Rollo's 8 Hour adventure race - Nelson!

Post China had been pretty mad at the gym but my decision to take a month of light duties training was paying off. The thought of racing just down the road and with Rach had me really excited. Keeping a long story short we had a great day racing from Pelorus Bridge to the Trafalgar Pavillion in Nelson. Given that Rach at best manages to train for an hour a day she was amazingly strong AND despite all her pre race talk about not racing and taking it easy she warmed to the competitive spirit very quickly and effortlessly. Rach commended me after the race for "listening" to what she wanted to do. Faster, slower, left, right, tow, don't tow you name it I did it. As a result we produced our first argument free race and I now have discovered a significant relationship tool moving forward.....just do what she says. Brilliant! I always was a slow learner.

Anyway, onto the race. Race director Chris James was organising his last Rollos. It will be sad to see him step aside after such a great service but he sums the race up perfectly below:

Rollo’s Nelson Adventure Race 2013 – The Journey Home

Anakiwa to Nelson is not that far isn’t it? That may have been the thought on most competitor’s mines once the 2013 Rollo’s Nelson Adventure Race course was release on the Friday night. Actually the course may have looked a little soft.

It had a bit of everything in it, the Marlborough Sounds Kayak Portage race, parts of the 2002 Southern Traverse, the Migym Musselman, The Rollo’s 3&6Hour and the Coppermine Epic.

Anakiwa was the start line for both the AR12 & AR24 sections of the race that started at 9.30am with a short jog to their waiting kayaks at Tirimonana Jetty for the paddle stage to Mistletoe Bay. Leading the charge to Mistletoe Bay were the best in the game, Team Seagate – Subway, who as they paddle past the Anakiwa jetty had already put 200mm on the field on what was a picture postcard morning.

Once at Mistletoe Bay there was a portage over the saddle to TeMahia Wharf for the 19km paddle to Kaiuma Bay. The day was warm, the scenery stunning and the pace was hot for those trying to keep up. However there had been a catch, those paddling non racing kayaks were given a 30 minute head start, it was going to be interesting who would arrive at CP2 first. It was the 2 person team Motueka High/ Coppins Cycles of Jake Stow and Andrew Read who arrived first. They had a plastic double and a trolley and they were paddling across TeMahia Bay when Seagate-Subway arrive, with Faavae doing a Colin ‘Pinetree’ Meads impersonation with  JKK Quasar on one shoulder while Richard Ussher, JJ Wilson and Sophie Hart followed behind. Auckland team True Adventure were next having been passed by Seagate – Subway before CP 2, while the Rollo’s Shuffle, Andrew Martin, Matt Ellery, Tony Bateup and Lynley Coventry were next onto the water.

Meanwhile at TA1 – Kaiuma Bay. Those doing the Adventure Duathlon’s AD12 & AD24 were getting ready for their start at 11.30am. They would ride to the Maitai Dam in the back of Nelson via the not often used Kaiuma Bay Road to Pelorus Bridge, up the Pelorus Valley then over the Maungatapu Track to the remote transition at the Maitai Dam. There was a bunch of 5 Adventure Duathlon teams that reached CP4 together, teams C&B Sessions, Fe Maidens, A Mixed Bag, The Mount Somers Panthers and Not another Bloody Hill. And it was another (first of many)Bloody hill that was to sort these 5 teams out as the ascended the Maungatapu Track to CP5 at its Saddle before the descent into the Maitai Dam and TA2.

A little later at CP4 was the start for the AD8 – the Eight Hour Duathlon started at 1.30pm. They would also ride to the Maitai Dam, have a short trek, there continue onto TA4.

Yes another start, you haven’t missed anything, the race had 3 starts. This made the race interesting as the AD 8 would start last, but finish first, the AR12, AD12 & 24 would also be able to finish before most of the AR24 teams. So there were races within racers and course within courses. Teams would see the leading teams in the other racers during the day & night. Normally at an adventure race you would only see the favourites at the start line, not today and the leading teams would pass the others during their race to the finish. With 3 minutes of the AD8 starting team Seagate – Subway arrived with the Rollo’s Shuffle only 15 minutes back. It was going to be interesting what would happen once they caught the AD8 race as Team Seagate’s - Trevor Voyce had elected to race with wife Rachel in her comeback race since adding to the population of the Voyce house. At the top of the climb to CP5 at the Maungatapu Saddle Voyce’s Team Migym Truck & Trailer were 5 minutes ahead of Seagate – Subway unaware that they were so close and at this stage only 20 minutes behind the leading Adventure Duathlon teams.

