Rich’s blog

Coast to Coast 2012

Wed, 7 Mar 2012 06:14:19 +1300

It is always a rather nervous time heading into Coast to Coast, reports abound in the media of just how great everyone else is going and often about how much better other peoples chances of winning should be.
For Elina and I this year we’d had the luxury of no race in Abu Dhabi before hand so a few extra weeks in which to refresh and start a proper build up

The start of the race is always chaos starting in the dark on Kumara beach and right from the gun the pace was on. Braden Currie pushed the pace and instead of the usual line of competitors for the first time we actually ended up with a small break on the run.
After a hurried transition onto the bike we set off at top speed. We had a small group of 6 athletes formed already and Dougal Allen was especially keen to push on as James Coubrough was missing from the 6 despite being one of the first to the bikes. He’d also made it clear he wanted to try and take the sting out of the quicker runners legs and despite some of those runners forming part of our pack everyone was happy enough to roll through at a good tempo.
About half way through the ride our 6 became 4 and the pace backed off a little with less legs to help at the front.
Still given the light headwind blowing we had still made excellent time by the first transition and the first defining leg of the race began.

Braden Currie was quickly into his stride and started putting some time into us immediately but I was relieved to see the gap was opening relatively slowly. I had company in the chasers spot with Jeremy McKenzie and Dougal Allan seemingly glued to my heels, so much so that when I tripped and fell one time they literally tripped over me.
We could still see Braden whenever we had a good line of sight and at Big Boulders it was still less than 3 minutes. James Coubrough had now joined our chase group and was looking super fresh despite having caught up nearly 4 minutes in the first hour. I was feeling really comfortable and with Braden’s gap now seeming to stabilize I was happy to keep the same pace and let the other dictate if they wanted to go faster.
Just before the top of Goat Pass I suddenly noticed that James and I had gapped the other two and shortly after I let James go up the steeper section towards the hut.
It was nice to be finally running by myself, and the rhythm seemed to come a bit easier, I could see James as we headed down around 30-40 seconds ahead and I was also still catching glimpses of Braden so I felt like things were reasonably under control. Prior to the race I’d had expectations that I could be giving up as much as 10 minutes on the run and that was looking unlikely with less than an hour to go.
I actually caught up to James again on the downhill from Dudley’s knob and we ran together for a while before I decided he was going just a half step faster than I wanted to and let him gradually pull away again.

It is always nice to finish the run and get on the bike, or maybe it’s just the extra food you can stock up on in transition. My support crew bundled me through and onto the bike where I set off after the front two.
I was feeling good and moved back past James halfway through. There was still a chilly headwind blowing but at least it was warmer than the top of the run. It was already becoming clear that we would be battling the wind for the entire paddle.

Running down to the kayak I saw Braden paddle off as I was crossing the bridge and a couple of minutes later I was off in pursuit. For some reason my drink system wasn’t working, the result of a leak or poor connection maybe but to get any drink I had to suck as hard as possible and take in a few drops as I was mainly just sucking air. I also managed to take the worst line possible at one split and when the river came back together 5 minutes later I had James right back on my tail.
I had almost lost sight of Braden as well and a small amount of nervousness set in while I tried to keep James behind and catch back up to Braden. They were both going well and it wasn’t until the Gorge that I finally caught up to Braden and almost simultaneously started to put more of a gap on James. I had a quick chat with Braden and then set off to try and eke out some time on them both by the end of the paddle.
By the time I reached Woodstock I couldn’t see anyone behind on the longer straights and I was ready to start winding it up over the last hour. There were a few two-day competitors in some strange places on the river but they all seemed in good spirits as they closed in on Gorge Bridge.

It is always a great reception for the athletes as you finish the kayak section. My crew hauled me out of the kayak and I tried to do my best running on the spot impression as we made our way up the hill to the waiting bike and the last section of the race. It sounded cold in Christchurch so a few extra layers went on as well as a bit more food before it was off for the final 70km.

We still had a headwind, not super strong but enough to make sure it always felt like riding up a false flat. I eased into the ride and focused on staying smooth and keeping the cadence up, plus a little in the tank incase I ended up with company from behind. The kilometers were ticking over though and averaging 40kph I felt it would be hard fro the chasers to put any serious time into me.
By the outskirts of Christchurch there were a lot of people out supporting the race and the numbers only grew as we headed through the city – I think it was possibly the most I’ve seen out cheering the race on ever and was a huge lift every time I passed by a group.
I still had no idea what was going on behind me and so had to keep the pace high and hope that I was still making some time. It is definitely a cool feeling whizzing through Christchurch with a little police escort but I always feel a few nerves inside the last 20 kilometers when I’m always hoping I won’t suffer a flat tire or any sort of mechanical.
By the causeway the road was deteriorating somewhat and I had to be extra vigilant to not hit any slumps in the road or obstacles, definitely not the most comfortable ride on a TT bike but I also knew I could ride on the rim if I needed from 3km out so the realization a 5th win was close was starting to sink in. I was able to relax and enjoy the final couple of kilometers and it was just as magic a feeling running up the sand to cross the line as the previous 4.

