally grateful he did as he was a tremendous role model and helped me make the transition from a kid into a man.
If anyone out there has news of how Ron’s doing these days please send me a private e-mail – scott.molina@xtra.co.nz

When we arrived in Kaikoura I had a quick snack, beer and shower and was asleep within 20 minutes of arrival. I’m rooming with Charlsey and he was passed out too. He ended up sleeping for 3.5 hours this afternoon!
I slept for 90 minutes before wandering out to find the sun was out, Nick was just heading out for his run so I tagged along with him. Caught some good rays too.
I still never know if I’m going to have to walk it in from a run so it was a nice surprised to only be a little sore and tight and to run the whole 10km.
Just as as Iwas finishing my run Super support Dave came over to my unit to bring me a special treat and that cheered me up no end. These guys are damn good to me.

Dinner was here at the motel, plentiful as always and people are generally in good spirits.
Fun to catch up with the others tonight to hear how it went out there.
Pete O’Brien had a good dose of personal time today. He was pretty shattered and spotted in town at the end of the ride trying to re-group by wolfing down a big mince pie and shake prior to rolling into the motel.
Good to hear that Big E (Eric Van Moorlehm) was back to his ol’ self pulling a train along today for most of the way. He wasn’t very fit coming into the camp so has struggled with all the hills we’ve had to climb. He should like the next 2 days because a total of 190km of it is flat.

We jog to the pool here and back, swim in wetsuits as the pool here is so cold, then on the ride we have another KOM right out of town and I’m sure it’s the absolute worst way to start another long ride. Its just the way the terrain worked out this year but for future camps I’m going to try my best not to let it happen so often.
It’s a very hilly 70km to start with to get to Cheviot, then gently rolling for 30km or so and then flat to Christchurch. 185km.