Whaka 100 time again - with a twist....

This year I entered as a singlespeeder. I’d been keen to try out the Tranny’s prowess on the trails over this distance – and with Kiwi Brevet looming on the horizon it seemed sensible to ride the bike I would be using in that event, as a test of setup and comfort.

Life at home had been somewhat hectic, just the usual that you expect with a particularly active 3 year old...  thankfully this year we remained illness free in the lead up. The only key worry was my lack of trail time prior to this event. Apart from a Rotorua visit in July, my only other trail riding since the 24 Hour & National Singlespeeds in April had been one ride with Ling at Woodhill a few weeks ago. I’d successfully made myself look like a right plonker during that ride, going over the handlebars once and breaking my chain (replacing brakepads the night before a ride and not bedding them in is never the best idea). So the question going through my mind was ‘I’ve got the fitness, do I have the trail skills to match?”

Friday afternoon, Sandra & Emma arrive home from Kindy just as I’d finished putting the last of the things in the car. A slow drive south ensued as we escaped Auckland (with only 50% of other Aucklanders). Register & collect my Race Number, then arrive at camp. We were able to pitch the tent and get set up just before dark. Late dinner & then a decent sleep.

Saturday morning – race day! Sandra & Emma stayed tucked up & asleep while I quietly breakfasted & got ready, arriving at the start line with 20 minutes to spare. A few singlespeeders around – I took the opportunity to talk with one guy from Australia who had come over to race. Sandra & Emma arrived a few minutes before the start gun – I was able to give them a couple of quick waves.

Into it! Happy to be finally underway, I was a happy camper as I despatched the first few trails. The legs felt okay, ‘alive’ but ‘tight’. Tahi, Creek, Dipper, Challenge, Genesis & Grinder – no problems. Passed a couple of people on Piglet and Pig tracks, before an old favourite from the 24 hour – Mad if you Don’t. Caught up with Sandra & Emma at the end of Ball & Chain – my only request was to add the lube bottle to the stash of half-time snacks.

The next piece of the event disappeared quicker than I remembered from last year. I was thinking at one point “gosh this is a long way and I hope my legs hold up and I hope I don’t crash and I hope I don’t cramp and I hope I don’t.....” when the next thing I’m already at the start of the first significant climb – Kakapiko, on the way to No Brains. Walked a bit here part way up, then it flattened off & I was riding again, having a good chat with an Aussie guy while doing so. He wasn’t a climber, so I left him to it, fully expecting to be caught early in the descent. Amazingly, I made it 2/3rds of the way down before he cautiously picked his way past me.

Thankful to have the first major climb and descent over, I began the ride up towards Split Enz, gingerly at first, as this has always been the point where I have cramped in the past. No cramp – woohoo! Stopping for a minute to open a big bikkie might have helped too. From here there were about 4 of us moving in a loose group – Aussie guy, me and another couple of guys. I crept past the Aussie guy and one other before we made it into one my of my all- time favourite trails – Split Enz. It didn’t disappoint – lovely & flowy trail goodness! Pondy Downhill was up next – I was worried about riding the ‘staircase’ just before the main descent, (first time doing that on the Tranny) – but I needn’t have worried, the descent was trouble free and as fast as I could make it, riding the rough trail on my hardtail. Pondy and then the BEST trail from the 24, Old Chevy were despatched and I popped out at the transition point (63km).

Sandra & Emma were pleased to see me, Emma especially so – she had been having a lovely time playing in the sun on the picnic mat Sandra had set up. Chain re-lubed, a couple of filled rolls were wolfed down, snacks, water & gels replenished and I was on my way again, chasing after a couple of people who had been well ahead of me coming in, but were now within my sights.

It wasn’t long and the next section of singletrack was reached – Spring Roll and Sweet & Sour. I’d moved past a couple of riders and had another in my sights entering Sweet & Sour. It wasn’t long before I was on her tail, but decided to hang back & wait for a passing opportunity. Silly mistake! Following a bit too close, my view of the track was obscured and rounding a bend I failed to make the necessary swerve past a large branch sticking out into the track low down. Over the bars I went.... nutting myself slightly on the way through. I was less than pleased, but back up again in seconds. This time I moved swiftly and confidently past the rider in front.