Behind me there had been some big changes on the final ride with Dougal storming through from 4th to 2nd with his customary huge final ride with Braden grabbing 3rd from James.
It was great to see the young guys really have a crack this year, it definitely made for an interesting race and one that I’ll remember for being one of the more tactical that I have done.

Apparently as I was finishing Elina was just finishing the kayak and learnt that I’d got the win, she was having her own stellar day and had opened up a lead approaching 25 min by the end of the kayak.
It was till quite a nervous wait on the beach for me as we heard occasional time splits but nothing concrete.
Just under 2 hours after I finished I saw one very happy Elina come running down the finish chute and claim her first title on the original course and shed 5 years of frustration in the process.
I’ve always maintained if she got the chance to have a normal build up without a major race in December, which we had typically had, then she would be able to show what she was really capable of, and this year she did just that winning by 38 minutes.
It had been talked about often enough, the chance to be the first husband and wife to win in the same year, and to have it finally happen meant a happy household all round!
Behind her it sounds like Fleur Pawsey had a rough day with stomach cramps but she fought like a true champion all day to claim second ahead of a fast finishing Rachel Cashin and AR World Champ team member Mimi (Myriam Guillot)

Will we be back next year ?– we certainly wouldn’t discount it despite what the media said – I think it is hard to be enthusiastic about returning when asked 30 seconds after finishing and every muscle in your body hurts – it already doesn’t seem like it was so bad and I know the young guys are itching for another shot at knocking me off the top spot.

I also wanted to do something for the next generation of Multisporters in Christchurch after all the community has been through in the last 18 months and I’m after suggestions.
Along with Andrew Martin and our new company Flow Kayaks we are going to auction off my race boat within the next couple of months and will donate all the proceeds to a cause that we think is most deserving, and that will provide the greatest benefit, so if you have any thoughts please let us know. We’ll put all the ideas together and once decided on will list the kayak on Trademe

The boat is pretty unique in that it has been paddled to 3 victories in the Coast (2008, 2011, 2012) along with lots of other race victories around the country. At the moment the boat is going to be kept in original condition as it was at the end of the race last weekend but we can also tidy it up if the auction winner would like - the choice will be theirs.

So finally a huge thanks to our support crew who were amazing, all the people who cheered us on and to our sponsors who make it possible for us to prepare and race at our best.

SUBWAY® RESTURANTS www.subway.co.nz
GIANT www.giant-bicycles.com/en-nz/
R&R SPORT www.rrsport.co.nz
CHAMPION SYSTEM www.champ-sys.co.nz
LEPPIN www.leppinsport.com
INOV8 www.highbeam.co.nz
NEWTON www.dcmsport.com
ROLF PRIMA www.rolfprima.com
AR PAGE www.arpage.co.nz
BLUE SEVENTY www.blueseventy.com
3RD EYE www.3rd-eye.co.nz
WILDSIDE TRAVEL www.wildsidetravel.co.nz

To see what were up to with our new business check out www.flowkayaks.com

Anaconda WA - Tranz Tasman Challenge

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:32:45 +1300

Heading off again on what is starting to seem like a merry-go-round that just won’t stop - this time it was the 3rd round of the Anaconda series in Australia. This round was in Augusta, 3 hours drive south of Perth and was also doubling as the Tranz Tasman Challenge.

Joining me for the battle against the Aussies were Trevor Voyce and Fleur Lattimore, meaning not only did we have a NZ team, it was also an all Nelson team.

Trev arrived the day before us and along with his mate Matty – who would prove invaluable over the weekend, headed down to Augusta to organize the digs and get things sorted prior to Fleur and my eventual late night arrival. They did manage to find out mistakenly that everyone in Augusta obviously leaves their keys hidden in the same places as they accidentally ended up in the wrong house. They were only alerted to their mistake by the copious quantities of liquor in the cupboards and thought it may just be too good to be true – they were right!

After a bit of scouting the course out, numerous dolphin sightings (they are so abundant there it is unusual to go to the beach and not see any) and plenty of interviews we also had to partake in a sprint up the Iconic lighthouse at Leewun Point. The race was a relay – one person at a time up to the top and back down via the stairs. The Aussies took it very seriously, perhaps realizing there only chance for a win lay here and promptly took a narrow win. The main event though was still to come.

Race day dawned fine, which had been somewhat in doubt and we all piled on buses out to the now infamous lighthouse and the start line. The race had 1700 people participating as both individuals and teams so there was a real buzz at the start line.

The start was crazy as everyone sprinted down the large rock slabs towards the first marker; there was definitely some Kodak courage on display as people hurtled through the rocks at an insane pace.

After a minute I think I was 30 seconds down and began to make my way through the field. Out front Braden Currie was stretching away from everyone with Sean O’Neil in hot pursuit. Soon I’d made it into 3rd but was only just holding the two guys in front and they soon started to pull away. After all the racing in the past few months it’s fair to say I wondered whether this was just not going to be my day, after all there is only so much you can do but as the run went on I slowly got into a better rhythm and by the transition to the Swim I was feeling much better.

