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!!



The K4

27^th/28^th October 2006

Jason Kelly

This is a long story with a fairy tale type ending so it might as well start with a fairy tale start …….

A long, long time ago, well December 2005 actually, while in Waihi for the 130km Individual Time Trial, some “kind” person put a big orange flyer on my car about the K1/K2/K4 event with a big circle around the K4 event. Yeah right I thought. Who wants to ride through the night and into the next day for a distance of 384km? You would have to be mad!! Accordingly, the flyer lay buried on my desk for several months.

After some ill health in March / April of this year and after a myriad of medical tests, all that was concluded was that I had an extra large, but perfectly normal, heart with a correspondingly low resting heart rate (less than 40 bpm – the heart specialist decided to dispense with the standard treadmill test as he thought we would both just get bored doing it) and the illness had probably just been viral in nature. With that behind me, I decided I had better aim to complete a long term one off goal of the Taupo Super Enduro this year. As such, the K4 event with its length and timing would make an ideal training ride. Out came the bright orange flyer and the start of a little research into the event.

The K4 event consisted of two laps of a 192km course. Each lap contained around 2,300m of vertical climbing which is approximately the equivalent of six Te Mata Peak climbs. The race started at sea level in the township of Coromandel. It then traveled 53km to Thames with two major climbs on the way - the first climb is after 6km (Manaia Hill, 181 metres) and the second climb is the Kereta after 14km which reaches a height of 228 metres. After the Kereta Hill, the road hugs the coastline for 30kms all the way to Thames. From there, a steady rise up a hill starts about 10km into the stage after riders have turned left onto the Kopu-Hikuai Road. This is a 14km climb which reaches the highest point on the course at the top - 425 metres above sea level. A series of small up hill and down hill sections is followed by a gradual drop through farmland and along the Tairua River which takes the riders into Tairua. Straight after Tairua is the next major hill climb, Pumpkin Hill, which rises to 240 metres. A winding descent is followed by gentle undulating and winding roads all the way to Whitianga. From there is the toughest part of the course and, as such, provides the name for the race. It is named after the sleepy community of Kuaotunu on the wild east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula. In Maori “Kuao” means young animals while “Tunu” means to inspire with fear. This part starts with a cycle along the beach front and over a small hill to Simpson Beach. This is followed with a climb up the Kuaotunu Hill rising to 170m and back down again to sea level and the township of Kuaotunu. The ride continues on towards Coromandel with three shorter steep climbs before reaching the big one, the Whangapoua Hill – a hors category, 3.4km long hill with 480m of vertical climbing. From the top there is a steep downhill with a wicked hairpin bend at the bottom known as Devil’s Elbow (15km/h warning sign!) with the finish line on the straight just before reaching Coromandel Township. After having been around once, there is just one lap of 192km and the equivalent of another six Te Mata Peak climbs to go to complete the K4 …….

With the decision to enter made and the entry form posted off, several months of training followed. During this time I discovered that the trip meter on my speedo on my GT training bike resets after 10 hours and the altimeter resets after 3,000m of vertical climbing. I also obtained some useful endurance nutrition advice from Bridget Robertshaw while Rob Oliver, Dan Warren and Gavin Povey all graciously agreed to lend me their lights and batteries.

The big night came and we arrived at registration on the Friday evening in Coromandel where I had an inauspicious beginning – my race number was 911!! The first “emergency” was that I had no laminated name race plates that were given to all the other 23 registered K4 riders! When I returned later that evening at about 9.20pm with my support crew of my parents (Brian and Roxanne), my brother Richard and my nephew Daniel, we were greeted by “inspirational” music from one of the other riders’ vehicles – Knock Knock Knocking on Heavens Door. I wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad sign! However, I was given a “personalised” hand written name race plate so perhaps it was a good sign.

With the bike prepared, food and drinks loaded, green reflective vest on (which looks white like a ghost at night when lights are shone on it), I re-tested the lights. After a bit of a fiddle, all seemed to go o.k. so I turned them off to conserve battery power and lined up on the start line.

Some spectators had made a special trip out at night, in a balmy 14°C, to see the “nutters” start and after a few condolences from some of the spectators about the mental state of the riders, it was time for the race briefing. With this over, I turned my lights on, the start banner was lifted and we rolled across the start line. My front light immediately decided to stop working just as a rider attacked! Realising that stopping would cost me plenty of time, I continued to ride in the bunch while trying various options to make the light work again. It soon became apparent that it wouldn’t go but, with the other riders’ lights, the sliver of a moon and following cars, there was ample light for safety and visibility as long as I sat in the middle of the bunch.

Continuing on, we soon hit the first hill and a couple more riders disappeared up the road. I still couldn’t see my support crew so carried on in the bunch. The second hill was climbed and a possum decided to play with the front of the bunch on the descent. Luckily all survived to live another day. A few riders dropped off the pace up these hills before the remaining bunch starting cruising along the relatively flat sections of road.

