January 19, 2006 - Epic Camp NZ Day 11
Bike from Arthur's Pass village to Christchurch,
Swim 3000 meters at QE2, Run 50 min at Taylor's Wetlands Reserve
We woke up around 6:00 AM as several people went
out to the run. It was only 5 C in Arthur's Pass this morning but the sun was
out, this was good. It was really
cold.
Breakfast was in the Alpine Hotel at 7:30 AM, the usual spread.
All the bags had to be packed and ready to roll out on our bikes at 8:30 AM. I had all my stuff together and ready with my bike outside and ready to go at 8:18 AM. I saw a couple folks head off on their bikes. I figured I'd ride easy with group today. But after only a couple of minutes I was getting cold waiting, so I started off on the ride so I could warm up.
The mountains were spectacular. The views all day were outstanding. The following picture is about 10 miles out of the Arthur's Pass, looking back at the mountain range we had just gone through.
About 12 miles into the ride I caught up with Jonas, Dr. J, and Matt. We rode together for several miles and then the elite group of Clas, Stephan, Win, Mitch, Eric and Mark. We were on a significant climb and it took me several moments to decide to try to catch them. I was climbing as hard as I could and after a couple of minutes of going as hard as I could I realized I wasn't closing on them. At the top the hill I could see Eric had been dropped and the others were a little ways ahead. I rode up to Eric and as I approached I yelled to him I was passing and to jump on. I rode for miles but couldn't begin to close in on the others. I could see them but just not close the gap. Then we came up to Flock Hill. We were warned about his climb earlier in the day. It was a very steep climb. Eric and I started climbing it and I started to doing the paper-route technique of switching back and forth on the road to save momentum and make the climb easier. Near the top of the hill I saw Mark had been dropped on this hill. On the back side of Flock Hill was our first water station, luckily for us. The others stopped there and I Mark and I were able catch up with them. We all took off together and it wasn't long before we had another significant climb and Mark and I were being dropped again. I struggle to keep up and manage to keep in contact. These guys flew down the back side and into the next hills. I was able hang with them for a couple more rollers and then they dropped me and a stair-step series of climbs. Then there was a long slightly uphill false flat section for several kilometers, followed by another major climb. As I started the climb I looked back and thought I saw Mark gaining on me. I kept climbing and wondered if he was going to catch me. In the matter of just moments later, it was Gordo, and he flew past me so fast I was just amazed at the rate he was climbing. Luckily I was only 40 meters of so from the top and I was able to catch him on the descent. The back side was pretty steep and long. We were flying down the hill and passed a double bed dump truck that was grinding down the hill in low gear. Then it leveled out and I was able to hang on the back of Gordo for 20 to 30 minutes all the way to the lunch stop. That's where we found the elite group sitting in lawn chairs eating lunch.
After lunch we all set out together: Clas, Stephan, Wim, Mitch, Gordo and me. Luckily the "rollers" were over and the terrain was level to downhill. After a few kilometers Gordo dropped back and left the five of us. We were going freakishly fast. Clas would take these long pulls at the front and hold around 27 mph. Then he'd drop back and then Stephan would pull, the pace would slow down a few miles per hour, he would go a mile or so and then Wim would take a similar turn. Then Mitch, who was the only one without aero bars would take a short pull, and then I was next. I pulled as hard as I could to keep the same pace the others were holding. Then when I'd drop back, Clas was next to take a pull and he would accelerate and I'd have to work so hard to just catch on to the back of the pace line. This occurred four times, each time the pace would increase to the point I would be into a lot of pain to keep with them.
When we made it to the final water station, Clas proposed adding another 15 minutes to our ride and take a less direct route back to the lodge. I completed the 99 miles in 4:40, the others in 4:20. It was the hardest, fastest ride I've ever been on and this was over a lot of serious climbs "rollers". We made it to the lodge by 2:00 PM. I showered and grabbed my laptop to get email and publish the 5 days of blogs I'd had ready to upload.
At 3:00 PM we went to QEII to swim 3000 meters and sit in the hot tube. Then I went for a run in the Taylor Wetlands Reserve. My knees were not very happy with the run even though I ran slow.
