Update from l'Argentiere-La-Bessee

Quick update from the alps. Most of our gear is sorted. Briefing is in a few hours when we hopefully find out the course. Tomorrow morning we'll pack the gear bins, tomorrow evening is the prologue (we are guessing its about an hour of orienteering), no story straight to bed then up for the official start (rumored to be 4am).

We are all feeling good. I am now keen to get on with it. The last 24hrs are not usually my most enjoyable mentally. I'm just keen to get out there. Weather looks good, hot during the day with cool nights.

Top teams expected to take 5.5 days to complete the course and will finish some time on the 20th. There are 2 x 4 hour compulsory stops during the race and the possibility of a dark zone (where teams are stopped at night, usually for safety reasons on certain sections). If a team is dark zoned they can drop one of the compulsory 4 hour stops.

As I have mentioned to a few, the gear check was entertaining to say the least. Very strict and plenty of heated discussion to ensure our gear passed. We now have a medical inventory that will rival that of Te Kuiti Hospital (2 x supermarket bags full). There is enough eye drops to use as drinking water should the need arise, enough betadine to take a bath in and enough bandages to make the Egyptians jealous. Should we need all of this it will be something of a cliff hanger meets Freddy Krueger type scenario. If you see pics online of us all bandaged up don't fret, we've just found a more creative method to carry the stuff.

Anyway, for those who are interested you can follow the race live on the following link:

www.live.raidinfrance.com

Time for me to sign off. Next update will be after the race...now there's a nice thought.

Above: Chris shows us all how to conduct an in depth discussion in English with the French on whether in fact we should take 2 or 3 pairs of gloves on the mountain section.

Last minute training in the Alps

Bit of a ride up Alp de Huez with Nath & Soph...

and down again

Bit of a hike up Tete du Puy with the team

 

then a bit of a ride up Col du Galibier with Nath

 

The Schleck's wouldn't ride this bit....

And now its time for light duties. Rest up, eat up and get organised. Four days until the prologue (Evening of Fri 14th France time). Its Business time.

Ordos Adventure Challenge, Inner Mongolia, 28th Aug-2nd Sept 2012

Ordos Adventure Challenge 28^th Aug-1^st Sept 2012

Looking toward the World Adventure racing champs, the Ordos Adventure challenge presented the ideal opportunity for some final sharpening to complete our preparation. France will be hot so the prospect of racing in a warmer climate prior ad plenty of benefits. Priority one was to make sure no one over cooked themselves and got sick.

Set around the edge of the Gobi Desert, Inner Mongolia this race would also be some new surrounds to race in. Here is my account of how it all unfolded.

Day 1, stage 1: 60km kayak down the Yellow River, 22km Mountain bike, 18km Desert run to a 7 hour compulsory stop.

Half the ordeal in Chinese organised races is the run to standstill organisation we experience. “Come to the bus quickly….we must go”. This generally means we will leave in 30 minutes. If a bus ride is expected to take 1 hour, allow 3. Today was no exception and by the time we reached the start line on the edge of the Yellow river the pre-advised start time had been and gone. The day was now hot, it was 1pm and I was well and truly ready to start. As we stood on the start going through another start ceremony complete with delegate speeches and traditional music the nerves seeped in. In front of us were Adventure Sport NZ complete with Richard and Elina Ussher, Braden Currie, and Stu Lynch, Team CO USA with a top line up. Behind us were team Thule Macpac and team Finland. All would be tough opponents.

 

 It was to be a staggered start with 1 minute intervals making life tough for the earlier teams. All a following team needed to do was hunt down a team in front and hence gain a minute of race time on them. Chris and I started well. Nath and Sophie as some issues with getting into their boat so took a few minutes to catch up. Once underway we paddled hard for a good for a solid 2.5 hours before hitting some very shallow water. By this stage we had closed the gap on Richards team to 30secs but the issue now was more of where to find some water! 15 minutes of slog later deeper waters returned along with some much needed pace. Soon after however a boat full of officials waved both teams down and tried to direct us up steam. A confusing 5 minutes ensued with the result being resumption of our original course. Bugger…..the chasing teams had all but bridged the gap. The next 30 minutes had it all. Shallow water, dragging the boats through mud and a final slog through weed to the stage finish.

A partially flat tyre cost time in transition but some efficient riding saw Rich’s team back in sight. Chris topped this with some trademark route selection putting us back in front and into the day’s final transition less than an hour after starting. By now it was after 6pm and the desert waited. Gaiters on, fluids restocked and into the sand. It was hot tiring work. As with any soft sand the first tracks require more energy than those that follow. Chasing teams were at an immediate advantage. Quickly aware of this situation coupled with the fact that our speed had slowed we decided to allow Thule and ASNZ (Rich…) to catch us and work together through the sand. Soon all three teams moved as one sharing the lead. This continued until darkness fell highlighting the fact that yet more teams were hunting us down. At this point Nath took the lead, pulled the anchor and we paced out the final three k’s to TA3, the desert camp. It had been a tough day. Hard paddling, a sharp bike, finishing with a tough run through the desert. Sand as it will infiltrates everything. The toughest part of my day had definitely been the feeling of concrete in my shoes. It packed incredibly hard and without the option of stopping made life difficult. The good news….tomorrows run would be twice as far! Fun times ahead.

