Anaconda Augusta, 6th Nov 2011

After much confusion earlier in the year surrounding whether or not I had a spot on the kiwi team to race at Augusta I was especially excited to be there. Following Wulong in September I had spent plenty of time focusing on my new found discipline of swimming and some speed training in all disciplines.

Arriving in Augusta on Thursday night with Matty my good Perth based mate who handily had just purchased a 4wd the week of the race. It certainly beat the pants off squeezing ourselves into a Hyundai getz for 4hrs! The luxury trip did however go to our heads. Matty and I proceded to locate the keys and wander inside the wrong holiday home....Inside was not only an amazing interrior but a plentiful supply of spirits and liqueurs. We looked at the couch - the drink - the couch - then with cheeky grins common sense previaled and we left in search of our alcohol free accommodation for the night.

Friday was spent checking out the course and Saturday entailed a mix of gear preperation and media committments. I couldn't help but get a little hyped up and excited. The media crew were to put a documentary together following the Trans-Tasman rivalry and racing. By the end of the morning I wasn't sure if I was to be a racer or an actor!!


RACE DAY:

With a chopper hovering close overhead hundreds of athletes leant forward in nervous anticipation of the starting hooter. Weeks of preperation, months for many had gone into this and you could feel the pressure as we stood on the rocks just below the Cape Leuwin lighthouse.

And at 7:45am the rocks echoed with footsteps jostling for postition as we all raced to converge around a single flag. We would then turn towards Augusta and follow the coast on rocks, sand and vague tracks before heading on an inland circuit that would finish up at Flinders bay transition and the 1.9km swim section to Augusta. Frantic is the only way to describe the start. Brayden Currie and Sean O'Neal took off like cut cats leaving the rest of us in their wake. I was already running well into my maximum potential and made an early decision to button off and prevent a nasty fall on the rocks. Soon I had caught and passed one of our Australian opponents Grant Suckling. I then settled into the best and fastest rhythm I could muster. With legs screaming I followed close behind Rich for the first 20mins suffering quietly and failing to create satisfactory speed in the soft sand. He gradually pulled away but I was feeling better and upon hitting the inland circuit made quick ground to Flinders bay and my waiting wetsuit.

So 58mins after the starting hooter I was sliding into a well lubed wetsuit. Hairy legs come into their own here and I made short work of the transition. Into the water I was very focussed on where I was going. As my weakest discipline there was no slack for poor navigation in this section (if there ever is for a top placing!). The swim course followed the coast line towards Augusta town between a line of reefs and the beach and despite my best efforts to stay in the middle I tended to be on the reef side of the course most of the time. Fogged up goggles didn't make life easy in the navigation department but none the less I managed to keep on track. Kevin Cross (a very loyal supporter) was later to tell me I had dolphins very close to me in the swim but I was totally oblivious and in all honesty this was a good thing. With all the shark attacks in WA recently any movement in the water would have lead to a very messy wetsuit! Out of the swim at a cutting in the sand dunes I ran the final 600m to the waiting kayaks/ skis. It had taken 37mins....not bad for me but 5 minutes slower than the more proficient swimmers.

Onto the paddle I became quickly aware that my upper body had worked hard on the swim. The Fenn Elite I was paddling had a great feel to it but at approximately 18-19kg it was no lightweight. With another individual hot on my heels I spared no time and got into a quick rhythm en route to the river mouth. This 2km section was less than a metre deep and therefore not particularly quick moving. Out the cut and through the small breakers and into Flinders bay I went closely followed by two competitors but most importantly for me Grant Suckling one of the Australian team members. I was pleased to still be ahead of Grant after the swim but knew he is a great paddler and would be hunting me down. And that he did. Not long after the half way point (marked by a large gate of buoys) Grant powered past leaving me in his wake. At the turn around (leaving 3km to paddle), I was able to catch a glimpse of the field ahead. I was now in 5th place with Rich comfortably leading Sean, Brayden Currie a few minutes further back before Grant and myself. Nothing changed in the final 3km; in fact Sean, Brayden and I all had paddle times within a minute of each other. Rich and Grant were close to 5 minutes faster. Entering the paddle-bike transition I had one goal - transition fast and try to pull back the 1 minute Grant had on me.

