3D Rotorua, Queens Birthday 2015

I've now completed four out of the five 3D Rotorua events. Its always been a good weekend to catch up with family, enjoy the Rotorua bike trails and enjoy one of the most relaxed races regarding logitics I've experienced. It really is an easy race to get organised for.

My previous 6 weeks of training had gone really well. Erring on the side of less training to better balance work and kids had paid off. I'd raced well in the Crazyman as well as the St Clair half Marathon. Last weeks defeat to Rich Ussher in our local duathlon had been a timely trip back to earth ahead of 3D. Going into the race I felt strong and confident of a good hard race.

Starting at a leisurely 10:45 the race start was far from leisurely. Dan Busch, Travis Mitchell and Sam Clark set the early pace leaving Rich, myself and Aaron Cox fighting amongst the slop. Setting into a good rhythm we completed the two laps almost 90secs behind Dan and Travis and about a minute behind Sam who had been sliced off the wash on a buoy.

Hitting the beach I shifted my focus to a slick transition and with help from my brother in Law Mark we did just that.The bike course from Blue Lake follows the edge of the road before ducking into the Whakarewarewa Forest trails. Its an uphill 2km section that I've previously experienced cold legs (paddling a ski) and felt fairly rubbish while riding. This time was a different story. The legs felt good so I pushed hard for the first few k's catching my first glimpse of Dan Busch and Sam Clark as I neared the highest point of the ride. Next up was the "corners" trail and so much fun I forgot I was racing for a few moments. On this section I managed to pass Dan Busch and caught another glimpse of Sam who I hadn't made any further progress on. Sticking to the plan I shifted the focus back to my riding and rode alone for another 10minutes. At this stage I caught a glimpse of Rich chasing me down. Nothing like being hunted to fuel the motivation!

A further 10 minutes went by before Rich inevitably caught me and set about hunting down Sam. I concentrated on holding his wheel with Sam now only 15secs ahead. Several minutes ticked by with no change in the gap, until a couple of changes swung the race slightly in my direction. Rich succumbed to an awkward root giving me a chance to get past and seizing the opportunity to reestablish a gap I picked up the pace. The lift in speed dropped the gap to Sam in a matter of minutes. For the next 15 or so minutes I let Sam set the pace and concentrated on staying in touch, riding into transition right on his wheel. This transition can be a little chaotic as duathletes ahead create disturbance to gear, shoes are shifted etc. I had Mark in transition with the sole purpose of ensuring my shoes were where I left them and it paid off. Another slick shoe change and I ran out 1st, Sam trailing by a couple of seconds.

The run was a race of two halves, a short half and a long half. Mentally the short half was more taxing than the long one.
Half One: Out of TA I ran as fast and smooth as possible. I didn't look back, instead listening for breathing. By the top of the hill (quite a grunt for those uninitiated) feeling quite happy with myself I allowed a brief look back. Disappointingly Sam was only 50m back. Ah shit....another one of these races. Its going to hurt. After such disappointing feedback I took the option least tempting for my legs. Increase the pace again for the downhill.

 Compliments, Dscribe Media

Half two: By the bottom of the hill I had a sense there was a gap but was not in the headspace to look back. If I ran as fast as I could looking back was of no benefit. As I ran through for lap 1 feedback confirmed there was indeed a gap but I wasn't taking any chances and pushed right to the end.

Compliments, Dscribe Media

It was a great finish and awesome to finally win 3D after a four year apprenticeship. Stoked!

A big thanks to my loyal family/ support crew for motivating me all the way, and to my awesome sponsors: Topedo7, Thermatech, Rasdex and Legend Paddles. Without amazing support its impossible to have an amazing race!




Nelson Mail report:
Nelson Multisport Dominance reinforced in Rotorua

Hutt City Crazyman, May 3rd 2015

For a couple of reasons I'd been looking forward to this race for a while. The combination of catching up with some good mates in Wellington and several traveling from Nelson made for an attractive draw card. Couple this with a course I hadn't raced before and I was excited about the race.

We woke on Sunday to a cracker day. Stuff all wind, mild temperature and clear skies. With the boys in the van along with Rach and my good mate Simon we headed to the start.

The Race....