The long haul around to Frontal Lobotomy went quite quickly. Time for some strategic walking..... I’d passed a couple of riders and was determined not to let them re-pass me – so walking the big climbs and half of Frontal Lobotomy was done at speed, while casting the odd nervous glance backwards to make sure I wasn’t being caught...... in the end only 1 got past – my friend from Sweet & Sour.... riding gears she could tackle the steep slope a bit better than my 1 gear and tired legs.

Billy T, G Rock & Rollercoaster were handled quite expertly, if not cautiously. Heading up the hill to the start of Hot X Buns I was back to walking again – in front of my Sweet & Sour friend for 2/3rds of the climb. I was nervous about Hot X Buns – I’d never ridden that on the Tranny, but it wasn’t long before I descended (actually smoother than I have ridden previously on Mojo). Picking off another couple of riders helped as well. Rude Not To and Lion Trail up next, then some more strategic walking near the top of the Katore Road climb. I’d managed to re-pass my Sweet & Sour friend and I managed to hold that to a respectable distance for both forward & back traverses of Tokorangi Road. The actual Tokorangi Track was great to ride, then finally into Exit Trail. The climb back up Nursery Road was done as fast as I could manage (getting tired now!) before the meandering Rockdrop trail. No worries, I didn’t have far to go (I thought), then finally Rosebank. These trails had been added this year to push the distance ‘over’ the 100km (it was slightly less last year and people complained!). Into Rosebank I confidently head – taking the ‘Hard & Fast’ line over a series of step downs, I failed to see the track turning right and headed quite confidently off a retaining wall – I just thought it was another step-down..... over the bars I went – again.... Winded & sore, I managed to stand up, only to see my Sweet & Sour friend approaching. No time for a thorough check of bike or body, male pride was at stake here – I quickly jumped on and rode the rest of the ‘Nana’ line to the creek crossing. I danced across the creek without wet feet and ran up the bank on the other side. Pedalling strongly (and in a bit of pain) I crossed the finish line...... 8 hours, 6 minutes.

Sandra & Emma had stationed themselves over the back of the crowd – Emma found me and led the way. Prizegiving started 10 minutes later. Despite not really being able to bend my right leg too much, I actually felt quite good and well satisfied with the achievement – 104km of Singlespeeding, not a bad effort! With the mental list of things to change on the bike before Brevet sorted, I enjoyed the eat, drink and recover while watching prizegiving. Major Spot prizes were Magellan GPS bike computers – guess whose name was called out? YAY! Pretty cool little gizmo, which I was grateful to receive.

Back at camp, dinner for all of us on the picnic mat by the tent. I bbq’d the meat up by the camp kitchen and had a surge of parental pride watching Emma carry a cold can of beer for me all the way from the tent up to where I was at the bbq’s – the first time that has happened. She was concentrating very hard, completely focussed on carrying that beer safely and without shaking it..... did a great job too! 

It wasn’t too long after and 3 tired but very happy campers headed for bed and were soon fast asleep. 

NDuro 24 hour - the missing link

Earlier this year it was announced – the return of the NDuro 24....... YAY! Finally an end to 6km slogs through churned up mud bogs and an endless loop of Lady GaGa’s greatest hits that has formed the bulk of my 24 hour events to date. Being ‘run by mountain bikers for mountain bikers’ NDuro events have a great reputation of having an interesting mix of challenging tracks and a chilled out, friendly, atmosphere.

 So we found ourselves once again in the car heading south to Rotorua, a couple of weeks after Easter. Summer’s awesome run of fine weather had finally broken and normal Autumn conditions were back – along with the uncertainty of ‘how much will it rain?’ that seems to plague my run of 24’s. The event was being run from an alternative venue – the old TITC facilities at Waipa. It’s the sawmill where people learn to be sawmillers – no mud bogs and proper flush loos being 2 of the key selling points. Pit tent setup done, off to camp where we had booked a cabin. Friday’s dinner was chilled out & relaxed – for some reason I was not ‘feeling the hype’ of previous 24’s and was just ready to accept whatever came on the day. It was also great to meet and chat to a fellow sufferer of many a Moonride, Jodi McMahon & her partner, staying in the cabin next door.

