La Sportiva are selling top quality off road runners in NZ. I am trying their Fireblade trail runners and the Cross lite off road runners. Both awesome shoes but I am most impressed with the Crosslite's. Grip like nothing I've ever tried.
Saturday, 2 July 2011
New Sponsors - Hard to come by but worth it!
La Sportiva are selling top quality off road runners in NZ. I am trying their Fireblade trail runners and the Cross lite off road runners. Both awesome shoes but I am most impressed with the Crosslite's. Grip like nothing I've ever tried.
Kaiteriteri 6hr Mountainbike
Thinking I had missed a great opportunity to race on Kaiteriteri's newly developing mountainbike park while at heights of winter I received a nice surprise. The proposed 6hr race had been postponed a week due to seriously crap weather. Brilliant...no excuses now.
As the day began we were treated to a typical Nelson frosty morning along with magical blue skies. The event started with a quick ride on tar seal alongside the estuary before turning into the mountainbike park and some amazing intermediate single track riding. Being a Solo rider and having taken the last 3 weeks off riding my goal was "preservation". With this in mind I got into a rhythm riding with biking guru Nick Ross (pronounced woss). We soon realised that although amazing riding, great trails, pleasant company yada yada yada that there was a lot of uphill making for a very challenging course for Solo riders. To put the day into a couple of sentences, there was a lot of ups and downs, Nick unfortunately had a mechanical after 3 hours cutting him out of the running, and I was not that dissapointed when I missed the cutoff for a final lap by a few minutes. I spent the day establishing myself into 2nd place and finished about 15mins off the pace from a formidable Tom Filmer.
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A big thanks to the guys from Nelson mountainbike club for organising a top day. My legs were toast but it made for a really satisfying day. If you haven't already done so, check out the Kaiteriteri mountainbike park. Its worth the trip!
As the day began we were treated to a typical Nelson frosty morning along with magical blue skies. The event started with a quick ride on tar seal alongside the estuary before turning into the mountainbike park and some amazing intermediate single track riding. Being a Solo rider and having taken the last 3 weeks off riding my goal was "preservation". With this in mind I got into a rhythm riding with biking guru Nick Ross (pronounced woss). We soon realised that although amazing riding, great trails, pleasant company yada yada yada that there was a lot of uphill making for a very challenging course for Solo riders. To put the day into a couple of sentences, there was a lot of ups and downs, Nick unfortunately had a mechanical after 3 hours cutting him out of the running, and I was not that dissapointed when I missed the cutoff for a final lap by a few minutes. I spent the day establishing myself into 2nd place and finished about 15mins off the pace from a formidable Tom Filmer.
Friday, 1 July 2011
Heights of Winter Rogaine - 18th June
Well being defending champs Nathan and I had a fair idea we would be watched closely this year. The day began as per usual with a route planning session in the Culverden school hall. Its not normal for a team to obtain every control on a Rogaine map, in fact usually the top team will nail about 75% of them. This map looked different. At a glance it looked possible to collect the lot in which case the top team would be the ones to collect them the quickest. So.....we planned our path with this in mind, setting hourly targets as a guide to see if we were on track.
And heres what actually happened in short form...
We fell short by miles! But it didn't become apparent until well into the allocated 12hours. We had a great time in daylight, collecting everthing possible. Come 6pm however darkness provided some hefty challenges. The only features that could be relied on were the contours (rather difficult to make out). Marked streams were swamps and hard to distinguish, all man made features were inaccurate (except pilons) and we were on the foothills/ river flats so contours themelves were hard to judge. So in summary we lost major ground at night and ultimately the ability to defend our title. It came down in the end to strategical errors namely too much time wasted for small points early in the day and we left ourselves too much challenging navigation for the dark hours.
Safe to say we'll be back again next year much more the wiser! Check out the worm below. It tells a great story of the day. Many thanks to La Sportiva for providing me with crosslite shoes which provided insane grip on the grassy hillsides and amazing comfort. Legend Rogaine shoes I have to say.
![]()
And heres what actually happened in short form...
We fell short by miles! But it didn't become apparent until well into the allocated 12hours. We had a great time in daylight, collecting everthing possible. Come 6pm however darkness provided some hefty challenges. The only features that could be relied on were the contours (rather difficult to make out). Marked streams were swamps and hard to distinguish, all man made features were inaccurate (except pilons) and we were on the foothills/ river flats so contours themelves were hard to judge. So in summary we lost major ground at night and ultimately the ability to defend our title. It came down in the end to strategical errors namely too much time wasted for small points early in the day and we left ourselves too much challenging navigation for the dark hours.