And to cut a long story short, thats what I did. I was aggressive throughout the ride attacking even the small rises. The course was fast and flowing for the majority with only one steep sandy climb to test the skills. Just after this climb I had Grant firmly in my sights and shortly after was overtaking on a short rise. Grant matched my pace for a few minutes then wished me luck and I gradually drew further ahead. With only a few k's to go and the thrill of the chase over my legs ached and cramp was readly to grab. Somehow though I managed to avoid cramp and far ahead caught a glimpse of what I thought was a rider ahead. So with motivation back I smashed the final fast flowing single track into transition only to hear that Brayden Currie was just leaving on the final 2.5km beach/ rock run. Game on!

Unfortunately I fumbled the transition and lost another 10-15secs on Brayden leaving about a minute behind. By now the legs were really suffering despite my best efforts I couldn't pull any further time back and missed 3rd spot by 50 seconds. It had been a fast race for my slow twitch legs but I was happy. The run had gone well despite being out-classed by Brayden and Sean, the swim steady, the paddle solid in a boat far heavier than my sharp and I had finsihed with the second fastest bike split only losing 52secs to Rich's bike time which is a big turn around for me.  

Final Results:

1. Richard Ussher (3:55:05)

2. Sean O'Neal (4:00:37)

3. Brayden Currie (4:07:12)

4. Trevor Voyce (4:08:02)

5. Grant Suckling (4:11)

Many thanks to Thermatech

A big thanks to Thermatech for coming on board with some sponsorship for the upcoming season. For the multisport newcomer Thermatech are a quality multisport and outdoor performance brand. They focus on technical apparel for outdoor sports and are even branching out too everyday performance apparel. Check out http://www.thermatech.co.nz/ for more info. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the prices too!

Wulong Quest 2011 - The final wrap

Wednesday 31st August:
After a 6 week build up I felt I was ready.....too bad if I wasn't as now wasn't the time to 2nd guess myself. Meeting Nathan at the airport we headed for Auckland, final destination for the day Hong Kong for an overnight stop over.

Thursday 1st September:

Today Nath and I treated ourselves to an all out buffet breakfast at the Hotel. This would be the last western food to be eaten for almost 2 weeks. Lets hope the Chinese have upped their game in the Hygene department...Later we met Rich and Elina at the airport, flew the 2hrs to Chong qing, and took a bus through kilometers of tunnels to Wulong town and our resort Hotel located at a height of 1800m.

Friday 2nd September:

Nath woke with beginnings of a chest infection. Not ideal but he had stocked up on truckloads of Vit C so all going well it will improve tomorrow. Spent the day putting bikes together, went for an easy ride and getting gear sorted for Saturday's prologue. Unfortunately for Toread, Dougal Allan had to leave the briefing for a vomit. not a great start poor buggers.

Saturday 3rd September:

Up early for breakfast and a 30 minute bus down to hill to a resort town for the Prologue. Looking like it will be 45mins to an hour max. Here are my email notes from the day:

Hi Guys

Just had prologue....all 41 mins of it! Was intense and full of action. Trying to put  blog on but won't let me onto site. Maybe you could put a summary on Facebook for me with the guts of it:

- We won over team 'out there USA' by about 1-2mins. Toread 3rd(Dougal, Marcel, Fleur and Jacob).

- Nath suffering a bit of a chest infection but had a typical blinder and was strong. Elina riding great, very impressive actually.

- Prologue was a 2km up hill run, then a 500m chair carry where we carried Elina on our shoulders...awkward but can't complain as Rich took half weight at front and Nath and I split the back. Then onto a 4km biathlon where Rich and I paired up biking for a km or so before dropping the bikes for Nath & Elina who were running. Then 6km gravel bike with some shifty descents mainly due to wearing runners on clip pedals. Finally a 1.3km run to the finish. Very hot and humid, altitude of 1300m which was much easier than where we were staying at 1800m.

- Some of the carnage so far:

              - Dougal and Jacob of Toread, and Mimi of Thule had bad night with spews and trotts last night.

              - Chinese teams jumped the gun by a few secs this morning and caused Elina and Mimi to hit the deck hard. Elina Ok but Mimi has bad arm and in lots of pain.

              - Louise Mark fell off bike and seriously damaged shoulder. Tears were common place today!

              - Adidas badly tore a 29er tire beyond repair so will prob have to borrow one of ours for remainder of race. AXA also had 2 punctures today!