Race Day Saturday – the midday start time being of real benefit. Arriving at the venue, Emma immediately made friends with the team at Registration, being the lucky receiver of many a Natures Valley ‘freebie’ (Muesli Bars & Water Bottles) throughout the day. A small but very high quality field had assembled, basically the cream of NZ Endurance mountain biking. The overnight rain had cleared (for now at least) – although rain was forecast for later in the day and overnight. Pre-start routine completed, there was nothing left to do but take my place at the start line.....

Photo call, countdown and off! To my complete surprise I was quickly in the front group of half a dozen riders as we blasted our way around the tarseal loop of the event village. The Conti Race King tyres I had put on for this event gave a very low rolling resistance and combined with a sudden surge of startline adrenalin, I was flying! I did settle down and back the pace off somewhat after a couple of kilometres, telling myself ‘it’s a long way to go yet....”

The course was a figure 8, using the event village as the centre point between the 2 loops. From the Village, it was onto an old 4wd track, then forest road, crossing over the tarseal 8 Mile Gate Rd, then into a short steep climb on a logging track to the start of Pondy – the first proper singletrack. Pondy, Rollercoaster and then into Old Chevy (this track never seemed to end), Yellow Brick Rd, then back along the forest rd/4wd track to the Event Village. Pass through, then a gentle (but long) climb up Nice Rd to the start of Sweet & Sour. Cross over at the top and into Rude Not To, then Mad if You Don’t, completing the lap with a tarseal run into the event village. 22.5km total lap length – the longest I’ve ever had in an event like this.

Conditions were good – the rain had held off and even though there were a few muddy spots, it was great to be riding. For some reason I did not feel stressed at all – no ‘hurry up’ mode. It wasn’t long before I was back at the event village, demolishing a filled roll at reasonable pace, while keeping an eye out for an old friend from 2010 World Solo, Andrew Jamieson, who was somewhere behind me.

Lap 2 & lap 3 pretty much followed the same formula – just ride and enjoy the scenery. Because of the long lap length and the low number of competitors, I was riding completely alone for quite a lot of each lap (something I had expected would happen). After lap 3 Sandra gave me a stressed out ‘hurry, hurry’ talking to in the pits. I’d been just quietly getting on with it, not mucking around and certainly not dilly dallying when I stopped. Guess it was just the high quality field (some of the top riders – Thomas/Megan try not to stop at all  in the pits – whereas I still needed to in order to survive). It had been drizzly off and on – yet for some reason I felt completely happy. It’s a weird thing to explain – but out in the forest on my own I felt a presence, a something that was keeping me warm, happy and safe.  I don’t know what it was, only that I did not want ‘it’ to go away.... I knew I would be okay if I just carried on doing what I was doing.

I did – and lap 4 was complete. It also signalled Sandra & Emma’s exit for the night back to camp, leaving me as a ‘solo solo’ until morning. It was also around that time (dusk) when the first big lot of rain came through. Thankfully I had the sense to grab my jacket just before it started (mainly at that time to keep warm). Again the presence was there, guiding me forward, along with a never ending song loop in my head – Tim Finn’s ‘Staring at the Embers’ remembered from way back in the early 80’s and recently discovered on MP3 download.

Out on my own again, I had a sing-song “Staring at the embers, all that’s left of me, trying to remember just what you meant to me, now and then I’m falling, Alligators crawling, staring at the embers...” and along with Talking Heads “Wild Wild Life” this propelled me around the course again.

Stop at the pits - toilet, lights, lube, all the while munching food. Sandra had done a great job of setting up a trackside food stand for me, so it was simple to lift the tarpaulin, grab some food, gel and a swig of coffee, then go.

Approaching half way at midnight, time for a big pit stop – fresh batteries, food and a clothing change were in order. I also found the battery charging station, as I needed a top-up to get me through until dawn. Jodi found me and assumed the role of pit manager, looking after my battery charging and giving me some assistance over the next couple of laps whenever I came into the pit. It was actually an awesome feeling, having Jodi and another couple of random helpers at times during the night – the ’24 hour community’ looking after each other.

