Wulong Mountain Quest, 23rd-26th August 2014

I always approach the Wulong Quest with a degree of respect. With elements of weather, altitude and dodgy buffet food having played their parts in previous races being the fittest team isn't all that determines success.

Although my build this year lacked the mileage, I'd done plenty of shorter faster work, an area where I always tend to be weak. I knew Rich & Elina had managed some good training in Europe and Stu was fit as he always is making for us being another solid line up. What follows is a brief account of the race as I saw it.

Prologue: Waking on the morning of the prologue my belly gave an all too familiar rumble. Not a rumble to be proud of. A visit to the toilet revealed an acute intolerance to "chinese grease". Determined not to dig my hole any deeper I swore myself off the hotel food until the race was over.

The prologue itself went much better than the dunny. Consisting of a 1km uphill run, 500m chair carry (bamboo chair, boys carry girl), 4km Biathlon, 6km bike, and a 1km run it lasted all of 42mins. Although not the sharpest team there we worked well as a team coming in 7secs behind Toread and 35secs behind Adventure Sport NZ. Dougal, Braden, Glen and Jess were again in great form and would be the team to beat.


Stage 1: 6km run, 8km kayak, 40km bike (including blow dart challenge), 6km run/abseil.
 
With my belly still not feeling 100% I had no idea how day 1 would pan out. I had my fingers crossed for a good day.

The day started deep in a canyon dwarfed by the 100m cliff tops overhead. A mad start is nothing out of the ordinary in Wulong but when Rich stepped into a thigh deep hole (masked by murky water) and wrenched his knee it wasn't what I had in mind. For us the pace rapidly slowed as Rich got his leg to work again and we established a new rhythm. Entering transition to the boats we could see the lead teams no more than a minute ahead which was good under the circumstances.

With the kayaks being a place where we were all happy it was good to get underway on the reservior. In the safe steering hands of Stu I focussed on paddling hard while allowing some brief moments of amusement at the steering misfortunes of others. I've been there before and its a sure thing method to add distance and time to your day. To complete this section we needed to paddle two return lengths of the reservior to exit where we started giving a couple of opportunities to time check on leading teams. As it happened we stayed the same distance behind ASNZ and Toread and worked our way into third.

Quickly onto the bikes we managed to out transition Peak adventure who had paddled like madmen to stick around giving a vital gap. Peak adventure challenged on the main climb for the day but didn't reach us in time for the rugged downhill that would lead into the blowdart challenge. Our plan for the downhill was simple....ride fast but within ourselves. Let the other teams take risks. Passing Toread with a puncture part way down the hill was not only pleasing but reassuring that we weren't too far off the pace and before long we glided into a carpark for the blowdart challenge. The task - 10 darts, one balloon. Pop it! Rich quickly took control and before I'd opened my food he'd popped the balloon with his second dart. Awesome. Back on the bikes for another 90mins....or so they said. The remainder of the ride went to plan apart from the fact that 90mins became 105. Such is China.

The planned cave section for the day had been cancelled due to high water so we were left with pretty much the same run but without the cave and a 40m abseil at the end. I suffered through this section and by the abseil I was only too happy to dangle off a rope and take a load off even if just for a few seconds. Off the abseil we had a 15minute run down the gorge on slippery Chinese steps. Toread were close behind so we pegged our ears and secured 2nd for the stage and 2nd overall. It had been a solid day and we were happy with 2nd.

Stage 2: 20m abseil, 40km mtb, 9km Gorge run, 16km paddle

Different start today. Two of us needed to abseil and swim off a bridge to meet the others at the mountainbikes. Not being the greatest swimmer I certainly didn't fight for the role so Stu and Rich did the honours.

The boys had a good swim and ran up soon after Braden and Jess. Transitioning smooth again we took off after them sneaking ahead of Toread. Full credit to them, Toread were moving well and had soon overtaken us and had set a new pace. Until Marcel rode off the road dropping 2m into vegetation. Quickly checking he was ok we set about maintaining pace with Black Dirt Adventure, reflecting on how peaceful it was. The organsised this stage as a big 700m climb. Try 1500m! 2/3 of the way up Toread caught us once again and after some impatient moments started easing ahead. I was suffering by this point and just doing enough to stay with the the team. The downhill when it finally arrived was bliss and I managed to recoup some vital evergy.

With Toread only seconds ahead we headed transitioned and headed into the gorge for 9km of rock running, abseiling and swimming. It was great too cool off and do some bombs for a while. It was the type of stage I love the most so spent plenty of time in front route finding and setting pace. Despite moving smoothly through the gorge it was clear that we'd lost time on Toread and ASNZ in front of us. They were all slick runners in the rough.