Safe to say we'll be back again next year much more the wiser! Check out the worm below. It tells a great story of the day. Many thanks to La Sportiva for providing me with crosslite shoes which provided insane grip on the grassy hillsides and amazing comfort. Legend Rogaine shoes I have to say.
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Radio Sport interview: Rollos Nelson Adventure race
Check out the interview from radio sport at:
http://www.sportzhub.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12434&Itemid=1
http://www.sportzhub.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12434&Itemid=1
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.......
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Marlborough Sounds Portage Race 2011
Well, from early in the week this race was always looking sketchy. With gale force winds forecast for Cook Strait we knew that Picton would probably still be very windy at best. I was however unable to turn my back on 27km of kayaking through some extremely scenic water and 5km of carrying my boat over hills. This is definitely one of those races I love to hate. Each time I have finished my arms hang round my ankles and I say "never again" but time is a great healer and back I go.
So first thing Saturday morning I headed off with John Harris and Lynley Coventry (paddling a double), two of my teammates for Rollos 24hour this year optimistic that the race would run. Upon reaching Picton though we realised that the wind was already strong and was building. Race organiser Andrea Koorey made a logical decision to opt for plan B, a much more sheltered course. We would now start the race at Anakiwa and paddle to Mistletoe bay, complete a loop portage up Mistletoe hill and then back to Anakiwa for a short portage/ paddle to the finish.
So with us all relocated to Anakiwa the alternate race was started in very calm waters. Starting with a hiss and a roar I soon became aware that the vaseline I had on my hands (after the ritual pre race lube) was making my paddle very slippery and after a short 10mins on the wash of the front pack, I fell off the wash as to avoid falling off my ski! The hands gradually improved, and a quickly established a good rhythm about 90secs back from the front guys.
Testing out a different portage technique with a strap round my ski, I quickly realised it wasn't going to work and onto my shoulder went the ski. Ten minutes later following a quick up-down portage I had gained time on the bunch in front. What followed was a hard paddle back to Anakiwa against the outgoing tide. In hindsight a poor line left me too exposed to the tide losing valuable ground.
A short portage through Anakiwa left me 500m to paddle which was plenty to smash my already knackered arms. All in all the alternative course was a great option. We all had a tough paddle and could head home satisfied.
Results for us: John & Lynley came away with a win in the doubles after their younger less experienced opponents misplaced a paddle only to find it inside their boat!
I was 7th overall and 7mins off the pace in a quality field.
So first thing Saturday morning I headed off with John Harris and Lynley Coventry (paddling a double), two of my teammates for Rollos 24hour this year optimistic that the race would run. Upon reaching Picton though we realised that the wind was already strong and was building. Race organiser Andrea Koorey made a logical decision to opt for plan B, a much more sheltered course. We would now start the race at Anakiwa and paddle to Mistletoe bay, complete a loop portage up Mistletoe hill and then back to Anakiwa for a short portage/ paddle to the finish.
So with us all relocated to Anakiwa the alternate race was started in very calm waters. Starting with a hiss and a roar I soon became aware that the vaseline I had on my hands (after the ritual pre race lube) was making my paddle very slippery and after a short 10mins on the wash of the front pack, I fell off the wash as to avoid falling off my ski! The hands gradually improved, and a quickly established a good rhythm about 90secs back from the front guys.
Testing out a different portage technique with a strap round my ski, I quickly realised it wasn't going to work and onto my shoulder went the ski. Ten minutes later following a quick up-down portage I had gained time on the bunch in front. What followed was a hard paddle back to Anakiwa against the outgoing tide. In hindsight a poor line left me too exposed to the tide losing valuable ground.
A short portage through Anakiwa left me 500m to paddle which was plenty to smash my already knackered arms. All in all the alternative course was a great option. We all had a tough paddle and could head home satisfied.
Results for us: John & Lynley came away with a win in the doubles after their younger less experienced opponents misplaced a paddle only to find it inside their boat!
I was 7th overall and 7mins off the pace in a quality field.
Friday, 6 May 2011
China Baise Quest: The final Wrap
Well after last years 9 day build up for the Baise Quest in southern China we thought it would take some beating. Never say never though and below I'll do my best to fill you in on how it all unfolded:
Wed 20th April, 4:55pm.
I'm sitting at the computer studiously checking the weather as Rach and I have plans to paddle round D'urville island over Easter. Strong Northerlies predicted. Not looking great. Text from Dougal Allan: "Don't suppose you can sort a week off, a Chinese visa and flights by tomorrow night? Marcel has broken his collar bone. Gutted."
