Southern Lakes 24hr Adventure Race, Nov. 2014

Chimpanzee Bar Team - Race Report
Southern Lakes 24hr Adventure Race, Central Otago, New Zealand

The race is located in the southern part of the South Island of New Zealand in an area renown for it barren landscape, scorching heat and lack of wind. Unfortunately with the race starting at midnight we weren't able to see any of the beautiful surroundings and it certainly wasn't warm, dry and calm!  The cold rain started to come down just as we headed off on the initial MTB section, the strong wind followed closely behind and 30 minutes into the race we had all our clothes on and were freezing up on the exposed mountain tops.  After spending an hour up on the hill tops shivering we began down what would normally be a very fun descent however we were slip sliding everywhere in the mud, clay clogging up our chains and weren't able to generate enough heat to keep warm so were chilled to the bone by the time we finished this first section.

A quick transition into a dry set of clothes (what a treat) and we were off into the darkness once again, this time trekking up the mountains. 3am.  Still raining and very windy.   After the MTB leg we were one of three teams all within a few minutes of one another and we thought we might have been able to get a break on the other teams in the trek. But we ended up in a very tight battle with us leading for a while before a small hesitation while trying to find a good route through the prickly bush allowed two teams to sneak in front of us. For the rest of the trek we swapped the lead several time before all three teams finished the stage together just as the sun was coming up.

By now the rain had stopped and with the sun up the racing was much more enjoyable. My team mates (Milan Brodina, Simone Maier and Rob Creasy) are all strong cyclists so I really struggled on this second MTB section as we zoomed along fantastic single track by the mighty Clutha river – popular location during Gold Rush in New Zealand 1860s. This was followed by a brutally steep climb that somehow Simone managed to ride (even just returning from hard racing in China few days earlier) but I had no chance. Eventually I managed to get some Chimpanzee energy bars and Gunpowder Drink into my stomach and slowly started to improve. This 70km MTB leg finished with 10km straight into a strong headwind and with another team right on our heels there was no easing off.

Another quick transition and we were off kayaking into the head wind. This stage was really tough, we started out leading but struggled to maintain a good pace and the other two teams slipped ahead of us. After 2hrs nonstop paddling into the wind –which was as physically as mentally draining we could finally get out of the boats. The steep hills and lack of vegetation make this a stunning area to race in but the endless up and downs are hard work, and we had another hill in front of us on the next trek. We powered up the hills trying to enjoy the views but were dreading the thought of another long quad destroying descent.  After the quick run downhill we made it back to our kayaks and could enjoy surfing the waves back down the lake to the finish, what a great way to complete a race with awesome teammates.

We ended up third and had spent most of the day in an incredibly close battle for first.  It was a really enjoyable day out and another chance to bond as a team before the Godzone Adventure Race next year.

Thanks to Chimpanzee Bar for all the support.

Greig Hamilton

10hr solo MTB race - Wanaka 2014

I like this race, that's why I keep coming back. The tracks are awesome to ride - big burms with good flow, steep climbs, forest single tracks, mountain views .....   
The weather forecast sounded horrible this year - with rain, wind, snow. But actually it did turned out not too bad. This year's race was going to be another good test to my plant based diet. I have completely eliminated all the processed foods from my diet. If man made it, we don't eat it. Thanks to my partner we have a nice veggie garden full of kale, spinach, silver beat, radishes, beans, carrots.... So the staples of our diet are now fruit, veggies and legumes. We have also eliminated all processed sugars and gluten from our menu, too. Many people ask us - so what do you eat? Believe me, we are definitely not starving. It opened up a whole new world of nice foods and choices we did not know about. It's a journey I am really enjoying at the moment.
 Anyway - back to the race. I was not disappointed with the result. We are getting older, right? But I still managed to beaten my time from 3 years ago when I have won the race. This year I finished 3. due to very competitive field. Very happy with that. So it looks like I will stick to my plant based diet for now.
See you out there.

My support crew - Lance.