With Black Dirt Adventure hot in pursuit we transitioned into the boats for the stage's final section. 16km of flatwater reservior paddling. Paving the were truckloads of polystyrene, plastic and and floatable rubbish imaginable. Welcome to China.

Hardly a word was spoken over the next 90minutes. We all set about a rhythm and worked through the distance praying for breeze at times and thanking its arrival at others. Despite the heat and humidity the end came as predicted and we finished the stage 7minutes behind Toread for 3rd. They had been too quick in the gorge. We were now 3rd overall, but only 80secs behind Toread in 2nd. Tomorrow would be another hard fight!


Stage 3: 2km run, 12km downriver paddle, 22km mtb, 24km run.

After 3 days of racing everyone is sore and tired. Everyone knows what needs to be done. With a staggered start on overall ranking we were 3rd to start 30secs behind Toread for the 2km run to the kayaks. Again transitioning smoothly we overtook Toread as they put on their spraydecks. The river was large volume with plenty of big boils and eddy's to spin you off course. With Stu steering well as usual and no problems for Rich and Elina we entered TA with Toread and close behind ASNZ.

Today was to be another big climb on the bikes. In the heat we all suffered initially and having committed a schoolboy error of forgetting my food I took donations from Stu and Rich. Toread stayed close ahead until they had valve problems again and had to change a tube. Although now in 2nd for the stage we maintained pace well aware that blowing up would seal the deal and Toread yet again hunted us down and passed. This time it would be the last. We were running out of gas.

As we cruxed the climb and enterer TA Rich was having a tough time of it. It was going to be a tough run regardless with well over 1000m of thigh crushing descending and 6km of road running to finish. Our run was not great. We got ourselves through, but not podium material against competition like this. After what seemed like a long enough of running we finished 4th, 20minutes behind ASNZ, 18 behind Toread and were 3rd overall.

Ah well, not as good as winning but I'm happy with 3rd and even happier to be sitting down!!   

Rotorua 3D - 2nd June 14

Despite having a few weeks of feeling rather flat after China and the Absolute Wilderness Race in April I was feeling pretty good going into 3D. If anything I was under done with respect to training but I was well recovered, something I don't think I've allowed myself to do in 18months. Last weeks duathlon at Rabbit Island had also provided a vital pre-race sharpen up.

From the gun the race unfolded pretty much as I expected. Those paddling K1's shot off to a healthy lead early on but didn't seem to be be stretching out at all and patches of boat wake shifted the advantage momentarily to me in Flow kayaks recent addition, the Addict. At the close of lap one I was in 7th position until Jared Kohlar took an unexpected swim in front of transition making for great entertainment. Nothing as exciting eventuated in lap 2 as I exited in 6th position.

Onto the bike my legs were cold. Despite a barmy 8 degrees that morning the constant breeze had left my legs unresponsive. Nothing a 2km climb wouldn't fix. Into the heart of the ride I did my own thing, simply going as hard as the legs would allow. After about 30mins I noticed Jared was catching me and soon I allowed him to take the lead. We exchanged lead a couple of times in the remaining 45mins of riding but ultimately Jared was setting a great pace and I aimed to keep pace.

Into transition we saw Sam Clark just leaving meaning there was less than a minute gap. Whilst I left TA first Jared set the early pace on the climb and gradually stretched out a 15sec gap. Ten minutes after leaving TA we passed Sam who was struggling and clearly doing his own thing. It was now down to the two of us. I slowly pulled back Jared's margin and by the end of the lap he was sitting on my heels. Not for long. Into the second climb Jared put another burst on but this time I managed to keep on his heels. Over the top I took the lead back and controlled the pace for the next 10mins or so. Well aware that I was on my limit I needed Jared to falter if I was to win but instead with 1km to go he put in an awesome burst of speed on a small hill leaving me in his wake. I had nothing to respond with and finished as quick as possible but the damage was done and Jared had finished a great race. A well deserved win. Good close racing however and although gutted not to take overall honours it showed I've made some great improvements since this time last year.

A big thanks for Thermatech, Legend Paddles, Rasdex and R&R Sport for their continued and valuable support and my loyal family aka support crew.

Click here for Nelson Mail race report

Rabbit Island Duathlon - Sun 25th May

This series is a great mid winter blow out and served a great purpose as training for next weeks 3D Rotorua. Short, sharp and great conditions made for a fun day out.

