2014 Godzone - Kaikoura

“An experience does not need to be enjoyable. It just has to be memorable…”

KAIKOURA – a place where mountains meat the sea – teeming whales, seals, penguins, dolphins and 3 000m high snow capped mountains… What a playground!

I wondered where the adventure will take us this in 2014. Will it bring long distance kayaking on the ocean or bush-bashing in forests, wading through creeks and rivers? Rafting? We did not know until Saturday in early March just a few hours before the race started on the Kaikoura beach …

Stage 1 and 2 – Sea Kayak and Coasteering – about 2 ½ hours – “a warm-up”

Our team of 4 split into 2 couples – Jim with Petr and Lara with Milan. From the start gun we all ran on soft sand beach to the boats.  Jim and Petr were kayaking first so we helped them into their boat and push them through the surf. We were doing well – until we realized that Petr, allready 10 meters from the shore, does not have his paddle – he was focusing on putting his spraydeck on. We had to act fast as waves kept on coming. So Milan found the paddle just floating around in water, run into water until waste deep and throw it like an javelin. It landed right next to Petr – that was lucky. While they kayaked, keeping the pace with world champions we set off for a coastal run. With life jackets on we ran around Kaikoura peninsula, avoiding  curious seals, wading in water,  jumping reefs and climbing over cliffs. Just beautiful. We paced our self as we knew we have long 5 days ahead of us. After coasteering we ran back to the boats, found our one and pierced the waves. I remember that during the kayaking  I thougt a lot about my preparation for the race - it is a self-supported race so it's important that your equipment is in perfect order. With GODZone, which has so many disciplines, careful preparation is imperative. Failing to pack a spare bike part or taking a Gore-tex jacket with a rip in its lining could bring about your withdrawal. Equally, if you’ve underestimated your calorie count, going hungry is not a happy option.  I trusted my carefull planing and rather focused on landing the 6m long boat through the waves crashing on beach. We maneged well. Transition. Jim and Petr were already there. Onto the bikes as 4^th. 

Stage 3 – Mountain Bike – around 53 km – 5:11 min

We started to draft as as soon as we left transition – to save energy. I was pulling Lara and Jim and Petr were taking turns up front.  Then there was the first major navigational choice which split all the teams – Jim our navigator made a very good call. We were carrying bikes on our backs up this steep hill for a very long time. All the way to the summit. Then a long downhill which left a smell of brake pads behind us. Another river bed – big boulders, unrideable, few crossings, fill up our drink bottles. Another hill to climb and yuppiii – transition. Our trek box with clean cloth, dry shoes and food was waiting for us.

Stage 4 – Alpine Trek – Tapuae o Uenuku – 51 km, 22:07

It was getting dark. Lights on. Compulsory gear check in this transition surprised us – we must have missunderstood instructions and did not packed a strobe light. So instead of it we had to carry extra 3 lights  on every stage from now on – untill we get the box with the strobe light in it. We left into comlete darkness. Our plan was not to sleep that night. A huge trek up the highest mountain on South Island outside the Southern Alps – 51 km,  4 500 ascent (and 4 500 descent) was awaiting us …

Untracked tarrain, bolder hopping up George stream with many cold crossings are  keeping us awake. The last climb up to a saddle is very steep and involved bushbashing. The reward is sweet - an awesome scree slide down the other side.  We picked our way down the Jam Stream navigating around waterfalls, the river opened up and we reached Clearance River. The river was in flood – so GodZone crew set up a zipline and we rafted acrossed. The biggest climb of the whole race just started. Our feet need looking after them after all those river crosings – so we dried them, put more antichafe cream on and changed into dry socks. As we were climbing up towards the summit of Tapuae (2 885m) Lara was falling asleep - we put her on a tag line not to loose her in complete darkness. The ascent is tough – big scree slopes, snow fields, boulders, scorching sun. We spotted another team behind us! We pass the checkpoint tent on top by first sunlight looking at clouds from high above again. It feels good when we were told that we are 3^rd team through here. Bumm slide down on snow on and through a beautiful canyon with endless river crossings. The water is freezing cold. So good to be here during daylight. To the next checkpoint we are bashing through bush and on our hands and knees this steep climb. Got it.