Approaching the first street lights, I thought I could check my heart rate and speed. It was then that I realised I had forgotten to reset the speedo so it was not to be. It had also cooled down so my heart rate was not transmitting. A complete electronics failure!

After passing through Thames and turning onto the Kopu-Hikuai Road, the 14km climb began. One rider decided to go up the road for a comfort stop and other riders quickly started all diving into the bushes as well. This gave me the opportunity to drop back to my support crew and ask for a new light to be made available further up the hill. After having to sit up and wait for riders with lights, further up the hill my crew had stopped and I stopped to grab another light and battery. After a couple of minutes of fiddling in torch light against a pitch black background, all seemed o.k. and I had a front light! By this time, the bunch I had been with was up the road, still climbing the hill. This was at about the 65km mark and 12.33am!

The short rest and gradient of the hill suited me and I started off with avengeance after the bunch which had since split. The tail enders were soon caught, then the convoy of support vehicles, then more riders, then the front of the bunch. By then, I was in a good rhythm climbing the hill so just carried on off the front of the bunch. No one tried to come with me. My crew recorded the time as 12.42am.

At around 1am, I was still riding solo and was at about the 79km mark. Way in the distance in front of me, the tail lights of riders occasionally came into view. I guesstimated they had a gap of at least five minutes. At 1.38am I had completed the first 100km with the temperature having fallen to less than 8°C.

Carrying on at a modest tempo, I wondered if I would catch the riders in front of me or if those behind would catch me. The lights in front seemed to come closer on any rises but race away on the flats – the riders must be working together I thought. Soon after, riding down into one valley, the STI levers felt like ice and I was tempted to stop and get some winter gloves on. However, I wanted to catch the riders in front so pushed on.

Straight after Tairua, on the next major hill climb, Pumpkin Hill, I again settled into a good rhythm and started climbing. Coming around a corner, I was quite surprised to see three support vehicles and three cyclists only a few hundred metres in front of me! Carrying on, I quickly caught them and for a nano second wondered if I should sit and work with them. I decided “no” and rode straight past them on the outside as one rider exclaimed, “Who the hell was that guy??!!” Further on up the hill, I thought of events the previous morning when I had picked up Gavin’s (a.k.a. Lance Armstrong’s) light and battery from his workplace - the secretary had told me I must be Gavin’s brother. The answer to the exclamation must be that I was Lance’s brother! I didn’t see the colony of wild roosters and promised amazing views down on to The Sailors Grave from the top as I was too busy pedaling and it was pitch black.

Meanwhile, as it was 1.55am and 107km into the race, my support crew was hoping I would join the bunch so they could stop briefly. They were then stunned as I “ghosted” up the road and appeared to float straight through the leading riders like an apparition in the night. One rider apparently stood to chase me but flagged this as quickly as he started. My crew was then let past the other support vehicles and we all carried on into the darkness.

From there to the finish line was all solo riding out the front of the race. A further stop for another light change as the battery expired was my only other stop on the first lap. Climbing the hors category Whangapoua Hill in the dark was quite good – the rising road and top can’t be seen so I just settled into a rhythm and climbed up. By the top, I could still feel that it had taken more edge off my legs though!  I was later told I had a lead of around 8 minutes at the end of the first lap which I had completed in 6hrs 49m.

The dawn was a disappointment as the sun rose behind the hills into a grey, overcast morning. Luckily, all the rain showers passed in front of me but the first two downhills were on very wet roads with the front tyre pumping water off the road in bucket loads. The day cleared up nicely as it progressed and the roads soon dried.

Riding towards Thames saw the first major traffic as riders for the K2 started to drive towards Coromandel for their start. I’m not sure if the constant horn honking was a sign of encouragement or otherwise! Just out of Thames, my crew told me they thought I might have a shadow of chasing riders behind me. I told them there was not much I could do about it except keep riding at my own pace. So I carried on around the course with the knowledge of plenty of hill climbing to come.

After more kilometres and the temperature gradually climbing to 18°C, I reached the bottom of the Whangapoua Hill with less than 10km to go but with the first 3.4km steeply upwards. Climbing up, my crew decided to wait for me at the top so I told them I would be at least 20 minutes! After around 22 minutes I hit the summit with no riders in sight behind me and only a fast downhill to the finish line. I raced down the hill around 25km/h signposted corners with the last one signposted at 15km/h before exiting the hill with the finish line in sight. With only my crew chasing me, I crossed the finish line after 14hrs 21m 14s.

I turned around and rode back to have a bit of chat with the officials on the finish line. It turned out I had to bike further down the road and around the corner to the prize giving area to hand in the transponder. It was announced after about 20 minutes that the second K4 rider had crossed the finish line. I waited a while but no one else appeared so we headed back to the motel for a shower, lunch and a rest.

