Day 5 Getting Through

Day 5 Getting Through

Last year on Day 5, we still had 7 days to go to complete the camp. This year, however, we only have 3. If there were 7 days to go, I would really be depressed, yet today; I am only slightly dragging, because I can comprehend only 3 to go.

We got up for early swims, some chose the pool, but I chose the lake. I love open water swimming, especially in a beautiful, clean lake surrounded by mountains. I chose to swim alone, and swam straight towards the middle of the lake. It was very pleasant, unlike yesterday, where I did not get to enjoy much chasing Gordo’s bubbles around the lake. Today, I swam some backstroke and looked up at the clouds, stopped in the middle of the lake to observe the quiet serenity…no lakes like this back in California. No boats, no people, just a few Epic Camp swimmers splashing about in the far distance. It was very nice.

I chose to skip the run, instead for a short nap before our long ride on the Crown Range (the highest paved road in New Zealand). It was the opposite of last year, and we have a time trial up the hill. I was feeling a little sick, despite my nap, and felt like I might be breaking down, so I sat in for the first hour and watched Clive maintain the nice and even pace at the front. Somewhere around an hour in, all the brown sugar and jam for breakfast, kicked in, and I found myself feeling pretty good. So, I went to the front and played ‘Chase the Clive’, as we traded off pulls, until I finally planted myself at the front and kept it motoring. I was drilling myself pretty good for so early on a long ride, but wanted to test the reaction that it would have on my body. I sat at the front for about 45 minutes rarely going under 300 watts, and the group got pretty splintered along the way. After Cromwell, we headed towards Queenstown through the Kuawara Gorge (home of bungee jumping), and we rode by where I made my first bungee jump last year. No time to stop today as Gordo, Molina, and I rolled along towards our last stop before the climb. I remember coming down last year, but have no recollection on how the climb will be from this side.

We started in 30 second intervals, and I could tell this was not going to be my kind of climb, and I just got through it, actually looking around to enjoy some spectacular scenery, trying to keep my legs moving. It was steep, and I was wishing for some more gearing than my 27 on the rear. A very short break for me, and we were off towards Wanaka. A very civil pace line back to Wanaka, and a stop at the local bakery for a meat pie and muffin. The yellow jersey race is really heating up with Albert trying to put it out of reach. A 6k swim, an extra 15 miles on the bike, and a run, and Albert is 6 points ahead. It could be game over for the yellow jersey. Albert is going to be awfully tough to beat running up the Coronet Peak triathlon on Sunday. An all uphill triathlon…






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