3am – now I knew I would make it through to dawn. There was rain off and on, thankfully the track was holding up well. I only had 2 concerns – mud in my eyes and a steadily declining amount of gears available on Mojo. Realising my vision was blurry and my eyes hurt I managed to find someone to flush my eyes with a water bottle. Great globs of dirt came out.... the same could not be said for my drivetrain – it was really hurting my hand trying to force the shifter to engage a rear derailleur shift. Just the mud and dirt clogging everything up. Easier just to leave the chain somewhere in an easier gear on the rear and just front shift instead, giving me 3 ‘usable’ gears.

Now I was really tired – somewhere not far from the start of Pondy I stopped, turned the lights off and put my head down on my arms on the handlebars for a few minutes. Asleep, but awake – still straddling the bike. Continuing on, the Marshall stationed at the exit of Rollercoaster was witness to my next power nap, again just a couple of minutes.

Old Chevy – it’s a track I had visions of entering and never exiting... just the way the trees form this forboding entry at the start of the track. Now with my 3-speed Mojo I was forced to walk several of the steeper pinch climbs, as I didn’t have the legs. Some of the short descents were a bit sketchy too, the rear of the bike trying to overtake the front on a couple of occasions previously – I’m not sure if it was safer to walk down a couple or not.... pretty slippery underfoot too! Finally completing Old Chevy and into Yellow Brick Road, (which was now the track that seemed to stretch on and on......) by comparison Old Chevy seemed to have gotten shorter....

Quick stop at the pits for another gel and swig of coffee and on my way again. Another 2 powernap stops later (the start and finish of Sweet & Sour) I was back in the pits and really looking forward to dawn. Setting off on the next lap, there it was – the glimmer of light turning the sky from inky black to smudgy gray. Not long after - a few bird calls – yeehaa! Riding through the night is something that I haven’t achieved in every 24, making the feeling of achievement just that more special. It lifted my spirits and provided a surge to get another lap ticked off.

Breakfast – more filled rolls, coffee and something sweet. Back out I went again, wondering if the girls would be there when I completed the lap. The course was a bit muddy, I was a bit muddy, but at least I was still circulating (the night had taken its toll on the field, with several riders electing to finish early).

Calculation time – how many more laps would I get in the time allowed? NDuro were running the event under ‘International Rules’ with riders allowed an extra hour to complete their final lap beyond the midday 2400 time. Looking good for a couple more.....

Crossing through the event village mid way through the next lap and there they were – my girls were back! Sandra had seen an un-slept in tent and could see I was a happy camper, so after a good dose of  ‘Go Daddy!’ from Emma I was back out there.... Geez it was starting to hurt though. Uncomfy and down to walking a bit as I searched for any further gears beyond my 3, I was still positive and happy – especially when ripping through Rude Not To, doing the entire top section without braking – awesome!

Final lap! Again a bit of a walk and a grovel, urging myself on. Quick stop half way for more food, then into the final run through Rude and Mad if You Don’t (another favourite). Popping out onto the tarseal at the start of the event village, I spied Ra, the event director – both of us with ear to ear smiles. I even managed to co-ordinate an awesome high-5 while still riding –yeah! A final burst around the village and DONE! The happiest I’ve ever felt finishing a 24 – it had been a real test with the long lap length, the rain and mud, but I had happily survived! 10 laps, 225km. AWESOME!

Banking thoughts of sleep until the car ride home, it was time for prizegiving, a catch up with other riders, pack and into the car. Having a definite case of the ‘munchies’ (Emma included) we headed for the Fat Dog cafe, downtown. Fish & Chips + some frenzied eating saw me well satisfied and ready for a long nap while Sandra drove..... didn’t quite happen – the storm that had been threatening all weekend finally broke as we neared Matamata and with torrential rain it needed both of us on full attention just to stay on the road!

For what I had thought would be my final 24 hour solo, it all went exceptionally smoothly and with minimal stress, producing one of my best results. Final 24? We’ll see......