2003 Cromwell - Queenstown Easter Cycling Tour

18^th – 21^st April 2003

by Gavin Povey

We (Jason, Brian, Roxanne Kelly and I) left Hawke’s Bay on the Tuesday before Easter for our trip to the South Island.  After a very calm and sunny ferry crossing, we arrived in Picton later that afternoon, before driving down to our overnight stop at Kaikoura.  Jason and I went for a quick training ride first thing next morning out the back of Kaikoura, when it was meant to be hosing down with rain, but fortunately it was bright and sunny – the weather man got it wrong again.  We visited the seal colony bright and early, where there were no seals, but I was attacked verbally by a female road shark in Kaikoura! We returned later on to find some seals and checked other sites around the area before heading to Christchurch later that morning.  Checked out the Antarctic Centre, Port Hills and Cathedral Square etc before eating out at an Indian restaurant in Riccarton where Brian’s taste for fine wine became apparent – we needed to teach the waiter a thing or two!

Thursday morning we headed off to Dunedin in the pouring rain along the boring flat Canterbury plains highway and checked out the boulders at Moeraki before arriving in Dunedin just after lunch – I was noticing the change in temperature down here so bought a beanie (it would come to a lot of use later on!) at Larnach’s Castle when we were there – fascinating place.  Also checked out the Cadbury Chocolate Factory (but couldn’t get in – they were fully booked!), and took a few photos of Baldwin Street – geez that’s steep - 38% at the steepest point – you couldn’t ride up there if you tried.  Jason and I became professional photographers when we got mobbed by hundreds of Japanese tourists there!

Good Friday – Day One

After waking bright and early, we headed our way even further south from Dunedin before taking the main road to Cromwell through some mountainous terrain.  It had snowed up on the tops a day or so before and there was still a bit of a chill in the air, and we were keen to start the race, which was the main purpose of our trip.  We arrived at the Golden Gate Lodge in Cromwell (where we were staying the night) around lunchtime before having a bite to eat in the main shopping area across the road – this is when the Kelly’s began to learn of my secret weapon for this race – mince pies.

Prologue 5.5km Cromwell - Bannockburn Hotel

The race finally got under way with the Women starting first followed by the C grade (which I was starting in thanks to my lack of preparation for this event which Jason conned me into doing). Jason had entered the B grade so he started a bit later than I did.  It was a flat course to start off with, followed by a short descent over the Kawarau River, before a steep one kilometre climb to the finish.  There were around 80 riders in total with only four North Islanders competing.  I managed to catch my minute man just before the climb and finished in a time of 8:45, which placed me third equal in the C grade peloton @ 13 seconds.  Jason, who was coming off a bit of a viral infection cum cold, finished in 9 minutes flat in 15^th place in the B grade field @ 29 seconds. Afterwards we checked out the gold sluicing sites and old Cromwell town, which has been partly reconstructed after the Clyde Dam drowned it.

Easter Saturday – Day Two

Stage 1 88km Cromwell – Cromwell around Lake Dunstan

Woke up to another brilliant Central Otago day with what felt like a five degree frost!  I had three layers of cycle clothing on and was still freezing.  The C grade peloton started at a sedate pace, but slowly picked it up a few k’s later.  Numerous individuals were making timid attacks off the front only to be hauled in a few hundred metres later.  The stage was essentially rolling but mostly flat and that snow up top looked closer than it really did.  Towards the end of the stage, I had a serious go off the front, only to be hauled in a couple of k’s later, thanks to the huge size of the bunch, so it was only going to be a bunch sprint.  I kept close near the front and finished comfortably in tenth place saving myself for later on.  A similar situation was happening in the B grade but a couple of guys got off the front and stayed away from the chasing pack by just over 20 seconds.  Jason finished in the bunch after doing a lot of work chasing those two down.

Stage 2 30 minute Criterium – Cromwell Town

The only objective for both Jason and I was to finish this stage in one piece with the bunch and to keep out of trouble.  The circuit was a 550m block in the middle of Cromwell, which made great viewing for the local folk and spectators, but not a lot of room to manoeuvre for the riders themselves.  We both finished comfortably with our respective groups and got bunch times, which we were both happy with.  Straight after the race we packed the car and headed for the hotel in Queenstown, and on the way checked out the Kawarau Bridge bungy site, which I was considering while I was in a mildly dehydrated state!

Easter Sunday – Day Three

Stage 3 65km Remarkables Skifield Entrance - Athol

Well we thought Saturday was cold, but today it felt like the South Pole was literally next door.  I could feel the icicles forming on my face!  After staying in our very upmarket hotel room (compared with any other hotel room I have stayed in) at the Aspen on Queenstown up the hill, we drove past the airport to the Remarkables skifield entrance where the stage was going to begin.  There was a major frost overnight and it was below zero at 9 o’clock when we started and the sun did not shine over the mountains until at least halfway through the stage, but we got there.  Again, this stage was rolling, and followed Lake Wakatipu south to the metropolis of Athol.  A very scenic road it was.  About five riders rode off the front of my grade in the first few hills just down the road a bit, and stayed a few hundred metres off the front, but we could still see them just up the road all the time, so that was a good sign.  Again, my tactic was to try and save myself for tomorrow, so finished around about 8^th place in yet another bunch finish.  In the B grade, another couple of riders got away, but only gained a few seconds on the peloton by the end with Jason finishing up near the front once again in the bunch.