The plan with the staggered start was to have all the teams at TA2 doing the treks at the same time. Yes treks, as the AR12 & AD8 had a shorten trek CP6, CP7 & CP11. AR24 & AD24 had the full trek to complete while the AD12 had a ½ trek CP6, CP7, CP8 & CP9.

The Maitai Dam was a remote transition, no crew allowed, so team had to self-supported, so once they arrive at TA2 they grabbed their team’s transition bag before heading into the wilderness. Teams in the full race would be required to trek to CP6, CP7, CP8 – Dew Lakes, CP9 – Dun Shelter, CP10 – Wooded Peak before heading to CP11 to then return to TA3. There is a lot a lot of climbing between these CP’s.

TA2 & TA3 were the same spot and it was busier that a railway station as team came and went.

Leading the charge back into TA3 were Migym Truck & Trailer of Trevor & Rachael Voyce. It was still daylight as they headed out on the pipe-line and dun mountain walkway ride to TA4 at the Brook Motorcamp they looked well clear of the rest of the field. The Forsyth Barr Trillseekers of Ken Page, Reid Forrest and Robyn Dunmore & Euan MacIntosh now had the AR12 lead and left TA3 ahead of the leading AD12 team Brenda Clapp & Chris Burr of the C&B Sessions. However the night was but young.

CP12 could have been a game breaker, a lonely picnic table on the Dun Mountain walkway, with an option. Either descend down Bullock spur, a nationally ranked downhill MTB track or face to the valley below or take the longer and safer route to the crossroads above the Brook Motorcamp to TA4 – Cabin 23? Many took the spur option, maybe it was because it was dark and all the danger may have been hidden it the shadows. How they ride down this is amazing, just walking it is a mission.

At TA4 teams were given a new map they needed to get the 7 checkpoint numbers on their way to the Trafalgar Park Pavilion finish line. This was to take teams on foot over the Grampians behind Nelson, before descending (for the last time) then across Nelson city via the church steps and the Rollo’s shop window to reach the finish to complete their journeys home.

As predicted the first team home was the AD8 winners Migym Truck & Trailer in 6hours 19 minutes and the Waimea College Hillary Challenge teams in 7hours & 41 minutes.

The AD12 winners were C&B Sessions in a very smart 10 hours and 54 minutes ahead of Fe Maidens all women’s combination of Ingird Ritcher, Jane Orbell & Meg Bichard who were 12hours even with a Mixed bag 3^rd in 12hours & 25 minutes.

Poppy’s Choice of Leigh Champion & Mike Kyle claimed the AD24 title in 14hours and 27minuntes

The AR12 title went to the Forsyth Barr Trillseekers in a respectable 13hours & 8 minutes, with Team Kamakazi Joe & Jackie MacIntyre with Brian & Jacqui Nathan in 14hours 12 minutes and Hobbling But Hot & Awatea B&B 3^rd in 14hours 45minutes.

However in between all these teams finishing, on the stroke of Midnight, the 2013 Rollo’s Nelson Adventure Race champions team Seagate-Subway arrive in 14hours and 18 minutes leaving all behind them in their wake. The Rollo’s Shuffle were second in 15hours & 38minutes and the Wombles (yes that 70’s TV program) of Ash & Naomi Whitehead, Gilbert Robinson & Gerald Malcolm took the bronze in 18hours & 2 minutes.

As the church bells rang out across Nelson that Sunday morning, 13 years earlier I had started the first of the 12 Rollo’s Nelson Adventure Races on Tahunanui Beach and this morning I had brought the race home. My journey home was now complete.

Chris ‘the Sheriff’ James

Wenzhou adventure challenge, April 13-16th 2013

This race had me a little nervous when I committed in January due to its proximity to several other races this year. From February I had the longest day followed in March by Godzone and then Wenzhou a month later. It would be a tough ask and require good recovery from the two preceding events.

As it happened recovery went as well as could be expected from both Coast to Coast and Godzone. I knew the effects of Godzone could still be lingering but all things being equal I was pretty happy as I began the 24 odd hours of travel to the start. Wenzhou is a moderate size prospering city in China with a population of 9 million small to medium sized people. From a racing perspective we had a great schedule for Wenzhou; arrive a day prior, leave immediately after, 8 days total so this was a short and focused trip. Our hotel sat on an island in the middle of the river sharing the space with a retro style theme park.