After struggling into my wetsuit I was off in pursuit of the front two who were around 2 minutes up. If the motivation to catch the front two wasn’t enough to keep the speed up the thought of being nibbled by a large shark certainly was. The swim seemed to go pretty well although I did have a couple of close encounters with various reefs that were only just submerged. Approaching the finish I caught Braden, which gave me a good lift although I still couldn’t see Sean.

There was about 500m of running through to the kayak transition and as I changed I could see Sean just hitting the water in his surf ski. As I was launching the media helicopter did their best to make this impossible by hovering just in front of the launching spot, which made it very, very difficult to hang onto it – let alone getting it to the waters edge. After an expletive laden tirade at the helicopter pilot, which luckily no one would have heard over the noise of the rotors I finally managed to launch and set off after Sean.

The paddle started with a few kilometers on the lower reaches of a river before we headed out through the river mouth and across the bay. By the river mouth I’d already closed to within 30 seconds of Sean and soon after took the lead for the first time in the race. As I passed I gave it everything I had to put in an extra burst of speed to make sure Sean couldn’t jump on my wash. I kept a regular check over the shoulder and I was soon well clear of him and concentrated on gaining as much advantage as possible before the final ride.

Approaching the transition to the MTB there were huge amounts of spectators at the TA and I got a great reception. Once on the bike I just focused on keeping as smooth as possible and the legs still felt OK. There was a fun little section of downhill after a few kilometers then it was a grind into the wind and up a super loose sandy hill. I managed to completely stuff up the climb and then had a bit of mechanical as my chain jumped over the top of the cluster and into the wheel. After a few moments of panic I just managed to free it and continued on aware that I should keep out of the easier gears for fear of a repeat of the problem. The rest of the ride saw no dramas but I did get a bit of fright as one of media quads forced its way down a single track behind me which sounded like I was being chased by a herd of Elephants, I had to sneak a look over the shoulder to work out what it was which could have easily ended in tears as I was probably doing 50kph on a track only half a meter wide with loads of foliage spreading across the trail.

Onto the final run and a look over the shoulder halfway through the 2.5km run confirmed that I had a good lead. The temptation to ease off was off set by the knowledge that the Tranz Tasman Challenge would be decided on the cumulative times from the whole team. With the Kiwis never having won the trophy we were all hopeful this year would prove to be the one we finally prevailed.

Crossing the finish line was great, was also great, as my Father had made it across to see the race, now there was just the wait to see how the race had unfolded behind me. Sean O’Neil arrived 5 minutes later with early leader Braden Currie (also a Kiwi but living in Byron Bay) coming home in 3rd. Trev had been chasing him hard and crossed the line in 4th with final male Aussie team member Grant Suckling rounding out the top 5 and the male Tranz Tasman competitors. The Kiwis were looking good so far with male results but what was happening in the women’s race? Fleur and leading Aussie woman Deanna Blegg had started the last MTB just 2 minutes apart.

In the mean time there was also the added excitement as the top teams came in. Having started 30 minutes behind the individuals it was getting close as to who would get overall line honors. With the times tied by minutes the first team appeared, it was soon announced that I’d piped them for the overall fastest time by just 12 seconds, which was very satisfying as it is few and far between that I’ve done that at this series.

Back to the important stuff though and Fleur had managed to shake off Deanna and came home strongly to take the win in the female race and secured the Tranz Tasman Trophy for us.

All in all it was a great weekend, as usual Rapid Ascent put on a fantastic race and the atmosphere with so many people inundating the small town of Augusta was awesome. Our team had a great time and we’ll all look forward to trying to defend the title next year.

A big thanks also to Mat for all his help over the weekend, ferrying us back and forth from transitions, on the training missions plus the countless loads of dishes, and to Mainpeak who supplied my ski plus Libby and the other girls who carted it down from Perth for me and then back again.

To my regular sponsors you guys rock – thanks for all the support

SUBWAY® RESTURANTS www.subway.co.nz
GIANT www.giant-bicycles.com/en-nz/
R&R SPORT www.rrsport.co.nz
CHAMPION SYSTEM www.champ-sys.co.nz
LEPPIN www.leppinsport.com
INOV8 www.highbeam.co.nz
NEWTON www.dcmsport.com
ROLF PRIMA www.rolfprima.com
AR PAGE www.arpage.co.nz
GARMIN www.garmin.com
BLUE SEVENTY www.blueseventy.com
3RD EYE www.3rd-eye.co.nz
WILDSIDE TRAVEL www.wildsidetravel.co.nz

Xterra World Champs - Maui USA

Wed, 2 Nov 2011 10:39:15 +1300

For the first time in its history the Xterra World Champs changed location this year from Makena on the southwestern side of Maui to Kapalua on the northwestern side. It was evident immediately on arrival that the course was going to be a vastly different challenge.

Another unique change was the course being open for practice prior to the race meaning everyone knew come race day what we were in for.

By the time race day rolled around I’d had several excursions around various parts of the course and several excursions off it too. Having broken my seat post my first year and last year almost breaking myself I was keen to find where the limits were, especially on the bike and so after several practices I was already minus a few layers of skin off one knee especially as I pushed the limit just that bit too much.