Returning later for prize giving, they announced the times with the second place rider actually 1hr 23m 11s in arrears. It sounded unbelievable to me! While all other event winners i.e. of the Half K (50km), K1 (100km) and K2 (192km) received a trophy and cycling jersey for their efforts, my prize was a women’s specific fit camelbak! Later, they called for “Justin”, the K4 winner, to come back for his winner’s jersey. However, when I got there, they said well actually, we haven’t got one for you but we’ll get you one. This arrived a few weeks later. So, endurance riding does not lead to insanity – just gender and name changes!!

The top ten results from the 2006 K4, 384km race were:

1^st Jason Kelly, Hastings, 14hrs 21m 14s 

2^nd Sean Wright, Auckland, 15hrs 44m 25s 
3^rd Alastair Borwick, Auckland, 15hrs 46m 42s 
4^th Justin Price, Hamilton, 15hrs 53m 53s 
5^th Lorien Hicksen, Whakatane, 16hrs 11m 39s
6^th “Crunchie” Donaldson, 16hrs 25m 27s 
7^th Colin (Wal) Anderson, Manawatu, 16hrs 25m 28s 
8^th John Woodward, Eltham, 16hrs 33m 03s 
9^th Mark Longstaff, Papakura, 16hrs 49m 25s 
10^th Peter Elbourn, Auckland, 17hrs 42m 58s

Later that evening while in the local supermarket buying food, my brother mentioned to the checkout operator that I had won the K4. The small town nature of Coromandel showed with literally the whole store stopping, staring and listening. Being world famous in Coromandel for 30 seconds was the reward for the ride!!

The following day on the way home, Colin (Wal) Anderson, one of the gurus of endurance riding in New Zealand, met up with us. He said he was quite surprised at the number of entries in the K4 as when he and “Crunchie” Donaldson had suggested to the organisers that the K4 be held as a K2 5^th anniversary special event, they thought about 7-10 riders would front up. The 24 registered starters lead him to wonder where they had all come from and if they knew what they were letting themselves in for. They do now and it is certainly no walk in the park or fairy tale!!

Taupo – Napier Cycle Classic Race

Saturday 23 September 2006

Rich in history, this legendary race has been held intermittently since at least 1971. The roll of winners includes many illustrious names from New Zealand cycling history including V J Hanaray, Jack Swart, Stephen Cox and Dave Mann. This race was last held in 2002 after which traffic management concerns saw the race missing from the calendar for the last few years.

The resurrection of this year’s event was largely due to Ivan Aplin, who was the event manager and is also Chairman of the Ramblers Cycling Club of Hawkes Bay, who worked in conjunction with the Taupo Cycling Club. Excellent support was provided by the sponsors, Cranked Cycles and the Bluewater Hotel, and also by the police, who supplied four motorcycle marshals and other personnel. A large team of Ramblers’ members provided the marshalling and traffic management support which meant the day was a great success.

This event has been billed as the most gruelling one day open cycle race in New Zealand. For anyone who has driven the Taupo – Napier road, the reasons for this are evident with the road always rising or falling with major climbs to the Summit and out of the Mohaka Valley (Titiokura.) With this year’s course finishing on the flat in Pandora in Napier rather than including the challenging Seafield Road climbs in the closing kilometres, some of the legendary sting was removed from the tail of the race.  

This year’s race saw 53 riders start the 136km event in two grades with the B grade, containing the Vets and Women, starting 20 minutes ahead of the A grade with the expectation that they would be caught and passed during the race. With light to medium westerly winds in Taupo and a sea breeze in Hawkes Bay, the riders only gained limited assistance in the brilliantly fine and mild conditions.

After riding from the Lake Taupo waterfront for a controlled start to the beginning of State Highway 5, the B grade bunch was quickly whittled down in size with Ramblers Darryl Strachan and Jason Kelly doing much of the early work on the front of the race. With fellow Ramblers Kerry Harford and Patrick Kelly also in the lead bunch, which numbered just seven riders after several kilometres, a home victory seemed a good probability. Given the hilly nature of the course and the wide range of riders who entered the event, the remaining bunches soon splintered into small groups and solo riders.

By the top of the Summit climb, only five B grade riders remained together at the front with the four Ramblers joining Jason White of Waikato over the top of the climb. Despite White’s impressive hill climbing ability, this bunch was still together at the end of the climbing. The leading three A graders caught this bunch in the closing 15 kilometres while passing through Eskdale.

The A grade field rode a solid tempo from the start, averaging approximately 38km/h for the first few largely uphill kilometres out of Taupo before picking up the pace across the Rangitaiki Plains. This solid pace saw the first rider lose touch with the peleton inside 10 kilometres and the tail end B graders passed after 44 kilometres. Into the major hill climbs, the front bunch also soon split into small groups with a lead bunch of three riders consisting of Hawkes Bay professional Jeremy Vennell, Aaron Strong (Auckland) and Michael Torckler (Taranaki) establishing the winning break climbing out of the Mohaka Valley. This leading trio was recorded at hair raising speeds of 90-100km/h down the Titiokura hill.