Click Here for Nelson Mail wrap

Wenzhou Adventure Race, China 2014

Going to China is always an interesting decision. These races currently have better prizes than most yet the risks are also higher. Different, much more greasy food and polluted waterways to swim and paddle in are two such risks creating a roulette style gamble as to who's stomach survives the best. So when Richard Ussher text me needing a teammate I quickly forgot past troubles and put my name down. We had a less than ideal race this year yet team cohesion and genuine stubbornness won through with a good result in placing 2nd overall. Our team: Rich & Elina Ussher, Stu Lynch and me.

Stage 1: 8km skate, 27km canal paddle, 11km mtb, 14km run-abseil-5km run.

If there was one factor that made me more apprehensive than others leading into this race it was an 8km inline skate to start the race. Having never skated I had 6 weeks to get myself comfortable on skates and its safe to say I became known in Stoke as "that guy" on skates. Kids on their way to school would point and laugh, motorists would stare in disbelief and cyclists would arc around me in with the widest berth possible. There's no quicker way to bring ones ego down to earth.

I always expect nerves on the start line, but add shaky legs, a tall lanky athlete, a set of skates and you have a dangerous combination. Off the gun I just set small goals. "Just survive the first corner!". Onto the closed road and I felt much better, enjoying more space to work with. Rich put me on tow and I sat in behind feeling more like a water skier than a skater. We quickly improved pace and before long were catching and passing teams ahead and finished the stage a respectable 7th without any accidents. Relief!

Onto the paddle we quickly set to work catching and passing teams ahead on a rather murky section of canals. As 2 hours in the boat came and went energy levels began to slide. My inherent inability to sit level in the boat has caused problems in the past with these races and became more prominent the longer we paddled. For one reason or another I tilt slightly to the right drifting the boat left. Dougal explains it as an imbalance in testicular weight but I'm guessing it may be slightly more complicated...

Into TA and Elina had a flat tyre quickly sorted with a track pump. Next up was a 500m climb over 11km which was out of the way in a welcome 30minutes. By now Thule and FKS were a few minutes ahead and Adventure sport NZ were right on our tail happy to use Stu's expert navigation for a while. The run was hot and still making for tough running. Despite the heat and tough day of racing we kept a solid pace through the run keeping pace with Adventure sport NZ until the abseil where we were all split up. Rich and I abseiled whereas the other 2 took a flying fox across a deep valley meeting on the other side. 30 minutes later saw us cross the line. First across the line but due to a bottleneck at the start of the paddle Adventure Sport NZ had beaten our overall time by 7minutes. Thule surprisingly were not finished and had lost their way on the run. Not a bad start all things considered.

Stage 2: 14km run, 35km paddle, 46km mtb, abseil

Day 1 was tough enough and given that it was hot I never make assumptions about how I'll fare up. Thankfully I had no gut problems, and had slept well. All things being equal I felt ready to roll.

With a seeded start we got off the blocks second and were soon onto the main 200m climb of the run. The only thing was that the profile was wrong and it turned into 500m. Ah well, welcome to China! With several thousand steps to ascend and descend built for your standard Chinese foot I found running slightly sideways gave the best chance of survival. Rich however was plagued by an injured ankle from last year and had to endure considerable pain during down hill running. Luckily the 2nd half of the run was relatively flat so he could get a rhythm going. Into the boats we were quickly confused by directions to paddle against the flow. It soon dawned that being inland there was a lag in the tides and we'd have to fight for another 30mins or so.

Paddling soon turned into a less than desirable experience. It was undoubtedly the most polluted river I've ever seen and the end couldn't come quick enough. Dead animals, rubbish, sewage you name it floating in the river. Unbelievable as to why they put the course there.

Onto the bikes we were treated to 30minutes of undulating concrete road to warm into things. Then we began to climb reasonably steep and technical 4wd track. This was interspersed with the odd piece of single track and more concrete. Surprisingly up ahead we saw Thule pushing their bikes on what was essentially manageable gradient. It seems they had pushed their limit running and paddling leaving empty tanks for the ride. A puncture soon after sealed their fate allowing us to pass on the final climb and build another 10 minutes in the final 50minutes of riding.

To finish the day two of us would climb 14 or so stories up a high rise and abseil down. Stu & I felt strong so headed off and enjoyed a quad burning stair climb to the ropes. Choosing not to absorb our concrete surroundings we descended as quick as possible and crossed the line 7minutes behind Adventure Sport NZ. Not a super fast stage for us but steady all the way and had given ourselves a decent chance of defending 2nd overall.