China has some crazy ideas about social media. Facebook is blocked nationwide as is my blog site making daily blogs rather difficult. What follows are my daily email summaries sent to Rach after each stage....


Day 1:

Day 1 complete. Bit quicker than expected. All done in 3.5hrs. You may have read Dougal's blog so have been updated but here's a run down anyway:

- 5km run, 4km paddle, 3km orienteering, 17km paddle, 26km bike, 25 flights of stairs then a 80m abseil.

The run went pretty much as expected (although despite Nath's worry about his pace I got dropped a couple of km into it and red lined the whole way). We entered the boats in 3rd or 4th but quickly cleaned up a fast running Chinese team and pulled into the island (middle of river) 2nd but overtook Braden and Dougal in transition. Nath showed his class for the orienteering but unfortunately there was no chance at losing the Wanaka boys or the Aussies who had a trouble free guided trip through the course.

Back onto the boats for a 17km upstream paddle to the next TA. With three boats all paddling similar speeds it was impossible to get a gap so we all took turns at leading so the others could enjoy the wash. The GPS showed we were paddling faster on the front but not enough to drop them off the wash.

Into TA together we were ready for another fast TA but Nath's front tyre was completely flat so we lost 4-5minutes with a tube change. The bike went pretty well I thought and caught the Aussies who also got a flat. Then it was up the stairs, and the 80m abseil. A little disconcerting with Chinese officials shouting at me what to do in Chinese but we got it sorted and abseiled to the finish.

Definitely disappointed about the flat as it was the bike transporters who damaged Nath's valve but such is life racing in China. On the ups is that we are both feeling good and ready to have another smash tomorrow. A new day and new opportunity!

Will try to update you tomorrow but it'll be brief as it may be late.

Hope all's well at home

Trev


Day 2:

Bad luck definitely doesn't come in ones when racing in China. After day 2 of taking our share its time for a clean day of racing....fingers crossed.

The day started with a 40km mountain bike so the bikes were waiting for us off the bus. Nath soon discovered his rear deralier had been damaged in transit. With time to spare he worked with Marcel and managed to improve the shifting to a satisfactory state. These races are filled with racers limited in bunch riding so getting racing off the front can is a great move if you can manage it and is exactly what Dougal and Braden did. The rest of us were left madly chasing to keep them in sight but they were racing strong and soon had a small gap. A small chase bunch had developed that we were sitting in comfortably (within reason!) but another dose of bad luck was looming. Nath had sliced his back tyre on something and wasn't sealing. It needed changing so within 10 minutes of starting we were off the road. Four and a half minutes went by along with the entire field making us dead last. On hindsight both of us were rather pessimistic at our chances of pulling back a respectable finish but as normal we said nothing and quickly got into chase mode. A puncture at the start of a day is worth much more to the opposition at the start of the race versus the end as everyone is fresh and travel much further in 4.5mins.

On the road again we rode like maniacs the entire way. When one of us would fade the other would set the pace. After 80mins at TA 1 we had passed 2/3 of the field and were just behind Jess Simpson and Stu Lynch who were third in the mixed section. Ahead lay a 17km run and there was plenty of chasing to be done. Luckily the red bull Chineese team were immediately in front of us and were great on their feet so we used them to keep us at a solid pace. After plenty of sweat and heavy breathing the highest point of the run of 700m came and went with the pace still respectable. One by one teams were ticked off fading behind us. At TA2 we sat in 5th position with 3 minutes up to 2nd. Dougal and Braden sat in a league of their own 12 minutes ahead. A good paddle could get us on the podium.

Into the boats we were paddling well but the fat boats and shallow water made any gains tedious. Just before half way we caught Marcel and Martin, James and Jarrod, plus Jacky and Mimi who were having a great day in the mixed section. The problem now was getting away from these teams as the wave behind them creates a perfect draft. Several failed attempts were made on our part and its safe to say we got fairly frustrated. We were the only team in the group capable of moving things at a decent pace and eventually gave in to them sitting in behind.

TA3 came not a moment too soon as gas levels had hit an all time low. We ran to the top of the abseil, descended a decidedly uninspiring bluff into the river and began a 500m swim to the finish on the other side. What a slog. Swimming with full kit on wasn't pretty but we dug very deep to claim 2nd in the stage.

Today has been a hard fight to claim what we deserve.....right from the start. After the events of this morning we are pretty damned happy. The racing is tough enough without punctures so fingers crossed tomorrow brings better luck.