With the leading A grade trio working together and towing the bunch of five B graders through the closing kilometres, this gave the B graders a chance to rest their legs. Vennell launched an attack inside the last 3 kilometres but his fellow A graders soon chased him down in a somewhat chaotic chase through a corner and roadworks. This surge saw Patrick Kelly drift off the back of the bunch after suffering cramp. With just over a kilometre to go and despite the police escort of the cyclists, a vehicle still almost managed to knock Vennell off his bike.

Once into the final kilometre, the sprinters positioned themselves for what turned out to be a long sprint to the line. With well known sprint exponent, B grade’s Harford, drawing on all of his experience in top racing to take the sprint and with it, the Taupo - Napier trophy, a fast finishing Strong had to settle for second overall, as he did in 2002. Torckler finished in third place while Strachan was the second B grader home with White third and Jason Kelly, also in a repeat of his 2002 result, finishing fourth. Vennell, only have just returned from another professional season in Europe, finished third in A grade.

Sonia Foote was the first woman home, 24m 56s adrift of the overall B grade winner and just 54s ahead of the second placed woman Mirjan Besamusca. Shem Rodger was the first Under 19 rider to finish and completed the race in fourth place in the A grade, just 3m 45s behind the A grade winner.

Despite the large amount of hill climbing, the top three A grade finishers recorded a time of 3hrs 21m 56s to average over 40km/h – an impressive feat on a demanding course. The last A grader finished just over an hour slower while in an unusual result, every single B grade starter completed the event with the final rider completing the course in just under five hours.

With the event organiser delighted with the response to the event, which was only put together at relatively short notice, it looks like finding its way back on to the national calendar as a major annual event.

The top ten finishers in each grade were:

A Grade Open: Aaron Strong 3.21.56 1; Michael Torckler @ st 2; Jeremy Vennell @ st 3; Shem Rodger (U19) @ 0.03.45 4; Mathew Gorter @ 0.03.45 5th, Mark Langlands @ 0.03.45 6; Josh Page @ 0.04.12 7; Sam Horn @ 0.04.34 8; Josh Brannigan @ 0.07.45 9; Craig Lawn @ 0.08.37 10.

B Grade (including Vets & Women): Kerry Harford 3.41.56 1st and 1st overall, Darryl Strachan @ st 2; Jason White @ st 3; Jason Kelly @ st 4; Patrick Kelly @ 0.00.34 5; Wayne McConachy (Snr) @ 0.08.08 6; Ross Douglas @ 0.10.31 7; Andrew Bryant @ 0.17.23 8; Nathan Bunn (U19) 0.17.23 9; Robert Taylor @ 0.21.03 10.

Gold in Waihi

Waihi Midsummer Madness – 130km hilly Individual Time Trial

18^th December 2005

Jason Kelly

This event is advertised as New Zealand’s toughest individual time trial and with the course being just under 130km of undulating country that starts in Waihi and passes through Whangamata – Hikuai – Kopu and Paeroa before finishing back in Waihi it certainly lives up to its reputation. The stated rewards of entering are good company, with no wimps or posers, the opportunity to pass through some magnificent scenery and to pit your strength against some vicious stretches of gravity (also known as hills and plenty of them.) In the past, this event had been organised and run by Bevan Jones who unfortunately was killed in Africa earlier in 2005.

 After a bronze medal in this event in 2004 and a bronze medal in the Vet 1 category of the 2005 National Individual Time Trial (and just fourteen seconds off gold!), this event beckoned to me as a challenge. After several weeks of training, targeting time trialing, I seemed to be on course with a solid Thursday evening Dump Block time trial the week of the event.

Driving to Waihi on the Saturday afternoon in torrential rain and cold weather made me wonder why I had ever thought this event was a good idea. However, the weather cleared that evening and warmed up a little. By start time on Sunday morning, over 80 riders started at one minute intervals in numerical order in near perfect conditions – fine, mild and with little wind.

Starting at number 30 at 9am, I quickly tried to establish a good rhythm and settle into the ride. The course starts on a slight false flat and has no real flat pieces in it. After a few minutes I caught and passed rider number 29 and soon after that was suffering up a small climb. I decided I had better ease back as there was still a long way and plenty of climbing to go! Carrying on, I was initially passing a rider about every five minutes and was mentally ticking them off one by one.

The first major descent is quite windy and tight in places with plenty of speed warning signs – 45km/h was a common suggested speed and quite rightly so in places. Luckily traffic was fairly light on this piece of road.

The major climb, which is about 6km in length, is approximately at the midway point of the ride and I spun up this in my 39:21 (first gear) and managed to pass a few more riders. These turned out to be the last riders I would see all day while racing. Crossing the summit, the elapsed time was just over 2 hours with about 60km left to the finish line. The next few kilometres were fast and easy as they were downhill. After that, the false flats and small rises seemed to get bigger and harder!

