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Spook's Blog
Spook's Blog
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Here Spook will be keeping us all up to date with his latest goings-on from the other side of the world in NZ.
22nd February
We picked up the 'No Fuss Trip to NZ' prize winners, Gemma and Lisa at Queenstown Airport last Saturday. The girls spent a relaxing week with us in Wanaka recovering from their flight. The weather was magic. They have been swimming and canoeing in the lake and managed a couple of bike rides in preparation for The Moonshine Trail race in Gore.
We all drove down to Gore on Friday night and stayed with Rob and Stacey. Rob was the Kiwi winner of the spot prize to 10UTB last year. The weather was awful - windy and very wet - a complete contrast to last year when the temperature was in the high 30's.
Race day dawned and the weather had not improved. We lined up for the start with the girls wearing mini kilts and tartan tammies. You would have sworn we were racing in Scotland - wet, windy, cold and the tops of the hills obscured in mist!
The course was the most varied and without doubt the hardest that I have raced on in NZ. 4WD track, single track, very steep fast grassy descents, never ending ascents and last but not least the ascent of Ships Cone, which was a 2km carry/push/climb then a final 4km descent to the finish. The views from the top are reputed to be fantastic but the visibility was reduced to 50m with the low cloud. No ships would be guided by this hill in these conditions.
29th April
The 120km Contact Epic MTB Race was on ANZAC Day,very similar to poppy day in the UK.Before the race started the re was a short dawn ceremony to commemorate the battle of Gallipoli and other conflicts in which lives have been lost.
The race started at 0715 with 25km of road before we hit the 4wd track at Kidds Bush where the 90km Classic race began at the same time.It had been frosty in the mornings before race-day so I lined up wearing tights over my shorts and a jacket over my race shirt.I think it was the first time in 7 months over here that I was not wearing shorts!!!!
We quickly started to pass slower Classic riders as the 4wd track climbed high above Lake Hawea.The scenery was amazing,passing thru native woodlands with gigantic waterfalls plummeting from the mountains above.The track had steep climbs followed by magic descents down to the lakeside.All in all there was 2200m of ascent in the circumnavigation of the lake.I was surprised to start passing slower classic riders so soon as both races had started at the same time.
The crossing of the Hunter River at the head of the lake was an epic in its own right with the water well above my knees and a strong current to contend with.This river must be enormous in full spate as the gravel bank seemed to strech for miles.I stopped after the crossing had something to eat,removed my outer layers and oiled my chain- only 60km to go!!
The track was now much less well used so became quite technical in places with boulders and rock slabs,the downhills were great fun but with some steep climbs it was quicker and easier to get off and push.I began to pass many riders in the next 30km so my plan to start sensibly was beggining to pay off.
At Dingle Burn station 30km from the finish the owners had set up the best cafe in the southern hemisphere !! I had a cup of coffee and a scone with cream and jam - just what I needed to complete the epic!! The track was now mostly flat back to Hawea with a long steep climb at Timiru river,I must have passed 20 people on that final climb off the day.
It took me just over 7 hours to complete the epic, the winners were finished in an amazing time of 5.5 hours and at the other end of the scale there were riders coming in after dark having spent nearly 12 hours on the go !!!!
We all finished the race with to[p 10 results in our classes. I scraped a 6th overall in the male vets, Mo had a fantastic 2nd in the female vets and Gemma and Lisa came in 9th and 10th in the open females. Rob and Stacey also managed to complete the very tough course. Marcus Roy won (again) the 40km event in a staggering record time of 2hrs and 9mins - nearly an hour ahead of me - AWESOME!!!!
At the prize giving, there were a few words from Rob, myself and Gemma before the name was announced for 'that' big prize to Scotland. The young man who won, still had shaking hands an hour later.
Then we headed back to Rob and Stacey's fantastic farmhouse for homemade pizzas and well earned beers.
The No Fuss girls have stayed in the Deep South hoping for the weather to improve. We have come back to Wanaka and spent the day washing bikes and kit. You could be forgiven for thinking it was a West Highland Wheelers winter league race that we had just completed, looking at the state of our bikes and clothing, not a summer race in NZ!!!!
March 10th
The "No Fuss" girls returned after visiting Queenstown and Millford Sound and spent a few relaxing days in Wanaka before heading to the North Island for a week long surfing course.(I hope the weather improves) They are returning to Christchurch by camper van and visiting relations along the way.
It is a year since I first visited NZ with Frazer and Martin and this week-end I will get the chance to compete in the Mototapu Icebreaker for the 2nd time.I am a bit worried as I competed last year on a hire bike and posted a reasonable time of 2 hours 48 for the 55km course,so will have to go a bit harder this year or Mo will make me sell my Santa Cruz and buy an ex hire bike.
