5. Terrace Downs Defi
On paper it looked like a great event and being the first time organized I thought I might have a go, as on paper it didn't look too hard.
WRONG I was!
Starting with a mountain bike a blistering pace was set on a flat bit of field, and than straight up a few little hills to sort out the boys from the girls, and jip at the top I was a girl already, and took most of that ride to recover. My bonus was that big Harry the Scotchman had hit the deck so a welcome stop and have chat, he was sure he'd done his collarbone and at later inspection 3 broken ribs as well.
I met him not long ago and he was fine laughing and cracking jokes again. Next time buddy.
The paddle, I was looking forward to paddle a Total Eclipse SS as I'd never been down that piece of water.
At the start it had been raining a bit but we'd rode out of it, turning around to go back the direction we'd come from I saw this big curtain of rain, and for those with glasses will understand that it adds another bit of a challenge, to find your way trough the drops on the glasses is a bit of a pain, I tried contacts but my cranky eyes won't have a bar of it.
Every time I passed someone I could luckily see someone else in the distance to point me in the right direction.
Then there was this rapid, the person in front had disappeared and I could hear the sound of music. Not been there before I decided the safest would be, to take it right in the guts after all I was in a Total SS a very user friendly boat, 'and' it didn't disappoint, a great ride just not long enough.
Between the drops I'd seen the potential for some great scenery, I must go back there!
Then there was the road bike.
In the course description it said there was a bit of a climb out of the river, well there WAS.
Having done hill climbs of about 2 meters above sea level to get in and out of the kayak after the , wasn't going to cut it!!
Once on top of the shelf hitting back to the Rakaia gorge it felt like something wasn't going too well according to my Speedo, and I even stopped to see if my wheels were put on right, but they seem fine. Being misty drizzly it was hard to seen the contour of the country, so I decided we must be still going up hill and sure enough somewhere all of a sudden started going much better, telling me we're on the down hill, but I new there were more hills to come.
Now I have become quite good a groveling over the years, and it is at those times that the saying of Winston Churchill comes to mind "YOU NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER EVER" and with the amount of food I had in my pockets I could have gone to Bluff.
The run was a walk for me at first, as I needed to stretch my back a couple of times.
Over the years a couple of surgeons have made a bit of money out of that backbone of mine, but I could slowly start to get some feeling back in my feet again. [That hill climbing out of the saddle from the river did it.]
Just as well as at some places you wouldn't have wanted want to put your feet too far wrong, as you would have ended up where we paddled just before.
Altogether a great view from where we just paddled before
By the end I must have looked like a power walking duck , but I DID IT and got dead last!!
4. LAKE KANIERE TRI
We left CH-CH late fri. afternoon to stay with our good friend Steve Maitland.
Steve lives in Ross and carves Jade for a living, and without a doubt one of NZ's best! and a must to go and visit.
He's opposite the info centre and old bank.
Also a fierce competitor who won't give an inch. And done many of ctoc's.
Next morning looked to be a purler and was going to make up for the last two years of rain on the day.
Marijn was going to do it with an old class mate Quoyah Glintborg-Barr, she was going to do the run and Marijn the paddle and bike.
Helene was teamed up with local girl Jess Hamilton, a famous local running family, and Jess doing the run and Helene the paddle and Bike as well
The old man was just on his own again
A stunning day and the run through the native bush was very scenic, and nice and cool.
Once arrived at the kayaks I learned that the JKK family was jumping into the boats all at the same time Marijn taking a sprint to hitch a ride and eventually taking a bit of time out of the old man, and once on the bike making some people very happy to get a ride of him. Helene had a great paddle too, beating the school boys.
We all had a great time on another glorious west coast day
Definitely an event to put on your calendar
3. The Coast to Coast
Well well, what do I say ? Very little I think, as there has been said many of things already.
It was just Helene and I this year Helene in a school team and me another 2 day. Marijn will have another crack at it, to improve on the 14th placing he did 2 years ago, this year he was helping us together with Mamma.
Here we were on the beach at Kumara, great conditions forecasted for us on day one.
The hooter went and of we go, for me nr.10 and Helene's second time school team.
Helene's off like a bat out of hell, and me just hobbling along trying to not get sucked into all the hype knowing the road ahead. She did run herself out of sight but I saw her again as she was just getting on her bike yelling aw shit 'indicating she was hell-bent on getting in the same bunch as me, she did get on my wheel and I tried to keep her there but judging by her breathing it was not likely she was going to last, and unfortunately she didn't. She would have had to back off a little and find her composure and take the bunch she was presented with. That nasty little run takes out many of people every year, dragging people into the hype and then regretting it at the top of the first little hill out of kumara. Leaving you wonder how much training everyone else around you must have done. Rest assured 95 % thinks and feels the same thing, but it is hard to find someone to admit to that at that moment.
