Well, we’re home, having arrived late last night (in bed by 3 AM!) and headed back to work today. First question my colleague Chris asked?

So what’s next?

Before we go to that question, I’ve got some highlights from our post-race recovery loop around the island. Read More

we have a photo album from the race uploaded at www.facebook.com/vandorpracing!

Cheers,

Jack

Well, we made it through with some serious course adjustments. Final placing: 13th.

Stage 1: Run 3 km / cycle 55km. The race started just after 6 in a torrential downpour, with strong winds from the West (tailwind). My strategy was to be at the front of the running group to be sure to get into the lead pack, which worked well. Onto the bike, the main pack quickly caught our small group, and a long pace line started for several kilometres, yet resulted eventually in about 10 people leading and a lot of people just along for the ride, which was quite an annoyance–so the ‘workers’ slowed down and tried to call on some of the sitters to do the work; eventually the peloton broke up after a climb leaving me in the lead group with about 20 others coming into the Aickens transition after just 1 hour and 42 minutes (give or take)

Nutrition: 2 bottles of perpetuem, 1 energy gel @ the start, 1-2 salt tabs.

The transition was a bit of a gong show, with people everywhere willy nilly. The crew stood out fairly well in their red jackets and, after some energy drink, shoe change, and such we were off on the Mountain Run.

Nutrition: 1 banana, 1 energy smoothie

Stage 2: Mountain Run: The Deception / Mingha valley was running very high (at least 3x the volume we crossed in out training runs) so the organizer changed it to have us run over the highway, a slightly shorter run (about 3km less) with a lower “summit” (by about 100m) but with an awful 2 km long 16% grade climb. Yuck. My strategy was to run just below the rate where my legs start to burn, which neccessitated some power walking on the steepest climbs. We left the rain and clouds at the summit and descended into sunshine, and I began to pick up speed, though both achilles tendons were not very happy. Mark, you should be pleased to know that I wore the New Balance MT100s you gave me — super light!

We were in 13th, and 13:00 off the leaders at the end of the run.

Nutrition: approx. 1L of perpetuem, 1 power cookie bar, 2 ibuprofen, 2-3 salt tabs, 1 calcium tab.

The transition was quick – Andrew had fixed up my saddle so it was solid again, and I was off, having chugged an energy smoothie and 1/2 a banana.

Nutrition: 2/3 of  an energy smoothie, 1 banana

Stage 3: Bike 133 km.

The original race called for a 15km cycle to the bridge where we would paddle the waimak river; however, with the risk of flash flooding due to all the rain, and heavy winds in the Gorge, the race course was changed to have us cycle all the way to Christchurch – 133km.  The race announcer also allowed the event to be draft legal. I was riding by myself, however, and had last ridden (outside) on January 2nd, so I wasn’t especially used to the switchback climbs that we faced for 50km as we crossed the alps. The climbs were murderous, and it was HOT. Just before the designated refueling station at Waddington a pair of riders caught up, and we headed on from the transition in a 3-rider paceline averaging about 37km/h. Then we discovered another racer who had latched on to our rear, and who we convinced to take a share of the work, and we were four. Shortly after that we caught another rider, and were five. Shortly after hitting Christchurch we dropped the hanger-on rider, and cruised through the streets into the transition in 10th-13th place.

Nutrition: 4 bottles (2.5L) of perpetuem, 2 energy bars, 5 salt pills, 1/2 L of flat coke, 1 bottle of water, 1 energy gel at the end.

Stage 4: Kayaking the Avon

On our way into the transition we could see the boats lined up by number — and no boats in my area (120-140) which was disconcerting.

Sure enough, the crew was still caught up in the boat check area, having battled traffic and then a 1km walk to the transition area. We made a very quick transition in to the boat when it arrived and disconnected the water intake from the river – as the Avon is not potable like the Waimak.   With our perpetuem stores running low, I had a little over a litre of hydration. The crew was told to pass on that the paddle was expected to be about an hour, and that we would have a final 10km cycling stage to the finish. Another salt tab, banana, and smoothie, and I was off.

