Epic Camp Day 15

Today really couldn't have gone better, even if we had scripted it ourselves.

The tone was set right from the outset, where breakfast reached new heights of excellence. I managed to find room for pancakes with bananas and maple syrup, bacon and scrambled eggs, toasted fruit bread and peanut butter, and muesli with yoghurt. I should add that I preceded breakfast with a 10km run, leaving me with just 4km to go to reach my 250km goal (knowing we had a 7km run at Bluff).

We rolled out early (7:30), as today was potentially a long one. The pace was leisurely. I hadn't intended to go off in front of the group, but it just happened that way. I'm glad it did because I really enjoyed the solo part of today's ride through some spectacular Catlins scenery, while knowing that we would regroup at lunch and share each others' company for the last 55km to Bluff.

There were some solid climbs in that first stretch, but nothing like the severity of what we faced yesterday - 5% as opposed to 10%+. After a couple of weeks of lots of "noise", it was nice to have some quiet time - no traffic, no chatter, just birds and native bush.

One particular moment that sticks in my mind was the start of a descent from a longish climb, when I rounded the corner of the summit and, in front of me, was a jaw-dropping stunning whitesand beach - totally deserted. I had to stop, take it all in for a moment, and snap a few shots.

I didn't stop at the first aid station, prefering to roll on to lunch and continue to ride solo. At this stage, the day turned from cool and overcast to fine and warm, with a brisk easterly (tailwind!). Biking along at 40-50k on the rolling terrain, down on the bars, I could almost pretend I was a decent cyclist.

Lunch was long and leisurely as we had to wait for some of the slower cyclists to come in. Not that anyone minded. Bruce had found a great spot for us to chill out and work on our tans while we waited.

The post-lunch ride to Bluff was ridiculously easy, given our tailwind. I was sitting in the bunch, pretty much freewheeling, and getting carted along at 40-45kph. There had been a fair bit of banter among the group over the last few days about who would attempt Bluff Hill when we arrived. This is a hill that the pros struggle to climb during the Tour of Southland (3km at an average of 18%), so it would certainly test those of us that tried it, after 2,500km in our legs. I chickened out. I just didn't think I would make it with the gearing I had (might've been different if I'd had my compact). But around half of us tried, and most made it up. Credit must go to Douglas, who found such a steep section of the final corner that he went over backwards. Cracked his helmet (but was unhurt), got back on somehow, and completed the climb.

Then, the big moment we had all worked so hard for over the last 15 days. We arrived at the end of the road. Spirits were obviously pretty high - we popped a few bottles of bubbles and took the obligatory photo underneath the signposts. (Funny incident - we met up with a couple who were at Cape Reinga on the day we started this trip. They had driven to Bluff in the time we had biked to it.)

But EC had one more demand to make of us - we had a 7km run, which was supposed to be around the base of Bluff Hill (Foveaux Track), but "modified" by John to take us to the top of Bluff Hill (about a 300m climb) and then down the steep road some of us had biked up. Cheers John, the quads really enjoyed that.

Back to Invercargill, bikes packed up, then our final dinner together. Lone Star is known for its huge meals, and did not disappoint. The atmosphere was celebratory and relaxed (in the sense that no one was worrying about weather forecasts, hill profiles or swim sets for tomorrow). There were few formalities, but one was the confirming of the four camp jerseys. The red (Petro), yellow (Steve) and polka dot (Clas) had already been determined. Only the green was up for grabs. Gordo described it as going to the person who most embodies the spirit of EC. I was stoked when it was awarded to me. I've certainly pushed myself harder on this camp than ever before, and to get that recognition was great.

Of course none of what we achieved would've been possible without the awesome job done by John (in particular), Gordo, Scott and the support crew (particularly Dave D). There were a thousand things that could've potentially gone wrong on such a logistically-tough tour. But things ran like clockwork, so the team could just focus on training, eating and recovering. A truly slick operation. Many thanks guys.

Now, back to reality.

185km ride, 206w AP, 221w NP (for 4:15 to lunch - 132/152w for 1:32 to Bluff), 1,846m total ascent.