This year there was a super deep field in the men’s race and several stars from the ITU racing. One of the really cool things about Xterra is even though everyone is ultra focused on producing the best result possible there is still a really relaxed attitude amongst all the competitors. On the start line I ended up having a chat with Jan Frodeno the current Olympic champion, who admittedly was on holiday but which goes a long way to showing what a cool atmosphere there is there. The race was also playing host to one of the biggest names in sport, Lance Armstrong. He is certainly a polarizing figure but love or hate him there is no doubting his pulling power with not only the media but also the general public. Having come from a triathlon background and recently showing he still had it over the multiple disciplines at the USA nationals everyone was keen to see how he would fair this time around.

Race time

The swim leg was held off DT Flemings beach, where for a while the forecast looked like we’d have some quite major surf to contend with. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you prefer your swim it was dead flat for the start and with the sound of the start canon we were off.

I seemed to get a bit swamped at the start but was able to get a little space just on the side of the pack and was soon into a good rhythm and moving through the field. A group of the quickest swimmers was off the front including Jan Frodeno, Ivan Rana, and Armstrong who was showing he’d lost none of his swimming skills. By lap two I was in a smaller group and seemingly a bit further up in field than usual. I exited the water with Michael Weiss who had been on the podium the past two years, usually courtesy of a super fast MTB. What was surprising for me was how full the bike racks were heading into the transition, even in the pro grouping, a new experience for me! Still I was 3 minutes down on the front of the race, 2 ½ on Armstrong and 1 ½ - 2 on most of the guys I anticipated would be in the running for the win.

I exited the TA with Weiss and a small group, it was obvious it wasn’t going to be an easy task to stay with him and although I lasted the first climb, as did a couple of others the rubber band was already starting to stretch. A bit of flat and some single track allowed me to keep close but as we headed up again I couldn’t hold the wheel and slowly drifted back. No one else could hang on either and we all found our own rhythms. There were still two competitors I was expecting to see at some stage, Josiah Middaugh and Nico Lebrun. I’d beaten them both out of the swim but they’re both excellent riders. Near the start of the final climb to the high point Josiah caught up and again I dug deep to hold the wheel. I succeeded for a while but again I was just a half a gear off and he slowly climbed away. Near the top you could see a fair way up the trail and although I didn’t realize it at the time I could actually see the front of the race just a couple of minutes up the road.
I had some pressure coming from some riders behind but once we hit the top I went for it on the down hill and when I looked back on the next rise there was clear road behind me. The training on the skills over the past 6 months was paying dividends. The downhill off the highpoint of the course drops almost right back to sea level and it happens amazingly fast with some great opportunities for some airtime – it was almost like the old skiing days. At the bottom with about 10km to go I got a time split to the front of around 3 minutes and when several more people all gave similar times it was encouraging that it might be reasonably accurate and that I was still in with a shot.

The final portion of the ride I kept moving through the field, I passed Jan Frodeno on this section and as we closed on the finish I had Ivan Rana in my sights but the racing was incredibly close compared to the years and I still hadn’t cracked the top 10 yet.

As I headed into the transition I passed the first guys heading out on the run, which highlighted how close it still was. Depending on how the guys in front and myself coped with the run it was still possible for some major shake-ups in the placings.

Heading out about 10 seconds down on Ivan Rana, I got into a good rhythm and was able to keep him in sight until we hit the twisty single-track sections. The run course was basically up for the first 3½ miles with mainly narrow twisty trail and the odd sharp downhill to test the leg speed.

A couple of miles in I passed defending champion Conrad Stolz who was down to a walk and a mile later on the steepest part of the climb Lance Armstrong who was also down to a walk. Lance had apparently crashed right near the end of the bike that may have also been hampering him further than just the heat and intensity alone. He would end up losing more than 7 more minutes in the final 4 miles.
Once on the downhill there was less than 3 miles to the finish and when the trail opened out I could see 4 athletes up front probably within about 90 secs of each other. I kept pushing and by the top of the final short uphill I had closed the gap even more.

Hurtling down the final part of the trail and onto the beach we were all running desperately to maintain or improve our positions and with only a short section of beach and the final grassy climb to the finish we were all running out of time. The gaps were still coming down – quite fast again now, as we headed off the beach for the final 200m. I was still gaining fast but ran out of course, it was so frustrating being able to see 4 athletes right in front, the closest only 7 seconds away and 3 more within 40 seconds.

Michael Weiss who I’d started the MTB with had ridden through the field and held on during the run for a win by just 33 seconds. Dan Hugo had a solid all round day for 2nd and multiple Xterra World Champion Eneko Ilanos was 3rd.

It was an odd feeling, I was one place worse than last year but more than 6 minutes closer to the win, only 2:54 back from Weiss, the placing I was disappointed in but the performance result had a lot of positives to take away. For me Xterra was a big goal this year, most of my training had been geared towards a top performance here and although nothing is ever perfect I definitely felt I’d given myself a good chance on the day. The swim was a big improvement and so was the bike.

It is sometimes hard for people to understand a result like this, they see wins in so many other events but the reality of most of these events is there is no where near the level of competition I faced here, and as an athlete that is the one thing you want to do – to test yourself against the very best in a given sport. In the only race where the financial calculations are set against us but it is still in many ways the most rewarding of all the pursuits all year. I now know definitively I can be a true contender in Maui and with the knowledge from this year’s race it will enable an even better build up if I return. It will be the same for the competition as well but that will be part of the challenge.