Day 2, Stage 1: 35km Gobi Desert run, night at Hotel.

Nathan’s solid lead in the final kilometres acquired us a 1 minute head start on the others. This would soon be chased down but gave us a slightly less frantic start into the desert. Today would involve 35km of running through the dunes of the Gobi. Tiredness aside the 4am start provided much needed relief from our biggest rival of the day – heat. Soon the three fore mentioned teams were into their work hacking tracks in the dunes. It was hard work and it was definitely a low point for me. I felt slow and my stomach was uneasy.  Focus turned for me to the basics of eating and drinking. The early part of stages is always my weakness and I knew that strength would return. It did and during the final 25km of the stage I felt great. In fact apart from a few steep dunes and some mud to negotiate the stage went relatively quick…..a bit of a blur I guess until the last painful kilometres which dragged on. Team Colorado had smashed out a great stage, catching up 10 minutes, Thule ASNZ and us all entered the final dash together. Even at 9am the heat was uncomfortable and teams were edgy towards the finish. We hung tough but were definitely stretched to stay in touch over the finish. It had been a great team effort for the stage. Chris had managed some great navigation in the sand despite not using GPS, Nath had run well desite being a heavyweight for fast sand travel and Soph had managed most of the stage without assistance. We now had the yellow jersey. Full credit to GPS tracking ourselves and ASNZ had received a time credit for time lost on the river. For us it was 3.5mins, enough to give us the yellow jersey albeit not by much.

Day 3, Stage 2: 4km horse ride, 100km bike, 2km dune run. 

Today was to be the shorter of race days. The horse ride involved Chris and Sophie riding with Nathan & I running alongside with the reigns. En route to the start organisers decided to neutralise the ride to remove ‘horse fitness’ from dictating the outcome. It soon became apparent that there would be a significant head wind on the bike section. Even without the horse section timed teams were allowed to complete the section as fast as they wished. Timing began once they completed the section. As with stage 1 however, racing the horses would see us out on the road first battling the wind. Chasing teams would then have the opportunity to bank further time. Instead we took it slowly and hit the bikes with Thule, ASNZ, and several other competitive teams.

What un folded from here made for a frustrating ride initially. With the exception of a few, no one was willing to work cooperatively in the bunch. Teams Red Bull (China) and Nuun (Aus) disappeared up the road and were working to establish a lead. Despite concerted efforts from Rich and Nathan, support from the front was not happening. For a period we gave up the chase and the gap opened at one point to 11 minutes which was concerning. Finally at around 60km along they tried again this time forming a core group of workers keen on chasing down the break away. Nath and Rich were riding really strong and were joined by myself, Braden Currie, Martin Flinta of Thule and 3-4 others. The relentless wind had taken its toll and with 15km to go we caught Nuun and shortly after Red Bull forming one big bunch for the final kilometres.

With such a short section in the dunes coming up we needed a good finish. It’s a bit of a blur as to what exactly happened but Chris and I got ourselves up the front with Nath leading Sophie out for a final sprint. With other teams seemingly napping we all emerged at the front and lead into transition and onto the run. I quickly hooked Sophie on tow and we hit the dunes. Straight up for 100m then 2 members slid down the other side on sleds, the others running. A final surge for the final 1km back to the finish and we placed 3^rd for the stage behind the Americans and Thule by a matter of seconds. It had been a good finish to the day not to mention retaining the yellow Jersey. Nath had done some great work today on the bike both pedalling and organisation. We could now relax for the night knowing we had a section more suited to our strengths tomorrow.   

Day 4, Stage3: 18km gorge run, 42km mountainbike, 20km paddle

With an absolutely crap night’s sleep I felt pretty jaded at 5am as I took our tent down. It had been raining steadily for a few hours. Electing not to put a fly on has its price….an early wake up call. Nonetheless we got organised and onto the start line for yet another starting ceremony complete with delegate speeches. At day 4 of racing with more to lose every day the tradition and faffing around factor were beginning to take their toll. Let’s just start the bloody race!