Time for sleep

Trev

Day 3:

Hi all

Pretty smoked so will try to keep this brief. Staggered start today in the boats. Tried to get away from the 2 chasing teams but after yesterday I was feeling well below par. The paddle ended up being 3 boats working together as in day 1. Dougal & Braden, Jarred & James (AKA the Aussies) and us lapping it out on the front. Safe to say I suffered like a dog but couldn't have had a better team mate under those circumstances.

Next up was a 12km uphill ride.

Onto the bike went all three teams together but not for long. The Wanaka boys looked as fresh as daisies and after toying with us for a few minutes they got bored and disappeared off up the hill. My good feelings from the boat soon caught back up and under the tow of Nath we faded off the back of the Aussies in third place. Fortunately a compulsory 15 minute rest broke up the climb and I had a chance to cool off and get some food in. All too quickly we on the bikes again but only for 20minutes of climbing into TA2. From here we basically separated. Nath went up to complete a 90metre abseil while I ran down to meet him at the bottom. The few minutes wait I had were crucial and once back running again I felt considerably better. The run was to entail 1 decent climb of 450m and 3 smaller climbs of 1-200m and by now it was getting really hot. Luckily for us the course designers managed to keep us clear of water and shade most of the time. Otherwise it would have been far too comfortable!

Discomfort however presents opportunity. By the base of the climb we had caught the Aussies and Jarred appeared to suffering. Nath was also suffering after dragging me round on the bike but we thought lets have a crack anyway. Without a response from the Aussies we got a gap and set about lengthening it with steady and consistent running. I found the heat pretty hard to handle but we were moving well so kept pace for the remainder of the 15km run to the finish. It had been another hard day with close racing but we had claimed another podium finish and a 2nd place to defend again tomorrow.

Things could have been much worse today. Luckily our collective strengths and ability to suffer consistently won through.

The final stage 4 is tomorrow.

Will update after

Trev

Day 4:

Hi all

2nd again today in another close finish to take 2nd overall. Pretty stoked considering the issues from day 1 and 2.

Will get blog finished over next few days

Trev

The last blog says it all. It had been a tough race and we had to fight tooth and nail for our second place overall. The last day started with a bunch ride. We were situated on some islands off the coast of Wenzhou and my main memories centre around feeling nautious all day with a bit of mud and haze thrown in for good measure. I'm sure the islands had been stunning in their day but didn't have much to inspire me on day 4. The bunch ride went well initially until a change in pace saw me off the back of the bunch. Nath saw the problem and had me back in the action in a matter of minutes but I was suffering away like on day 3. Next up was 25km of paddling split up with a mud sled activity which was a bit of a laugh. The mud sleds are used by the local fisherman to attend their nets at low tide. A burst out of transition saw us establish a small gap leading into the remaining 12km paddle. The Aussies and Thule went against the rules opting not to put spray decks on. A bit annoying as if they had we would have avoided a group paddle across the channel. 

To complete the day was a running section interspersed with 2 adventure/ rope activities. We thought the race notes had said a 1km run to the first AV then 5km to the finish so with this in mind we shot through transition leaving our life jackets on. Looking back we had at least 200m on Lone Star Wanaka(Dougal and Braden) and even more to the other 2 teams. What we hadn't factored in was our dyslexic course reading and that it was 5km to the first AV then 1km to the finish. Safe to say we were both a little concerned when after 15mins no AV had appeared.....it was a long kilometer! 

I quickly nominated Nath for the Tyrolean traverse over some sea cliffs. 80m of traverse would be no match for his guns of steel! Soon reunited we set off not entirely sure of how far there was to go but psyching up for 5km. Luckily for all involved there was only 1km to go, and a 30m abseil to the finish line. I say lucky as Nath by now had ripped a sizable hole in his shorts creating significant glare. Unable to outrun him I was forced to stumble on with squinted eyes. 

It was great to finish. It had been a tough battle all the way. The Aussies had pushed us all the way. Their ability to surge, time trial and create directional uncertainty in the boat is second to none and had us on the ropes. Luckily we were consistent across all disciplines and got an edge. Dougal and Braden were a class act and looked comfortable all the way.

Thanks to Nath for awesome racing. 

Thanks also to our team sponsors:

 SEAGATE, Rocky Mountain Bicycles, Patagonia, inov-8 Footwear, GU, Awaken Energy Bars, Silva Lighting, Tineli Cycle Wear, Bridgedale Socks, Antichafe, Absolute Wilderness Freeze Dry Food, Endura Eyewear, Louis Garneau Helmets, Wildside Travel, Revelate Designs, O2B Healthy, R&R Sport.