Stage 3: 2km Orienteering, 14km Run, 20km paddle, 46km Mountainbike.

If there was a day sent to test us as a team then this was it. After to scum ridden river yesterday both Rich and Elina had gone down with gut problems. Elina had vomiting and diarrhoea all night. The aim of the day: Survive and minimise our losses to Thule who would be out for a comeback. First up the race organisers cancelled the 20km paddle section. We would instead bus from the run to the bike and restart the race. Mixed emotions here as our team strength lay in a great ability to pace ourselves throughout the day. Thule were great off the blocks and this would give them two starts to pour the acid on. On the flip side was that we were a significantly weaker team with both Rich and Elina sick.

The day started with a short navigation section where we all separated and navigated using an aerial photo. Rather chaotic but we emerged at the front of the pack and got into the run in 2nd spot. Throughout the run we did our best to keep Elina up with the pace and managed to minimise the damage to 3 minutes which was a great result all things considered. Onto the buses we went and gazed in awe at the 6knot winds blasting the coastline happy to be sheltered and safe aboard the bus.

The bike start was staggered and it was getting warm. A quick inflation of Elina's tyre saw us on the road again this time beginning an 800m climb. Rich was riding well off the blocks and I was hurting after the last couple of days. For the first 20mins I just hung tough until the pace eased and I warmed up. Soon I was back into a good rhythm and helping tow Elina up the hill. It was a long climb becoming more technical the higher we got eased only by a steady sea breeze. Throughout the ride we rode at a good pace but the combination of our weakened team and the fact that Thule were firing and pushing hard made for a large deficit.

The day finished with a 2km run and an 8 foot wall climb. I used Rich and Stu as a step and and climbed the wall first rewarded with nasty cramp as I rounded the top. Next we hauled Elina and Rich up leaving Stu solo at the bottom. Rich and I reached over, Stu jumped and we caught his hands. A combination of sweat, fatigue and Stu being pretty solid (no offence Stu!) meant that we took 3 attempts to get him over feeling momentarily like we were part of the Cliffhanger movie.

All done, and time to inspect the damage. 19mins lost. Bugger. 10.5mins still in hand to protect 2nd overall from Thule. Tomorrow was set to be another punishing stage..... Time to tuck into another Butter Chicken from Absolute Wilderness. Great fuel for what needed to be another great fire!



Stage 4: 16km paddle, 24km mtb, 9km run. 

With Rich and Elina getting some food in overnight we were in good spirits going into the 4th and final stage. We were ready to work hard and defend. It was obvious Thule were ready to attack. Adventure Sport NZ were having a great race and needed to keep out of trouble.

Initiating the stage was a swing bridge abseil for only one team member into a reservoir swimming 60m to the kayaks before paddling 16km on the reservoir. Rich being the best swimmer did the honours and was soon in the boat and underway. We had front spot with chaos ensuing behind. The aim for us on the paddle - not work too hard and keep Thule in sight. As it turned out we spent most of the paddle at the front. About 5 other teams sat in behind content with our moderate pace setting occasionally heading to the front to relieve our duties. Into TA we were sure to sit at the front creating an easier exit onto the floating pontoon.

TA was its usual chaos with more air needed for Elina's tyre. Initially we assumed Thule had jumped us in TA so Rich rode like a madman for 20 minutes. Stu and I glanced at each other knowing that both of us had borrowed time at this pace. Funnily enough Thule were in fact behind and upon discovering this the pace eased and we caught much needed breath. Not for long though.....Thule attacked on the next climb and sat in front setting the pace. Not losing much time I was happy so far until Rich punctured. Two stops for more air didn't solve the problem so we decided on a tyre change. Costing valuable minutes the disappointment intensified when we entered TA 500m later. Bugger.

Onto the run 5 minutes down we had 5 minutes between us and 3rd overall. Time to run for it. The run for me was a blur of stomach cramps and pain knowing that it had to be a solid stage. Luckily the end came before I needed a squat (rather unusual in China) and only 30 further seconds were lost to Thule. It was a great come back from the Europeans but we were stoked to hold them off. Given our circumstances 2nd overall was nothing to be scoffed at. Time for a beer even if it is Budweiser!    

It was great to race with Rich, Elina and Stu over the week and despite a new combination the team pulled through some decent obstacles to pull of a great result. A big thanks also to Red Bull China for their support.