From the gun Chris was in his element. Mud, waist deep marsh crossings, navigation….for him it couldn’t get any better. The gorge was different to others I have experienced in China, more sand, mud, swamps etc instead of rocks, cliffs and waterfalls. It was scenic in its own unusual way. 18km went quick. Animal trails and a core group pushing the pace saw to this. Sophie had a great run despite the pace being hot. I towed her a little toward the end but largely she was self-sufficient. Culminating the section was a steep 100m climb followed up by an abseil back into the gorge. Rather than vertical the abseil had a few drops on and otherwise steep hill. For me it was a backwards downhill run. 2km later we were in TA and onto bikes. Nathan quickly took Sophie on tow whilst Chris and I concentrated on catching Thule and ASNZ who were now a few hundred metres up the road. Our transition had not been slick. Soon after catching Thule we hit mud, and lots of it. This was no ordinary mud with a glue like consistency that stuck to the bikes with a vengeance.  Initially I think we attacked this section with too much aggression. The harder we tried to go the more we lost traction or simply fell off. ASNZ had gotten a jump on us and were not in sight. I think this was a good thing turning the focus more to what we were doing. The pace dropped to a more steady and consistent effort. More traction resulted and more ground was covered. Nath broke his tow line so I took responsibility for towing Soph. Consistency soon started paying off. ASNZ came back into view and my mind shifted towards a new target of reeling them in. In hind sight I took this goal a bit too fast and put the team through some short term suffering….Nath soon told me to settle down but the job was done. ASNZ were right in front of us. Nath still riding strong went and helped Rich at the front for the final 10km. Rain still poured and like drowned rats we entered transition. 15 minutes compulsory rest before the final paddle.

The kayak section was to be pivotal on the day’s results. Early on we had no idea as to what was going to eventuate. For me it split into 4 sections. The first we had insane trouble steering (rudders disallowed for this paddle), with Chris struggling to keep the boat straight. The second (after a CP) I shifted to the back and our boat led the way to the furthest CP location. Problem……no CP at marked location. Several minutes of faffing around and discussions later we headed back towards the finish. GPS would confirm our course. Section three of significance I title “catching up”. Chris being the perfectionist he is wanted to make double sure the decision to head back was the right one. In the process the others left, time ticked by, and the workload required to catch back up shot up. Catching up was hard and by the time we did catch up I was battling to keep the boat straight and therefore on the wash. Enter section 4 for me “the blow”.  ASNZ were setting a good pace and we weren’t hacking it. I blew. Chris had gone from a lot of “I hate kayaking” to silent. Not a good sign. Drifting off the back I entered a blurry world of hurt somewhat out of reality, still paddling hard but 2-3 boat lengths behind. For some reason the wash further back was easier to steer on, no further gap opened and the blurry world of hurt kept us in touch touching land just a few seconds back on the others.

Another successful day was complete. Despite losing touch mid stage we had displayed some grit and regained it. Grit in fact, was an integral part of today’s racing. The whole team had worked hard all day and not only kept in touch with ASNZ but retained the yellow jersey. Rich and his team had also had an awesome day. Further close racing had proved that we were the most in form teams of the race. One day to go!

Day 5, Stage4: 30km bike, 10km paddle

Today was to be a short town based stage. Biking entirely on the road and paddling surrounded by empty high rise buildings. With ASNZ and Seagate being 1 + 2 we decided to work together on the first bike to keep a gap from challenging teams. Only a crash or mechanical would burn enough time for Thule to step up the rankings. It was not a day for risks especially given the cool wet conditions.

Biking was miserable but went essentially according to plan. My legs were leaden but still managed their fair share. Rich and Nath as usual rode strong. Onto the paddle we went all locked up. Chris and I were feeling much better than our efforts yesterday and kept things moving but it soon became apparent things were not as ideal in the Nathan Sophie boat. Water in the stern made steering for Nath really difficult and they drifted off the pace slightly. The consolation at half way was that Rich and ASNZ were further off the pace (having similar issues). A gap had opened and due to some gutsy paddling from Nath and Soph and we finished up 3 minutes clear, therefore taking the race outright. Awesome!

The Wrap:

The Ordos Adventure challenge included some great racing. As a team we had raced hard and worked well during much of the race. I personally felt fitter and stronger than I ever have and can only trust that this will continue. Despite probably displaying a low key attitude to winning the race we are absolutely stoked to win against such high class opponents. Many will have known we planned Ordos as a build up for the Adventure Racing World Champs in France and it definitely served its purpose, but it’s hard to celebrate when a greater objective looms. The focus now shifts solely to France, getting healthy and doing everything possible to make this trip 2 from 2. Tough roads are ahead!

View video footage at:

 hot reels TV 

Click here for news articles

Godzone Adventure 2012

Godzone had everyone excited from the minute the concept was public. Since the Southern Traverse finished up in 2005 there has been an absence of expedition racing in New Zealand. It was becoming a case of bad timing for me as I wasn't on the racing scene until after 2005 somewhat missing the Traverse boat. In walk Godzone! And it didn't dissapoint - 3.5 days of amazing scenery and great racing.

The race started with a bus trip on the Sunday from Queenstown to Milford. Most had an idea we were headed for Milford despite a very tight lipped race committee but all was not finalised until the day of travel. Following a leisurely lunch in Te Anau we were bussed to 'the Divide' where the maps were dished out. Then on to Milford in buses full of discussion and excitement. The night was busy. We set up bikes, tents for the night, had a briefing, Nath had a captains meeting, Chris and Nath did their maps until 10pm when we bunkered down for a restless 5hrs sleep. We would have to be up by 3am....Ouch!