The Le Mans start involved a brief 300m run to our boats and comprehensive feedback as to why I haven't pursued sprinting as a sport. Once at the boats though the combination of Simon holding my boat and having a surfski saw me 2nd off the beach. My start couldn't have gone any better. Soon into my rhythm and heading around the bays to the Hutt river mouth I had two kayaks on my wash, one of whom was Glen Muirhead. Slightly ahead was up & coming k1 racer Kurtis Imrie. After a couple of k's Kurtis seemed to be waiting for us so I took the opportunity to get onto his wash. By this time I was a little confused as to where Dan Busch was but chose not to dwell on it for too long. As it happened Dan had rudder trouble on the start and paddled out of his skin (just a normal day for Dan) to catch up about 5km into the paddle. From here the course did an out and back to the Petone wharf before heading up the Hutt river to Sladden park. Kurtis put a decent burst in close to the river mouth separating the group leaving me on my own in 3rd. Shortly after I entered TA 40 seconds back on Dan and a minute behind Kurtis.

I was quickly through TA and onto my bike.....or was I. I'd been having trouble with my gears for the last few days and thought I had them sorted but after 2-3 pedal strokes my chain snapped under not much load. Damn. Running back into TA Rich Ussher had seen my predicament and offered to help. Yes please. With me being too pumped on adrenaline Rich calmly threaded the chain through the rear derailer while I found my quick link. What I found wasn't pretty and a tad embarrassing. In all my multisport days I've never broken a chain and had never been diligent enough to replace the link. It was so rusted that I had to pry the 2 pieces apart. Anyway, we managed to rejoin the chain and carefully then hastily I set off only to arrive at obstacle number 2 for the day. Michael had just released onto the Hutt river trail 100+ duathlon entrants setting the scene for what was to be a 5km overtaking maneuver. I have never shouted "on your right" so many times ever.
By the time I reached the climb up Boulder Hill I was more tired than I wanted to be but with no sign of Busch there was plenty of work to do. The climb went well until shortly before the top when my rusty link gave way. Now I really was up against it. I started running uphill thinking I'd glide the downhills, run the uphills and all would be well. Fuzzy thinking. There was too much undulation and flat riding to get any speed without a chain so I began asking duathletes if they had a link I could have. No one did. After a few of these I stopped asking and settled into a run but was shortly caught bSy a friendly chap (who I've since forgotten his name) who offered me a link. What a legend. So with link in hand I slowly and carefully threaded the chain and connected it. A quick check of the gears without load and I shot off on my way. Luke Osbourne had passed me recently so my new objective was to catch him before the end of the race. The chance of catching Buschy I thought was long gone....until that is at the base of the last climb I looked up and could make out both Buschy and Luke close together. Game on.

With the last km of the mountain bike sharing the same track as the first of the run I got a decent idea of how far behind I was. Simon and Rach confirmed in TA that I was about a minute behind. Onto the run I controlled my pace so I didn't burn out too quickly coming off the bike. The first climb came up quick and looking up I could see the boys up ahead. I figured if I was to catch them at all it would be going up as they are both decent flat/ downhill runners. With a couple of hard bursts I caught them at the top and headed off in the lead. Immediately I felt better and got into a good rhythm for the remaining 45minutes to Petone Wharf for the finish. It had been an eventful day for all and a more than honest course. I was stoked to have turned my mechanical disadvantages around and finish in the right spot.

A big thanks to my mate Simon and wife Rach for awesome work as support crew. Thanks to Rich Ussher for his mechanical help in transition and my unnamed chainlink donor. Without them the day would have been much different.

Thanks also to my loyal sponsors: Thermatech, Torpedo7, Rasdex and Legend Paddles who make my racing possible. 

Coast to Coast 2015

Well....it was only a few months ago! Time has flown and I've been particularly slack on my Blogs due to plenty going on. Given that several people have asked why I haven't written about the race I'll put a quick retrospective report in here. Its brief and to the point.

My build up for this years race was solid. My training weeks were concise but I felt there was enough quality in there for a good race. I'd had some great company on the course with Dan Busch and Nathan Fa'avae recently and hadn't overcooked myself on any given week. Mentally I was pretty relaxed.