It was great to see the first transition organized a lot better this year, not such a lolly scramble as it has always been , but then again Juddy always had great joy from certain carnage, some situations he could twist into a glorious unfortunate story of misfortune at the prize giving, but for competitors much more streamlined.
The Girl Helene was teamed up with is Toni Keeling from Auckland ………….
Luckily she put my mind at ease early in the run by steaming past me indicating that Helene must have had an ok. bike after she dropped of, so thing s were looking good for them, for me it was just a matter of grinding through that run again, and I could swear than my legs were shorter again than last time.
In the end 'we' had a great day and great conditions.
BUT!!
We were staying in A. pass and around dinner time I said lets go to Klondyke corner and have a nosy through some results.
When we got to the corner we noticed all those people hitting for the finish line, my first though was maybe this year there is some music or something organized but soon Juddy started spouting forth and it was not sounding pretty, and when the actual sentence was pronounced that in the 2010 Speight's Coast to coast was not going to be any kayaking down the river!! WELL that opened a whole bucked of tears, Helene was standing between big bro and mad Daddy, all hugs and hankies.
This was going to be the year to put right for what went wrong the year before, when she got tangled up with another boat and broke a rudder cable.
Just standing there looking around I could see a lot of 'almost tears' on young and old faces, which dragged me into all sorts of memories and the biggest thing I thought stood out, was the fact that we get into this trap with blinkers on, especially that last period of training programs, the time leading onto the big one. Too many eggs in one basket.
Trying to make it a good racing season of it, and then one race is only a smaller percentage, would perhaps be more helpful. Ok this is still the pinnacle on the race calendar, but we can't control the weather.
When I did the length of NZ race' the Mizone challenge' we basically did a ctoc every day for a month long, ranging from 5-10hr days some days we just didn't know how long something was going to take us, and sure enough I drank water I normally wouldn't even considered peeing in, but 'what ' was the choice. Legs were canceled because of weather, the paddle down the Tongariro was cancelled.
We were some of the last to bike over the highway bridge, as it was already hitting the bottom of the bridge and an hour later it was raging over the top. I clearly remember the First day out of Bluff, I'd only trained as far as a 100km on the bike but the first ride was a 160km, and the days never got any easier.
What I learned over the years is that 'THANK GOD' were dealing with nature, the very 'friend' that's giving us the days that stand out in memory, and create stories for our family friends.
Ever noticed that the nice sunny days are soon forgotten?
It is the dealing with change we have to become a little wiser with, and fair to say that we can't expect, the younger and less experience once, to necessarily be able to deal with disappointment the best way, BUT the multisport world has always given me a warm feeling, full of people that understand life and are very supportive.
And I guess that comes from the fact that you might just have to understand the basics of living before you can enjoy the outdoors, and it is a real neat feeling to be amongst you lot every year
And you know 'what' you'll have to go through a period of a couple of years and a hole range of emotions to be able to understand what someone else might feel like.
If for example you just survived the agony barrier level nr.6 the chance is, when your confronted with nr. 7 you'll survive that as well, and the immense satisfaction that comes with it, I guess makes us go back for more.
Enough about that philosophical bs.
The bike
Pouring in the morning, so the storm gear came out just to find after the start along the hills to MT White it was clearing.
One jacket came of, down the road before the big hill 'Craigeburn cutting ' another piece of clothing had to come of , as by then it was a howling nwster from the side and warming up.
I new it was coming 'the steep bastard' I've never been good at hills and when I looked up from the bottom I saw people already walking at the first corner, and I was thinking "nope' we're going to nail this one, and on the way up I seem to have my oxygen uptake and legs in tune , and the power knowing were the road levels off a bit was Oh soo strong, if you can see the target there seem to be that little bit more you didn't expect.
Nailed it Yahoooo
But boy it was blowing , at the top of Castle hill village hill I was picking up speed and all of a sudden jerked sideways and back and forth, 'braking'? no point! could make it worse. Admittedly I was riding Reynolds deep rim carbon wheels, fantastic wheels but not the best for side wind.
Further along at the big long straight along the climbing rocks I was blown of road a couple of times, no drama's , as I was going up hill so wasn't going fast.
Porters Pass was looming, looking good for wind direction, and a fast downhill but the very fact was that it was the last bit of fun I could see for the rest of the day, I for once was looking forward to the uphill. I was reeling in a bunch of people, which is unlike me considering I was going uphill.