Monday 9th April, 3am

Despite being short changed on the sleep front we jumped up and packed away camp with no mucking around. The gear boxes had to be dropped by 3:30 and we needed to be on the ferry by 3:45. It was dark and misty but warm as the ferry set off. So smooth was the trip that 30 minutes in Sophie expressed surprise at why we hadn't left yet! Various tactical murmurs were going on amongst cups of coffee and tins of creamed rice. Teams kept to themselves....race faces were emerging.

Next on the list was disembarking the ferry. Easier said than done. The kayaks were on a rocky beach and a smaller aluminum craft was needed to drop us the final 200m. This took a full hour. Almost last to disembark we got to our kayaks at 6am. Start time was 6:30 and it came all too quickly......quicker than day break even in the misty conditions. The start was chaos. Headlights everywhere, wash bouncing everywhere, paddles everywhere! Nathan and Sophie were well conditioned from King of the Harbour (surfski race) and left us to the chaos and took the lead. Chris and I etched our way to the front of the chasers now only 50m behind our teammates. Subway were right behind us and would be keen to get a lead into the bike. Due to a serious lack of paddle training Chris and I couldn't keep pace with the other 2 and every 15minutes or so they would allow us back in the hunt. Toward the end of the stage Subway started to pull away slightly but never really took much time. As we neared Milford adrenalin was still pumping and I was excited about what a great start it had been. Subway only had a minute or so on us so we could have an efficient but relaxed transition.

 Onto the bikes the Milford road wastes no time at climbing toward the Homer Tunnel. My concern for whether I'd worn enough warm gear faded away as we sweated our way through an 900m climb. Once into the tunnel it became evident the climb had gone well. Subway's tail lights were just ahead. A few whoops and hollers later we were on a wet and misty descent toward the Hollyford river before a short climb over the Divide and into the Eglinton river. Half way down the first descent we were all equally surprised when we caught Subway. It had been a great start. Not wanting to waste unnecessary energy at this point the two teams finished the remaining hour of riding as a bunch. It was a chance to eat, drink and be merry.

Onto stage 3 - An inflatable raft/ canoe down a bony Eglinton river to Te Anau Downs. Transition was busy and energetic. Bikes had to be packed up, gear changed, food taken in and the rafts had to be carried 200m to the river bank and inflated. If you can imagine what a hoe down looks like with arms everywhere, knees lifting in time then you're right on the money as to what the scene looked like. Four of us (2 from each team) used foot pumps while the others held the pipes in place. Classic. Subway had transitioned well and got onto the river a couple of minutes ahead of us. Initially the river was particularly bony. Chris and I became very good at getting in and out of our boat and towing it down the shallows. Nath would do the same with Soph able to remain in the boat. For a while I got into a good rhythm steering the boat mostly where I wanted but as time wore on things deteriorated. We could see the frustration mounting on Nath and Soph at our lack of speed but there wasn't much we could do. It was a source of great motivation for me to learn some new paddle strokes over winter! Slowly but surely progress was made down the river. Safe to say Chris would have rather been crash tackling a gorse bush anyday than punishing himself down a meandering river. So 5 or so hours and a stunning gorge later Te Anau downs relented and Trek 1 was upon us. Subway had paddled another few minutes out of us and had about 10 minutes lead.

Stage 4: Dunton Range trek

The trek started with a cruel twist. We were to follow alongside the main road for a couple of kilometers before entering a track onto the range. The twist being that we had to travel over the fence from the road. Whilst catching tantalising glimpses of state highway we crashed and scrambled through gorse, bush lawyer, and low level scrub. Twenty minutes into this entertaining introduction we spotted 4 lycra clad individuals (none other than Subway) progressing along. I was stoked. After a less than ideal paddle section it was great to have them in sight again. Chris was in his element, crashing through and bellowing his contentment to the world (or Subway). The teams would remain close as a well maintained track climbed us onto the dunton range. Various stops from our rivals would indicate that they were less confident in the nav than Chris. Once on the bushline dusk was fast approaching and it was evident that if we didn't take action the teams could be locked together for the remainder of the trek. Not ideal for us as this was our preferred stage. Cutting a long chinese whispered and now infamous story short, Subway stopped to put some warm gear on. Nath who was with them at the time casually walked over the brow of the next knob before bursting into a run. The rest of us, slightly ahead turned to see him stumbling, gasping but above all moving rather urgently. Out of his mouth came...they've stopped, lets make a break, and thats what we did. In fact we didn't cut the urgency for another 60-90minutes by which time we had dropped below the bushline. Contrary to popular folklore the headlights weren't turned off and no hiding in bushes took place but instead just plain old power walking and perhaps a minor delay in firing up the headlamps. For me it was exciting and made for one hell of a start to the trek. Let the games begin!