A big congrats also has to go to the the large group of Kiwi age groupers who raced in Maui with some excellent results including several 1st places and plenty of top 10’s, well done

Thanks to everyone for their support and to our sponsors, without whom it wouldn’t be possible to follow our dreams

SUBWAY® RESTURANTS www.subway.co.nz
GIANT www.giant-bicycles.com/en-nz/
R&R SPORT www.rrsport.co.nz
CHAMPION SYSTEM www.champ-sys.co.nz
LEPPIN www.leppinsport.com
AR PAGE www.arpage.co.nz
INOV8 www.highbeam.co.nz
NEWTON www.dcmsport.com
ROLF PRIMA www.rolfprima.com
GARMIN www.garmin.com
BLUE SEVENTY www.blueseventy.com
3RD EYE www.3rd-eye.co.nz
SUJON www.sujon.co.nz

Motu Challenge 2011

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:10:52 +1300

It had already been a hectic return to NZ with only a few days actually at home before we hit the road for Opotiki and the Motu Challenge.

It was looking like a minor miracle with fine weather predicted but in a not usual situation it quickly appeared to be incorrect as torrential run fell all night. By morning it cleared just long enough for us to start before we all got a good soaking on the MTB. There were still positives though – no snow and light wind, which definitely was a first.

The first MTB trundled along at a pretty amicable pace on the road, everyone waiting for the first major climb to show their hand. When we got there, national MTB champion Carl Jones dropped the hammer and the rest of us scrambled to get on his wheel, there was still a much bigger group of riders than normal halfway up the climb and when Carl and Mark Leishman stretched it out a bit they slowly disappeared up the road. I was quite surprised not to see Dougal Allen try and jump across and so decided to keep a little bit in the bank incase he took up the attack later on.

The pace in our group remained pretty steady and gradually the number of riders whittled down to about five or six. The other big surprise was Sam Clark from Whakatane still with us, which showed he had made some big steps since last summer.

Heading into Motu for the change to running shoes my feet felt like icicles, which is normally par for the course at this race, and it took several kilometers to get them warmed up. Dougal was right on my tail still but after about 4km I noticed he’d just started to fade a bit and gradually I was able to stretch away from him.

Heading back for round two on the bike I was feeling pretty good, the legs were working well and once aboard the TT bike I was still able to put some good power in which is always a good thing to find on this particular ride, especially when Dougal Allen is right behind.

I caught up with the two leading teams, one of whom was Courtney Lowe who I seem to ride with every year. She was riding really strong and rode away from me up the hill but luckily I have a few more pies on board and I was able to catch back up on the descent.

Arriving at the Kayak I was surprised that Dougal hadn’t caught me on this ride so I was in bonus territory as had fully expected we’d be battling it out right to the river.

The river was running at a good level with all the rain and I settled into a good rhythm. About halfway I heard from some supporters that Dougal was closing in, which was mildly concerning, so I upped the rating a bit and stole a few looks over the shoulder on the longer straights to see if I could spot him. I never did see him but at one of the corners near the end some of the spectators reckoned I had taken back the time so I arrived at transition feeling pretty happy.

My gluts weren’t so happy being made to jog up tot the waiting bike but it was good to be back on dry land and I cruised through the 8 kilometers to the final run of the day. Some of the races I’ve had at Motu the last 3km have felt more like 10km but today it seemed to fly by.

Finishing a 7 hour race is always nice and it was especially rewarding as I’d sacrificed any taper to train right through Motu in pursuit of a top result in Maui at the Xterra World Championships just 2 weeks after Motu. It is always hard to know how the body will cope when it is a bit tired but apart from early in the MTB I’d probably felt the best I ever had at this race. Thanks to some favorable conditions I also managed to sneak under the race record and also get the road bike record for the individuals which was a real bonus

Dougal came home second just over 5 minutes down, he’ll only get stronger at this race as the first time up it is hard to know what to expect, especially pacing wise for the second bike. And in what can only really be described as a break out performance Sam Clark came home only 5 more minutes down for another 3rd place but about 45 minutes faster than his previous best effort.

In the women’s race Elina had a great tussle with NZ MTB rep Karen Hanlen on the first ride and managed to come out on top of that battle, while also lowering her MTB record by another few minutes. Her time was just 7 minutes slower than my time – I will have to watch out soon!

She had a little drama at the end of the run with some gear but was on her way again quickly. By the time she reached the river nothing short of a disaster was going to derail title number 5 but she still put in a good paddle with only Rachel Cashin bettering her on the river by 2 minutes.

Elina stopped the clock in 7 hours 58 minutes to become the first woman to complete the course in under 8 hours which was a great effort.

Thanks to Mum and Al for their help with the crewing and also to all the people involved with the race for putting on another great event.