So all in all nothing to complain about. Prob going to do back country meals for evening meal today...

Anyway, time to chill. Have a great Sunday!

T

Sunday 4th September: Stage 1 of Racing: Here is my email home after day 1......

Really hot today. Thankfully we dropped to 350m before racing started but with height lost comes temperature rise and it got to high 30s this afternoon. We had one hell of a day and are all pretty tired. Managed a win with a 16min lead over the Americans. Its then about another 26 odd minutes back to 3rd (AXA of Sweden)

Summary of day:

- Started with a 10km biathlon. I worked with Rich and Nath worked with Elina again. This was too fast off the blocks in the heat for me and Rich is insanely fit at the moment. I was smoked....and we finished it in 28mins!

- Then onto a a swim of just over a km with shoes and life jacket on. The temp was refreshing but I turned to help Nath who was struggling with his breathing hooked him up on tow then lost my way and couldn't swim straight. Ended up with Nath ahead of me (disconnected) and swimming on my own....ah well.

- Then Rich and I ran up 50m of stairs to collect our remaining 2 bikes (will explain later!), put them on a raft then raft them back to the other side. Not enough room for all of us so we towed Rich swimming.

- Onto the bikes for a mainly uphill 2hour ride. By now it was getting hot. Started hyperventilating from the intensity which I've never had before but nearly had to sit down. Really unco on the first 20mins of bike but came right. Rich by now though was flying and towing Elina faster than Nath and I could handle. We did hang in there but there was a major amount of suffering. Seemed to climb forever (Nath struggling due to breathing, me due to heat, biathlon etc, killer!). Eventually the hill relented and we had a bit of downhill to TA and 15mins rest.

- after rest Nath and I abseiled off a 100+ m bridge while Rich and Elina ran down. Amazing abseil!

- Then into a canyoning section for 70mins. Lots of Rock hopping with a couple of 4-5m jumps into pools and some abseils down waterfalls. Awesome!! Finally got some respite from the heat for a while anyway. As the reservoir we were heading to is low the final km was mud. Mud so deep we couldn't walk in it. We could only move by crawling to increase the surface area on the mud. Exhausting work....

- Then into the kayaks for a 16km paddle. Intense heat and by now we were all knackered. Nath was paddling really well but Rich after 20mins was hitting a wall. We swapped boats so I paddled with Rich and Nath with Elina. My inexperience with paddling rudderless boats showed and not sure I helped his situation. With a few km to paddle Rich was really suffering and we lost some ground although not much to Nathan and Elina.

- Once berthed at the end of the paddle we had a 15min stair climb to a cave then a 15min run through the cave (Tourist cave and lit up). The heat was by now knocking us around a bit. I managed to do some form of extra work and tow Rich up the hill while Nath battled on at the back. Elina was still going strong!

- Out of the cave and over the finish line.....!

So thats day one. All I can say is that I'm extremely humbled by Rich's strength all day. He is one hell of an athlete and If I had a choice I'd race against him than with him any day. Its a lot easier!

On the other front: Dougal spewed all day, but team still 4th...Legends. More people sick. Field now spread far and wide.

Hope to email again tomorrow if I survive...

Monday 5th September: Stage 2

Today the original plan was to put more time on our closest rivals to ease the pressure on stage 3. This changed dramatically at 5:30am with a visit from Rich. Elinba had been up most of the night vomiting and was understandably weak and tired. There and then the plan changed to a much more conservative aim of shadowing "out there USA" currently 2nd and 17 minutes behind.

Starting the day was a short run to the boats followed by a 15km downstream paddle to Wulong town containing the odd grade 1 rapid. With Nath "powerhouse" Fa'avae seated behind Elina and Rich with myself we headed off conservatively downstream. Nath put in a great paddle to keep up with Rich and I who had to button off the pace. Strangely we were not caught (we had a staggered start leaving 30secs before 2nd) and even more surprisingly we put a couple of minutes gap into them! Not a bad start to a day that had nervous expectations.

Next up: a 90minute mountain bike mainly up hill. This would be a test for Elina. Quickly opting for a conservative pace on the climb the wind died and I again began to suffer in the heat. Rich was making solid progress towing Elina and I was able to help out Nath who was battling with his breathing, a further progression of the chest infection. With 30mins of climbing ticked off a breeze picked up aptly named the "Wulong doctor" and things began to improve. Until......half way down the hill we missed a single track to our right and in the process of regathering it 'Out there USA' sneaked past and took the day's lead. A fast tarmac roll into transition left the damage resting at 2 minutes deficit. Bugger!