After a quick call to Dougal we decide that we have no chance with the visa and leave it at that.
Thursday 21st April, 8:30am:
Curiosity gets the better of me and I ring the Chinese visa service and receive a very surprising response. If I can get the visa to them by midday they will process it on Good Friday. Result!! Now all I need to do is get my passport, have my photo taken, fill in the forms and get it all to Wellington in 3 hours. To cut a long story short I walked into Nelson airport with the idea of giving my passport to the most trustworthy person I could find headed for the Capital. Ended up finding Faye Costain, the AP from Waimea College and she delivered it to Rach's Mum at wellington airport. Thanks Faye! The documents reached the Visa service by 1pm and I was stoked to get a call at 4pm to say it was done. Relief number 1. By 3pm the next day a friend with a very helpful job (aka pilot) had sorted transport for my passport back to Nelson and we were all go. Awesome!
Saturday 23rd April:
Today I flew from Nelson to Hong Kong with Dougal and Simone (also racing) and spent the day relaxing in hong Kong while team Thule and Chiru created madness as they organised themselves for the 90minute flight to Nanning, China.
Sunday 24th April:
Flew Hong Kong to Nanning then had the infamous 6 hour bus trip from Nanning to Leye Town complete with 50,000 corners. Leye Town was where we would be based for the race.
Monday 25th April:
Gear check at the hotel and a short exploration ride to loosen the legs. Met up with Jacky and Mimi our French teammates who were very excited to have a complete team after the events of the past few days. I managed to unravel this relief by mistiming a narrow 6 foot wide rock bridge, flinging myself over the handlebars and into a swamp 1metre below. Lucky it was a swamp and I was unscathed. Breathe guys, Breathe!!! Off to race briefing after a dinner of rice and soy sauce (there were many other choices but they topped my uneasiness scale so I played safe) then into bed.
Tuesday 26th April, Day 1 of racing:
This looked to be the shorter of the three days so we knew it would be fast. To add to this there was no kayaking therefore we expected some weary legs by stage finish. Stage 1 was a 43km mountain bike. We took control of this early on and begun to establish a small gap back to team Vibram Lafuma from France. I use 'taking control' loosely as I spent at least the first hour quietly suffering as Dougal showed his class on the bike by towing Mimi and setting the pace. This section had a fantastic 4wd downhill with plenty on ruts and fast corners to keep us entertained. The main downfall from this was that we caught the lead vehicle allowing teams behind us to gain some ground. Back in Leye Town a quick transition saw us on an undulating 9km section to the 15minute compulsary stop. No issues there and with Mimi needing very little assistance we put more time onto our followers gaining an 8minute buffer by the stop.
Next up: 140m abseil into a sink hole. Awesome! Its always amazing how much weight there is in 140m of rope and just getting started was a challenge in itself. Two metres down and my foot broke off a pumpkin sized chunk of Limestone that plummeted toward the bottom. What followed was an eerie few seconds where Dougal and I watched the rock fall its way to the bottom. Luckily the rock missed the Lafuma team mates below us by a mere 2 metres before smashing itself on the ground. It was lucky that Jacky and Mimi had shifted away to remove their harnesses.
Adrenalin rush now over we began a steep climb out of the sink hole. What followed was a brutal undulating 13 kilometers to the finish that took us close to 2 hrs to complete! A 2km section of cave was not only exciting but provided a welcome drop in temperature mid way through this run.
So....after 5 and a half hours of racing we crossed the line in 1st place. Fantastic to have a stage win under our belts not to mention a 19minute buffer over Lafuma going into day 2.
Wednesday 27th April, Day 2 of racing (the day it all went wrong):
From the moment we reached the start line we knew this was going to be a good day because any day you reach the start line intact is a good day! The roads today were especially narrow and rough making for a longer than expected bus to the start.
To start the day we had a 3km run round the outskirts of a local village. It was a fast start but not so fast that we couldnt put ourselves comfortably in front again.....that is until a Chinese team sprinted past us as we entered transition! They love the short stuff.
Onto the bikes we set out in search of the first challenge, a 600m climb. This went remarkably well until just over the top when Jacky broke his chain. He did a very sharp fix with a 'quick link' only to realise he hadn't threaded the chain through the derailer correctly. Bugger. The process of re-breaking the link, rethreading the muddy chain then re-connecting it cost us a further 6mins. By this time we had been caught by La Fuma and Thule. With some great consistent riding from the whole team we caught Thule and had reduced the gap from La fuma back to 45secs.