The Avon River runs through Hagley Park and much of Christchurch as a nicely landscaped but weedy canal, and is approximately 3″ deep for much of its length – just enough to be navigable, but too shallow to paddle cleanly. About 4 times I asked 2-day racers that I passed if they wouldn’t mind clearing the reeds that had built up on my rudder. My arms were fried from the start from sitting on the Aero bars for so long.

All through the bike I had been longing for the refreshing waters of the Waimak to break over the hull and cool me down. This river was not the Waimak, and I had neglected sunscreen so kept my arm warmers on to limit sunburn. I ran out of fluids about 45 minutes into the paddle, and was counting bridges for another hour as we tried to get to the finish. I passed 2 racers, was passed again by 2, leaving me in 13th as we came into the final transition.

Nutrition: 1.2 L of  Perpetuem, a banana, 1/2 a drinking box of energy smoothie.

Stage 5: Oh yeah… how about more just a little more biking

When the race began, we knew that the mountain run and river paddle had been changed, but the last transition was thrown at us very quickly as the organizers discovered that with a faster run, there would not be enough water in the estuary to allow the leaders to paddle to the finish. The support team raced accross town to a Yacht club to pull out the kayak and meet me with the biking kit so I could be off again for a short ride around the estuary/harbour to the finish at Sumner beach. It felt great to be back on the bike after such an awful paddle. The crew abandoned the boats and sprinted to the car to try catch the finish – but missed the finish while they were trying to park.   Robin Judkins, the race organizer, was waiting at the finish with a nice can of Speights, and I eventually found Carrie for a photo and a sit in the ocean.  All done.  1 day, one country crossed. Back to the van, back to the yacht club to wait for Ursula.

We had a series of challenges to get things organized for all of the changes in the course, and then ‘technical difficulties’ .   At Aickens, we arrived with plenty of time so we organized ourselves and headed towards the transition area early.  We stayed until Ursula came though – knowing we had three hours probably for them to cross the mountains.  Heading back to the van, loaded up and then a dead battery – we forgot to unlpug the charging cell, forgot a console light.  People don’t carry jumper cables in their cars usually in NZ.  it took proabably 15 cars until someone had them – charged up and on the road we were in a huge line of very slow moving support vehicles.

Highway 73 has many one way bridges where traffic was being directed so it was very slow – we passed runners and they would pass us a few minutes later as we were stopped for a bridge probably 2km ahead.  We had hoped to stop in Arthurs pas to upload pictures – but Jack was still ahead of us so we had to keep on going to make it to the transition on time.

We have some great pictures, but when the fuse in the van blew, we could not use the computer upload them en route- so we could only update with text through the cell phone.  Then the cell phone also died and without a car charger we were unable to do anything.  we appologize that what we had hoped to be able to provide to keep you up to date was simply not possible, so you were wondering.. .what now.

Driving from the bike refueling transition to the paddle transition, we knew that we were late, a pit of your stomach feeling stressing us all – we assmbled the gear while driving and were off running from the parking area – we saw the MacDonalds support team going the other direction – thier cyclist had been just ahead of Jack at the last spot… but we still had 700m and a boat inspection between us  and wher we would meet Jack – we were being paged over the loudspeaker.  Shoot.

Well, as fast as we could – he was off – apparently loosing two minutes.  Ultimately, two minutes wouldn’t have meant first place  – but it might have put him closer to the top ten  instead of 13th.  He also might have had a flat tire, or a crash – it is impossible to know all of the might haves.

At the next transition we were running – unsure of how long it would take.  So we hurried up to wait – over an hour of stress – woudl jack hate us for missing him at that last stop – how could we make it up?

Well, now we know things for next time – Jack is talking about next time already – hoping he can do the complete course in a race,  if he can win the entry through Logs Rocks and Steel again we shall have to see.

Jack was in great spirits in the heavy rain at the first transition from Bike to Run! Now he’s past Aurthur’s Pass, running on the highway instead of the trail due to course changes. But now the sun is out and he’s still among the lead runners. Up next is a 133km bike towards Chch!

And it is 5:31, we have dropped off the racersin the pouring rain and the support team now heads to Aickens for the transition.  We expect some course changes due to the weather – the river vally mountain run is quite hazardous under these conditions.. but what makes it and adventure is the uncertainty.