A big thanks to Thermatech, Rasdex, Legend Paddles and R&R Sport, my personal sponsors making this all possible. And last but not least I must thank Absolute Wilderness freeze dry meals for without their amazing food I'd still be squatting in the Hotel toilet burning my quads to hell. It's a real luxury to travel with such great support.

Wenzhou Video link - click vids/pics then 2014

Coast to Coast 2014

Back in September last year I had a call from Albert from Thermatech. Having secured Sponsorship rights for the Coast to Coast 2014 he was enthusiastic about my involvement in the Longest Day. I was not. Don't get me wrong, I love the race but with the World Adventure Racing Champs in December and some promised family time over Christmas I was feeling the pressure and apprehensive about managing a race so soon after.

What ensued were several discussions with our family spokesperson (My wife Rach!) and Albert. Both parties emphasised that there was no pressure to perform to my previous standards and Rach laid down the ultimatum that if it would happen at all I wouldn't start any training until the 8th of January and would be away for a wedding 5 days from the 22nd. Albert was happy, Rach was satisfied and we had a deal.

As for race day.....I had undoubtedly my most enjoyable Coast to Coast yet and am already looking back on the day with good memories. All was not plain sailing though. Here is a very brief account of my day:

6am. Having the number 2 gives me a less than ideal start spot on the beach with an awkward dogleg to the start banner but the plus was that my bike is first on the rack. Juddy hoots his hooter and we're off. 30 seconds of sand, rocks and heel jumping go by I and wake up to the realisation that I am running too slow. I try to sharpen up but my lack of training is highlighted right from the gun and together with Dan Busch we lose 200m on the front pack. I transition shoddily and have to work hard to catch Dan. Catching the front bunch will be hard and we give it a good shot but after 15km we aren't making ground. We decide to save ourselves for the run and wait for the chasing bunch of 7 riders.

What has played out is a shocker start by my standards but it is what it is and what I do next is what counts. With a decent bunch of 9 we make good progress but lose a valuable 7 minutes on the front pack.

7:40am. Now onto the run (thanks to my awesome crew!) the legs were lethargic and heavy. I was around 17th place. Not in my usual form I steadily progressed up the deception to Goat Pass picking off the odd runner along the way. I was still trying to force a good run out of myself despite feeling off form. Large rock jumps went astray leaving me face down in the river, route selection was rough and at one stage I ended a bad jump upside down in a waist deep pool surfacing under a waterfall. It felt like a real life version of the TV series wipe out.

At the pass I caught Angus Watson who was visibly excited to be racing the Coast to Coast. Quietly talking to myself I ordered some chill pills, let the shoulders drop and chatted with Angus for 10-15mins. Slowly but surely the lights came back on, composure returned and long lost efficiency was restored. Soon after Minga bivvy I said my good buys to Angus and took off on my own.

11am. Into Klondyke corner the legs were weary and cramped but my philosophy had changed. I was loving the day and the cramp became a minor sideline. 15km of biking provided a great opportunity to eat real food and drink plenty before the kayak. More cramp hit me at the top of the Mt White Road but once the shoes were on I ran at a solid pace to the river giving my crew a sweat up along the way!

Transition was slick, real slick, a little too slick in fact. After 30mins of paddling a brief look down revealed that I had no food. My crew had forgotten my lunch box. F@#k! Ah well. I'd just have to manage with limited gels and coke in the PFD. Unbeknown to me a dust cloud that would make roadrunner proud was tearing down the valley towards Gooseberry stream. Meals on wheels!

Sure enough as I passed the checkpoint at Gooseberry Patrick passed over the lunchbox with barely a stroke missed. Seamless. Many thanks to Kate from legend paddles for the use of her driving services in our time of need. What a game changer that could have been.

The Waimakariri was by far my most enjoyable part of the day. I felt strong and relaxed throughout and even managed to pick my way back to 5th overall. At Gorge Bridge there was 3 minutes to Glen Currie in 4th and 6mins to Sam Manson in 3rd. I had a shot at getting another place with a good ride. A great ride could snatch a podium spot.

Neither would eventuate unfortunately. Glen had the 2nd fastest ride of the day to claim 3rd overall and Sam would hold me out by 90seconds. So close! From a rough start I had picked my way back into the race and finished strong making for an enjoyable race all round. It was a far from ideal performance but with 3 weeks training one needs to be philosophical. I'm happy and that's all that matters!

I cant thank my loyal crew enough for another great day out (Patrick, Mark and Pete/Dad). Thanks also to Thermatech for getting the ball rolling and amazing support throughout, R & R Sport, Rasdex and Legend Paddles for great sponsorship making this level of achievement possible.