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Yay: awesome ride out of raglan into the dawn. Only one real torrential downpour. Excellent date scone and coffee at Whatawhata. River trail around Hamilton lovely and fast! Bike very happy after new chain lube purchased. Mamaku climb much more fast and fun than expected! Then zoom down to the finish – lovely to have Pete and Erik there to meet us and chat. While today was my new longest ever distance – 216km – it felt by far the easiest day! Helped by a better sleep last night and a number of nice food stops.

Boo: choking on either a fly or bit of muffin in Hamilton then coughing for next 20 mins. Slightly vicious rolling climbs into Putaruru. Accidentally dropping bike into pool of foetid water by Mamaku barricades oops.

Thanks Pete for organising another awesome event and thanks Brent for company/mutual suffering. 4 days feels like a big achievement!

Yay: felt better today after better sleep; doing the endless gravel hill before Wairoa in the cool of the morning; bakery in Wairoa; climb after that having plenty of trees; ice cream at Morere and feeling great on the next hill – where Brendan and Pete paid me a surprise morale-boosting visit; the sunset and the stars at the end! Three days!! Wasn’t sure that was possible:)

Boo: Guy pulled out due to knee; crazy driver nearly spinning out on gravel as they passed me: rumble strips I hate them; Brendan did save the steepest climbs for last.

Thankful for: having put the 24t on the front – would have been walking many of the last hills otherwise – totally worth the (large number) of chain fall offs. My favourite podcasts the Hidden Athlete and Irenicast. Richard picking me up at the end!

Yay: Te mata peak just after dawn was pretty cool. Brent C came to ride with me near Napier for a bit, awesome surprise! Last part of day I enjoyed, feeling stronger. Also appreciating in retrospect that yesterday I felt really good all day! Kindnesses: people gave us some water (after we had crawled under electric fence to filter from a stock pond); neighbours camping at beach invited us to their fire.

Boo:11am to about 3pm was tough, hot and a giant gravel hill, it felt like a struggle. Guy’s chain was playing up but he did get it fixed. Guy’s knee is playing up and he might pull out.

Waikawa 630am 15 hardy riders ready to journey 540km to Mahia peninsula…

Yay: lots of familiar friendly faces at the start line; strong southerly tail wind!; awesome sunny fast section on beach; pizza and Powerade in waimarama and feeling good on subsequent hill! (Also a hose there to wash bike of mud… see boo) Finding Guy on that hill and then finding an awesome campsite tucked away by the river at 715pm. Also yay, whenever I changed to small chain ring and chain didn’t fall off. Yay doing 190km.

Boo: cold showery southerlies most of day; many chain failings off; me falling off (blown off) and gravel rashing me; heinous cold rainy ride up through farm with mud that paralysed my bike.

Song: no songs only busy mind with work and renovation/imminent homelessness. Also refrain of ‘how can I stop chain falling off’ and ‘what is that mysterious noise’.

Good: we made it!! Rolled into Seymour square at 9am, well inside our 10am 7day deadline. We started riding at 520am, beautiful in the darkness and as the sun came up. Was some of the riding I’ve enjoyed the most in this event! Last night’s total wreckedness had luckily receded. Once we’d done the first 22km in an hour, we knew we’d make it. Awesome to see Rachel and Mark both waiting at the finish to cheer us 🙂 and then we were able to cheer Yvonne not long after. Very good food and service at cbd cafe.

Bad: slog back to Picton! But we made it.

Gear appreciation: couldn’t have done this event without aerobars and compeed plasters.

Gear hating: newish Isadore shorts going in ‘commuting only’ bin. Also thinking about buying another saddle (sorry Richard!)

Thanks heaps to Scott and Jo for organising a gruelling but awesome event! And too all the amazing people I met, especially riding companions from day 2 onwards David and Gareth, and also Rod and Yvonne and Jared who we repeatedly hung out with along the way!

Will try and do a proper write up as so much happened that these little entries don’t do justice.

Good: finished another hard day!! Camden accomodation highly recommended, Kelly is lovely. Beautiful sunrise climbing out of Hanmer. Nice cool temps in the morning. Brevette-r Gary playing trail angel in the Molesworth with ice cold coke 🙂

Bad: Awatere is a killer, especially in the heat. We’re all wasted and a bit sunburnt. But going to have another early start tomorrow… Unfortunately looks like we’re going to have to bike back to Picton after our attempt to finish at 10am (67km we shall see!), but thanks Richard for trying the shuttle companies!

Songs: need new ones. Also new legs

Good: feeling 5 million % better in the saddle thanks to some creative first aid and double shorting. Amazing conditions today – 15 degrees, no real wind. Really enjoyed the last 36km to Hanmer and was able to tow the guys for once. Also the very first part of the day was beautiful in the sunrise. My snack hoarding cane in handy in the lean couple of hours before culverden, esp for David!

Bad: those first 50km from the hut took hours. Over every hill, another set of hills. A tough day yet only 148km.

Song: the Gone medley continues.