It seemed to take forever to get back to Pareoa as I waited in vain for a tail wind kick to help me along. Eventually I made it to the finish line in Waihi and my brother Patrick, who was my support crew for the event, gave me good news and bad news – the good news was that I was the fastest finisher so far (in 3hrs 32m 13s) and the bad news was that I was fourteen seconds off the official course record! A story floating around was that the unofficial record is even faster at around 3hrs 26m but the rider was a late entrant so Bevan Jones refused to recognise the effort!  Riders continued to finish over the next couple of hours but my time remained the fastest of the day.

The event attracts many Masters age group riders with the oldest riders being in the H grade (70 years old plus). A Masters Average Standard Time (MAST) is calculated for each rider based on their age, e.g. mine was 4hrs 15m, with a prize for the rider who beats their MAST by the largest amount. This favours older riders with the winner of this category being a G grader (65-69 year old) who recorded 4hrs 05m and beat their MAST by 1hr 23m!

At the prize giving, I collected two gold medals – one for fastest time overall and one for first place in the Masters A grade (35-39 year olds) along with the Challenge Trophy and a Waihi Gold cycling shirt.

The top five finishers in 2005 were:

1^st Jason Kelly 3:32:13
2^nd Dave Mann 3:34:52
3^rd Paul Westwood 3:41:02
4^th Jeff Lyall 3:46:33
5^th Wayne Mason 3:47:14

A target time of 3hrs 25m to ensure the record is beaten sounds like a challenging 2006 target!

 

France 2005

Top of Col du Tourmalet

Top of Col du Tourmalet

Simpson Memorial Mt Ventoux 

Top of Mt Ventoux  

10th Annual Cromwell - Queenstown Easter Cycling Tour

Friday 25^th March - Monday 28th March 2005

Jason Kelly

This year saw the 10^th annual running of this event since it was resurrected in 1996. The course returned to that used in 2003 and was all in the Cromwell – Queenstown area. This year, other than myself, the only other Rambler to travel down south was Gavin Povey. While Gavin flew to Christchurch to travel on with former Rambler and last year’s B grade winner, George Masters, I made my way down by car with my parents, Gavin’s bike and plenty of extra bike bits. George elected to compete in A grade while both Gavin and I raced in B grade. As my form and training had been very poor to non-existent in the two weeks leading up to the event, I thought even B grade might have been a bit taxing for me.

At the Friday afternoon pre-race briefing, the starting roster handed out for B grade was one of the thinnest to date with just 14 riders registered. However, as is typical, two late entries boosted the numbers and had major effects on the race outcome.

Friday 25^th March

Prologue – 5.4km Individual Time Trial – Cromwell - Bannockburn
I read somewhere once to always be wary of short prologues as they tend to include some hard climbing. This prologue was no exception. Having ridden this course previously in 2003, I knew what to expect and hoped to put in a practice ride in the morning. However, constant drizzle and cool weather meant this did not happen. By the time racing started late in the afternoon, the sky had mostly cleared and the temperature risen to be very temperate for the area with no polyprop required for extra warmth. Gavin and I cruised out and back along the course to re-acquaint ourselves with its initial gentle rolling nature which finishes with a short sharp descent followed by a sharper and longer climb to Bannockburn.

With riders starting in reverse number order, I started one minute behind Gavin. The person holding me at the start kept putting me on a bit of a lean and did not let the bike go until well past the countdown had passed zero. Finally underway, I tried to settle into a solid rhythm and see Gavin up the road. With the memories of 2003 still fresh when Gavin, who rode C grade that year, beat me in this stage, I wanted to see some personal improvement. After only ever seeing Gavin way in the distance once and crawling up the final hill in first gear, I thought I would have a fairly poor time but was happy to see that I had at least beaten my 2003 time.

            
As it turned out, I beat Gavin by three seconds, with my time of 8m 22s earning me 3^rd place and the position of the default KOM (King of the Mountains) jersey holder. Neil Gellatly, a late entry, professional athlete and well known adventure racer, took the yellow jersey in a time of 8m 08s. This left Gavin and I just 17s and 14s respectively away from yellow with all riders within 50s of yellow. The top C grade rider recorded a time faster than all B graders and would have in fact finished 5^th in A grade.

Saturday 26^th March 2005

Stage 1 – Cromwell – Lake Dunstan Circuit – 88km

Sporadic drizzle and a cold south easterly wind were the main early features of this stage. With an early tail wind, the pace was fast with a number of riders attempting unsuccessfully to break away. However, once past the half way mark and back into the wind, a solo rider went up the road. As is typical in this event, the bunch just sat and watched him ride ever further away. Gavin came up to me and asked if I wanted to try and jump across the gap. Looking up the road, the gap looked to be at least 30 seconds and growing. Combining this with the racing still to come and the fact that a B grade rider who is a doctor was going to be awarded bunch time anyway as he had gone back to help with a nasty C grade crash at the intermediate sprint, I told Gavin I didn’t think the required effort was really worth it. Just as I finished saying this, the bunch pace eased and the road opened in front of me with an identified “non-chasing” rider on the front. With the opportunity presented, I attacked off the front into the gutter with my eyes set on the rider up the road. As my legs started to fade, I pulled over and Gavin came through. Looking behind, we had dropped the bunch so started to work together in pursuit of the yellow jersey.

