January 17, 2006 - Epic Camp NZ Day 9
Most Picturesque day of EC: Run at Seal Colony
Cove, Bike 145 km (90 miles) to Moana, Swim in Lake Brunner
I went to bed around 9:00 PM last night. I had
difficulties falling asleep again. I think I'm too tired. I work up around
1:00 AM and found Jason Rita sitting at his computer – I have no idea what
he was doing up.
Woke up around 6:15 AM and got ready for the day and for the planned run. Like many of the days, we had to have our accommodation bags packed and brought down to the vans before the run. I had my stuff laid out and planned what I'd have in my day back, the rest went into the accommodation bag. I hauled my bag down to the kitchen and got a couple pieces of toast and a cup of tea. We are down to only having espresso grin coffee left and it doesn't work with the french presses. So, it's tea for the day.
At 7:00 AM we loaded up in the vans and drove to the trail head to the seal colony.
This was my first view of the ocean while in New Zealand. It's similar to the Oregon coast only there aren't any penguin warning signs in Oregon.
The trail to the seal colony had a lot of ups and downs, like much everything in NZ I guess.
At the seal colony we were able to look down a lot of seals with very young pups. They must be only a few weeks old.
There was a sign post with direction and distance indicators to major cities around the world. Only Christchurch and Dundin were to the left (in a Southern direction).
I ran back to the trail head following Scott and Brandon. Kerry was out taking pictures all over the course, I'm not sure how she was able to get around the trail so quickly.
We were back to the motel around 8:15 AM for breakfast. Then shower and get ready to ride at 9:30 AM. I got a few minutes to call home before having to head out for the ride.
Everyone headed out for the ride together today. I can't remember the last time we had everyone together on a ride. The ride today isn't is less then 100 miles today, but if follows the ocean and has been described as "rolling" so we are expecting a lot of hills.
The first stop was at blow hole. We were told to make sure we had shoes available so we could walk down to see the blow hole. I decided to pass on walking down to see the attraction. My legs are experiencing a new sensation today – my quads feel like they are ripping at the bottom of the ascents. I'm so trashed!
Gordo and Monica have been heading out early on the rides and trying to ride steady, both have been suffering with different issues on this camp and they've been trying to keep moving steadily each day. Since I had decided to pass on the visit to the blow hole, I decided to ride the G-Train to lunch. Gordo pulled Monica, Wim, KP and me along the coast to the lunch stop. The views were outstanding.
Lunch was quick, Gordo didn't want to be idle very long with his achilles bothering him. So, a couple minutes and we were off again. KP and I slammed down a tuna fish wrap so we could catch the G-Train. The the route turned inland towards the mountains and Moana. The final distance was 90.3 miles in 5:03.
We are staying the Moana Hotel in Moana which is on Lake Brunner. Since I rode the G-Train express, I was the first of the four guys sharing a room at the Moana Hotel to arrive. This is a very nice place – brand new! There are two beds and a shower downstairs and the same upstairs. I decided to grab one of the beds upstairs. Our accommodation bags were already there so I grabbed my and took a shower. It was so nice. We even had shampoo, soap and wash cloths for a change. I was feeling like I was stay in at the Hilton. Then I went downstairs and started looking around. There were coffee, french presses and a hot pot, so I made my self a coffee and broke out the lap top. Now this is the way to train and relax in style afterwards!
View of the lake from the hotel room.
We swam in the Lake after arriving in town. Most of the people took off to swim immediately on arriving. I took some time to enjoy my coffee and relax. Wim did the same. We headed down to the lake around 5:00 PM, Molina had a hour massage and was the last to enter the water around 5:45 PM.
Dinner was at 6:30 PM. I had a massage at 6:30 PM. Fortunately, the food was so good everyone hung around the restaurant and I was able to join them after my massage.
Woke up around 6:15 AM and got ready for the day and for the planned run. Like many of the days, we had to have our accommodation bags packed and brought down to the vans before the run. I had my stuff laid out and planned what I'd have in my day back, the rest went into the accommodation bag. I hauled my bag down to the kitchen and got a couple pieces of toast and a cup of tea. We are down to only having espresso grin coffee left and it doesn't work with the french presses. So, it's tea for the day.
At 7:00 AM we loaded up in the vans and drove to the trail head to the seal colony.
This was my first view of the ocean while in New Zealand. It's similar to the Oregon coast only there aren't any penguin warning signs in Oregon.
The trail to the seal colony had a lot of ups and downs, like much everything in NZ I guess.
At the seal colony we were able to look down a lot of seals with very young pups. They must be only a few weeks old.
There was a sign post with direction and distance indicators to major cities around the world. Only Christchurch and Dundin were to the left (in a Southern direction).
I ran back to the trail head following Scott and Brandon. Kerry was out taking pictures all over the course, I'm not sure how she was able to get around the trail so quickly.
We were back to the motel around 8:15 AM for breakfast. Then shower and get ready to ride at 9:30 AM. I got a few minutes to call home before having to head out for the ride.
Everyone headed out for the ride together today. I can't remember the last time we had everyone together on a ride. The ride today isn't is less then 100 miles today, but if follows the ocean and has been described as "rolling" so we are expecting a lot of hills.
The first stop was at blow hole. We were told to make sure we had shoes available so we could walk down to see the blow hole. I decided to pass on walking down to see the attraction. My legs are experiencing a new sensation today – my quads feel like they are ripping at the bottom of the ascents. I'm so trashed!
Gordo and Monica have been heading out early on the rides and trying to ride steady, both have been suffering with different issues on this camp and they've been trying to keep moving steadily each day. Since I had decided to pass on the visit to the blow hole, I decided to ride the G-Train to lunch. Gordo pulled Monica, Wim, KP and me along the coast to the lunch stop. The views were outstanding.
Lunch was quick, Gordo didn't want to be idle very long with his achilles bothering him. So, a couple minutes and we were off again. KP and I slammed down a tuna fish wrap so we could catch the G-Train. The the route turned inland towards the mountains and Moana. The final distance was 90.3 miles in 5:03.
We are staying the Moana Hotel in Moana which is on Lake Brunner. Since I rode the G-Train express, I was the first of the four guys sharing a room at the Moana Hotel to arrive. This is a very nice place – brand new! There are two beds and a shower downstairs and the same upstairs. I decided to grab one of the beds upstairs. Our accommodation bags were already there so I grabbed my and took a shower. It was so nice. We even had shampoo, soap and wash cloths for a change. I was feeling like I was stay in at the Hilton. Then I went downstairs and started looking around. There were coffee, french presses and a hot pot, so I made my self a coffee and broke out the lap top. Now this is the way to train and relax in style afterwards!
View of the lake from the hotel room.
We swam in the Lake after arriving in town. Most of the people took off to swim immediately on arriving. I took some time to enjoy my coffee and relax. Wim did the same. We headed down to the lake around 5:00 PM, Molina had a hour massage and was the last to enter the water around 5:45 PM.
Dinner was at 6:30 PM. I had a massage at 6:30 PM. Fortunately, the food was so good everyone hung around the restaurant and I was able to join them after my massage.
Posted: Mon - January 16, 2006 at 08:47 PM
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Published On: Jun 01, 2006 12:28 AM
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Published On: Jun 01, 2006 12:28 AM