175km, 2840m elevation gain, 6:15am to 8:45pm
We were moving by 6:15am, up the bushy Porika. It felt hugely easier than last time: Kiwi Brevet 2019 at the end of a long, insanely hot day. Pigeon Valley would go up in flames the day after. Dehydrated and nauseous, I’d done a lot of walking back then. Today I mostly rode. At the top, Brendan plummeted down, his squeaky brakes echoing up. I followed more cautiously, walking exactly the same 50 metres as in 2019. By 8am we were at the Rotoroa toilets, where I topped up with water, determined to manage today better.
Braeburn track and Mangles valley passed peacefully and we were soon sitting in Murchison’s Rivers Café enjoying a second breakfast. Whatever I ate was far more appealing than my 5.30am Tararua biscuits and cold Supreme instant, bolted down while packing up. I felt vague concern about the sugar-heavy food parcel waiting in Boyle. All I could easily stomach was salty stuff. It reminded me again how hard it is to match racing intensity in training, when that diet had been fine.
During breakfast I introduced myself to Geof and Ken aka Scotty, who would become regular, welcome faces. They’d camped just past us, up the Porika. Finishing quickly, I headed up the Matakitaki towards Maruia saddle. After a while Brendan passed and I don’t think I saw him again. Having super strong MTB skills would prove a massive asset! I chatted briefly to Olly and Matt, taking a break at the Saddle, then enjoyed the descent. The state highway section wasn’t too bad –I appreciated my helmet mirror’s warning of big rigs – and soon turned off into Dredgeville.
I’d wondered if this private land section might prove tough. But apart from a couple of bogs (one of which I predictably fell sideways into), it was fine. We rejoined the TA/KB route at West Bank Road and the annoying little hills felt minimal. It was weird feeling so much stronger and faster, yet still struggling! All this day I had trouble eating, not keeping up with rationed snacks.
At Springs cafe, Olly and Matt were still eating and I hoovered up some of their chips. The staff had deployed many anti-Covid measures, after a community case in Auckland the previous day. I felt little concern about this, the race leaving room for nothing else. This was the last shop till Methven and I consumed several rounds of unmemorable food.
While Lewis is a relatively painless transalpine pass, it was still 6:15pm when I pulled up to the trailer with our goody boxes. Deciding what to post had meant estimating time to Methven. While I was hoping for a bit over 2 days, I’d sent enough food for 3. Right now, even unhungry as I was, it felt risky to ditch anything, though I did add today’s unopened snacks to the growing discard box. Perhaps Boyle staff are still eating OSMs, bumper bars and Nuuns…
Heading down the state highway to Windy Point marked the end of ‘easy’, as the route headed up the Hope on a tramping track. This began with a spirit-sapping swing bridge, which Ride with GPS reckons I spent 16 agonising minutes crossing. I did the usual vertical flip onto the rear wheel, and my seat-post bag immediately grounded out. My handlebars were too wide for the vertical struts, necessitating an awkward left-right jiggle every few steps, and the horizonal cable ran at exactly the right height to gouge my new grips. Half way, gravity entered the game and I was in serious trouble. I awkwardly released and abandoned the seatpost bag so I could tip the bike farther back and compensate for the slope. The rear wheel seemed irresistibly attracted to the junction between side netting and foot wires. I spoke out loud to myself in a desperately encouraging way. It seemed much harder than any previous crossing, including that infamous bridge towards the centre of the North Island. When I reached the end, rather triumph I felt a strong sense of incompetence.
Olly arrived just as I touched the far side, and as I went back to get my seat-post bag, he picked it up. My internal reaction reflected energy-deprived thinking. First, did this contravene the race’s strict self-supporting ethos; and second, how appalled he must be at its weight (I’d stuffed all 3 days’ food in there with the thought of sorting it later). But I smiled and said thanks and he made no comment.
At Boyle, I’d got out my collapsible backpack but put inside only a packet of Grainwaves I’d intended to eat while repacking and a BCC for tonight. The rearrangement of weight should have happened now, at the bridge, which would have saved a lot of pain over the next few hours. But I’d underestimated this next section, perhaps because I’d tramped it before.
So I hauled my heavy bike, still optimsed for riding, up a near-vertical bank. Then nearly fell off a stile. And started along a misleadingly rideable section. Olly caught up and we exchanged choice words about the bridge. This reduced my imposter syndrome significantly, as would subsequent bridge-based rants by other riders. It was dusk and I should have stopped on this flattish, scrubby section with obvious camping possibilities. But the ability to ride lured me on and I headed into the bush, Olly and Matt pulling ahead.
Then came a miserable half hour travelling 1.6km. It was dark, rooty and much more up and down than the topo implied. After passing a stream, I decided to camp, and fruitlessly searched for a flat spot. I kept going, spraining my right ankle enough that it cracked. Then came another stream, with a cliff-like exit. I wrestled precariously with my bike but eventually dragged it up. More fruitless searching for a camp spot before I wandered on. But then, after another small stream, better luck and good ground off to the left. It was just before 9pm and I was definitely done.
I pitched my tent fly, rehydrated pasta carbonara, washed and rearranged my load. Despite the past diabolical hour, I was happy, at home in the bush. I’d achieved my goal of 400km. While my ankle was swollen, this was far from a new experience and I knew I could keep walking. I forced down dehy, enjoyed a hot electrolyte drink and soon lay down, back muscles exhausted. Again I slept ok.