At the top those people decided to have a break, off I went the first steep bit was great and I started to get that floaty feeling similar when downhill skiracing, the faster you go the least amount of weight is on your legs, sometimes you get it going down Evans pass depending on conditions, it generally means your doing over 80 km/hr.
Now my Speedo packed a sad in the rain that morning so it will always be a mystery, but it felt great and never any side gust, I could only see the danger for that, were the old road 'used' to go. There is a bit of a saddle on the right traveling east. It was pointed out to me one day, that's were the old road used to go, and comes out at the bottom big corner. It's worth while stopping there if you go the other way and stuck behind a bus just blowing smoke in your vent system.
At the same bottom corner that day, there was a bit of road works, and there was someone standing there to slow us down for the gravel bit, but I just couldn't, not after that adrenaline rush and knowing there was still a couple of meters of adrenalin and mountainbike skills left to go, no way. At the end of the gravel that's when I spotted some other event crew looking rather worried, but I had my fix!!
Now just a boring old grind to town and the mighty Avon MMMMMMMM.!!
Mamma always has a near kittens, when I tell in front of the kids about my latest fix.
Remedy??
A stuffed Speedo!!
While we were battling the winds in the hills that morning, the story goes that at the yacht club in Lyttelton some people were trying to hang on to their boats in the rigging area to stop them from blowing away.
One guy decided in a gap between gusts to get is car and park it to shelter his boat, but no sooner he'd got into his car a NW gust picked up his boat and drove the mast through the passenger window and out the back window on the other side narrowly missing the guy, broke the boat of the mast and smashed the boat into the next car.
Proving that it wasn't just in the hills and had reached the coast as well.
I would have hated to think what Hurricane passage was like on that day!!
WELL DONE JUDDY!!
At the kayak transition we had our own little hiccups like many, and when finally in the boat it was just not the usual motivational feeling I get when jumping in the boat at the Mt White , so I just went about it to get to the finish.
The Avon.
Not without it's own challenges, like when I past one of those punting boats I all of a sudden filled my lungs with a mixture of smoke and some heinous perfume, I nearly pucked , a far cry from the usual smell of flowering broom and gorse.
Not being prepared to be confronted by an huge crowd at the Pleasant point yacht club, where we were told to get out and back on the bike.
The way my bike by got there was a mission by itself. After I left the kayak get in Marijn was told that my bike had to be at to Mt pleasant Yacht club, two competitors and one car? Quick thinking, and he stuffed his size13 into my size 8 shoes and set of on my shortarsed bike [by now looking like a BMX bike with race wheels with him on it] to Mt pleasant just to get there and no one there??, realizing the confusion between the two Pleasant's, he then flew Harry Potter style to the Pleasant point club, just to be there in time to hand me the bike.
And me, completely oblivious to the reason why he was looking so hot and bothered.
Despite nothing fitted him I'm sure he enjoyed riding those wheels though!
WELL done!!! Marijn
Then the finish: THANK GOD FOR THAT
Helene's race
2. The Classic River Race.
A usual crowd gathered at MT. White, busy as bee's organizing boats and trying to work out what clothing to put on, after all it's race day and everything has to be spot on .
Unfortunately a little rumor was spreading amongst the newbies that it was going to be windy and a number pulled out [I found out later].
But 'we' knew better as we 'after last trip' we were well equipped to deal with a bit of wind, and were not prepared to let a bit of wind stand in the way of another great experience. And unfortunately for those that pulled out, there was hardly any wind most of the trip.
Helene did well considering where she was at with school work and c2c training, winning junior woman and 15th. Woman over all, 4hr20
This old man did ok, but wondered how to design something that would go twice as fast, maybe one day.
Someone who did go incredibly well was Adam Milne. Making the new Total Eclipse SS. Fly!! Showing one can win in a stable boat, by taking out the 'open men' in the process. In a time of 3.50.49. [ reminding me of some years ago in the classic 1995 Mike Walker from Okains bay pushed an eclipse 5.2 clocking a time of 3.36.06, and the same Mike took an Total Eclipse 6m. and got 3rd overall in 1999]
Adam a friendly young men with a great future in multisport ahead of him.
Currently using a UFO to help him win many other races.
Also recently selected to join the elite squat to race in the worlds duathlon, we wish him well.
Ian Huntsman had an incredible battle on hand, just a bit unfortunate to be spun out by another competitor momentarily, loosing valuable time considering the top 3 finishing 36 sec. apart. Ouch!! that must have been soooo painful a sprint finish after going hard for that long, but more satisfying than being miles ahead by yourself. Coming 3rd after all that is no mean feat!
Ian paddled an nr. of UFO's over the years and can't help himself but turning up at races and often winning them.