Another ridge and down to the transition to get ready for a monstrous 151 km long mountain biking section. Tiredness is setting in.

Stage 5 – Mountain Bike – Molesworth – 151 km - 15:16

Transition crew gave us hot lasagna and soup. Our bikes needs cleaning after that last ride. Jim is organising maps. Everyone is sharing the chores – filling up drink bottles, assembling bikes, pumping up tires … It will be dark soon so we mount headlamps onto helmets . We left with the last traces of daylight but quite a bit less organized then on the previous bike. This section starts with a few massive and very, very long up hills. Milan is pulling. The night falls in and we switch on the big lights. It is getting colder and colder. Misty. We are stopping freqeuntly to put more warm gear on. Everyone is cold. We are tired and really slow. Jim falls and brakes a rib. Within couple of minutes he is back on bike and wants to carry on. Around 4 am we take 2 ½ hour nap under a willow tree. We should have slept next to each other to stay warmer, but  brains are not fully working . Beautiful morning riding up Jollie Pass to Hanmer Sprigs. We stop to get water and local farmar pulls over in his truck and have a chat with us – how he is following our progress online, where other teams are and motivate us to keep going. Next transition is about an hour away. With start of a new day and some sleep we feel good.

Stage 6 – Mountain Trek – Glynn Wye Range – 38km - 20:27

We took about 3 liters of water per person and head up for the ridges. The plan is to stay high up covering many miles over the tops of the mountains. The ridge is offten narrow, steep and exposed so we are helping Lara and each other. We know that we are getting dyhydrated – but there is just no water around. Late afternoon we made a key (and wrong) decision to stay longer on the ridges instead of heading down to the forests and rivers. It will cost us later quite few hours – a few hours of precious sleep. We think it is still ok as we will get full night sleep next day on the long river section.

Finaly we stop climbing. Sliding down massive scree slope is sooo fast and sooo much fun. End up in beach forest and roll down as stones as fast as we can to the river bad. We want to get there before it gets dark. It is partly walking, partly sliding and partly falling. Hard to keep up with Jim, even though he broke his rib on a bike last night. End up in the creek which is very cold and very, very slippery. We are expecting to find a trek there and move fast into the transition. The trek is not there! Frustrating, hours lasting bushbash through dents vegetation is ahead of us. The progress is slow. In the middle of night we find a cosy hut and sleep there for 1 ½hrs. Jim does not want to get up and hope that this race is just a dream.  We want to be in the transition by 6 in order to get changed, inflate the boats and be at 7:00 on the river.

Stage 7  - River Canoe – Harunui River – 101km – 14:07

And this is exactly what happens. It is a busy one hour to get everything organised – wetsuits, inflate boats, drybags, pack up overnight camping gear, food, safety meeting with the officials… At 07:01 we are allowed on water along with 3 other teams. The race is now clearly split. Seagate at the front racing just against themselves, then another group of 5 top teams racing each other with a few hours. Then another gap and the rest. The Hurunui is a long, beautiful river paddle that takes on almost the entire length of the river all the way to the ocean. The river in it’s upper reaches is surrounded by gorges, steep mountains and native bush. The rapids come thick and fast with near constant grade 2+ rapids until Maori Gully where the difficulty increases to grade 3. Jim is really sore and paddles in various picturesque positions. Some of these are really creative.  In one of the rapids Peter finds out that he is the only person in the boat. Jim is waving him of the shore. Petr picks Jim a few hundred meters down the river.

We paddle non-stop. If in need for a toilet we hop into the river. Two gorges. Lots of rapids. Lots of willow trees. The river is expected to take about 23 hours which would force us to spend a night on the river. We are all looking forward to getting 7 or 8 hours of solid sleep. Well things turned out differently. In the early afternoon after we do the math we realize we might be able to do the whole lengths of the river – all the way to the ocean – in just one day – instead of two. Instead of paddling steadily we spend the rest of the afternoon and evening paddling very, very hard. 30 minutes before the “dark zone” time (8:30 p.m.) we get off the river to the next transition. We are excited.