In the hours that followed I was treated to some fine tuned navigating from both Chris and Nathan to reach CP5 and beyond. If you haven't checked out the tracking for this stage or the topo map for the area its worth a look. By night it provided some testing moments for many teams and the margin for error was small. It was a top effort. As the night progressed a route choice presented itself. Either go high and direct or stay in the valleys and take a less direct line to CP7/ TA4. No surprises with our choice.....up we go! And up, and up, and up. The closer to the top we got, the steeper the scree. Two steps forward, one step back but with a bit of grit we topped out and Chris found us a spur to descend. By this time heavy drizzle/ rain had set in combining with the altitude to produce cold conditions. Nothing a bit of bush bash descent couldn't fix. By now our first day break on the job was approaching. Battling to stay warm I layered up and jogged to catch the others. TA was now less than 2 hours away and most of it was on track - just a matter of keeping the momentum up now. A bit of team singing, a couple of bars and a 4 minute power nap later we jogged into TA....feeling pretty good. I was stoked at how I was feeling. Already I was feeling much more positive than I had in Patagonia. Must be the increased experience.....

TA4/ Stage 5

Getting onto the bikes felt amazing. Its always great to take the weight off after a long trek and this was no exception. We knew there was some sort of margin back to 2nd but how long was anyone's guess. The foot still needed to be down. This section ended up taking 9-10hours. Much of it involved route finding with less than defined trails. There were sections of carrying, pushing, rough riverbed riding all interspersed with 4wd track riding. As a team we rode well across all ground making for a relentlessly reliable section and entered TA5 just on dusk. A quick feed, box the bikes, gear change and we were off. It was now 7pm on our second night, race time 36 hours. Stage 6...The next few hours get progressively blurry for me. The sleep monster visited on occasions eventually getting a strong hold for 30 minutes or so as I walked. The tussocks did a great job at breaking my fall until I found a walking stick which performed the job of balance until we reached Irthing hut. Nath and Soph generously offered to sleep on the floor while Chris and I shared the top bunk (a CP official occupied the bottom bunk). Two hours sleep went like a shot and before we knew it the shoes were on and up we went. I felt great. It had been much needed rest and as dawn approached snow fell on the ranges. It was a peaceful experience and great to be out. Spirits were high and we moved much more efficiently having had some rest. Next challenge: Route selection. There were several choices, the main two being a more conservative route involving two climbs or a bolder steeper route which only had one climb. We opted for the latter and with daylight on our side pinned our ears and climbed out of Eyre creek. No major obstacles hindered progress and by late morning a clear passage was in sight and a beautiful day was in full swing. Two more descents later and significantly more weary on the feet we walked into TA6. There was a course change. All teams would turn right out of transition and follow the Von river to the shores of Wakatipu. This cut out 50km of biking and the inflatable canoe rogaine on the Mavora lakes. Transition staff had hot vege soup on the boil so it was all good at TA6! Refueled and good to go we exited transition right and headed for wakatipu.

Stage 7. By now the business end of the race approached. We all were still in good spirits with good progress. About 90km of biking seemed to go pretty quickly. Apart from the temperature plummeting and a random puncture the ride was without major issue. A band of supporters cheered us through Kinloch which was awesome including Jodie and Nathan's kids. TA8 sat at the base of Earnslaw, just east of the dart river. It was time for a brief hour's kip. While I'd like to say we all slept solid, I heard plenty of groaning and unsettled movement. Probably a sign of brains getting confused I would assume. Eventually after several yells the team woke and amidst plenty of shivering got going in what was becoming a very cold morning. With over a 1000m of climbing first up on the final trek we wouldn't be cold long! We started Stage 8, the 3rd and final trek stage somewhere in the early hours of the morning. As I mentioned, we got straight into a solid climb and before long were above the bushline. As the route got higher another challenge presented itself. We were climbing a decent gradient on small schist slabs. This was fine until they started to frost over making it necessary to concentrate more than usual. The route traversed us through a bluffed section (with fixed ropes) before a significant descent that lead eventually into the upper reaches of Earnslaw burn. The frosted schist was a definite risk initially. A loss of footing here could have been nasty on the body and resulted in a long slide. Into the Burn another cracker day dawned. It was a magic part of the trip with early rays of light reflecting off the Earnslaw Glacier directly above and waterfalls emerging from high above. This is what its all about! Soon after a sharp climb to Lennox pass and a spectacular ridge traverse above the Burn we descended into the Reece river catchment. A marked route snaked its way to an amazing 80m abseil into the Reece valley floor where we jalked (trying to jog but barely travelling faster than a walk whilst looking like a senior citizen in their final days) the final kilometers to the Reece carpark. Here my day brightened as Rach had made it up from Queenstown and met us with Jodie. She was a sight for sore eyes. Choking back the tears following a short period of reuniting I biked off (with the team) to Glenorchy. Sleepyness hit us again, especially on the seal but dreams of pies, pastries and coffee at the Glenorchy cafe kept us going. It didn't dissapoint and in fact lit us all up enough to complete the race without any further sleep.