Good: arriving at nice warm hut with Rod and Yvonne inside after their unfortunate accommodation adventure last night. Wharfdale track beautiful but see below. I ate 1.5 very welcome pies in Springfield (I hate pies)

Bad: it’s not all down hill after Arthur’s pass. Especially in a rainy cold headwind. Saddle sore sore, trying not to sit on saddle for last part of day which made for challenging riding. We all crashed in the wharfdale – Gareth ended up down a bank, David had a few sideways offs in a row and I did two stupid clip out failures in quick succession, adding to parade of bruises on right leg.

Gear appreciation: merino buff (bought in memory of crown range descent with bullet-y snow), GE helter skelters, dishwashing gloves.

People appreciation: nice wave and smile from cop after porters pass. Car loaded with coast to coast bikes waited for me to get through one way bridge when they could have gone. Plus much continued appreciation to David and Gareth!

Songs: battle of the “Gone”s continued.

Good: Waiuta track mostly ridden! Not too hot (but see below). Excellent ham rolls at Ikamatua dairy. Conquering Arthur’s pass, especially riding up the viaduct. Another tough day where we made our plan! Hot shower at motel!! Great to also see Yvonne and Rod and Jared again at dinner.

Gear appreciation: helmet mirror for traffic, icebreaker singlet awesome for hot and cold, butt butter

Bad: Ikamatua to Jackson’s pretty dull and rain started at Moana. Realisation that I needed to push up the steep bit of Arthur’s pass (but then that was fine when I realised there was less than 2km to go!). Pretty cold and wet afternoon, total contrast to yesterday (possibly preferable tho!)

Songs: Your love is a song by Swithfoot, Gone by Switchfoot (annoyingly persistent, thanks mental DJ), Gone by Red (much better!).

Good: (surprisingly) ride into Big River as the light faded. Completed another big day! Less queasy in heat than yesterday. Mariua saddle lovely.

Bad: hot hot hot again. Horrible gravel road to start of Big River track with toasted legs. Also Rahu saddle – too hot, headwind.

Song: It’s my life by Bon Jovi. Uncool but surprisingly motivational.

Waiuta postscript: abysmal night’s sleep esp after realising have got a saddle sore. But great ride through to here, much more riding than last time 🙂

Good: rode all Maungatapu descent! And nearly all Porika. Great tailwind to Wakefield, unlike TA. Awesome riding with Gareth and David. Achieved a v big day as a team!

V bad: coffee filter lost prob in Blenheim. Tea towel does not work.

Bad: Tadmore saddle with unhappy stomach, which meant I didn’t eat enough and hit the wall a bit on the Porika track, which was also bad.

Songs: none, maybe a bad sign.

Arrived at Pelorus Bridge 530 but still stopped! Feeling good and didn’t want to disrupt that by heading up the Maungatapu.

Good: Nice guy at BikeFit Blenheim helping me tighten my headset. Finishing the Port Underwood road. Catching up with lots of familiar faces from other events. Swim and shower at Pelorus Bridge!

Bad: lots of granny gear gravel climbs are never good.

Song: mostly songless. But odd mash up of Burn by Ellie Golding (playing in cafe in Blenheim), On Fire by Switchfoot and Just like Fire by Pink. Thanks, subconscious.

Sitting on the Bluebridge, heading for another brevet. Maybe less nervous than before for Megagrind but also maybe less well trained!

What with recovering from the Megagrind and lots of house-related jobs, November and December were not training high points. I seized the opportunity to do the St James and Queen Charlotte over Christmas but my only long ride’s been (a very windy!) South Coast loop. Hopefully the legs remember what’s what.

January’s been a big bike maintenance month. Bottom bracket, headset bearing, brake pads, and tyres replaced plus associated servicing. Hopefully the new rear rim proves more durable than its two cracked predecessors.

I’ve also gone back to my old shoes, with a custom footbed, thanks to another bikefit from Capital Cycles.

Top worries about this event: heat, big days, traffic and wind!

Worry management strategy: start out easy (only aiming for Pelorus Bridge on day 1), new orange hot weather top, remember worries fade when you start!

Good: Misty, calm early morning along the (pinch climbs) of the Waikato river trail. Better with fresh legs! Zigzags better than I’d imagined. Lunch in Tokoroa that wasn’t an OSM. Erik bearing lollies on the Mamaku hill. Zooming into Rotorua!

Bad: Almond OSM for breakfast. By FAR the worst flavour.

Ugly: Those sweat marks on my riding top are not improving over time.

Songs: After Tokoroa, Wonderland came back on endless repeat.

Yay under five days, seemed like an impossible goal but we did it! Ended up riding with Brent P the whole way and we generally kept pace with the more experienced riders which was awesome 🙂

Might do a proper write up when I’ve recovered. No time for TA style blogging on this event!

Good: Made it to Mangakino and five days in sight 🙂 Great conditions, cool and not much rain. Timber trail much less muddy than it was in July. Awesome descent from centre of north island (new appreciation for how hard it is going other way). Nice to finish at 6 and have some time to relax! Coastal crew and Brent C and Nathan and Craig refuelled at Mangakino and determinedly headed on.

Bad: the climb to the timber trail summit is definitely harder this way round. Legs starting to wear.

Ugly: Brent’s tent pole fell off. He went back 3km up giant hill to look for it. Luckily Brent C had retrieved them. Meanwhile, I enjoyed a rest!

New song today rotating in head Just like Fire by Pink but Selena annoyingly hanging in there.