Epic Camp NZ 2010 Day 15 Tara

Day 15: Balclutha to Bluff

FINAL DAY!

Totals:

Bike: 183k
Run: 7k up Bluff Hill with 1000 feet of ascent to finish Epic Camp in EPIC STYLE!

OMG Epic Camp NZ 2010 is DONE. Wow wow wow wow wow!

Camp Totals:

100 hours and 40 minutes of training in 15 days.
Swim: 40k
Bike: 2295k
Run: 138k

This was EPIC for sure and a huge accomplishment! Woo hoo!
It is hard to believe it is over...We just cycled from the tip of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island in New Zealand and added in some pretty decent swimming and running to boot! :)

Today started as a 'normal Epic day' - packed my bags, put my night bag and day bags in the appropriate spots, ate a million calories at the 6:30am breakfast, got my bike ready and rolled out at 7:30am. However, today ended in a very different way: It was the last ride and run we will do at Epic Camp NZ 2010. And it was surprisingly emotional for me as we approached the bottom of the South Island. For 14 days I was focused on getting through that day of training. I was just taking it one day at a time, even though the original goal was to cycle the length of the country. On day 1-3 I was worried that I might not be able to complete the camp because I was so sore and anxious that I had a serious glute injury. I recovered well and kept going but I have to say that early on in the camp, the idea that we had to do this for 15 days was daunting. Fifteen days is a lot of days to train at with such intensity and with this amount of volume. But today, on day 15, it felt like it was not that long ago that we started this amazing journey and hard to believe it was about to come to an end.

Day 1 was hot and sunny, Days 2-14 were cold and often rainy (with a couple short exceptions like our amazing trail run in Christchurch) but Day 15 finished just like Day 1: hot and sunny! It was a perfect day. It was beautiful weather (aside from starting out cold which prompted me to apply WAY too many layers like my Zoot arm warmers on my lower legs leaving me soaking wet in sweat with fogged up glasses at the top of the first big climb), the scenery was gorgeous - perfect Kiwi rolling green hills with sheep galore and a sweet ocean view, the ride was friendly FOR REAL as opposed to the 'friendly' rides where we would hammer off the front, and the champagne at the end of the ride with congratulatory hugs all around with many photo ops was a great celebration of an amazing accomplishment.

Before most of us ran up Bluff Hill to complete the camp, a few brave campers rode up Bluff Hill which has an average grade of 18% and a max grade of about 25%. Some made it, some didn't make it riding (but rather pushing their bikes) to the top. Douglas made it on two feet rather than two wheels AFTER he attempted one last power stroke on the steepest part of the climb, only to topple over backwards, landing on his head, still attached to his bike. Helmet was crushed but not a scuff or bruise can be seen. AMAZING! All Douglas was concerned with, was the fact that he has to replace his $300 helmet. Too bad the film crew didn't get this on camera!

The run up Bluff Hill was STEEP but a very beautiful trail with quite a few stairs to help ascend the 1000 feet in 7k. However, the run down the road the brave ones cycled up was somewhat hard on the knees and toes as they were jammed into the toe boxes of our shoes. What a perfect way to end Epic Camp with a nice challenging run.

Dinner tonight was a blast. This was an amazing group of campers and the stories will be told for years to come. I can't wait to see the movie that is made showing our adventure.

Thank you Scott Molina, Johnny N and Gordo and all the support crew (especially Davey Dwan) for putting on such a perfect camp. All we had to do was eat, sleep, swim, run and cycle the length of New Zealand! GOOD TIMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Epilogue to follow...but for now I have to sleep (for about a week) and I have a plane to catch back to Toronto tomorrow! Plus, I want my 5 bonus points for blogging every day :)
Tara