It soon became apparent that we were holding to only slowly catching the stage leader on the flat to downhill sections of the road but quickly closing the gap on rising road. After several kilometres, we finally caught him and again looking behind, we saw we had a workable lead over the bunch. With three of us now working, we kept up a solid pace but were, a little surprisingly, caught by the bunch. Once caught, the bunch pace slowed and I sat on the front at a Sunday ride pace back into wind with a bunch sprint deciding the stage.

After our breakaway effort, we had gained no time but had not lost any either. Post race discussion observed that the yellow jersey holder did little chasing with the bunch led by current Vet 1 4000m champion and former international cyclist Jerard Stock and local Christchurch rider Darron Burns. Darron had indicated he would help us as he only wanted KOM.

Stage 2 – Cromwell Criterium – 30 minutes

The C grade crash in the morning stage caused a re-jig of the criterium starting and racing times while various C graders and their bikes were attended to. Our race was re-scheduled to start first and reduced to 30 minutes plus three laps in duration. The wind had strengthened a little and it remained cool but the road remained dry. To add a bit more excitement, two large vehicles were parked on the course despite the best efforts of the organiser to keep the circuit clear. One was moved during the warm up and the second one late in the race.

After a hard and fast start for the early few laps, while Gavin was up the front having fun, I found myself and a few others off the back of the bunch after a rider in front of me gave up and dropped the wheel. With the group we had, I thought it should have been relatively easy to rejoin the bunch. Unfortunately, no one else wanted to chase and it took a solo effort of several laps for me to get back on. It turned out that no one else managed to get across with a number of riders losing a lap so the effort was worth it.

The morning stage efforts started to kick in and the bunch pace slowed as the stage progressed. With three laps to go, I was warmed up and attacked off the front. With the short distance of the course (just over 500m per lap), I was unable to gain any advantage and the inevitable sprint finish saw another bunch finish for both Gavin and myself. An average speed of just over 37km/h was similar to last year but considerably slower than previous years, especially when compared to the first year when Olympic gold medalist Sarah Ulmer was racing and we averaged around 40km/h.

Sunday 27^th March 2005

Stage 3 – Remarkables Ski Field to Athol – 65km

After early morning fog and low cloud cleared, the day turned out to be sunny and mild. With an afternoon ITT to race and the following day’s two very hilly stages, Gavin and I decided to take it easy in the bunch. With this being traditionally a fast stage, I started from the front in case any riders tried to attack early. This resulted in me having a dress rehearsal for the ITT as riders sat on my wheel for about 10-12km as I spun comfortably along up false flats. As we turned a corner with a slight tail wind push, I changed into a big gear and drove it up a climb at over 40km/h but still failed to split the bunch.

The balance of the stage was fairly tame with a few attempts at breaks and some high speeds on downhill sections. No rider was dropped and another bunch sprint eventuated with Gavin taking fifth place.

Stage 4 – Athol to Garston – Individual Time Trial (ITT) – 11.4km

With the even racing to date, this stage looked to be a potentially decisive one. When this stage was held in 2003, I averaged 42.8km/h and still finished well down the field and over a minute behind the leading C graders! As such, while I had some positive anticipation of this stage, I also shared some of Gavin’s trepidation.

Starting into a head wind in reverse GC (overall time) order, I was on the road two minutes after Gavin and two minutes in front of the yellow jersey. My start was much better than for the prologue but after about 4 or 5km, my legs started to protest at the pace. Glancing at my speedo, I thought I was in real trouble as I was only pushing 36 to 37km/h. Looking up the road, I could see my minute man far in the distance. Digging it in, I pushed on, hoping for a downhill and tailwind that never came. At about the 8km mark, I thought I could see two riders up the road but thought I must have been dreaming. Closer to the finish line, I saw one rider pass another rider and I wondered if one of the riders’ I could see was Gavin. As I closed in on the finish line, I saw that it was Gavin and I passed him just after the finish line, having pulled almost two minutes on him despite me only averaging 37km/h.

Turning around, I started the count for the next rider. He was well over a minute behind me and so out of second place on GC. Awaiting the yellow jersey, he was in sight within the two minutes and I started counting once two minutes had elapsed. I reached 10 before he crossed the finish line and the official stage results showed I had won the stage by 10 seconds over the yellow jersey. This left me in 2^nd place overall, just six seconds off yellow! Gavin slipped from 5^th place with his GC aspirations all but gone but was still in the money if he could hold his overall place.