Section 3 for today - a run/ cave section. By now Thule and several other teams were not far behind motivating a no nonsense approach following a 15minute compulsary stop. Straight into a 300m climb what should have been my strong point for me quickly became a period of suffering at the back. Nath and Rich looked after Elina while I concentrated on keeping up. Into the cave and headlight issues had me using the light of Nath and Elina to guide me. The cave was amazing. Not only was it a welcome drop in temperature but there was plenty of technical rock hopping interspersed with short abseils and swimming. After all the swimming I actually felt cold - Brilliant! And this meant that I was now feeling strong and good to go again. Out of the cave and into an 80m abseil. Nath and I went first and while I felt the descent was quick Nath hit the ground just as I hit half way! The stitching on his harness had popped not only filling his jocks but motivating an insanely quick abseil! Rich and Elina touched down shortly after and we ran the final 10mins to transition hot on the American's heels.

Smoking through transition (choosing not to refill water) Out there USA headed off on the final mountain bike section starting with an honest 25minute climb. Feeling strong, I towed Elina for the initial part of the climb and was able to help Nath with the final part of the climb. Next up was a rather mental single track section along the wall of an irrigation channel. Although close to 2ft wide the consequences on each side were a 2m drop onto concrete or a dirt bank drop. Then onto a 4wd fast gravel descent to the final transition and a 3km run to the finish (Which Nath and I did in bike shoes after forgetting to carry runners...oops!)

It had been a great team day. Everyone had drawn together to minimise the damage leaving us 2nd by only 2 minutes. Elina had shown great strength and we immediately felt more confident going into the 3rd and final stage tomorrow.

Tuesday 6th September: Stage 3

With the results of the first 3 days accounted for we would start today 16mins ahead of 2nd, 'Out there USA'. Mike Kloser hadn't had the best night with a crook gut and we were unsure how Elina would fare up after her rough day yesterday. The plan today...shadow 2nd to ensure we kept the overall lead taking extra care on the bike to avoid unnecessary punctures or mechanicals.

The stage was to be at altitude, starting at Fairy Mountain (1800m). Section 1 would be a vegetable relay. Team members were to sprint 200m, collect a vegetable (cabbage, parsnip etc), sprint back and swap over. I went last and was with no surprises out of breath as we started a roughly 90minute run to the reservior. To our surprise teams ranked 3rd and beyond sprinted past us in the initial kilometers only to be collected as we entered an amazing forested single track, winding it's way up but mainly down to the kayaks. Only 2mins behind a much healthier Toread we made short work of them in the 6km paddle drawing even as transition loomed.

Onto the bikes we went, about a minute behind a quickly transitioned Toread and into a 25minute climb out of the valley. Over the top, down a fast tarmac downhill, some climbing, some carrying then more climbing when suddenly we entered transition. About 4km early but who were we to complain! 90secs back on Toread we set about organising harnesses, food and drink for the final abseil and 20km run section during the heat of the day.

Abseil complete we hit the trails, quickly catching Toread who were still finding a rhythm. Rich then made a decision to button off slightly, get a good steady pace going and not worry specifically about the stage win. For some reason I found this approach harder, I guess because I was knackered and had the thought that if the pace wasn't 100% I should feel much better....the mind plays some silly games sometimes.

Soon enough a 1000m climb loomed overhead slowing the pace to a fast walk/ jog. Once over the top and back in the "Table lands" the impression was that a finish could be close by. WRONG! Another hour went by weaving our way around an array of tracks and roads eventually spiraling us into the finish. To avoid any rushed finish efforts a final challenge was bestowed. Paint ball target shooting. Last to shoot and sceptical of the sight I pointed at the target and fired. Another 4 shots with feedback from Nath ripped off before I hit, narrowly saving myself a 200m penalty run. Then off down the finish chute---->>>> AWESOME!!!!!

We had finished 2 minutes down on Toread for the day but had won the overall race by close to 40minutes. Considering Elina's rough night after stage 1 and Nath's chest infection it had been a great race.