Stage 8 – Mountain Bike – Gore Bay – 25 km – 2:50

I am cold, Lara is very, very cold. Petr makes her a cappuccino. Jim is sorting out maps so we help him with his bike. Our bike boxes are becoming a big mess. I feel exhilarated to be there. In transition we are with 3 other teams. Next bike leg is short and easy but already in the dark. We pass another team.

 

Stage 9 – Coastal Trek – Kaikoura Coast – 25km – 14:29
The night is very dark, the mist is thick, the moon is not up yet and the mountains are covered in clouds. Petr has a sleepmonster - he is seeing boats, microwaves and letterboxes everywhere. His eyes are closing while walking. Navigation is difficult and we are not making much progress. We put on our Goretex top and bottom to protect bodies from prickels during endless bushbashing. We all need to sleep. There is a white-baiters hut on the map which we should reach in the next 30 min. We get there 3 hours later. It’s an old, small hut and there is already another team sleeping on the floor in dust, amongs dingi, nets, paddles... We fall on the ground and sleep from 5:30 to 6:30. Peter is feeling not good, is vomiting and has no energy.
We cross a chest deep  Waiu river. The next few hills are steep and Peter is getting slowerWith Jim we pull him up the hill to move faster. Finaly we leave bush and endup on beach. The coast is beautiful and endless. Pulling Petr and soft beach sand and stones is a hard work. Petr is spaced out.
Stage 10 – Mountain Bike – Spy Glass Point – 38 km - 5:51
Peter goes through the transition sitting on the ground. He is feeling sick, too tired to stand. When he gets up he has to hold the bike not to fall down. The fever starts to set in. But once on the bike he can keep on moving. After a few hours he is getting better. Jim is helping Petr on every steep and technical sections to push his bike. Final descent towards the kayaks makes everyone quite happy. Not really racing at this stage as we know nobody is close behind and nobody is within an hour of us …

Stage 11 – Sea Kayak – South Bay – 26 km - 4:30

We launched by sun set, the moon was there early on as well as the coast guard boat to help us navigate around many reefs. It is quite an eerie feeling to paddle on massive waves hitting the kayak from all sides and a large boat looming close in the middle of a night. I feel tired and every now and than fall a sleep while paddling towards the distant lights. We have curious dolphins and small shark for company. The safety boat marchal sent us to the wrong place on the beach. We leave the boats on beach, garther all our gear and walk on deserted main street to the official finish line. We get to the finish before midnight. Warren, Adam, Anna and other organizers are all there to shake our hands, offering a pie and a beer.

Final thoughts

For me Godzone became highlight of the year. The event is well organised  and during every stage of the race I knew that organisers have put lots of thoughts into designing the course. The team dynamic was great, we enjoyed each other company and had an awesome time together.  We covered  550km with 12500m of ascent and seen some spectacular parts of New Zealand.

Team ChimpanzeeBar Training Weekend

With 3 weekes to go to the race start there is no time to waste. Everything we do now is helping us "survive" those 120 hrs + in New Zealand widerness.

             Here is an example : sometimes when I wake up in the middle of night and go to loo I also take my headtorch. I go to garage, dissassmeble my Specialized Epic bike put it in my transition box and then go to bed again. In the morning, just before I bike to work I assemmbel the bike again. Another sample is toughening up my feet - our driveway is about 100 m long and it's got sharp little stones on it.It does hurt even just stand on it barefoot! So every time I need to empty the mailbox or take the garbage bin out I walk barefoot. And man it hurts! First walking barefoot toughen up the skin on my feet and secondly it is teaching me the mind over matter trick

Let me introduce our team:

Milan Brodina - pack horse, log home builder, Geraldine
Petr Sykora - motivator, entrepreneur & philanthropist, Czech Republic
Lara Prince - back up navigator, lawyer, CHC
Jim Cotter - team captain, navigator, university teacher, Dunedin