Transitioning efficiently into stage 10 we were all excited. Perhaps for it was the final leg, or that it represented exercise not involving the legs (It was now over 66 hours since the last paddle section) or that if we paddled fast enough there was a definite possibility of visiting Ferg burger enroute to the finish. Whatever the reason spirits as they had been much of the race were high as a kite. I personally enjoyed the paddle on so many counts. It was great to be on the water with my shoulder feeling 100% and above all to tire out a totally foreign set of muscles. So as we rounded the last point into Queenstown and Chris and I notched up approx 120% to sit on Nath and Sophs wash (who were paddling at 80%, eating bread rolls and blowing bubbles in  their camelbaks) I couldn't help but feel stoked with our race. It had been a great and strong team effort. A small crowd cheered as we neared the beach.....initially there were denials....they must be cheering for something else. But no, the cheering grew louder as did the excitement. Not only was the welcome worth it but a valiant supporter had gone ahead with ferg burger orders. Make my day.

Big thanks must go out to my team for making Godzone such a great race. As the team rookie I aim to reduce the number of stuff ups race by race and this can't be achieved without some great examples along the way.

A huge thanks must also extend to the following team sponsors to whom without their assistance racing wouldn't be possible.

Seagate, Patagonia adventure gear, Inov-8 off road shoes, GoLite backpacks, Rocky Mountain bikes, Louis Garneau helmets, o2b healthy supplements, Silva headlamps, GU energy gels, Bridgedale socks, Endura eyewear, Awaken organic energy bars, mont-bell tents, ready set Go antichafe, Nordenmark adventure map boards, Tineli bikewear, and adventure nitelights.



http://vimeo.com/40280504



To Read Nathan's race reports click here:

http://www.multisportnz.org/GODZONE2012SeagateReportMSNZPART1.pdf

http://www.multisportnz.org/GODZONE2012SeagateReportMSNZPART2.pdf


And to see the TV3 Godzone articles click here:

http://www.3news.co.nz/Godzone-adventure-kicks-off-in-South-Island/tabid/317/articleID/249787/Default.aspx


http://www.3news.co.nz/Seagate-win-Godzone-race/tabid/317/articleID/250355/Default.aspx


For other race articles:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/sport/6714030/Rapid-start-to-522km-six-day-GODZone-race


http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/sport/6720128/Endurance-passion-pain-achievement


http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1204/S00225/victory-for-team-seagate-at-godzone-adventure.htm

Kaiteriteri Beach Adventure Race (KBAR) 2012

We had another fantastic day for the race this year in Kaiteriteri. I had a great race against Nick Ross who had a strong race as part of his build up for the Godzone adventure race taking place next month. Awesome to see such a strong contingent of R & R athletes doing well!

Click the following link to see the Sportzhub report which sums it all up:

http://www.sportzhub.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14070&Itemid=1


or click this link to see the Nelson Mail report:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/sport/6560054/Voyce-Hart-win-national-titles


and the Multisport NZ report:


http://nz.eventdirector.net/RESOURCES/ADVME/MAILERS/ZUSER/2012%20NZ%20Multisport%20National%20Championships.pdf

Terra Viva expedition race, Patagonia Feb 2012

A mere 3 days after racing in the teams Coast to Coast I rolled up to Nelson airport. Another slightly larger mission on the horizon, I should have been as nervous as hell. Instead I was just excited. We were headed for Northern Patagonia, Argentina for the first expedition race in the AR world series. I had good reason to display a few nerves as this was to be my first expedition race. Offsetting the nerves was the thought that we were to race in Patagonia...an area of beauty and dramatic lanscape...playground to the outdoor enthusiast.

Unfortunately Aerolineas Argentinas had other ideas for our trip. I had been warned that delays were regular and what better way to start a trip than a few extra hours at Auckland Airport's gate 9. It was the stuff dreams were made of.

Cutting a long trip short 36 hours later we arrived at Bariloche airport where an enthusiastic member of the organising committee 'Sacha' met us. Not only did he speak great english but he had a ute that could take our gear to San Martin de Los Andes, base town for the race. What a legend! En route to San Martin des Los Andes we met Sacha's parents who were also racing Terra Viva. Super friendly bunch and fantastic hospitality. Luckily Sacha was able to translate...

Onto San Martin (Base town for the race) we headed and not wanting to waste precious daylight we hit the hills for a quick run. What a beautiful spot. Beautiful clear lakes surrounded by steep hills and huge rock slabs. Volcanic activity was evident in that ash lined the roads and became airborne every time the wind blew. A constant reminder of how close we were to the source of the infamous Chilean ash cloud. The next 3 days were spent exploring the hills around town, getting food and gear sorted and trying to get some sleep. Easier said than done...we all tended to spend between 2 and 6am wide awake then sleep solidly until 10. Not ideal but sleep is sleep and provided it was being banked we weren't too concerned regarding the timing. Sunday night came all too quickly. Gear checks, briefing and an amazing roast beef that had been slow roasted for close to 10 hours certainly got us in the mood. Racing would start tomorrow at 11am with a 60km kayak. Gentlemans hours!