Stage 4 12km Time Trial: Athol to Garston

This was always going to be a fast stage with a slight tail breeze and a bit of false flat mixed in and we knew that this stage was going to be important to maintain our places on GC.  By the end of the stage I was quite shocked looking at my speedo when it read an average of 41.3km/h.  That was certainly going to help the cause, or so I thought! But, once the results came out, I found that some of the women were over a minute faster than I was!  I finished 4^th in C grade in a time of 16:48, and after the last few stages, thanks to others getting time bonuses in the final sprints, dropped down to 4^th overall at 49 seconds.  Jason had a good time trial as well finishing in 16:20, 11^th in B grade, averaging just under 43km/h.  The winner of A grade averaged around 48km/h!  Visited Arrowtown after the stage and on the way saw the classic Kingston Flyer steam train.

Easter Monday – Day Four

Stage 5 44km Fernhill, Queenstown to Glenorchy

This is the stage I got up bright and early for thinking it was the C grader’s last stage of the tour when we weren’t meant to start until this afternoon!  So, packed everything in the car and followed Jason in the B grade.  On the way, checked out this afternoon’s stage finish and this afternoon’s route, which is on the same road, but in the opposite direction following the north side of the lake.  The weather was a little cloudy with a tropical temperature of around 5 degrees.  This road was the hilliest of the tour and I knew then I might have a possible shot at the overall.  The B grade race split into two groups during this stage with Jason finding himself in the front bunch around the halfway mark.  However, once the bunch got towards the flatter patches about 10km before Glenorchy, the two bunches yet again combined.  Jason did a lot of work during this stage, and finished again in the bunch, being a minute or so down on GC at this stage, still with a sniff of prize money.      

Stage 6 42km Glenorchy to the end of the seal Moke Lake Road, Queenstown  

I was feeling pretty nervous at the beginning of this stage knowing what lay ahead.  After forcing down another mince pie (one of the most important food groups!), we rolled out of Glenorchy at a leisurely pace, still all in one large group.  Finally we reached the hills and I decided to attack and got a decent gap on the chasing peloton.  One guy caught me up near the top of one of these climbs (who was from Christchurch, helping to protect the yellow jersey) and eased up immediately in front of me.  I overtook him and he fell back to the group and I held around about a 20 second lead on the peloton, whom at this time were beginning to split up into smaller groups.  There were KOM points available about 10km from the finish, but a group of about seven or eight, including the yellow jersey, caught me just before this climb.  I crossed the line here in fourth place and sat waiting in what was left of the bunch for the final ascent.  There was a sprint not too far along from here, but I chose to save myself.  Just before the final climb, there was quite a steep climb where I just sat in, keeping a close eye on everyone, including the yellow jersey, who appeared to be getting fatigued.  Finally we arrived at the Moke Lake Road intersection where the final climb began with four steep switchbacks at the bottom (almost of Burma Rd gradient), which eased out a bit across the top to the line about 1.5km away up the side of the mountain behind Queenstown.  I made a final attack on the first switchback that nobody could match in the group and rode away from the yellow jersey to take the stage with a healthy gap (not knowing at this stage if I had done enough).  The B grade stage was again similar with Jason riding off the front and holding a 1m20s lead at one stage. He lead to take the stages KOM points and was caught by a chasing bunch on the stage’s Sprint Ace but still took 3^rd place points in that. The yellow jersey also fatigued badly from the chase, as did Jason from his time out front, but Jason climbed reasonably well and finished 5^th in the stage in B grade, 50 seconds behind the stage winner, and enough to pick up some GC prize money.

Later on, after trying some gold panning and visiting Coronet Peak and the Crown Range, we arrived at the prize giving to see a copy of the final GC results.  Well, I was quite shocked to say the least.  I won by only 8 seconds thanks to the yellow jersey finishing 51 seconds behind, and it was thanks to him not gaining any time bonuses on the last stage that I managed to do it.  I also got 4^th in the KOM thanks to my last stage win.  Jason was also pleased with his results, after struggling to hold off a cold throughout the tour.  He finished in 7^th place on GC @ 2 min 9 seconds behind a 2003 Tour of Wellington rider who took out the B grade tour.

After the celebrations from the previous night and having only one more day in Queenstown before I had to fly out, we checked out the Skyline Gondola and took some photos from the top of that world famous view of Queenstown and the Remarkables.  Tried that precarious luge and checked out most of downtown itself before saying bye to the Kelly’s who were driving back. 

A big thank you, especially to Brian for the moral support - and encouragement to find that gold nugget in the river, and Roxanne for being the team manager who gladly looked after our gear while Jason and I were racing.  Thanks also to everyone at The Hub who got my dura-ace sorted (it must have been the bike!) 

 
It would be great to have more Ramblers support down at the tour next year. It is a good challenging tour with very good scenic stages to match – hey it may be cold down there, but at least it didn’t snow this year!