Despite the promise of fine weather all week, the day in Colville dawned gloomy and overcast, but with no wind. I hoped that the cloud would disappear before we started the race, but luck wasn't with me and before we even got the race briefing it had started to rain. The race this year had been limited to 1,000 riders and we had to line up on the start line in the time slot we hoped we would achieve. I had no idea, so put myself in the 5 ½ to 6 hour slot in the hope that this would be a worst case scenario.
We started in light rain at a gentle pace behind a support van on asphalt, nice and smooth for first 15 minutes. Within 2 minutes we were onto our first hill and passing a rider on the side of the road with a broken chain - “ill prepared” I thought conceitedly. The first hill was reasonably short and no problem, but the second one was a four kilometre climb and for some reason, despite 3 earlier visits, I had to stop for a comfort stop half way up the hill. After what seemed like an unfeasibly long stop I got back on the bike to catch up with the half of the field that had just ridden past me. As I got back on the bike, the heavens opened and we were drenched in a sub-topical down pour. By this stage, we were well up into the clouds and so the spectacular Coromandel views I had hoped to see weren't materialising.
At the top of the hill was a large group of riders who had stopped to don jackets. As I wasn't cold, I kept going down a steep and descent to Port Charles. Being somewhat cautious downhill, I was passed by a number of speed freaks down hill, which was a bit interesting particularly when they didn't bother to call out as they passed you. Gravel road descents require great concentration as once you're in a rut, you are kind of stuck in it, so you have to check well ahead to make sure that it doesn't all of a sudden turn to pot holes, or worse still head off the road and into a ditch.
From Port Charles, it was a steep hilly section over to Stony Bay. A couple of the sections were very steep and caused me to get off and walk. I was really struggling to keep my heart rate down and it was consistently in the 170's every time we hit a hill. It was also a pace that I couldn't maintain, so when the hills got very steep, I leapt off an walked because you can walk almost as fast as you can ride, but your heart rate drops a bit.
At Stony Bay, we got to try the new bit of the course that DoC (Department of Conservation) had agreed to us using for a one-off trial this year – The Coastal Walkway. Normally the route goes over farmland and is basically a walk for everyone as it is so steep. By the time I got there, 6 or 700 riders must have gone through and it was basically just thick running mud – not a good sign for DoC's trial. The first section was once again very steep, but being single track everybody was pushing their bikes. This is great I thought – 7ks of single track and we're going to have to walk all that way. Fortunately after a while the track flattened out and we were able to start riding. This was definitely the highlight of the ride, as the riding was brilliant and the views fantastic. We started off in a Manuka forest, but then the track opened out and we were riding above the tree line overlooking the dramatic Coromandel coastline. The drop-offs didn't bear too much thinking about, but the track was a good width and any technical bits were easy to spot and decide whether to ride through, or leap off and push through. I had a 10 minute stop to help another rider with a puncture, so that gave me a chance to catch my breath and have a bit of a break.
The descent from the Coastal Track was very steep and there was no option but to walk as it was just a mud slide. From there, it was straight back up another unridable trail pushing for 20 minutes to emerge onto farmland, which after all the bikes was just a thick clay mud track. The mud clung to everything – the tyres, the chain, the frame, you name it, it stuck to it. Gears wouldn't work, the mud was too thick to ride up hill in, and then when you went down hill all the mud caked onto your tyres made mud riding on mud similar to being on ice. It was here that I had my one fall, as the bike decided to follow the lay of the land and not my instructions and we careered off into a gorse bush for a heavy fall.
At the end of the farmland was Fletcher Bay, at the top of the Coromandel Peninsular and half way point for the ride. After spending 10 minutes in a stream trying to wash the mud off my bike, I headed off to complete the second half of the ride on the gravel road down the West side of the Peninsular. As I left, my Heart Rate Monitor clicked over 4 hours. 36Ks on a Mountain Bike on gravel in under 2 hours would be a huge ask, so my planned time for starting the ride was obviously too optimistic.
Again, my heart rate was getting too high and I stopped and pushed on some of the hills. Not always the steep ones either, sometimes I just felt like a break, so the constant mist and rain, were obviously taking there toll on my energy levels. Added to that, my bike was sounding like crap. The gears weren't working properly as a result of all the mud and it was making grating noises as I rode, which really got under my skin. I stopped occasionally and had a play with the rear deraileur and that seemed to help for a while. On top of that, my front forks seemed a bit loose. This must be because of the way I put the bike back together, but bumps were making a disconcerting knocking sound.
I rode the third quarter of the race alone – there was always somebody ahead of me and someone behind, but the whole field seemed very spaced out. During that time, I was passed by 3 ambulances both on their way out to collect the injured and again on their return journey. Eventually, I started to catch a glimpse of a group of about 8 riders ahead of me and I made a big effort to catch up to them. It took a while, as whenever I got close, the extra effort left me feeling exhausted so I'd either stop for a short break, or drop back again. Eventually I did catch them and the drafting effect of being with other riders made a huge difference. I sat quietly at the back and just cruised along. After a while, we came to a hill and the group spread out. As I was feeling OK, I moved forward with the faster riders and so road the next flat section in the front of the group (I didn't take on any leading duties). The next hill was the second to last and we were now with 10ks of the finish. I seemed to get more energy, my heart rate was in the 150's and I just cleared away from the group and then just picked off more and more people over the last few kilometres.
The last bit of drama was on the last hill, back on asphalt, when my bike refused to change onto the low cog. I was swearing, shaking the bike (which doesn't help at all) and bashing on the gear lever. Just as it eventually changed down, the guy 20m ahead of me fell off his bike (presumably for the same reason). I gave the cursory “you OK” as I went past him, but to be honest, I had no intention of stopping as he was obviously not seriously injured and I just wanted to get finished. As I came up the road to the finishing line, Anne was standing on the side of the road waiting and it felt amazing to see her big cheery grin. I finished in 6 hours 22 minutes in what is according to a woman I passed just before the finish, who had done the event 5 timers, the hardest conditions the event has been run in. Anne had been standing waiting for me since the 5 hour mark, so by the time I arrived was fairly cold, as were all the other spectators, and hence the noticeable lack of applause from the crowd. Anne said that the whole field that she had seen had come in individually and that everybody's bike sounded like it was about to fall to bits, so mine was no worse than the rest of the field. Some people were even wheeling broken bikes over the finish line and one woman was being towed in.
I spent the next half hour in a creek beside the car park up to my knees trying to get as much mud as I could off the bike. Before shoving it into the back of the car and heading off for a well earned shower.
For dinner that evening, we went to Pepertree restaurant in Coromandel Town, which was the same place we'd had lunch the previous day, for a very enjoyable and well earned meal.
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