In true No Fuss style there will be a pre-race pasta party in Wanaka on Friday night.The previous winners of the trip to 10 UTB ,the Brooklands and the Youngs have been invited as has Pete Hogan who was responsible for me getting a job out here.I have also invited a few other local MTBrs who are doing the event.
The weather has still not settled down,fingers crossed for saturday as long as it is not windy it will be fine.The Mototapu is an enormous event - 2500 bikers and 600 runners over mostly 4wd track past Shinia Twains farm from Glendu Bay to Arrowtown.The course is only open once a year for this event so I think this is why it is so popular.There is to be a street party in Arrowtown after the race,so I am sure we will manage to have a few beers to celebrate finishing the race.
April 5th
Race day dawned and there was not a cloud in the sky and the lake was like a millpond,so no headwind to contend with.I had forgotten what it was like to see 2500 mountain bikers in one place.
From the start I did not feel great and it was at least 10km into the race before I managed to get going.The track was much more crowded than last year as I was not going so quick and there were people everywhere.I was even knocked off my bike as I prepared to pass a rider on a very easy downhill as he fell off somehow and managed to take me with him!!!
The river crossings at the end were worse than last year as the river was much higher,some of them were well above my knees.Just as before I had extreme cramp in both legs ,but somehow managed to finish.
I ended up about 15 minutes slower than last year,with a time of 3 hours and 6 mins,just over an hour behind the winners.Josh cycled slightly faster took some photos and finished 18th overall - awesome.It was after this race last year that I was offered the job in Wanaka that has enabled us to move to NZ .A few beers were had and Mo arrived to take Josh and myself back over the hill to Wanaka.
My next event is the 120km Contact Epic. www.contactepic.co.nz on 25th April.I have been getting a bit of biking under my belt in preperation for the epic.Last week I was organised to go out with Josh on Monday and Olly on Tuesday ,but did not realise they were both planning the same route!!! So two days in a row we left the car at the bottom of the Snow Farm road and cycled up the tarmac towards Queenstown to the top of the Crown Range.We then climbed up the 4wd track and then rode back along the ridge towards the Snow Farm.It is a fantastic track with lots of climbs and descents.The views to the west were amazing.We turned off the ridge at Tuohys Gully and were treated to a 750m descent in less than 5km , a brilliant end to the ride.I will need to get a few more long cycles under my belt before the epic at the end of the month.
24 May
Well I hope you are all ready for next week, I cant really belive it is Ten Under The Ben time already !! Sitting here on the other side of the world it has been for me the easiest build up to the main event ever.I hope everything goes to plan and you all have a great time.
Talking of great times my next event is in the northern hemisphere !!! I am heading to Canada to represent the No Fuss team at the Test of Metal mountain bike race in Squamish!!! www.testofmetal.com Do you recall the crazy Canadians at last years TUTB ? We have been invited over to compete in their event. Unfortunatly Frazer is a bit busy at this time of year so I thought this would be the least I could do to help him out.I am meeting Uncle David in Vancouver so when you pass him on Saturday wish him bon voyage!!!The race looks magic 65km long with 35km of singletrack and over 1200m of ascent.It was wet last year so I hope it will be dry this time as it will be nice to leave a NZ winter for summer in Canada.
The winter has come early to Wanaka ,all 4 ski resorts are reporting over 1m of snow at their base stations although they do not open untill the end of June.
Once again I hope everybody has a great time at TUTB next saturday
30 May
I hear the weather is magic and the registration was fantastic!!!!
Good luck to all the competitors and well done team No Fuss !!!!!
4 June
I must thank everyone involved at 10 UTB ,not just the no fuss team but also all the marshals and helpers who made this great event possible.
What a day !!! who would have thought we would have glorious weather 3 years in a row.I have heard on the grapevine that some people found it too hot !!!! Hard to belive in Lochaber.
Not long now untill I set off from the deep south to Squamish,It has been very warm there lately tempertures in the 30's just like home!! Wanaka on the other hand has been freezing at night but lovely during the day.It has taken us a while to adjust to the lack of insulation in the average kiwi home.Our bedrooms are 4degrees in the morning,so we are up sharp and crank up the stove to make breakfasts bareable - no oil fired central heating here !!!!
25 June
Squamish......Awesome!!!!!
But lets start at the beginning.My start of the No Fuss visit to Squamish was dissapointing.I was unable to fly out of Queenstown due to low cloud so had to endure an 8 hour bus journey to Christchurch.I flew direct from Auckland to Vancouver which was magic as I did not have to go thru L.A.I arrived in Vancouver 1 day late and was met by Don who was part of the Squamish squad who were in Fort William last year to take part in 10 utb.