Onwards and upwards we went. Literally. The next section simply put was a 400m climb followed by a 400m descent. Five minutes had us regaining the lead from La Fuma and into what was a very hot and humid 40minute climb on a forested hill. Very tough going. Down the other side we made quick time and were redeeming the mornings mechanical issues when mishap number 2 struck (or stung). Mimi had a bee fly under her shades and sting her on the eye. Tears and screaming ensued but to our surprise she continued running.....but faster. That a girl!
Into the boats for a 20km paddle on a rather stagnant dam. But after the heat from the last 2 sections, it was paradise......that was until mishap number three came sinking in. Dougal and I (demonstrating our inexperience) had no idea about a bung that is located under the back of the boats. Ours was either gone, broken or not tight. So to our dissapointment we took on water. And over the course of the paddle I (sitting in the back) gradually diaaspeared under water. By the time we finished my seat was fully submerged and our pace had dropped from 8.5kph to 7kph. No wonder la Fuma were catching us.
Luckily for us though, the end came first and we were able to claim our second stage win and post another 5mins on the overall lead.
Thursday 28th April, Day 3 of racing (finishing it all off):
Bit of a bombshell last night. Thought the organisation would cover full airfares for us (as this team was 1st last year) but were informed this was not the case. As a result, we need to win to cover expenses. No pressure. We were by now confident of our strength but things can go wrong......
But they didn't. The day went like clockwork. We had a fun paddle down the river. Higher flow than last year so much faster and more rapids. Several boats tipped out but to our credit or good luck Dougal and I had a hazard free paddle. The Australian Peak adventure team passed us just before transition but took their time in the changeover so we biked off leading the way.
What followed was 40km of biking split by a short running detour to a flying fox exercise. By the end of the bike we had built up a 13minute lead with 21km of running to go. Pressure off really. Not wanting to take the foot off the pedals however we ran hard for the first 15km before easing off on the approach to town. Finishing the stage back in Leye Town we had extended our lead to over 20mins. A great finish to a great race.
To sum it all up the race was a fantastic experience. I'm grateful of many things, particularly Dougal for asking me to join the team even if it was last minute, but to Marcel for ruining his AC joint and the Chinese visa service for processing my Visa in lightning quick time.
Wed 20th April, 4:55pm.
I'm sitting at the computer studiously checking the weather as Rach and I have plans to paddle round D'urville island over Easter. Strong Northerlies predicted. Not looking great. Text from Dougal Allan: "Don't suppose you can sort a week off, a Chinese visa and flights by tomorrow night? Marcel has broken his collar bone. Gutted."
After a quick call to Dougal we decide that we have no chance with the visa and leave it at that.
Thursday 21st April, 8:30am:
Curiosity gets the better of me and I ring the Chinese visa service and receive a very surprising response. If I can get the visa to them by midday they will process it on Good Friday. Result!! Now all I need to do is get my passport, have my photo taken, fill in the forms and get it all to Wellington in 3 hours. To cut a long story short I walked into Nelson airport with the idea of giving my passport to the most trustworthy person I could find headed for the Capital. Ended up finding Faye Costain, the AP from Waimea College and she delivered it to Rach's Mum at wellington airport. Thanks Faye! The documents reached the Visa service by 1pm and I was stoked to get a call at 4pm to say it was done. Relief number 1. By 3pm the next day a friend with a very helpful job (aka pilot) had sorted transport for my passport back to Nelson and we were all go. Awesome!
Saturday 23rd April:
Today I flew from Nelson to Hong Kong with Dougal and Simone (also racing) and spent the day relaxing in hong Kong while team Thule and Chiru created madness as they organised themselves for the 90minute flight to Nanning, China.
Sunday 24th April:
Flew Hong Kong to Nanning then had the infamous 6 hour bus trip from Nanning to Leye Town complete with 50,000 corners. Leye Town was where we would be based for the race.
Monday 25th April:
Gear check at the hotel and a short exploration ride to loosen the legs. Met up with Jacky and Mimi our French teammates who were very excited to have a complete team after the events of the past few days. I managed to unravel this relief by mistiming a narrow 6 foot wide rock bridge, flinging myself over the handlebars and into a swamp 1metre below. Lucky it was a swamp and I was unscathed. Breathe guys, Breathe!!! Off to race briefing after a dinner of rice and soy sauce (there were many other choices but they topped my uneasiness scale so I played safe) then into bed.