And finally to our brilliant sponsors thank you

SUBWAY® RESTURANTS www.subway.co.nz
GIANT www.giant-bicycles.com/en-nz/
R&R SPORT www.rrsport.co.nz
CHAMPION SYSTEM www.champ-sys.co.nz
LEPPIN www.leppinsport.com
AR PAGE www.arpage.co.nz
INOV8 www.highbeam.co.nz
NEWTON www.dcmsport.com
ROLF PRIMA www.rolfprima.com
GARMIN www.garmin.com
BLUE SEVENTY www.blueseventy.com
3RD EYE www.3rd-eye.co.nz
SUJON www.sujon.co.nz

Red Bull Wulong Mountain Quest

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:30:49 +1300

We headed to China for the fifth year in a row for the race in Wulong. This year we had the support from Champion System and APA.co – based in Hong Kong. Joining Elina and I were Nathan Fa’avae and Trevor Voyce, both from our hometown Nelson in NZ.
Our summer in Europe has been different this year with a break for a few weeks and then a great block of training. The change of focus meant we arrived in China feeling much fresher than in the past and ready to begin what will be a super busy 3 months of racing.

Prologue

A few teams were already suffering the effects of food poisoning or something similar - among them Dougal and Jacob from Team Toread. The Prologue this year was in a new venue and so no one knew what to expect. After the usual fanfare, speeches and displays it was down to business.
Our race almost came unstuck seconds after the start when Elina was trampled to the ground along with several other members from leading teams.
We were dead last by the time we'd picked her up off the ground and started chasing hard.
By the end of the 2km uphill run we had fought back to mid pack and jumped many of the teams in the transition to the rickshaw carry. This involved three team members carrying the lightest team member who got to enjoy the ride in a local chair with long poles for the others to hoist on their shoulders. This was a good leg for us and we emerged at the start of the Biathlon in second place behind one of the fleet footed Chinese teams. Their girls are also very light to carry!
The biathlon enabled us to gain more time and despite being a little undone by a shorter than expected course we headed into the MTB portion in first equal place.
We decided to use just running shoes on the bike given it was only six kilometers and save the time it would take to change into and out of our MTB shoes. The course was actually quite rough in places making it a bit tougher than expected, especially in running shoes on our small clip in pedals. We seemed to be coping better than the other teams though and managed to build a good lead. After safely negotiating some pretty loose down hills we raced back through the outskirts of the town and into the final transition.
Just under 1500 meters later it was all over for the day.
We managed to build just over a minute over the second place team, Out there USA and team Toread came through for third despite the sickness issues around 4 1/2 minutes back.
The Australian team Peak Adventure actually crossed the line in third but were penalized two minutes for riding in transition and ended up out of the top five. Thule who were also involved in the crash at the start came home in fourth, only 10 seconds behind Toread but with their girl Mimi with a injured arm.
Up tomorrow is the longest day - some swimming to shake things up and apparently a big uphill on the bikes along with a canyon section and a long kayak.

Wulong Day 1

Was super hot at start and looking like one of the hottest days that we've ever raced in Wulong in.

The start was a biathlon (2 bikes per team, only one person per bike at a time) and everyone set off with their different strategies, we seemed to choose a good one and after a couple of bike to run swaps we were out in the lead.
It was already heating up and by the start of the swim it was a welcome relief to hit the water. We made good time across, all be it very slow due to the shoes and lifejackets required for the return with 2 bikes and a raft.
Once we were all safely on dry land it was up to pick up the bikes and then while Nath and Trev strapped them on the tiny 2 man raft I started swimming while Elina was tucked down on the floor of the boat. As they caught up I got a towrope and tried to avoid being keel hauled.
Onto the bike section and after some fun undulating riding we hit a monster climb that we were on for well over an hour and topped out almost 800 meters higher. A fast descent followed and led us into the 15 min rest area.
We'd been there 10 mins before ‘Out There’ arrived after some mechanicals on route, but we'd left for the next section before any others arrived. We all agreed it was a super tough ride and that all of the teams that had sick members would be really feeling it.
Trev and Nath got to abseil off the bridge as the weight of the ropes meant it was more practical for the heavier members of the team to do it. Elina and I got to run down a road that for a couple of kilometers appeared to be heading in the opposite direction - not that much fun on tired legs. We all met up at the bottom for a really fun hour of canyoneering.
The water to start was so refreshing but as we made our way down the temperature became like a warm bath and did nothing to cool us.
I was starting to feel a bit low on energy but nothing seemed to be helping. Just before the kayaks we had to progress through some very deep sticky mud as the lake was super low meaning an extra kilometer of running and the last portion literally crawling trying to stay on top of the mud.
Into the kayaks and I was going downhill so we switched boats and I tried to help Trev as much as possible to keep up with Nath and Elina.
It was relief to get to the only CP on the lake meaning we'd covered at least 65% of the paddle but it wasn't so nice to then run out of drink. Luckily between the team we had a little and we made it the final few kilometers to the last stage, a run and caving sections.
The hike up from the lake is hundreds of steep stairs and Trev kindly gave me a tow and Elina helped out with a push.
We also finally got to gauge where the next team was and it looked like we might have around 20 minutes lead although my speed on the final section was probably meaning they were cutting into it. The cool of the cave was a welcome relief and so was the finish. It was a super tough day, very hot and possibly the hardest course we've ever done in Wulong.
Out There arrived about 16 minutes later and then it was another good gap back to Swedish team AXA who took a very good 3rd for the day.
Thule and Toread arrived close together about 40 minutes down before teams started arriving at more regular intervals.
The prize giving was held in conditions that resembled an oven and my body showed its displeasure and I had to make a hasty trip behind the podium to throw up what seemed like about 5 liters of fluid and a smattering of this mornings breakfast.
I almost instantly felt better and a few ice blocks later the pain of the day was slowly fading away.
I'm pretty sure it was a case of too many gels and sport drink and not enough water to dilute it mixed with the vicious heat. I’m usually fine and enjoy racing in hot climates but it can bite anyone quickly if you get things just a little wrong. I don’t think this case was the food here luckily but it does feel a bit like Russian roulette going to eat at the hotel