We’re lucky in sharing the same goal; to have an adventure and race somewhere we haven’t experienced. The land looks amazing on a map and even when passing through at 100 kph on the asphalt. So we’re all looking forward to spending most of a week immersed in it, well away from work. We’d be hoping to complete the long course, near the top of the field. But, you never know what lies ahead in yourselves, competitors and the terrain, so come what may. Individually, Jim’s hoping to get fewer than 5 punctures and to finish with his bib and the correct maps this time. Jim forgot his racing bib in one of the transition , so the whole team lost lots of time going back and getting it.  Milan’s hoping that Jim’s hopes are fulfilled. Lara’s hoping that we’re not kidding when we say that an adventure race isn’t any harder than a 24-hour race. Petr’s hoping that Kaikoura is warmer than Prague (-20^oC), and to finish without resembling a beetroot. We work in different fields (academic, lawyer, builder, entrepreneur & philanthropist) and live in different places, so at least we’ll have plenty to natter about, but will also be racing as hard as we can, short of unnecessary risks.

 So with 3 weeks to go to the race we got together in Geraldine for our team training weekend - just the perfect playground. On saturday morning we spent few hours going over our compulsory gear list - who is going to organise what etc. One of the items on the list is a tent - waterproof, 3 season tent to fit the whole team in - we tested it too - it was pretty cosy in there.
 Then we head off to the Rangitata river to test our kayaking skills. We had lots of gear with us , but everything fit nicely into Blairs Transit. Thank you Warren. Once on the river we tried all different combinations of best matches as the boats are two person. It must have been ammusing watching us as we were offten swapping places in boats and going from back to front as we float down the rapids.
 

Once off the river, we drove to Mesopotamia - closer to the hills. We practised the transition onto bikes and in short time we were off.  What a beutifull part of New Zealand - no wonder that Lord Of The Ring location seekers have chosen this area as one of the filming location. After 2 hrs of biking - some of it was very steep and even included carying our bikes we  got to the end of the trail and could not bike any further. So we stashed our bikes in the pine trees and continued on foot. It was a hot day so every river crossing was well welcomed. After few hours of river bashing and admiring the surrounding views we climb out of the river onto small terace and were greeted by Growler But. It was pretty busy day for us, so after dyhadrated vegetarian pasta for dinner we set the alarm for 5am and climbed into sleeping bags.

5 am is pretty early but we all quitly appriciated all the luxury we had tonight - sleeping on beds with mattrasses, dry clothes, warm dinner and full night sleep. During the 5 days of racing our plan is to go without sleep for the first night and then have maximum of 2hrs of sleep each night. Nobody was complaining today about an early start - we still had big day ahead of us. Still in dark, with headlamps on we left the hut and our main navigator - Jim - lead us up through tall grass and motagouri away. Our plan was to find our way up a Growler stream, climb a ridge, over a saddle and down another creek and back to bikes. Around 6 hrs trip, with 900m of climbing.

             It was was a cloudy, misty morning as we were finding our way up in dark. Continuesly crossing the  creek back and forth and helping each other at tricky sections. At one stage we found our self  climbing  on nearly vertical wall high above the creek - the only way to get past a waterfall. We helped each other with packs and one past one managed through this section. After an hour of walking in freezing cold waters we were happy to leave the creek and started to climb up a ridge. It wasn't the warmest morning and we hoped that the cloud will soon burn off. It didn't - instead we found ourself above the cloud and were greeted by the warming sun. We were rewarded with breathtaking views of snow covered peaks poking through the cloud bellow.

             This was surely the hilight of our trip - we even had a wee brake right on top - luxury we will not be able to do during a race. We were keen to practise some scree running/sliding, so on the way down we were choosing our route acording to where the best scree slope was. It was lots of fun. After 6 hrs on foot we arrived at the bikes. Fixed flat tire on Petr's bike and biked back to the transit. This time we chosen different route back - staying on the river flat. It tested our technical skills as we rode amongs big river boulders. Once back at the parked transit we practised transition again - as transitions are important part of the race and last year we were pretty slow.  Great weekend away and a good team building trip to have under the belt before another expedition adventure.

