Check out the interview from radio sport at:
http://www.sportzhub.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12434&Itemid=1
Wednesday 15 June 2011
Sunday 5 June 2011
Rollo's Nelson Adventure Race 2011
After plenty of deliberating as to whether I would race Rollo's or head north to the 3D race in Rotorua I decided longer less intense racing would be much better suited for me at this stage in the year.
This was looking good until I saw the weather forecast! 3hours in the rain versus 19?? I chose 19...
The day started with a leisurely 8:30am start in Cable bay. With the weather set to rapidly deteriorate we set about quickly paddling our way past Glenduan, Snappers point and the boulder bank to finish at the Nelson Marina. A building Northerly swell provided plently of entertainment as we headed out of Cable bay but all went to plan and we settled into a Rhythm at the front of the pack steadily gaining ground on "the colts" a Christchurch team up to challenge the title.
A quick transition at the marina saw us into a trek run section taking in prominent Nelson landmarks. We were then onto the bikes for the "Tineli time trial" a roughly 1 hour section of biking to Third house via the very direct "Classic track". All smooth so far we transitioned back onto foot for what would be an epic 7.5 hours trekking and well over 1000m of climbing. Continued deterioration in the weather saw us stopping mid way to put most of our compulsary gear on as the altitude in combination with persistent rain was making the day increasingly miserable. The course had now continued past Rocks Hut to checkpoint 906 where we left the marked track. This section involved following a ridgeline to Mt Meares then beyond to Mt Malita. Even in daylight the visibility was poor. We had no problems locating the ridge but finding the best path of travel kept me busy. We continually thought of the trailing teams who were now over an hour behind and would have to navigate this by dark. I also knew that keeping warm with such slow travel would be integral for these teams to finish.
Despite Malita Hut being warm and inviting we boosted on without pause into a 700m descent to the Aniseed Valley Pit stop. After such miserable conditions up high we took time to refuel before a 500m climb up to Jenkins Hill. From here we had an hour left of trekking to Third house and our bikes. So at 8:30pm (12hours in) we made haste onto the bikes for a chilly 10minute descent to the Classic track junction on Fringe Hill. With conditions barely ridable and the legs suffering we pushed most of this 300m climb to the top and the next CP. On a nice day descending Fringe is an enjoyable experience but with persistent rain and mist, and less than 10feet visibliity there were other places I'd rather have been! Aside from falling off the major risk tonight was the cold.
Into Pit Stop 2 in the Maitai picnic area we quickly refueled and set off on what we thought would be 2.5hrs of biking to the final and much awaited orienteering section...So when we arrived at Branford park for the final transition after 3.5hrs not only were our crew very tired but extremely pleased to see us! (It was now past 2 in the morning). The lack of visibility had made for some challenging navigation and despite having some great knowledge of the area new skid sites and recently logged areas made finding the tracks we wanted extremely challenging. The GPS did however smooth out several of these issues. Glad I packed it!
The final orienteering section went without any major issues thanks to Johns orienteering expertise and we crossed the finish at 3:40am making for just over 19hours of racing, clearing 2nd place by over 4 hours.
In a final note I must thank my awesome teammates: John Harris (winning Rollos at a legendary age of 49!), Tony Bateup (always solid with invaluable experience to boot), Lynley Coventry (x legend rower but now legend multisporter, amazingly strong and never complains), and our amazing crew Jo and Jack (thanks girls, couldn't have done it without you). Congrats must also go out to all the teams who persisted with the weather for whatever length of time, it was miserable out there. To all those who race on despite blisters on their feet, I SALUTE YOU.
Photo's to come.......
This was looking good until I saw the weather forecast! 3hours in the rain versus 19?? I chose 19...
The day started with a leisurely 8:30am start in Cable bay. With the weather set to rapidly deteriorate we set about quickly paddling our way past Glenduan, Snappers point and the boulder bank to finish at the Nelson Marina. A building Northerly swell provided plently of entertainment as we headed out of Cable bay but all went to plan and we settled into a Rhythm at the front of the pack steadily gaining ground on "the colts" a Christchurch team up to challenge the title.
A quick transition at the marina saw us into a trek run section taking in prominent Nelson landmarks. We were then onto the bikes for the "Tineli time trial" a roughly 1 hour section of biking to Third house via the very direct "Classic track". All smooth so far we transitioned back onto foot for what would be an epic 7.5 hours trekking and well over 1000m of climbing. Continued deterioration in the weather saw us stopping mid way to put most of our compulsary gear on as the altitude in combination with persistent rain was making the day increasingly miserable. The course had now continued past Rocks Hut to checkpoint 906 where we left the marked track. This section involved following a ridgeline to Mt Meares then beyond to Mt Malita. Even in daylight the visibility was poor. We had no problems locating the ridge but finding the best path of travel kept me busy. We continually thought of the trailing teams who were now over an hour behind and would have to navigate this by dark. I also knew that keeping warm with such slow travel would be integral for these teams to finish.
Despite Malita Hut being warm and inviting we boosted on without pause into a 700m descent to the Aniseed Valley Pit stop. After such miserable conditions up high we took time to refuel before a 500m climb up to Jenkins Hill. From here we had an hour left of trekking to Third house and our bikes. So at 8:30pm (12hours in) we made haste onto the bikes for a chilly 10minute descent to the Classic track junction on Fringe Hill. With conditions barely ridable and the legs suffering we pushed most of this 300m climb to the top and the next CP. On a nice day descending Fringe is an enjoyable experience but with persistent rain and mist, and less than 10feet visibliity there were other places I'd rather have been! Aside from falling off the major risk tonight was the cold.
Into Pit Stop 2 in the Maitai picnic area we quickly refueled and set off on what we thought would be 2.5hrs of biking to the final and much awaited orienteering section...So when we arrived at Branford park for the final transition after 3.5hrs not only were our crew very tired but extremely pleased to see us! (It was now past 2 in the morning). The lack of visibility had made for some challenging navigation and despite having some great knowledge of the area new skid sites and recently logged areas made finding the tracks we wanted extremely challenging. The GPS did however smooth out several of these issues. Glad I packed it!
The final orienteering section went without any major issues thanks to Johns orienteering expertise and we crossed the finish at 3:40am making for just over 19hours of racing, clearing 2nd place by over 4 hours.
In a final note I must thank my awesome teammates: John Harris (winning Rollos at a legendary age of 49!), Tony Bateup (always solid with invaluable experience to boot), Lynley Coventry (x legend rower but now legend multisporter, amazingly strong and never complains), and our amazing crew Jo and Jack (thanks girls, couldn't have done it without you). Congrats must also go out to all the teams who persisted with the weather for whatever length of time, it was miserable out there. To all those who race on despite blisters on their feet, I SALUTE YOU.
Photo's to come.......
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