Day 2

A good day for us considering, about 10pm last night Elina started throwing up and joined the ranks of the sick, by 1am it was only getting worse so we got the doctor which was a weird and frustrating experience trying to get some medicine and being told she was sick because of the weather and too much Red Bull plus a host of other suggestions which firmly smacked of a large dose of denial.
Finally we managed to get some stuff to help, we have no idea exactly what it was but at least she stopped throwing up every 30 minutes.
By the morning she was feeling worse although thankfully the vomiting and diarrhea abated long enough to get down the hill on the bus to the start.
Given the circumstances we were firmly focused on just getting through the day and trying not to surrender too much of our lead if possible, only time would tell.
Getting under way with the kayak we were probably fortunate that it was a staggered start and we were able to make it to the kayaks still first and get underway without any hassle. Nath was with Elina and flogging himself to help take some of the load for her.
By the end we had a small buffer and during the next MTB stage we managed to cling to some advantage up another long hill climb before we missed a turn off on the course and ‘Out There’ slipped by.
We backtracked and shortly after arrived at the rest TA. This broke things up well and once we restarted we surprisingly caught ‘Out There’ during the cave and Abseil section. Nath had a scary moment when the webbing on his harness broke right at the top of the rope and although on later inspection it didn't seem a complete failure was eminent he wasted no time in getting to the bottom of the ropes.
Onto the last ride and we could see ‘Out There’ for most of the ride and final run and we finished just under 3 minutes down to preserve a good chunk of our lead and leave ourselves well in the fight for the top spot tomorrow.
The racing was far closer today and teams were pouring in soon after we got back. There were a lot of extra sick people today including staff of the race so it sounds as though it is finally being taken seriously.
AXA were 3rd again continuing there impressive race and after that it wasn’t long before Thule and Toread arrived - Dougal still looking terrible but the rest looking a little more alive than yesterday.
Tomorrow is looking like a hard day - a lot of running so we will be looking to race for the overall rather than the top spot on the day. Hopefully Elina recovers a bit, she was pretty amazing today given she hadn't eaten anything that had stayed down in almost 24 hours by race start.
It was a great team effort though and everyone did everything that they could to make the whole team move as quickly as possible.

Wulong final day

Elina was thankfully feeling a lot better but still very wary of any food and Nath has had the flu all trip so our game plan for the final day was to be more conservative and just try to make sure we were in font of ‘Out There USA’, our closest competition.
Toread's sick team members were all starting to improve and keen to prove a point as were several other teams who'd had issues with sickness.
The start was a lot cooler as we started at almost 2000m elevation which in turn had some of the athletes more worried about the height than the heat.
The race started with a relay where each member had to run to a point, pick up a type of vegetable and carry it back in a traditional wicker basket. After this initial scramble Toread showed their intentions and pushed the pace.
We already had a small buffer on ‘Out There’ and were content to track Toread and Thule who were also keen to push the pace.
By the end of the first run we'd dropped almost 800 vertical meters to a small lake and started on short paddle section. We quickly pulled away from Thule and closed surprisingly fast on Toread so that by the end of the paddle we were on a few seconds back.
The next bike looked like it would be difficult and the final run at over 20km was consuming our thoughts though and we decided to stick to our plan of covering the other teams and racing for the overall rather than put it on the line for the daily top spot. The ride started with a big climb and we were able to see Toread for most of the ride, the gap stayed almost identical but for the extra minute we had taken in transition getting a bit of extra hydration. The pace was very easy though and with no teams catching us from behind it was just more of a buffer we had for the final stage. Once the climb topped out we had a fast and long descent that we were all mind full was dropping us further and further from the finish elevation, now almost 1km above us.
The ride proved to be a bit shorter than expected and so the 15 min mandatory TA was reached with everyone still well prepared for plenty more climbing.
As teams arrived we were able to gauge our buffer to ‘Out There’ which now had an additional 6 minutes and over 20 minutes in hand for the overall.
A spectacular abseil followed our short break, down through an amazing set of natural arches and we then set off on the final run.
One of the hardest things about the race sometimes is trying to decipher exactly what we are in for - the last run was predicted to be 1 hour 45 minutes but was listed as 22km. With over 800m of vertical to gain it was obvious one or both of the predictions was out.
We climbed surprisingly quickly and we would occasionally see Toread a couple of minutes up a head, we were more than content to take it a touch easier with two further running races immediately after the conclusion of Wulong and so we weren't taking any stress about keeping it close.
Once we topped out onto the flatlands at the top of the mountain we assumed that the time must have been right and it wouldn't be long - maybe 30 minutes to the finish.
This proved to be wrong as the course seemed to wander along forever, often past points we were sure would lead to the finish. After almost 20km and 2.5 hours of running we finally spied the finish line only a short distance away. All that was left was a quick shooting challenge. With high-powered Paint Ball guns we each had to hit a target within 5 shots or run a short penalty loop. No one was that keen for even a small extra run and provided the necessary focus for us all to be successful with the shots.