 
 

 

2014 St. James Alpine Adventure

In 6 weeks time our team – CHIMPANZEE BAR – will be competing in GODZONE - gruelling 5 day nonstop adventure race across NEW ZEALAND. But that book is yet to be written. So for now as part of my training for the ”big race” I have decided to enter this kayak – MTB – run race in New Zealand high country.
With kayak, 12” and 29” bikes, lots of gear and my support crew (partner Lucie and our 2 year old son Lance) loaded into the car we travelled to the race start on Friday afternoon. In Hanmer Springs, the last town we passed through, we filled up the tank with diesel, our tummies with tuna fish and rice and left the big smoke behind. One of the reasons why I have chosen this event is the location – right in the heart of New Zealand – in the middle of nowhere. Even the travel to the event location is a memorable experience – with 2 hours to the closest civilisation, snow capped mountains, crystal clear rivers and azure lakes, it was good to be there. Due to the start location being so far away from nearest town most competitors were camping out – always a good opportunity to catch up with your friends and eye up the competition. While I was preparing my gear for the next day our Lance was ripping around the campsite on his 12” bike and biking through every puddle and mud patch he could find and telling everyone – “I am like daddy”.

We woke up into a bluebird day. Thank you Mother Nature. I still get nervous on the race day even I have done plenty of times. We were all line up in our kayaks on the lake Tennyson. The gun went off. My strategy for the race was to keep up with the top of the field during the kayak leg, ride hard on MTB as that’s my strongest discipline and then try to survive that 18 km run. Kayaking was going to plan – with the calm lake and no wind I have chosen bigger blade wing paddle so I was hurting, but the choice has paid off. After 45 min I jumped out of the boat and ran to a bike transition in second place. Shoes, helmet, gloves and CamelBag and with help of my support crew – Lucie and Lance, I set of for a 65km mountain bike journey. The course had everything from gravel roads, multiple river crossings, technical single tracks, steep climbs, fast descents and mud puddles that will cover your 29" disc brake rotors!
On a course like this one it was very easy to forget that I am actually in a race, slow down and just enjoy the scenery. I have to come back, I was telling myself. I was pushing hard – running through the rivers with bike on my back, sticking to my nutrition plan and hoping to catch the race leader. But there was no sign of him at all. 3,5 hours later seen me drop my bike at the St James Home stead - so good to get off that bike seat and out of carbon soled MTB shoes into my soft running shoes. When I ran past the timing tent I did envy the shade race organizers were sitting in - it was getting pretty hot. The legs were tired and I knew then that I am not going to break any running records today. My plan on the run was to survive it and make it to the finishline. I settled into a 6 min/km pace (Slow Jog) on all flats and walked most of the hills. I used every river crossing to cool off as much as I could and was keeping a good track of my electrolyte intake to prevent cramping. It was so good to see Lucie waving at me from the finish.
I crossed the finished line exhausted after almost 6hrs of racing. This was the last individual race for me and from now on all focus is on our Chimpanzee Bar team preparing for GodZone Adventure Race.

2013 WANAKA solo 10hr MTB race

There is not much to say about this race. Honestly, I would rather forget that it happened - the weather was  bad /rain, very cold/, the track was very muddy so I was changing bikes every 2 laps, our transition tent got flooded and the list can go on. Lets just move on....

2013 BIG DAY OUT AT THE OFFICE

So happy that this race is back. It is still one of my favourite multisport races. 
This year had pretty good race. It was also good to see many of my friends on the start line.  During the first cycle leg I was quite happy to do some in the first bunch, where I found myself riding next to Glen Currie and Dougal Allan. Then on the run I somehow lost few gels so was running on empty for the last hour. Not happy place to be! So good to see my support Lucy and Lance in the transition :) I managed to gain few minutes back on the next cycle where I pushed hard and ate lots of food. Due to flooded Rakaia the kayak leg was on water race. Thanks to Monty - Ian Edmond for helping Lucy in the transition. I felt so good in the boat that I just kept on passing others. After the paddle it was only a short cycle back to Methven. After 6hrs and 42 min on the go the only thing left to do was relax in the hot pool with Jess Simpson :)



WINTER 2013

In winter I was just hanging out.



Dunedin 6hr AR, team-up with David Slater.



