Elina’s Coast to Coast race 2009

Last weekend we headed down to Kumara for the Coast to Coast race. This year I had a much better build up and was able to get back to full health after the stress of so much racing in the last half of the year – especially the Abu Dhabi race in mid December.

The day looked like being quite cold so I had extra gear on from the start and although it was a bit warm in the initial run it made for a much more pleasant first ride in the chilly morning. Unfortunately after the first run off the beach where I was feeling really good I had trouble locating my bike due to many people not following the numbering system. Gordon Blythen also had a similar problem and so I was able to draft off him and occasionally help him out as we tried to make it up to a faster bunch.

We both settled into the 2nd bunch where most of the top women were although Jill and Emily had managed to get into the first one giving them a 3 minute advantage going into the run. For my part I managed to stay very fresh in the bunch and arriving at the run TA was feeling comfortable and not unduly stressed about not being in the first bunch. After all it is a long day.

Shortly after the start of the run my problems for the day began for real. On crossing the first river I went into spasms of cramp in my hamstrings and was lucky a guy was there to catch me or I would have had an unplanned swim. He also dished out some cramp stop and helped me stretch out until I could begin hobbling off up the run course.

By now I could no longer see the group of girls I’d been with as I lost plenty of time and throughout the run up to Goat’s pass I had to be very aware of the impending cramps that threatened to take hold every time I had to climb up something.

At the top I had caught Jill Westenra and some of the other girls plus a large contingent of Nelson competitors. It was a bit shattering to hear someone say we were 20 minutes behind Emily and Fleur Pawsey...They have been flying I thought but at the same time I was still trying to keep my mind positive.

About an hour later coming out on the flats I passed a Swedish friend Johan who told me Emily was very close which I found hard to believe but soon I could make out her distinctive clothing but I had to balance the want for more speed with the knowledge that the extra effort would see the cramps return.

Arriving at the stock bank I was only 20 seconds back but the cramps had now returned with a vengeance and I struggled just to get over the stock bank and into the transition.

Worse was to follow as I couldn’t even bend down to undo my shoes and my support crew ended up having to lift me onto the bike while holding it and then they tried to stuff my feet into my cycling shoes. Finally after several minutes this was achieved but I nearly fell off straight away as I bent my legs to cycle they again instantly cramped.

I slowly eased into the ride and despite only being able to ride an easy gear I passed Fleur Pawsey just before the transition to go into second. Emily meanwhile had put 4 ½ minutes on me while I struggled with the cramps.

This TA was even worse as when I tried to get off the bike I completely locked up and ended up laying on the road unable to move my legs. Again my crew stuffed my feet into my shoes and then lifted me to standing and coaxed me down the hill to my kayak.

I was quite scared about what might happen to me if I was cramping like that and I ended up in a rapid but with a lift into the boat I managed to not cramp again until I was already paddling and then it was too late to turn around anyway.

I found by only using my toes to steer and by not using my legs to drive the stroke I was able to avoid too much discomfort and very quickly I re-passed Fleur who had got past me while I was lying on the road.

Shortly before the rock garden I thought I saw Emily heading to the right but I really wanted to keep left as that was the line I had checked out before the race.  And a while after one of the check points told me I was in the lead for the women. What a surprise that was and I thought they must have made a mistake but then at the start of the gorge Emily caught up to me with some angry energy going through her strokes. Well, interesting I thought and the rest of the paddle I could see her and we would both go through good and bad patches where one would pull away and then later get caught up.

I started to fade a bit in the final section from Woodstock, the extra effort from not being able to push with my legs probably a factor and Emily reached the TA with 2 minutes over me and 3 to Jill who had closed the gap in the final hour.

My transition was again hampered by cramps but it went a bit smoother. Jill passed me right at the bike but I was having enough problems trying to find the force to clip in to my pedals without cramping, let alone the legs to mount a serious challenge on the final section.

Once underway I found a rhythm I could keep and I just concentrated on staying in third. The traffic lights in town presented more problems with them all seemingly red when I arrived and the subsequent restarts sending fresh bouts of cramps through the legs.

The finish line was a relief, and I was happy to have made it through but already my mind was thinking towards next year. I thought we’d got the formula right this year but again it proved not to be the case. The next bit of time is going to be finding out why I had such severe cramps and curing them, and then we’ll see how things are shaping up.