Toread took the day and also did enough to secure third overall after AXA had a nightmare day and dropped over 40 minutes with mechanicals and other issues. Surprise of the day was Champion System Adventure team from Hong Kong taking 3rd on the day for there best ever finish in Wulong.

It's always a great feeling to cross the line of any race in first but especially a big one like the Red Bull Cup Wulong Mountain Quest. We felt like we had dodged a bullet with Elina's sickness not proving costly as well as the remainder of the team avoiding any issues from the food. It is was obviously tougher on a lot of the other top teams but in the past two years we've also encounter the same problems, unfortunately it has become part of the race for these few years. The organization has already announced though that the race hotel will be moved next year and that should hopefully solve the sickness issues and create a more level playing field and add more depth to the top tier of racing, as at the hotel prior to this one there never seemed to be any issues surrounding the food and illness.

I can't say enough of our team, It's always great to race with Nath, he was a bit sick this year but is so good at managing himself and adds so much to any team, Trevor was a rock, super strong all race and I'm sure he will be on many more winning teams in the next few years. Elina went to Wulong so focused and even a night of throwing up and no food for 24 hours in the middle of the race barely seemed to faze her.

Also massive thanks to Champion Systems and APA.co for there sponsorship of the team for Wulong.

Epilogue

The day after the finish of Wulong we headed for two more races, this time in the very north of China along the border with Mongolia. The races were both running only and set in different portions of the Gobi desert.
We’d been told varying things of the races but they all proved to be widely inaccurate and the trip descended into a bit of chaos and at times felt like a bad dream you just can’t wake up from.
The main issue was getting there – our travel itinerary was like this – 4 hours Bus, 4 hours flight, 1 hour bus, 8 hours train plus all the waiting time and with tired and sore bodies from the Wulong race it was hard to see ourselves getting great results in the runs!
The first run was a 25 km desert run, the first 10 kms were quite pretty with some dry canyons and interesting features before we headed out onto what seemed like a never ending flat gravel plain and into the teeth of a howling wind.
Elina and I raced side by side with Marcel and Fleur and Jacky and Mimi but lost out on the sprint to the line by virtue of our towline being too long. We had the strange situation of being first and last in a group of six!
None of us however we any match for the Chinese with the first 3 places all going to them. The leading mixed team had some pedigree though with them being from the Chinese national marathon team and PB’s of 2:12 for the guy and 2:29 for the girl.
See how they go in a kayak though!

Another monster transfer – this time 7 hours on a bus to the hotel and then another 90 minutes to the start meant weary bodies and subsequently quite a few people didn’t start the last days 30km individual run, Elina among them after deciding she needed to focus on recovering from some injuries and the racing in NZ and Australia coming up.
I set off feeling pretty good but lacking much zip in the legs. The quickest of the Chinese runners disappeared quite fast and I ended up pacing off the second group of Chinese runners.
The route was very flat but covered in spiky bushes and so there was a lot fo weaving in and out between them. The lighter runners were able to stay on top of the crusty sand it seemed but in places I was breaking through with every step – oh to be 50 kg!
I was actually feeling pretty good for most of the run and ended up coming in 10th overall and first westerner, the same Chinese guy 2:12 marathoner won easily by about 6 minutes and I was only about 4 minutes off 2nd so that was positive plus some great training.

With the run done, it was time for the epic transfer in reverse to begin, unfortunately there were no showers either so it was a rather ripe bus heading back to Hami.
All in all it was an interesting trip – very different than expected but unique and a place very few westerners apparently get to see. Now all any of us wanted was some normal food and some proper rest in a bed and not on a bus!
We would almost literally have spent more time on buses and trains than at hotels or race venues on the trip.

We’re now heading back to NZ, will be great to be home after 3 months away. We’ve got plenty of racing planned in the next few months so should be a few more regular updates.

You can also follow me on Twitter for regular news on what we’re up too

A massive thanks to all our regular sponsors as well, they are an integral part of what we do and wouldn’t be possible without them

WULONG TEAM SPONSORS

Champion System - www.champs-sys.com
APA.co - www.apa.co

RICH AND ELINA SPONSORS

SUBWAY® RESTURANTS www.subway.co.nz
GIANT www.giant-bicycles.com/en-nz/
R&R SPORT www.rrsport.co.nz
KIA www.kia.co.nz
CHAMPION SYSTEM www.champ-sys.co.nz
LEPPIN www.leppinsport.com
INOV8 www.highbeam.co.nz
NEWTON www.dcmsport.com
ROLF PRIMA www.rolfprima.com
GARMIN www.garmin.com
BLUE SEVENTY www.blueseventy.com
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