I can't speak enough of my team. Rich was incredibly strong. In fact if it came to a choice I'd rather race against him than with him (This way I can drop off the pace whenever I want!). Elina was super also especially given her rough time with the food. Nath was a wealth of experience and always on the pace despite feeling below par for the entire race.

A Big thanks must go to Champion Systems and Asia Pacific Adventure who without their support racing would have been much more difficult.

And finally continual thanks must go to the sponsors who make my racing possible:

R & R Sport, Rasdex kayak equipment, La Sportiva off road shoes, The Frontrunner and of course migym Nelson!

Gibbs Hill Challenge 2011

14th August

With the country being hit by one of the worst polar blasts in years we were unsure what sort of day Takaka would deliver us. Not  wanting to ignore the warnings we left home equipped with loads of warm gear. I even packed the chains just in case takaka hill was in trouble.

What eventuated however was a cracker day in Golden Bay. The snow clouds swept were aside by the hills and a huge window of blue sky and winter sunshine greeted us as we entered Takaka, Golden Bay's big smoke. The Gibbs hill challenge involves a 23km road ride from Takaka to Wainui Bay (including 2km on gravel), a 20 odd km run over Gibbs hill, down to Totaranui then back along the coastal track to Wainui Bay where you get back on the bike for a return trip to Takaka primary school.

The start was typical of the Bay's amazing organisation with a lead car controlling the pace for the first 2km before the real racing began. We had a swift first ride with a few attempted break aways but nothing to worry about. Entering the final 2km on gravel our bunch had narrowed to a few strong contenders including mens team rider Cliff Bowman and my main competition Matt Ellery.

Onto the run I quickly lost sight of Cliffs pedigree teammate Phil Costley as he seemed to fly up the hill ahead. My thoughts then quickly went to the fatigue in my legs. I had 6 hours training on Saturday with 4 of those being on the bike. This was not going to be an easy day. After an hour of running we were back at sea level and I was very surprised to see Matt hot on my heels. He was having a great race. I For the remaining 50 minutes of what seemed like continual up hill running I dug deep, determined to keep the pace strong despite dreaming of the couch!

After 1:50 of running I entered transition with Costley running a blistering 16 minutes faster over the challenging course. The bike became a matter of keeping things moving as the Southerly was in full swing and unfortunately for us we were biking straight into it...

So after 3:21 of racing I was very pleased to roll over the finish line only 4 minutes ahead of a legendary performance by Matt Ellery who is showing some real form this year.

Fleur Lattimore had a textbook strong performance to win the ladies section ahead of Suzie Wood. Rach, despite 4 hours on her legs on Saturday had a strong race to finish 6th. Not bad for bugger all training!

Nelson Tri Club Mid-Winter Tri 2011

31st July 2011

Well I had another good weekend training for Wulong topping it off with our annual Mid-winter tri. The race starts at a crisp hour of 9am with an 8km paddle around Bell island before transitioning onto Mountain bikes for a 2 lap 18km circuit on the North end of Rabbit island. The run then took us on a mainly single track 2km loop (2 laps) taking in the Rabbit island pine forrest and the estuary. Although it was a frosty start the day quickly warmed up and made for pleasant racing. I was challenged off the blocks by Ed Steenbergen, Daniel Bremner and Dayne McKnight for a few minutes but after about a kilometre I managed to break some open water behind me. The others never dropped far back but it allowed me to get into a good rhythm.

Into transition I was quickly onto the bike and made hard work of the first 9km lap. Its mainly flat but the sand, pine needles and branches make it seem like progress is very slow. The second lap was far better and I introduced my legs to the big chain ring (or they asked for it!)....and before long I was through transition and onto the 4km run in beautiful sunshine.

All up the race was short, taking me around 1hr 45mins to complete but it was great to get some speed work in after doing the miles. A big thanks to Nelson tri club for putting the day on and to Daniel Bremner for falling out of his ski to give himself very cold legs and me an extra advantage on the bike.

New Sponsors - Hard to come by but worth it!

A big thanks to La Sportiva off road running shoes and Rasdex Kayak gear for coming on board in the last month. Consistent training and racing is hard on the gear and therefore the pocket. Its companies like these that make my racing possible. Thanks guys. Awesome!

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.

Rasdex needs no introduction. Their gear which includes PFD's, spraydecks, jackets etc for kayaking is the baseline for quality in the kayak world. Check out http://www.rasdex.co.nz/ for more info.

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.

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!