The race was divided into 5 stages. Stage 1 was the 60km kayak plus 12km bike back to base camp. Stage 2 was a bike/trek stage with 2 treks linked by various biking sections. Teams could do these treks/ bikes in any order making it difficult to ascertain exactly how we were going until everyone had completed the stage. Stages 3, 4 and 5 were bike, kayak and trek/bike stages and could also be done in any order. For stage 2 we took advantage of a stonking tail wind and completed the longer of the bike sections leading into the trek. This took us to the start of the longer of the 2 treks that would take the best part of 14hrs to complete. It also took us through our first night on the course. Probably my toughest mentally. Not having raced anything over 24 hours before I spent much time pondering the sheer duration of racing ahead of me. Overwhelmed is one way of putting it. Nonetheless I plodded on concentrating on staying awake and keeping the food/fluid intake regular. For several hours its safe to say I wasn't enjoying myself at all. We were high on the ridges with plenty of rocky ridgeline to keep me entertained, a beautiful starry night, but it wasn't cutting it. Thankfully a couple of hours later I snapped out of it and was glad to leave my first low point of the race behind me. Instead we were in the early hours of the morning and found ourselves jogging down a creekbed to stay warm. The temperature had dropped below zero and it was freezing. The trees were frosted (as were my shoes) and keeping warm became difficult. Luckily on day break we struck a track on the hillside keeping in the trees and out of the cold valley floor. More food, another CP and a quick water stop and the mood lifted. The next 5 hours were spent climbing another high point with amazing views of the surrounding mountains and volcanoes before dropping back to our bikes. By now the sun was out and it was hot!

Onto the bikes, another 20km on gravel to the start the 2nd trek (still part of stage 2). This was to be one of the highlights of the race for us. Several hundred metre ascents of volcanos followed by several hundred metre scree run descents.....Awesome! Apart from the fact that my brain was in la la land this was a great section. Such was the fun that we knocked it out in just over 4 and a half hours.
All we had now was an approximately 3 hour bike via Lago Lolog (the lake we paddled on to start the race) back to base then we would have some rest...all going well! All was going well until just before dark (details are sketchy) just before the lake I came off my bike in a nasty fashion taking out Nath and Sophie. I have no recollection of the fall only that I heard a lot of loud banging. Out cold for about 10seconds I woke to the team standing over me with instructions to "wake up" which I as all good team mates would followed. Adrenalin was kicking in and I was keen to get back on the bike but a hard knock to the right shoulder slowed my progress. Eventually in a semi stunned state and all rugged up in warm gear I got the pedals moving again. Apparently I had been adjusting something on the bike with only one hand on the bars. Corrugations on the road delivered the final blow. The remainder of the ride is a blur. I remember following Chris and thats about it. Before long we were back at base, had decided to bike next and were off to the Chalet for a some sleep. Stage 2 completado!

Two hours passed all to quickly and before I knew it we were back on the bikes. Chris estimated the bike to take us 7-8 hours to which he was pretty accurate. Starting on tar sealed road was less than inspiring but later in the ride we found ourselves up the skifield explored prior to the race. This not only provided some amazing dawn views but some great single track and smooth fast flowing 4wd riding. By 9:30am we were back at central camp and preparing for the 2nd and final kayak section. Unfortunately for me with a bruised shoulder this was going to hurt. Improving the situation however was a beautiful clear day. It would be hot but calm. Motivation dropped during the paddle. Now on anti-inflammatories my arm was at a manageable level but the heat combined with close to 7hrs of paddling and little sleep slowed our progress somewhat. A couple of swim breaks helped to not only cool us off but woke us up and provided some much needed alertness for the remainder of the section.  During the last 40 minutes Chris and I were certain Nath and Sophie had put in a surge to drop us. Unfortunately the real reason was that slowed considerably. Luckily we had almost finished and made our way to the stage finish on the lake edge at San Martin town. The plan now was a couple of hours more sleep and some real food then the final bike/trek to finish the race. Great!

Again two hours flew by and the numbness of my butt on the bike seat greeted me. Back to central camp, collect food and drink, then ride to the start of the final trek. The home straight.....kind of! This section was to be the expanding horizons section. Every part of it seemed to extend beyond our predictions. The bike to start the trek was no exception and took 1.5hrs instead of 1hr. Into the trek we slogged it out for 17hrs instead of our estimated 8hrs. Tiredness crept in. At first we power napped for 10minutes then before dawn pace had slowed so we bivvied for another 40mins. It got cold. There was lots of snot and mucous, coughing, sneezing, hacking. Without question one of the least attractive times of my life. The only thing making me feel better is that everyone was in the same boat. Dawn brought with it the realisation of exactly how far we had to go. After 9hrs there was still a good 8hrs left to the bikes. This was a long haul. The best thing for it was to revert back to the trusty one foot on front of the other regimen. Can't go wrong...and to keep us alert was plenty of wild roses. Great fun without gaiters! One memorable moment for me was close to the end of the trek when we exited the forest. It was hot, or seemed hot anyway. Following the lead of the boys I submerged myself into a stream for a few seconds. Within a couple of minutes I was shivering. When exhausted the body loses it's ability to thermoregulate - crazy stuff.