Tuesday 26th April, Day 1 of racing:
This looked to be the shorter of the three days so we knew it would be fast. To add to this there was no kayaking therefore we expected some weary legs by stage finish. Stage 1 was a 43km mountain bike. We took control of this early on and begun to establish a small gap back to team Vibram Lafuma from France. I use 'taking control' loosely as I spent at least the first hour quietly suffering as Dougal showed his class on the bike by towing Mimi and setting the pace. This section had a fantastic 4wd downhill with plenty on ruts and fast corners to keep us entertained. The main downfall from this was that we caught the lead vehicle allowing teams behind us to gain some ground. Back in Leye Town a quick transition saw us on an undulating 9km section to the 15minute compulsary stop. No issues there and with Mimi needing very little assistance we put more time onto our followers gaining an 8minute buffer by the stop.
Next up: 140m abseil into a sink hole. Awesome! Its always amazing how much weight there is in 140m of rope and just getting started was a challenge in itself. Two metres down and my foot broke off a pumpkin sized chunk of Limestone that plummeted toward the bottom. What followed was an eerie few seconds where Dougal and I watched the rock fall its way to the bottom. Luckily the rock missed the Lafuma team mates below us by a mere 2 metres before smashing itself on the ground. It was lucky that Jacky and Mimi had shifted away to remove their harnesses.
Adrenalin rush now over we began a steep climb out of the sink hole. What followed was a brutal undulating 13 kilometers to the finish that took us close to 2 hrs to complete! A 2km section of cave was not only exciting but provided a welcome drop in temperature mid way through this run.
So....after 5 and a half hours of racing we crossed the line in 1st place. Fantastic to have a stage win under our belts not to mention a 19minute buffer over Lafuma going into day 2.
Wednesday 27th April, Day 2 of racing (the day it all went wrong):
From the moment we reached the start line we knew this was going to be a good day because any day you reach the start line intact is a good day! The roads today were especially narrow and rough making for a longer than expected bus to the start.
To start the day we had a 3km run round the outskirts of a local village. It was a fast start but not so fast that we couldnt put ourselves comfortably in front again.....that is until a Chinese team sprinted past us as we entered transition! They love the short stuff.
Onto the bikes we set out in search of the first challenge, a 600m climb. This went remarkably well until just over the top when Jacky broke his chain. He did a very sharp fix with a 'quick link' only to realise he hadn't threaded the chain through the derailer correctly. Bugger. The process of re-breaking the link, rethreading the muddy chain then re-connecting it cost us a further 6mins. By this time we had been caught by La Fuma and Thule. With some great consistent riding from the whole team we caught Thule and had reduced the gap from La fuma back to 45secs.
Onwards and upwards we went. Literally. The next section simply put was a 400m climb followed by a 400m descent. Five minutes had us regaining the lead from La Fuma and into what was a very hot and humid 40minute climb on a forested hill. Very tough going. Down the other side we made quick time and were redeeming the mornings mechanical issues when mishap number 2 struck (or stung). Mimi had a bee fly under her shades and sting her on the eye. Tears and screaming ensued but to our surprise she continued running.....but faster. That a girl!
Into the boats for a 20km paddle on a rather stagnant dam. But after the heat from the last 2 sections, it was paradise......that was until mishap number three came sinking in. Dougal and I (demonstrating our inexperience) had no idea about a bung that is located under the back of the boats. Ours was either gone, broken or not tight. So to our dissapointment we took on water. And over the course of the paddle I (sitting in the back) gradually diaaspeared under water. By the time we finished my seat was fully submerged and our pace had dropped from 8.5kph to 7kph. No wonder la Fuma were catching us.
Luckily for us though, the end came first and we were able to claim our second stage win and post another 5mins on the overall lead.
Thursday 28th April, Day 3 of racing (finishing it all off):
Bit of a bombshell last night. Thought the organisation would cover full airfares for us (as this team was 1st last year) but were informed this was not the case. As a result, we need to win to cover expenses. No pressure. We were by now confident of our strength but things can go wrong......
But they didn't. The day went like clockwork. We had a fun paddle down the river. Higher flow than last year so much faster and more rapids. Several boats tipped out but to our credit or good luck Dougal and I had a hazard free paddle. The Australian Peak adventure team passed us just before transition but took their time in the changeover so we biked off leading the way.
What followed was 40km of biking split by a short running detour to a flying fox exercise. By the end of the bike we had built up a 13minute lead with 21km of running to go. Pressure off really. Not wanting to take the foot off the pedals however we ran hard for the first 15km before easing off on the approach to town. Finishing the stage back in Leye Town we had extended our lead to over 20mins. A great finish to a great race.
To sum it all up the race was a fantastic experience. I'm grateful of many things, particularly Dougal for asking me to join the team even if it was last minute, but to Marcel for ruining his AC joint and the Chinese visa service for processing my Visa in lightning quick time.
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