Monday 28^th March 2005

Stage 5 – Queenstown to Glenorchy – 44.5km

The predicted constant heavy rain thankfully failed to eventuate although a head wind added to the challenge of the constant hill climbing. With Gavin now over two minutes down on GC, he decided to target a stage win. However, the yellow jersey holder easily chased down any attack. The result was another bunch finish. This stage finishes after a sharp downhill and is always fast in the last few kilometres. As I was lining up the sprint from the back of the bunch, I looked up the road to see a walker directly in my intended line. Not wanting a collision at 50/60km/h plus, I switched my attention to the yellow jersey holder. Easily holding his wheel, I found myself boxed in with a few hundred metres to go and had to settle for fifth place in the stage. Gavin found himself better positioned and just missed on his goal by finishing second in the stage.

Stage 6 – Glenorchy to Queenstown finishing up Moke Lake Road – 41km

After all the previous riding, it came down to the fact that I needed to win this stage by a handful of seconds to secure the tour victory. With the wind at our backs, the bunch started slowly but at the top of the first climb, another rider and I had a small gap on the bunch. Picking the speed up to around 50km/h, I drove the pace for several kilometres but it was again to no avail. The yellow jersey and bunch were still glued to my back wheel. I eased up to rest in the bunch as the best chances to take any time would be on the main hills.

As it turned out, on the mid stage KOM hill, the yellow jersey holder and another rider simply rode away. The current KOM jersey holder (Darron Burns) and the rest of the bunch were left in their wake. Once at the top of this climb, the two leaders started to work together and ride away. The rest of the bunch was split but we managed to quickly get a chase together which Darron and I led. After some hard work, we caught the front two and then continued to push the pace so following riders could not catch us. Gavin found himself further back and then had trouble with his gears and despite his best efforts, was unable to catch us.

Heading into the final two climbs, there were six riders in the front bunch. My only chance of victory appeared to be to try and make the yellow jersey holder crack. Accordingly, I went to the front of the bunch and climbed at a solid tempo. Two riders dropped off up the first climb before we turned into the notorious Lake Moke Road climb. I started this climb in first gear and my legs still protested at the pace and gradient. Despite a good tempo, the limpet mines remained on my wheel. In the final few hundred metres, as the gradient eased, I flicked back into the big ring to try and gain some time but was outclassed and finished third for the stage. Gavin finished almost 4m 30s later after being unable to use his first gear and slipped out of overall prize money.

After four days of riding, the final results were:
Jason Kelly,        08hrs 12m 04 at 15s, 2nd
Gavin Povey,      08hrs 18m 24s at 06m 35s, 10th

Although the prize money is not the best in the world, there are plenty of spot prizes – Gavin won a Fly by Wire experience – and with daily prize givings on sponsors’ premises, plenty of opportunity to socialise with fellow riders.

The Taupo 500

26th-28th November 2004

Jason Kelly

Despite achieving the record relay time and being the first relay team home in 2003, over zealous officials had spoilt the event for me with unwarranted harassment of myself and my nephew. This, along with the most incompetent prize giving ever attended and the subsequent event decision to deliberately mis-record history in the results book by putting our relay team in second place behind a team never sighted on the road, made the event memorable for all the wrong reasons. With the bad memory of 2003 still fresh in my mind, the decision not to enter in 2004 was an easy one, especially once my brother, Patrick, had decided to complete the enduro and I volunteered to act as support for him.

With the December 130km Waihi “hilly” individual time trial with a reported 6km long plus hill, the January “Tour de Vineyards” and the infamous Takaka Hill being included at the end of the 130km third stage in that event and the Quality Autos Open with the third stage Te Mata Peak climb all looming, I felt a few good solid base kilometres were in order. So I set my own challenge - Friday - home to Taupo (165km), Saturday - one lap of Lake Taupo (160km) and Sunday - Taupo to home (165km) plus a few kilometres in between and so the Taupo 500km weekend was born.

The weather on the Friday was not particularly good - cold, showery and with a gusty south westerly. A pre-ride check found the back tyre of my GT training bike was flat so a change was required. Setting out in the required full winter gear, I made it about 10km into Flaxmere when the stem snapped and I ended up lying in the road next to a car and just in front of a bus. Luckily I was slowing down for the roundabout! A swollen wrist, bruises and scratches were the only physical damage. A quick phone call to Dad to give me a lift and the GT was taken to The Hub for some repairs.

Getting home, I rearranged the available bike wheels as Patrick was borrowing the set from my Litespeed for the Enduro. I soon set off again for Taupo on the Litespeed and made it successfully through the Flaxmere roundabout and out into the Taupo hills. On the first major climb, my foot came out of the pedal and I jammed it back in only for it to come out again. Spinning faster made it stay in! Reaching the top of a hill I stopped and looked to see one of the cleat screws had fallen out. There was only one way to go and that was to carry on ......

The wind was strong and gusty with a somewhat random direction. With only a few brief bursts of genuine tailwind, I carried on into Taupo. Other than crossing through a brief hail storm in the last 40km, the balance of the trip was uneventful. For the second attempt, I had spent 5hrs 47m on the bike and covered 167.8km from home to the motel. Stage 1 was complete.

