Around the Pond x 4

Taupo 640km Maxi Enduro

24th-25th November 2006

Jason Kelly

Arriving at the start line on the Friday morning for an 11am start, it was good to see that the dire weather forecast of heavy morning rain had not eventuated. In fact, it was sunny and extremely mild for Taupo - 17°C - with no thermal clothing required in the sun. The strong and blustery south westerly wind looked likely to be more of a challenge.

Over twenty riders lined up for what Colin Anderson (Taupo enduro lap record holder) had described as, “a ride around the pond.” A number of riders used the event as an Audax qualifying ride. This meant that they had to carry a card which had to be clipped each lap in both Turangi and Taupo. All other riders, myself included, had to sign in at the BP Station in Taupo at the end of each lap.

With the experience of the K4 behind me, all of the borrowed lights had been tested, re-tested and tested again. Rob Oliver, Dan Warren and Gavin Povey had again all kindly lent me a light and I also had further backup lights generously lent to me by Thomas Ekholm (a veteran of both the 320k Enduro and 500km Super Enduro.) With a daylight start, lights were not required for many hours so I started with none fitted to the bike. The K4 had also shown that I could ride for 14 hours and 375 odd kilometres. The big question was how the body and mind would fare after this distance. My best guess was that with reasonable conditions and no major hassles, I should complete the 640km journey in approximately 22 to 26 hours. I planned to ride my own pace but hopefully get some bunch riding early on.

Due to the length of the event, I had also arranged for a multiple shift support crew. This job, especially on the night shift, is as hard as riding the bike. The plan for the first lap was to have my brother Patrick ride with me while my parents, Brian and Roxanne, and my sister Rebecca would be in the car. For the second lap, Patrick would get in the car with his son Nicholas and dad and Rebecca while mum would go back to the motel for a rest. For the third lap until the end, mum, her brother Michael (my uncle) and his partner Janet Wheeler, had the unenviable task of driving through the night to support me while dad, Patrick and Rebecca rested up for the relay event on Saturday.

With the ride briefing completed, it was time to start. After a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go! countdown, other riders seemed reluctant to start so I jumped in behind the lead police car. This pulled off at the first roundabout and I was quickly onto the control gates hill and then into Poihipi Road. I waited for other riders to come past but turning around, no one was close. It looked like another long solo ride was in store!

At the start of the Maxi Enduro

And they’re off …... only 639.95km to go!!

With Patrick having joined me on his bike, we started to push into the wind. By the time the support crew caught up to us after about 7km, the field was already well spread out with the nearest two riders about half a kilometre back. The wind only offered brief respites which were very welcome. Despite the two sharp left turns early in the course, which were clearly signposted, the wind still seemed determined to slow progress.

The first good stretch of tailwind kicked in approaching Turangi for the first time. By this time, isolated rain over the course started to threaten. With 57km to Taupo, the first drizzle came and persisted for about the next hour. As it was still mild, this was not too bad but Patrick decided to get in the van to keep dry for the following day.

Hatepe was climbed at 14 to 20km/h with the wind at my back and I arrived in Taupo at the end of the first lap at around 4.10pm – a first lap time of approximately 5hrs 10m! As expected, the traffic was chaos with the expected 11,000 riders plus supporters steadily arriving for the following day. I weaved my way along the lake front and back out Redoubt St with my crew changing and signing me in as arranged for the first lap.

Into the second lap, the wind had strengthened, the legs had tired and the weather deteriorated. Spinning into the wind, the amount of climbing in the first 40km became evident with legs that had already ridden 160km. Again, the left hand turns failed to improve the wind and it began to rain, then hail and then become much cooler. Every time I was about to stop, a ray of sun would poke through and warm me up. By 6pm, the rain had ceased and the sky in front cleared so I stopped and changed some soaking wet clothes for warmer dry ones. The wind was so strong at this point that one of the portaloos on the side of the road had been blown over.

In the rain and hail – second lap

My crew was suffering badly as they were reportedly forced to eat with their hands as their eyes could not locate the spoons provided for them. This also caused them to hallucinate with reported sightings of kiwis, giraffes, monkeys and other wonderful creatures. At least one of us on the road was sane!!

I stopped at the top of a hill at 8.20pm for lights, reflective clothing, food and drink. The temperature had dropped to 11.5°C and the wind continued to blow. By 9pm, night had fallen and the road was busy with many passing motorists giving toots of support and cheering and clapping. My crew could see no riders behind me.

The sleep deprivation of the crew was starting to show by this time with crew members reporting seeing a tyrannosaurus rex and a leopard! One member also thought they had lost their watch only to discover it was on their other arm! Meanwhile, on the road, I continued to plod methodically along with the wind finally showing some signs of abatement.

At dusk – 2^nd lap

The traffic in Taupo had reduced by 10.15pm when I signed in at the end of the second lap but the BP station was overflowing with cars. My 2^nd lap time was 6hrs 05m with 320km remaining. This gave me a time of 11hrs 15m for the first 320km. After a quick light change and top up of food and drink, I was off into the darkness again while my crew queued for petrol and changed over for the night shift. No other riders appeared in the thirty or so minutes my crew were at the station.

