January 16, 2006 - Epic Camp NZ Day 8


Longest ride of Epic Camp: 8:50 ride time, 230 km (143 miles). From Nelson through Murchison on to Westport.

I had pretty much packed up my accommodation bag and laid out my gear last night. One or two people were way past 11:00 PM with their light on still packing.

I woke up this morning at 6:00 AM, put on some sweats and headed down to the cafeteria with my packed accommodation bag. The accommodation bags needed to be by the vans before we go to breakfast. I eat the normal breakfast of eggs, toast and oatmeal, then headed back to my room to put on my bike gear shove everything else I had in my day bag or computer bag. Dropped off my bags in the designated areas, grabbed my bike and went down by the vans to catch the 6:45 AM group heading out on the ride.

It was 15 C (59 F) when we started out on the bike and oh boy was the wind blowing. The weather report predicted we would have a headwind for the entire ride, so people were wanted to start the ride as soon as possible. The bike ride today took us back on the same route we took on the 12th from Murchison to Nelson. Which is about 125 km, but we are not stopping at Murchison this time but continuing on another 105 km or so to Westport.

There were 10 in our group when we headed out. I understand there were at least one group that headed out just before us, and the really strong guys left at 7:15 AM. One of the guys that was keeping us up last night packing, couldn't get his act together this morning for some reason and didn't make it with any of the slower groups and left with or after the elite group. It's been over 10 hours now and he still hasn't made it. This is way to long a ride to go it alone!

The wind was really blowing today and we were averaging around 13 mph. It was slow going. Too slow for Albert and Kevin, who decided to ride on ahead. We climbed the first of the big climbs into the wind and started having thoughts that there is no way I'm going to make it. The support vans were waiting at the top of the climb for KOM points and we stopped to allow folks to get into their day bags. Then continued on. We only went about 2 km when Dr. J turned around. His IT band was bothering him and he thought it best to ride in the van. We were now down to 7 people for the rest of the ride with Scott Molina and Bella as the pace setters.

Even on the descents it was difficult to get over 20 mph. The wind decide to make it self a major part of todays ride. The elite group passed us on the second major climb.



We made it to Merchison sometime around noon for lunch. Nearly everyone was there together for a short time. When we were in Merchison last time it was raining and the overcast prevented visibility of the mountains. This time around we got a good look at the country around Merchison, it's very nice.



We road past Murchison about 10 km and then turned off toward Westport. The road was mostly downhill with some occasional rollers as it followed a river to the ocean and Westport. The vegetation was thick on both sides of the road. It was obvious that it rains a lot around here.



About 50 km after Merchison we had another water stop. It was along the river and the bluffs. They provide a nice backdrop for us.



We arrived at our destination around 4:30 PM (almost 10 hours after we started). I was totally fatigued and very much ready to get off of the bike. The sun was out all day, which made it get for the attitude. Now if the roads weren't so rough and the wind would have stopped, it would have been a perfect day.




Posted: Sun - January 15, 2006 at 07:25 PM          

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