Back at the bikes we got going quickly for only an hour or so remained - mainly downhill. Nath was battling to stay awake on the bike so took off adrenalising himself awake again. The rest of us took it steady. Back at camp there was one final section---a final tar seal ride into town to the finish. It went in a blur and as the finish line shots show I was in another world even once we finished. I was there in body but my brain was fast tracking itself to a very very happy place....a place of sleep!

It had not been a long race as far as expedition races go but long enough for me. A new style of racing, a new crew to race with, a new country. It had been a tough course and I now know what it takes to excel in these races....lots of toughness! The team had been great. They are all super strong and Chris's navigation was superb.

Now we look towards Godzone in Queenstown. Can't wait!

A big thanks to the team sponsors to whom without their support the race would not have been possible: Seagate,

Many thanks also to my personal sponsors who make my racing possible: R & R Sport, Thermatech, Rasdex kayak gear, the Frontrunner, and migym Nelson.


To see the Sportzhub article for the race click below:
http://www.sportzhub.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13952&Itemid=96

Coast to Coast teams race 2012

Ten days before the Coast to Coast this year I had no intention of heading down for the weekend. This quickly  changed over a couple of texts and a ten minute phone call. Cutting a long story short I received a call from Katie Cambie at Legend Paddles. She was trying to find a decent runner who would be prepared to join Matt Blundell to have a shot at the mens team title for 2012.

Having dropped my intent for the longest day due to Team Seagate expedition race commitments this would provide the ultimate sharpener without recovery issues associated with the Longest day. Safe to say I didn't need much convincing and was really excited at the chance to punish myself through Goat Pass.

Race weekend came around all too quickly and before I knew it we were standing at Aitkens corner waiting for Matt to arrive on the bike. The major competition for the weekend would come in the form of Dan Busch on the bike and Steve McKinstry on the run. Both strong athletes I was not going to take this one easy. Unfortunately for Dan a puncture cost him the stage 1 lead and he lost a few minutes to Matt who had a strong ride to lead in the first bunch. This gave me a great start with nothing but fresh air between my hairy legs and Klondyke.

What happened next is a bit of a blur and happened rather quickly. One point I remember well was reaching the deception footbridge 10 minutes in and feeling uncomfortably out of breath! My race tactic however was to 'smash myself' so I just kept pushing. There were a few mistimed jumps along the way, a few involuntary swims and plenty of hard breathing. I didn't want to allow Steve the privilege of even seeing me so the ears were pinned the whole way. Upon reaching Goat Pass I asked Steve Knowles for a split. He said about 4 minutes.......not good enough. That was close to what I had at Doreen Creek. So on I pushed, getting more amped and more controlled every step of the way. Once on the Minga riverbed I was in my own world skipping over the rocks with ease and keeping a strong pace.

Crossing the Bealey I glanced down at my watch. 2:39. Definite potential for a sub 3h run here.....surely not!
So up the effort went again, probably not corresponding to an increase in pace, more likely a maintenance in pace despite my tiring legs. By the time I reached the railway bridge I needed every second to count. Fast well placed strides were essential. Thankfully the body responded and the last 2km flew by. Into the finish chute and a final surge to finish what was my best ever time through the run.....2:58:49. I now join 5 others who have managed sub 3 hrs, and am absolutely stoked. It had been a great day.

Day 2: 

The majority of today was out of my hands. We transitioned Matt into the kayak after losing 3 minutes to Dan Busch during the opening 15km ride. It was evident that Dan was on a mission and it would take a jaw dropping performance to reduce his dominance on the water.

Unfortunately Matt despite paddling well couldn't match Dan's super human effort on the water losing a further 11minutes on the 67km Waimakariri paddle. As Dan collapsed on the beach and Gorge Bridge I could only watch the clock tick on as his dominance became depressingly apparent.

Onto the bike I now had less than 2 minutes left of our 16 minute day 1 lead to cling to. My legs were smacked around after day 1 but I had ultimate faith I could hold the gap. Not to be. Steve McKinstry had a fantastic ride to take the quickest of the day 2 riders and clean me out by 2 mins 15 secs. An awesome effort on top of Dans legendary paddle to snatch the Team honours from us for the weekend.

Great effort boys!

Many thanks to Katie and Len at Legend Paddles for organising the weekend. It was a great experience even if we didn't quite pull it off.

Thanks also to my ongoing sponsors: R & R sport, Thermatech, Rasdex Kayak equipment, Migym Nelson Ltd, and The Frontrunner.