 

GODZONE 2013

An article for local newspaper:

Last month local man Milan Brodina competed in the Godzone 520km non-stop expedition race.  He spent five days as part of a four man team (Jim Cotter, Sia Svedsen, Petr Sykora) kayaking, trekking, mountain biking, white water rafting and mountaineering across untracked country from Mount Cook village to Queenstown.  Their Team PAKn’SAVE finished in 7^th place out of 35.

Although delighted with the result Milan was frustrated to have lost two places over a “silly mistake.”  The team was 45 minutes into the trekking stage when they realised one member (not Milan!) was not wearing his racing bib which would have meant disqualification.  They had to retrace their steps to retrieve the bib.  Unfortunately this delay meant they arrived 20 minutes too late to be allowed to start the kayaking stage as it was getting dark and for safety reasons teams were not allowed to kayak at night on this grade 2 river.  They had to wait agonising hours before being allowed to start kayaking.
“This was the biggest disappointment of the race, knowing we could have finished better than we did.”
Milan has previously only entered day long multi sport races as an individual competitor and says, “This race has long been on my bucket list; this was definitely the big one!” 
One of the highlights was being allowed access into stunningly beautiful land that is privately owned.  Milan also found he particularly enjoyed racing as part of a team.  “You create friends for life and lifetime memories no one can take away.”
There is a seven day limit to completing the race so Milan explains if teams want to be competitive they have to sleep as little as possible.  “Sometimes when you are all exhausted and you have sore feet you just want to give up and go home.  People say you go through a lifetime of emotions.” 
After two days non-stop competing Milan and his team snatched 2 hours sleep.  “We set three watches so we did not sleep in.” 

The final unexpected challenge for the team was to complete a canyon swing near Queenstown.  “It was a fun finish.”

With all the necessary logistical and safety back up provided by the race organisers it is a pretty expensive race to enter. 
“There is always a helicopter around in case you get injured and we carried GPS devices with us because we were in the wilderness.”
Milan is extremely grateful to PAK n’ SAVE who provided the major sponsorship. He also appreciates local businesses, KUMHO TYRES and THE CYCLERY from Timaru, who supported him.   
Milan trained all year round in preparation for this race. Training included regular sessions of a bike ride to Peel Forest, then run up Little or Big Mt. Peel and finaly biking back to Geraldine. He also went kayaking Rangitata and Rakaia rivers. Milan trained in snow and rain in order to get mentally tough as well.
It took Milan a month to recover from the race and get rid of the blisters on his feet.   However, this has not deterred him and he is already organising a team to enter the competition next year. 

“I am trying to get sponsors and I hope local businesses will again be able to help me.”

Milan was born in the Czech Republic but worked in America for several years.  Ten years ago he was offered a job with Natural Log Homes in Geraldine and took the decision to immigrate to New Zealand.  “My partner, Lucie, and I were looking for a change and we have never looked back.” 

Plans have changed!

Around  Xmas have all my racing plans changed! My plan was to build up for 24hr mtb solo in North Island and later for 24hr solo mtb world champs in Canberra.

But around time Santa was sweeping chimneys an opportunity came to be racing in 2013 GODZONE ADVENTURE RACE. Expedition adventure race has been on my bucket list for a long time, so I could not say no.  We were just missing the fourth team member and running out of time. Entries were closing pretty soon so I was working from Wireless Hot Spots around the country during our holiday to find the last member of our team. Few phone calls has been made, few emails has been sent and we had a team. We have even managed to find a main sponsor Pakn’Safe to help us with our food bill.  And who is in our team -  Jim Cotter-well experienced adventure races from Dunedin, our navigator. Sia Svendson -  strong Danish multisporter, currently living in CHC, who finished 2. on last years Godzone,  Petr Sykora – from Czech Republic, who has put together a Czech-kiwi team for 2012 Patagonia AR and finished 4^th.

So I have started to get used my kayaking paddle and running shoes again. This years’ disciplines include MTB, tramping/running/, kayaking, ropes and mountaineering. So the next two month will be all about training, sorting out gear, building bike boxes, team building etc.