For updates throughout the day, check vandorpracing on Facebook, the live link at Sportsnet and we will pull over and update whenever we have reception!

thanks for tuning in!

Support team members Carrie, Amy and Rachel slipped out of the cabin to catch the start of the two day event – these folks are either indivuduals or part of a two-person team and they will hopefully complete the run, bike and mountain run stages today and continue with the rest of the race on Saturday.  It looks as though they have a lovely day for the event – lets hope that the weather holds for Jack and Ursula and the rest of the one day comptetitors, though the forecast is still for rain.

Well, its raining out here on the West Coast, and Saturday holds the forecast of 30mm of rain in the morning with up to 80 km/h winds at 1000m elevation (about that of Goat Pass), so a decision will be made early on race morning as to whether we can safely ford the rivers and take on the wind on the run up over goat pass or take the shorter, safer, but steeper Road #73 through Arthur’s Pass — and by steeper I mean that we noticed a sign on the way that read 16% grade next 2 km…

I would prefer Goat Pass, but we will take what we get!

They dont think that this west coast rainfall will affect the paddling course significantly — though they have a plan b for that which involves a LOT of extra cycling.

BEACH RUN: 3km

6 AM: The first run starts on the beach , where racers line up in the dark, dressed to bike.  It will be a mad dash along the road to the discoteque of flashing LED bike lights to find the right bike and get on the open road.

SUNRISE CYCLE: 55km

The course winds up a river valley, climbing 350 metres in 55kms to where the support crew stands ready with trail shoes and a little backpack with warm clothes and a survival kit. This stage often starts fast, with riders jockeying for position in pace groups and then settling in to draft off each other and save some energy for the run.

MOUNTAIN RUN:

The Mountain run begins with three kms through farmers fields before turning to begin its slow climb up the Deception river valley.  The trail follows ‘goat paths’ through the woods and back and forth across the river a dozen times before reaching the “big boulders” section where the real climbing begins. From here the trail is intermittent and the Runners leap from rock to rock up the riverbed, hydrating with handfuls of cool mountain water as they go.  The trail gains about 300m in elevation over the last kilometre of the Deception Climb, passing the Goat Pass hut (where we stayed on our hike) before reaching the summit at 1080 metres. Along the top of the pass there is a nice stretch of boardwalk that quickly descends to the Mingha river. The next 5 km are along rugged trails that hug the side of the valley, with steep descents to cross streams. After climbing back up to 800m elevation, the course drops steeply to the riverbed and shoots along with several more river crossings before the valley widens out; the run ends with 2 km along the rough rocks of a wide, dry riverbed to klondyke corner where the crew wait with bikes.

Back on the Bike: 15 km

The ride from Klondyke to Mount White Bridge offers little rest for tired legs, with 3 short but steep climbs and minimal overall descent. Crew wait at the top of the hill to trade bikes and shoes for running shoes again, and the racers take an 800m gravel track down to the bridge where more crew wait with the kayaks ready to go.

Gorge-ous Paddle: 70 km

The paddle down the Waimakiriri begins with about 20 km of braided channels where route choice is essential to avoid running aground on shingle or taking the long way. We need to be aware of how much river has left the main channel, and where we are in its flow. The river is quite low at the moment, but inflow accumulates from some other rivers to make it easier to paddle as things go on. The 20km gorge features steep walls (but also short shingles and places to land in a pinch), and stretches for about 20km. The most common rapids are ‘bluff corners’ where the river turns at up to 90 degrees. Then 12 km of braided channels to the gorge bridge.

Final Pedal Push: 70 km

The last cycle ride to Christchurch begins with a quick uphill out of the gorge, then a long, slow descent of 300m that leads us around the southern end of Christchurch to Sumner Beach on the Pacific Ocean, where we leap off our bikes and run through the finish line where  a cold can of Speights awaits!

Jody is studying in the Creation Care Study Program in Kaikoura this semester, so we used the rest day to bring her back to her classes and see the lovely little town and the stunning coastal wildlife – seals and Dusky Dophlins visible from the shore and Jack and Carrie were able to see whales on a tour Tuesday morning.  We are now back in Christchurch with a list of errands to do beforew we head west wednesday afternoon.