Tomorrow is a fun day of a series of events to gain additional Epic Camp points and, I think, to laugh at how fatigued we all are.
Breakfast was in the Alpine Hotel at 7:30 AM, the usual spread.
All the bags had to be packed and ready to roll out on our bikes at 8:30 AM. I had all my stuff together and ready with my bike outside and ready to go at 8:18 AM. I saw a couple folks head off on their bikes. I figured I'd ride easy with group today. But after only a couple of minutes I was getting cold waiting, so I started off on the ride so I could warm up.
The mountains were spectacular. The views all day were outstanding. The following picture is about 10 miles out of the Arthur's Pass, looking back at the mountain range we had just gone through.
About 12 miles into the ride I caught up with Jonas, Dr. J, and Matt. We rode together for several miles and then the elite group of Clas, Stephan, Win, Mitch, Eric and Mark. We were on a significant climb and it took me several moments to decide to try to catch them. I was climbing as hard as I could and after a couple of minutes of going as hard as I could I realized I wasn't closing on them. At the top the hill I could see Eric had been dropped and the others were a little ways ahead. I rode up to Eric and as I approached I yelled to him I was passing and to jump on. I rode for miles but couldn't begin to close in on the others. I could see them but just not close the gap. Then we came up to Flock Hill. We were warned about his climb earlier in the day. It was a very steep climb. Eric and I started climbing it and I started to doing the paper-route technique of switching back and forth on the road to save momentum and make the climb easier. Near the top of the hill I saw Mark had been dropped on this hill. On the back side of Flock Hill was our first water station, luckily for us. The others stopped there and I Mark and I were able catch up with them. We all took off together and it wasn't long before we had another significant climb and Mark and I were being dropped again. I struggle to keep up and manage to keep in contact. These guys flew down the back side and into the next hills. I was able hang with them for a couple more rollers and then they dropped me and a stair-step series of climbs. Then there was a long slightly uphill false flat section for several kilometers, followed by another major climb. As I started the climb I looked back and thought I saw Mark gaining on me. I kept climbing and wondered if he was going to catch me. In the matter of just moments later, it was Gordo, and he flew past me so fast I was just amazed at the rate he was climbing. Luckily I was only 40 meters of so from the top and I was able to catch him on the descent. The back side was pretty steep and long. We were flying down the hill and passed a double bed dump truck that was grinding down the hill in low gear. Then it leveled out and I was able to hang on the back of Gordo for 20 to 30 minutes all the way to the lunch stop. That's where we found the elite group sitting in lawn chairs eating lunch.
After lunch we all set out together: Clas, Stephan, Wim, Mitch, Gordo and me. Luckily the "rollers" were over and the terrain was level to downhill. After a few kilometers Gordo dropped back and left the five of us. We were going freakishly fast. Clas would take these long pulls at the front and hold around 27 mph. Then he'd drop back and then Stephan would pull, the pace would slow down a few miles per hour, he would go a mile or so and then Wim would take a similar turn. Then Mitch, who was the only one without aero bars would take a short pull, and then I was next. I pulled as hard as I could to keep the same pace the others were holding. Then when I'd drop back, Clas was next to take a pull and he would accelerate and I'd have to work so hard to just catch on to the back of the pace line. This occurred four times, each time the pace would increase to the point I would be into a lot of pain to keep with them.
When we made it to the final water station, Clas proposed adding another 15 minutes to our ride and take a less direct route back to the lodge. I completed the 99 miles in 4:40, the others in 4:20. It was the hardest, fastest ride I've ever been on and this was over a lot of serious climbs "rollers". We made it to the lodge by 2:00 PM. I showered and grabbed my laptop to get email and publish the 5 days of blogs I'd had ready to upload.
At 3:00 PM we went to QEII to swim 3000 meters and sit in the hot tube. Then I went for a run in the Taylor Wetlands Reserve. My knees were not very happy with the run even though I ran slow.
Tomorrow is a fun day of a series of events to gain additional Epic Camp points and, I think, to laugh at how fatigued we all are.
Posted: Thu - January 19, 2006 at 12:45 AM
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Published On: Jun 01, 2006 12:28 AM
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Published On: Jun 01, 2006 12:28 AM