Spook's Blog Archive

Spook's Blog

Here Spook will be keeping us all up to date with his latest goings-on from the other side of the world in NZ.

Sat 11/10/08 Arrived in Wanaka a week ago and have spent the week just coming to terms with living on the other side of the planet.We left Lochaber as the first snow was falling on Ben Nevis and arrived on the south island as the last snow of the winter was falling here.

I have been very well looked after by my new employers,hire car at the airport in Queenstown,2 nights at the Edgewater Resort,Wanaka and a very relaxed attitude to everything- things are looking good !!! I start work and the kids start school on Monday so the holiday is over.

To-day was spent snowboarding at the Cardona Mountain resort - Awesome- roll on next winter !!!

Relentless 24 this weekend the first No Fuss event without my presence.I hope the weather is kind to everybody -the No Fuss team,the racers and last but not least the marshals.

Good luck to everybody involved, I will try and tune in during the week-end

 Wednesday 22nd October 2008

Well done to everyone who took part in/slogged their guts out at Relentless.  I hear it went smoothly, but I know from experience that these things don't go smoothly without a huge amount of commitment from everyone - not least the Marshals who watch over you all night.

Spring has sprung in the Deep South.  We know this because we were at the Spring Festival last weekend.  We caught the end of the skateboard race down the High Street.  Anything goes and the guy being towed by his dog, wasn't actually cheating.

I did my bit for the Kiwi environment the other night, by running over my first Possum.  In the car, not on foot or bike!  If it wasn't for wailing children, I might have taken it home and fashioned it into a new sporran.

Glen and Marion McNeilly, who jointly owned the Achintee Inn, stayed a couple of days with us last week.  It was great to see them, and to see Glen looking so relaxed - quite different to the man who endlessly fed No Fuss at the Inn and poured beer into them....very stressful.

David and Nicky Brookland (1st Kiwi's to win the No Fuss prize to 10underthen ben), are talking about coming up to see us this bank holiday weekend.  Will be good to catch up. 

On Bank holiday Monday, I thought I might try out my first event of the season.  The Dusky Trail Mountain Bike Race www.twizel.com 44km over the McKenzie high country; and happily finishes at the same place it starts unlike many races over here which require much planning and long drives between start and finish.

Will keep you posted.

Monday 27th October 2008

Drove up 1st thing, with Dan to McKenzie country, to race at Twizel.  300+ people had the same idea.  The weather was fantastic.  Some folk had made a weekend of it and had run the Pyramid Trail race on Saturday. (18km off road race).

Arrived in time for a quick breakfast, which for Dan proved to be an error as he ate the same breakfast several times throughout the race.  My school-boy error was to try and keep up with the big boys at the start of the race, which lasted for 6km before  I blew up. Managed to hang on to the end, coming in about 52nd, I think, and 10th in my class. Not bad considering my recent lifestyle - lack of training and a few too many beers.

The course was very varied, with tarmac, canal-side, four WD track and some nice man-made single track back towards the finish.  There was a lovely section through the Oregan Pine forest.

It was very hot, especially during the two long climbs, and by all accounts the riders at the back of the race had a strong head wind to contend with.

Dan had a good ride and was pleased to be in the top 20 of the 'Classic Man' catergory, and in his 1st mountain bike race, on my wifes 'blue' bike.  A portly gentleman, who scoffed at Dans pre-race diet of vegetarian quiche, shot past Dan, long before the finish.  A bit galling.

This was a very well organised event, well marked and marshalled, with a host of excellent spot prizes and worth the $50 entry fee. ($10 extra for our late entry)

I topped the day off with a night out at the local cinema in Wanaka.  www.paradiso.net.nz Hard to beat!

 

Tuesday 11th November

The weather has been fantastic for the last couple of weeks, ice on car windscreens first thing in the morning blue skies and temperature rising to twenty two degrees by mid-day.

I have been out quite a bit on the MTB including a trip out to west Wanaka with fishing rod in tow.  I spotted a large creek flowing in to Lake Wanaka on the map and thought that was the perfect spot.  I cycled out about 20 KM on the tarmac then 10 KM on lovely single track high above the lake.  I was delighted as the track was deserted and not a cloud in the sky.  You can imagine my utter horror when walking down the creek to the lake side I discovered all the kiwis had sailed in on bloody great jet boats and were swimming in 'MY' creek - and without breaking into a sweat.

I have crossed over to the dark side with the purchase of a second-hand road bike.  The biggest problem with it, is that the wind seems to be constant and blows in all directions except in the direction I am going.  Could this be why the roadies out here are so fit?  And plenty of them.

 Monday 24th November

I have been clocking up the Ks on the road bike over the last fortnight and only on the MTB twice with Pete who offered me the job. I first met Pete at the Mototapu race  last March and can't quite believe I have the chance to race there again next year. There is already over 2000 entries for the mtb race and 300 for the running race.

My diary is starting to fill up with events ,this Saturday "The Bannockburn Gutbuster" a 75km MTB race thru the Nevis valley including 2 climbs over 1200m.Then early in December the Dublin Bay sprint triathlon,my swimming will have to improve for that one (although I did a 1km open water swim last sunday - slow but steady). I also have a chance of competing in "Challenge Wanaka" an ironman distance triathlon as the cyclist in a local team.  If they need me I will really need to get off my butt and put some serious miles in just to survive the 112 mile bike leg of the event - it is not untill mid January so I have a little time !!

The weather has been inclement for the time of year - last week 30 degrees and not a cloud in the sky, to-day wet and grey just like home but warm enough to still wear shorts and t-shirts.