Race Day: The start line was more of a comedy festival than the start of a serious race. In the short space of 2 minutes Nath had taken the micky out of several contenders and we were all enjoying a bit of a laugh. Rich Ussher announced "2 minutes to go". Nath quickly corrected "No, there's actually more like 12 hours to go" and more laughter erupted.

Before long Juddy sounded the hooter and we were off. A slightly shorter run than usual saw us at the bikes in a lung bursting 7 minutes and enjoying the bliss of a transition under lights. Onto the bikes a 1st bunch quickly formed including Braden Currie, Sam Clark, Dan Busch, Hamish Flemming, Pete Smallfield and a few others making 11 altogether. No Nathan Fa'avae.......must still be cracking jokes I thought to myself. The ride went well for me but there was always the question of how much sting a cold headwind will take out of you.

Aitkens transition was again much improved and well organised. I was fast through TA and into my stride. I've never felt great on these first few kilometers with today being no exception. Ahead of me were Braden,  Sam Clark and Sam Manson. Close behind was Flavio. Finding my Rhythm I quickly passed Sam Manson and started looking ahead to Sam Clark who was about 30seconds ahead. At the time I thought Sam & I were running the same speed and that with some effort I'd catch him as I've done before on this course. What ensued was the opposite. Sam gradually pulled away and after 30minutes I couldn't see him. I wasn't feeling on form and the head wind was eating away at me. By Doreen Creek I knew I wasn't having my usual run and felt wobbly and off form. Flavio was on my tail with Sam not far back. I stopped worrying about speed and focused more on eating, drinking and keeping smooth. Unfortunately I couldn't manage the latter and stumbled my way to Goat Pass. I had a long run down with Sam and Flavio getting ahead after the pass. They were on a mission....my legs missed the memo! Into Klondyke however fortunes changed yet again. Flavio was limping into TA and Sam had broken his chain getting on the bike.

Onto the bike I had no interest whatsoever in going fast and invested my time in eating solid food and drinking. Hamish Flemming passed me on a mission.

The run down to Mt White bridge was the first time I'd felt hot all day and I made a decision that I believe changed the course of my day. I stripped off my arm warmers opting to paddle in a short sleeve top. We had a great transition onto the water and I set off in 3rd spot. Sam and Braden were 15-20mins ahead with Hamish just behind. Within 10 minutes the Southerly cut deep and I cursed myself about ditching the arm warmers. My arms were cold. Still I paddled well to Gooseberry Stream and felt strong.

After Gooseberry Stream however I started getting cold. Not just the arms but the legs. I knew that if my legs were getting cold that my body temp in general was cooling off. With no one near behind or close in front I drifted into a state of plod. I was paddling at tempo but I certainly wasn't paddling like someone who wanted to tear the river to pieces. The worst thing about this state is that you rarely realise that you are in it...you just are. Valuable seconds dripped by and I didn't realise the paddling potential that I know I have. At the time however though I thought I was doing well......that was until Nath caught me up 25minutes from the end---and passed me. Shit Trev, you're paddling like a f@#king muppet I said to myself. Harden the f#@k up and paddle like a man. So I kind of woke up and padded with conviction for the remaining 25 minutes. Nath was just in front and I used him like a yardstick until at one braid junction we took different chutes. I lost sight of him and figured his chute was faster. Damn. So I paddled faster.

Two corners from the end he caught me again cursing in the process something about gravel rash on his bum. So we entered the Gorge Bridge TA together and ran to the bikes. I knew if I was to have any chance here I'd need to hit the bike first, and that's what I did opening a small gap of 40 seconds.

The final ride was a bit of a blur but the equation was simple. Ride 70km as quickly as possible and you can have a beer. I knew Nath was back there somewhere and was confident of holding my position until the last 10km where the real hurt began. I didn't have the confidence to look back. Like Luke Skywalker I didn't need to look. I could feel his presence. Bastard.

Anyway, cutting to the end I held on and only lost a few seconds in the final 20km. The mind can do cruel things to a tired body. I was stoked to have made the podium. Braden and Sam were miles ahead in a league of their own but given my body's lack of fire that day it was a more than satisfying outcome.

A big thanks to my Support crew: Pete (Dad), Mark, Patrick & Ian. We had a great day. Big thanks also to my loyal sponsors: Torpedo7, Thermatech, Legend Paddles and Rasdex.

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