Arising at 12.20am on Saturday morning, the sky was clear and the moon was bright. No rain and not much wind either at that time! The car thermometer read 8°C at the 1.30am start. Patrick headed off into the dark and I soon joined the convoy of support vehicles. The first riders were passed within 2km of the start line while the leaders twinkled like Christmas lights all up the road.

Night dreaming in the convoy, the cellphone suddenly rang and Patrick said he had broken a spoke. One of mine! Rushing up the convoy, I spotted him on the road side, which is no mean feat in the dark, and grabbed a replacement wheel for him. After managing to jamb his fingers in the car door, Patrick was away again and chasing the leading bunch. With him safely back in the bunch, I tried to move up the convoy to try and keep an eye on him but that was impossible - they all look the same from the back!

The outside temperature quickly dropped to 3°C and hit a recorded low of 0°C. I stopped for breakfast at 4.20am at a rest stop just as a super enduro rider came past with his support crew. They were encouraging him to continue as he had completed 250km and only had 250km to go!

The climb up Hatepe hill on the first lap was easy - the car just cruised up! I stopped near the top to see if Patrick needed any food or drink and stepped out into a frost. It was cold outside! Over the top of the hill, just three enduro riders were left out in front.

Closer to Taupo, I headed back to the motel to drop the car off and get on my bike to ride the 2nd lap with Patrick. He soon came along and I joined in the back of the remaining bunch of three riders. Passing through Taupo was a nightmare. The enduros' had to ride via Redoubt Street but, with the cars and cyclists taking no notice of traffic, this was simply crazy and dangerous. One of the enduro riders didn’t take this turn and another pulled out at the top of the control gates hill. This left just Patrick in front.

The roads were clear with little traffic as we started the second lap. With the Elite Race starting soon after we passed through Taupo, we hoped they didn’t catch us. The lead vehicle passed us just before they turned off so we never saw them. The wind began to pick up as we continued on our own. It was certainly a long way to the 80km mark!

With the wind in our faces, we hoped the solo riders would catch us to give us some respite. At about the 100km mark, they finally caught us. However, the bunch was large and unwieldy with chaotic riding - especially on the back. The number of drink bottles dropped and near crashes had to be seen to be believed. One rider rode straight into me and sent me sideways. Both Patrick and I thought I would be talking to the road again but somehow (from too many crashes perhaps?) I managed to stay upright. After a few punishing bunch surges, the pace settled down and we settled into the back with a tailwind on the homeward stretch.

We stayed with the bunch until Hatepe when they started to climb away. I cruised up to try and phone Patrick’s wife to tell her we weren’t far away. From the first lap I knew there was no cellphone coverage until the very top of the hill. Passing riders and then pulling off at the top to try and phone proved impossible - I couldn’t find the cellphone though it had been ringing just previously! Patrick soon went past so I pushed all the stuff back into my pockets and chased after him. We managed to get a small group together for the last few kilometres into Taupo.

With Patrick safely home and potentially in first place (we couldn’t see if any other enduro riders were part of the large front bunch), I headed off back into the wind to see where Mum and Dad were on their tandem. Looking at the time, the wind and listening to my legs, I soon abandoned that idea and drove out in the car! But, stage 2 was completed - 5hrs 33m for 165.5km on the road.

Heading home on Sunday morning was the final stage. I set off under cloudy skies with rain showers in front of me. Again the wind was variable with the odd tail push but mostly cross or head wind. The front wheel started making some funny noises and on closer investigation, it turned out the brakes were rubbing. I soon loosened those which made the next downhill a bit more exciting that I had envisaged!

I managed to miss all the showers and after climbing over the summit, was into the Hawkes Bay sun, almost warmth, headwind (what else?) and home. With about 10km to home, I stood up to pass a slow tractor to hear a painful “crack!” The bike stayed upright so I guessed it wasn’t the stem, handlebars (been there, done those), frame (done that twice on the GT) or the wheels (not a spoke!). Sitting down I found was uncomfortable so I rightfully concluded a seat rail had snapped (again.)

After a few more kilometres to enjoy the sunshine and warmth, despite the discomfort, I reached home having completed 173.4km in 6hrs 31m. The Taupo 500 was complete.

After the “near death” stem break and other damage (my front wheel also needed the bearings replaced and Patrick discovered his replacement wheel had cracks in the rim!), was it all worth while? Well, I didn’t have to attend yet another poorly executed and strung out Taupo prize giving and I did get some good base kilometres in with a few gentle hill climbs on the way................ And the race results? 3^rd senior and 3^rd overall in the Waihi time trial in 3hrs 44m 57s, 6^th up Takaka Hill and 6^th in GC in race 2 (Vet 1 & 2) in the Tour de Vineyards and 3^rd on GC and 1^st vet in the Quality Autos Open.