I recieved an e-mail from Terry Davidson -the first winner of the No Fuss trip to NZ. He is touring NZ on his bike with his girlfriend and will visit us over the new year.

There seems to be an event  I would like to take part in every week-end this time of year.  The Kiwis are really spoilt for choice ! Hope you are all gearing up for next years line up of No Fuss events

Sunday 30th November.

In typical  No Fuss/Munro fashion I spent last wednesday and thursday night drinking beer just to make the Bannockburn Gutbuster that wee bit more interesting- BIG MISTAKE !!!! The race started with 2km along the closed main road,then before I had warmed up a 12km climb up the Nevis valley 4WD track it took me over an hour to the summit climbing over 800m up to a height of 1100m.I was under the impression I was quite good at climbing but not for that distance or time.

Once over the top things started to improve and I started to motor on ,25 fords to be crossed in the next 24km ,some you could ride thru but others were well above my knees.At Ben Nevis station we then had to climb another 650m to Duffers Saddle at a height of 1300m the highest public road in NZ.

Then disaster struck ,the power link on my chain split at the bottom of the climb.I replaced the link and set off again,but very gently, worried that the chain which was now very dry with the multiple creek crossings would snap.When the track steepened I got off and pushed.Once at the top the views were fantastic.All I had to do now was survive the 12km downhill into Bannockburn.

The winners covered the 75km track in just over 3 hours.Marcus Roy who raced XC for NZ at the world cup at Nevis Range was third overall .I thought I would have taken about 4 hours to finish but in the end I took 4 hours 40 mins - the kiwis are bloody quick !!!

I think that maybe I should have taken my Orange E6 with me rather than my Santa Cruz SL as so far racing here I have felt over-biked and under trained.The 4WD tracks that are raced on over here are so smooth that you could race a hard tail no bother.

I dont think that I have ever felt so ill racing a bike apart from maybe a 10 mile TT ,but it only lasts for 25 mins not nearly 5 hours .In the end I was just trying to finish the event alive.The event should be called the Bannockburn Ballbuster !!!!

 Monday 5th January.

Happy New Year.  I have not had a whole day off work since the race at Bannockburn so things have been quite hectic - not enough time for training or racing.

On the 13 th December I entered my first kiwi triathlon at Dublin Bay Wanaka.It was a very friendly and relaxed event set in stunning surroundings.True to form I was last out of the water after the 400m swim,but managed to pass a couple of people in the transition.On the 15km MTB leg of the event I could not belive how much energy I had used up in the swim.It was not untill the last couple of Kms that I felt anywhere normal,but at least I was working up the field.Onthe trail run I passed a few more people but did not know if they were solos or in a team and was very surprised to finish up 4th male overall.

Our house has been quite busy recently with the arrival of Jo Barnes and Liam Moynihan on a DH racing roadtrip of NZ and The Gibson family formally from the Achintee Inn on a months holiday.

On the 30th of December Mo and I returned to Bannockburn to compete in the "Classic" a 35km MTB race .We caught up with Terry and Jane who after winning the first No Fuss trip to NZ last year have returned and are touring the whole island by bike.I also spotted a 10 @ Kirroughtree t-shirt at registration !!  The race was quite varied thru farmland then climbed high into the surrounding hills followed by a long descent.The downhill reminded me off the descent into Spean Bridge after the Lairaig Bothy.Terry had a great race finishing 13th overall on a cyclo X bike -respect or as they say over here "good on ya mate"  I finished a bit further down the field !! 35th in the vets, about 75 th overall out of over 800 riders.Mo really enjoyed her first kiwi MTB race.We heard after the race that the day before the temprature was in the low 40s I dont think any of us would have been happy racing in that heat.

My next event is a road bike race 90km round Lake Dunstan this week-end.I think that I will also catch up with David and N icky Brookland who were the first Kiwis to win the prize to race at 10 UTB.I will also have to make the trip to Gore next month to race at the Moonshine Race and pull the name out of the hat to find the winners of the prize to race at 10 UTB. I heard the Moonshine Race being advertised on the radio last week and it sounded very strange to hear 10 UTB being advertised this far away from home !!

Monday 12/01/09

The weather has really started to pick-up in the last couple of weeks, blue skies and a temp of about 24 degrees.

The Brooklands made the trip up north from Invercargill at the week-end for David to keep me company for the Lake Dunstan Challenge on Sunday.We all spent a very pleasent Saturday at the Oak Ridge  in Wanaka - a spa pool resort.

The weather was awesome for the Challenge on sunday,and David was one of only a handfull of riders on a MTB for the 96km race.I started slowly near the back to keep out of trouble,and moved up the peleton untill I caught up with a group of 12 riders going at what I thought was a reasonable pace.We all worked together and were passing loads of riders as we went against the breeze up the lake.By the time we got to biggest climb of the day our group had to swelled to about 20,but the climb split the group and we were back to about a dozen after the hill.At the next climb our bunch had whittled down to just 4 and I was feeling quite pleased with myself.With 30km to go on a slight climb I hit the wall,there was just nothing left and I watched my mates just pull away !!!  The only answer was down on the tri-bars and just get home. I finished in 3 hours 10 mins . The winners romped round in an amazing time of 2 hours 20 mins.David arrived less than 30 mins behind me, a fantastic effort on a mountain bike.

We ended our week-end by going to an open -air screening of Grease in Pembrooke Park.Next week-end is  Wanaka Challenge - an ironman distance triathlon.So I will be watching rather than competing - maybe next year !!!!!