Back into Poihipi Road, the wind had died down but was still blowing the wrong way. With the dark night due to the lack of any moonlight, it was impossible to tell where hills started and finished. Traffic was very light with the occasional rabbit and weasel appearing in the lights. With the wind still whistling around, the temperature fell only to 10.5°C by 2.35am when I stopped for another light change and further food and drink.

Ghost in the night – a time for reflection!

With the first cracks of dawn appearing as I crested Hatepe for the third time at 4.25am, I knew the lap had been much slower than the previous two and that I would have to contend with cycle traffic from both the race and solo rides on the last lap. Approaching Taupo, my front wheel also felt a little spongy but I thought it was probably just imagination.

Arriving in Taupo for sign in at 5.12am, the original sign in list had gone and there was no pen with the replacement list. With no staff in sight, I grabbed the only pen I could find and signed in while a somewhat bemused customer gave me some words of encouragement. I saw that a rider had signed in at 3am for the start of their 3^rd lap and wondered if I would catch them. A few quick calculations showed this would be unlikely. My third lap time of 6hrs 57m left me looking at an estimated fourth lap time of over seven and a half hours on the basis of the same loss of speed each lap and right at the top end of my pre-ride time estimate overall. A check of the front wheel showed it had a slow leak and was soft so this was changed for a spare wheel.

Starting the fourth and final lap, much to the disappointment of my crew, the cloudy sky prevented a classical sunrise. The temperature had dropped to 9.5°C by 6am and the wind had begun to increase in strength again but had swung around a little in direction.

Approaching 7am, I saw another maxi enduro rider in front of me. He was caught surprisingly fast and I passed (and lapped) him just after 7am with about 120km of the lap to go.

The classic race had been torn apart with the first six riders sailing past me just after 8.20am followed by numerous small bunches. Josh Page joined me briefly but my pace was too slow for him and he soon rejoined a racing bunch. The front solo bunches also passed me but I managed to pass a couple of tourists past Turangi!

Heading up Hatepe for the final time was actually quite comfortable as the weather had improved to a mild 16.5°C with sunshine and a tailwind! My pace was not too far off some of the solo riders going up but was certainly considerably slower on the way down and on the flats. Steve Watson measured around 1,630 metres of vertical climbing in one lap of Taupo. While much of this is gradual climbing, it is roughly the equivalent of five Te Mata Peak climbs. Four laps works out to be around 6,500 metres (21,000 feet) or twenty Te Mata Peak climbs!

In the last few hours I found it difficult to eat anything solid. Leppins went down o.k. but bananas, fruit cake and muesli bars were a real struggle. I also managed to drink around five litres of caffeine soft drink which was digested o.k. I had no problems staying awake!

I crossed the finish line at 12.19pm to a loud cheer from the finishing line crowd after an “official” 25hrs 19m 02s on the road. The fourth lap time was better than anticipated at 7hrs 07m and this year’s cycle challenge was complete. Getting off the bike was quite comfortable and after a few words with the TV and radio crews along with fellow Ramblers, I walked back to the motel for a shower and change.

My appetite soon returned and the meal vouchers were not wasted as I waited back at the finish area for the family relay team to finish. The main issue I found with riding through the night without sleep is the loss of the night’s sleep. This took many days to catch up on. The legs, while empty after several hundred kilometres, kept pushing the pedals quite comfortably although at slower and slower speeds. The ride highlighted the benefits of training – almost anyone can do most cycle rides but the amount of training determines how long it will take them and how much it will hurt during, and especially after, the event. To easily ride 640km and then race again the next day would require a huge amount of training! 

The recorded finishers are:

Jason Kelly, 25hrs 19m 02s, 1st  

Peter Cole, 26hrs 29m 34s, 2nd  
Steve Sharpe, 27hrs 05m 51s, 3rd  
Joshua Kench, 27hrs 05m 52s, 4th  
Paul Andrewes, 27hrs 45m 00s, 5th  
Amon Johnson, 28hrs 10m 34s, 6th  
Colin Anderson, 28hrs 38m 12s, 7th
Shane Kirkland, 30hrs 41m 59s, 8th  
Shane Robinson, 30hrs 43m 24s, 9th  
Chris Couldrey, 30hrs 43m 24s, 10th  
Brad Sara, 31hrs 43m 21s, 11th  
Stefan Dadic, 31hrs 43m 28s, 12th  
Peter Gibson, 32hrs 07m 37s, 13th  
Robin Bodley, 36hrs 48m 00s, 14th

The result sees my brother Patrick and myself complete all of the Lake Taupo Cycle challenge disciplines. 2004 saw Patrick first home in the 320km Enduro while in 2003 we combined to win the relay in a record time of 4 hours 14 minutes. In 2002, Patrick finished 5th in the relay when partnered by our parents, Brian and Roxanne Kelly on their tandem, while I rode the Classic Race in just under 4 hours for 14th place. 2001 saw Patrick and I first in the relay event in a then record time while in 2000, we combined with John Barry to ride a triplet tandem and rode away to comfortably be the first bike home in a little over 4 hours in the solo event for the fastest multi-person bike time ever recorded for the course in the event.

And the next challenge? Perhaps 1,000km ……………….. in a glider!!