Altogether a great race and good numbers again and well done all that finished!!
1. My first blog - a windy day on the Waimak
OK OK, here we go, being pressured by certain people whose name shall be revealed later on in life, I will endeavor to keep up with all you techno heads and see how I get on blogging.
What a season it was for us it was, the Frost buster first and then the Classic river race followed by the mighty CtoC. again, and then the Terrace downs Defi.
The Frostbuster was a first time for me and what a great course, I enjoyed every moment of it even the extra k's I ended up doing by taking the wrong turnoff on the bike, but I know for next time. Our daughter Helene did it in a team and used it to get fit, she did the bike and paddle in a blistering pace.
Training for the Classic river race [ and CtoC ] one trip stands out in memory.
One Saturday son Marijn and I ran through the c2c run all good and well, the young legs not showing any after effects from bombing around Europe for 4 month. Able to leave the old man behind without any effort and on no training, fair to ask where is justice here.
On the Sunday morning we were a bit slow getting organized and didn't get to Mt White till later that morning. Leaving Arthurs pass was windy but then again it seldom isn't, arriving at Mt White it was still windy [strong NWster], we started unloading the cars and there was a bit of a worried look on Helene's face appearing and mother's looks joined in sympathy.
However I was convinced it wasn't bad enough to pull out, as I remembered in earlier years we had days like this, dust spouts being sucked up and looking all horrible but it often died out further down the river. So off we went and it wasn't too bad as it was a tail wind most of the time, until we got to the area where the Poulter valley comes in and 2 airflows meet.
Helene got picked up and blown on the rocks. For me it is as if the body knows at certain barometric pressure and that particular geographical position it ought to lean left to be able to survive. I guess the 20 odd years of Waimak bashing hasn't got into the young once systems yet.
Great teamwork between brother and sister landed them in the next stream, there wasn't any point in me trying to help as that would have guaranteed my boat being blown away and leaving me boat less after the point of no return.
Helene's face was on "storm" that moment, and perhaps a few tears, which usually means we're about to enter the next level of life.
As we got closer to the start of the gorge the wind died down, as I had hoped, life looked on the up again.
When we got to the last bit of the narrow part of the gorge, the wind popped up again as if some one all of a sudden opened the wind tunnel and put it on Ferrari setting, one gust decided to pick on Helene and over she went, initially losing her boat but she was in between Marijn and I so I looked where she might end up and quickly paddled to a little beach , found a sheltered bit of bluff, stuffed the boat full of rocks and just in time to meet Helene floating past [who was reunited with here boat again] rightfully discombobulated , got her into dry clothes and it might as well be lunch time I said.
Even though we were a bit sheltered there was nothing warm about it, and the prospect of having to go out in it again was not an attractive thought.
It is not a particular part of the gorge I ever really noticed before, but looking at waterspouts being ripped of the water [as if the heavens were trying to suck the river dry] and the scrubs on the side of the shear cliffs around us made it sound like "hurricane passage" .I though to myself mmmmmmmmm.
All together we had a job on hand to convince Helene that continuing was still the best option [and perhaps just around the corner it could be calm]. After all it was a NWster
With some careful guiding and instruction big brother at the back and a mad father in front we managed to find a very relieved mother at Woodstock, who had been waiting in a shaking car for a while by then. [Woodstock being a prick of a place in NWters] Getting out was a mission by itself as everything was keen to get blown straight to Christchurch and perhaps well exceeding the speedlimmit.
BUT Helene had a big smile by now indicating 'she had arrived at the next level of life'!!
And with a father who would prefer to have pure adrenaline in his veins rather than blood, 'and' doesn't take no for and answer, who could expect it any other way.
I might have to add that I had great faith in Marijn who has a great practical mind and quick to judge and able to react and be at the right spot at the right time and he didn't disappoint.
We thought all the way we might have been the only once out there, but at Woodstock there was some people wrestling with boats and other evidence of abandoned plans and boats hidden in trees to be picked up later.[ Next time we should get up earlier]. Altogether for those that were out there that day, it would have been a day to remember and a day to hit the pillow at night with the satisfying feeling of YES I did it and learned heaps.
Fair to say I was proud of the young once and mother relieved that father managed to control him self and not going for the full adrenaline rush. A great thank you to her!!
Marijn and I were in UFO's and Helene in an Total eclipse SS. At 55 kg's she managed well, and in those sort of conditions it hardly matters what you paddle if the gust is picking on you and decides to take you out, it is the paddle in the air and top of the body that has the greatest leverage, the best you can do is put the paddle flat on the water and ride out the gust, and since we all have sailing experience, wind is our friend after all. |