8hrs @ Jacks

That pretty much sums it up:
race director Goef Hunt's media report:

"Portegys did battle throughout the race with Milan Brodina (Geraldine) who completed 18 laps before the finish siren sounded at 6pm. These top two individuals had ridden together for the first half of the event before, however Portegys made a decisive move during lap 10 and opened up a 30secs lead which he extended to 3 mins by lap 14. This was the telling move, he had broken the spirit and momentum of Brodina who rode on strongly for second place.

My support crew - all the way from Czech Republic - my sister Jitka, with Peter.

 

LE PETIT BREVET. Nov 2012

 

300km,  8000m of climbing.  20, 5 hrs of nonstop biking! And first one across the imaginary finishline :)
Thanks Tim for organizing such a great "allnighter" adventure!

Timaru 12hr MTB - solo

Three weeks after Wanaka race I have decided to enter the world of pain again and raced the Timaru 12hr mtb race solo. There were several keen bikers to keep me on my toes including Rotorua 24hr solo winner Ian Wright, 2012 Christchurch 12hr solo winner T.Kissel and Dunedin fittness coach and friend of mine Matty Graham. My race strategy was to go fast from the gun and hopefully I will have enough in the tank to keep me going at the end. I had a great support from the Cyclery team and thats what kept me going in good pace for the whole 12hr.  243km in one day - thats a good training ride, isnt't it?

2012 Wanaka 10hr MTB - solo

 

 

Our friends have recommended this race to me, so I thought I will check it out. And I am glad I did. The Wanaka MTB club has done an awesome job on the tracks. The course had it all - climbs, burms, fast downhills, jumps... you name it.

Half way through the race I have noticed that my rear wheel is badly buckeled and couple loose spokes are moving around. Not a good thing, especialy when I was sitting in second place. When I went through the transition area I slowed down little bit and told my support crew about this issue and carried on - hopefully I can make another lap till they get organized. So next time I went through we swapped numbers on to new bike a I carried on. I knew I lost valuable time but with confidence that my wheel is not going to buckle on the next corner I moved into 1.place and managed to hold it to the finish.





 

2012 PEAK TO PUB

Peak tom pub is usualy my first race after winter, so I am usualy little bit nervues how I go after few month of cold winter training. This year Mt. Hutt had a great season so the ski leg was all the way from top. And as Steve Gurney was designing the course we could expect some cool twists.
Just before the start gun Streve Gurney warn us that the ski giant slalom is very icy so
i decided to go easy and make it down safely. We were off. The first 200m run in the ski boots is allways a tough one. It's good to get that out of the way. My ski leg was mainly about navigating between people who were crashing in front of me. But I made it to the bike transition safely. I proud my self in fast transition so i was on the bike in no time chasing people down the hill. After 10 min and few hair raising corners I found myself leading the race. I was expecting TVNZ helicopter above my head, but probably cut their budget this year :)

Towards the end of the bike i decided to conserve my energy so another biker past me. I thought to myself thats not bad finishing second providing that I lost one of my contact lences on that fast downhill so had to bike with half of my vision.

 

2011 Otago 24 Hour Adventure Race
For this race I was lucky to be in a team with such good and experienced guys. Jim Cotter from Dunedin was team navigator and he has done an excelent job getting the team throught this challenging hilly course set up by Bill Godsall. Bas - team's power engine, from Qeenstown, former Peak to Peak winner, few Southern Traverses finisher... And of course Jess - an excelent runner and mountainbiker from Wanaka.

The race started with a fast run from Cromwell township to Lake Dunsten. Our team managed to keep up with some strong runners and we were second in kayaks on the way to the north side of the lake. One hour long paddle was just the perfect warm up for the next run leg. We exited the kayaks in third place, checked in at TA and started to run in to the hills. I was a steep scroll up Pisa Range. Half way through the climb I started to feel not good. Stamach cramps, dizzy.... you name it. But pulling out was not an option as we were leading the whole field now. But thanks to Bas we managed to keep our lead for the whole run leg - Bas was dragging me behind on a rope while Jess was pumping  "go-go-juice" in to me. Thanks again Bas and Jess. The fantastic scenery on top of Pisa Range was rewarding. After 10 hrs of running we were back in the kayaks on the way to Cromwell with a short absailing stop at Bendigo.

TBC