Since I applied to enter TTW in September 2020, it’s consumed an increasingly large portion of my consciousness. It’s also inspired substantially more training, including many walks-with-bike and sporadic weight lifting.
In early December, keen to keep up momentum after HBAT and the Mega, I drove up to Pongaroa and spent a Friday a riding roundabout to Dannevirke. I love the ride up Puketoi road but it was followed by hefty cross and head winds into Woodville. Adding in Wharite peak for a bit of climbing was no better an idea now than it had been on my last training weekend up here in October. Maybe I even walked more this time, despite being in better condition and both times being similarly gale force… Zooming back down and then northwards, I wasn’t optimistic my will would last to complete my planned route. But a tailwind and some good podcasts pushed me on, and I made it to Dannevirke around 6pm, just in time for an icecream sitting in the park before Brendan arrived. Some company – including a cameo from Guy – over the next 2 days was very welcome, and Brendan also did a nice write up of the rest so I’ll stop there!
While I felt relatively confident about long days on road and gravel, TTW needed toughness. During December I hatched a plan with Pete M to lump together multiple difficult bits around Wellington/Wairarapa, including the no8 wired route, and I wrote up some of this in detail.
Just before New Year I tackled the Karapoti loop again – successfully this time but not really recommended fully loaded – then headed to Waiotauru hut for the night, which I really enjoyed. Apart from gaming over in a cement-like bog while practising carrying my bike. Have since added quick release buckles! The quick-mud was caused by a very recent slip and I was impressed to see 4wd tracks through it.
The next day I retraced my steps – and wasn’t hugely surprised to see a 4wder now stuck in the bog. I promised to flag down help if possible (and later find some). After heading back to the hutt i went up to the Incline via all the nasty side climb, before bailing on my intention to camp and heading back home!
After that, there was lots of local pushing/climbing/hills. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve done the Skyline this summer, I discovered many local difficult-pushing tracks and did them multiple times, and repeated day 1 of my trip with Pete in reverse. This proved just as hard! Actual brake smoke occurred.
In mid January I felt suddenly tired, and eased off on training for a few days just when it was supposed to be peaking. By the end of the week i felt better so went (again!) to the wairarapa at anniversary weekend, spending a very windy and sleepless night near lake ferry. The next day I went round the coast past Ngawi again – at least I knew about the gate hatch this time, though I still ended up taking bags off to get over.
Grinding up the valley, a disturbing noise developed and consumed my tired brain. After several fruitless fixing stops, I became convinced the chain rings needed replacing. (While this noise diagnosis was of course wrong, it was serendipitous). Back in mobile coverage on top of the big hill with the wind turbines near Martinborough, I googled chain ring availability in a somewhat stressed manner. And I decided to go home rather than head for Holdsworth as planned, because the noise combined with the wind were driving me mad! Another windy climb over the Incline followed…
Several hours of elimination in the garage next morning eventually revealed a misfitted bottom bracket, oops. By then I’d ordered the thankfully available chain rings – and fitting them definitely proved a good idea.
The past few weeks have been a blur of more working on bike, sorting gear, planning/route logistics and the usual pressures of life. But now the deliberations are finished and there’s nothing more to pack…
What have I learned from this training period?
- I’ve loved the mix of training including the difficult/pushing. I’m happy pushing though less happy carrying!
- There is so much training terrain for this type of race close to home – it’s been awesome discovering new places nearby.
- The balance between training and overtraining is fine, especially when the rest of your life is not restful. I’ve erred on the side of taking it easy for the past couple of weeks so hopefully that was the right call!
Sitting here in the beach in Puponga, the day before the start, it feels lucky and challenging just to have got to this point. There’s so many things that can go wrong in an event build up, with Covid adding another layer of uncertainty. I’m thankful to be here and have this opportunity, no matter how it goes!