Thursday 17 February 2011
2011 Speight's Coast to Coast
I survived! And I had a great race, all thanks to an excellent support crew. We spent the first evening camping at Kumara racecourse with hundreds of other competitors and their support crews (notice the plural, having just 1 support crew was not advisable!)
The Kate got up early, and went to setup the first main transition from bike to run. Trying to pick a good spot to lay out the gear and be seen by me was a nightmare!
Meanwhile, I set up my bike in the first stands and walked down to the beach. At 7am, about 230 2-day competitors then ran 3km to their bikes and then cycled 56km to their support crews waiting at Aickens corner...
I was lying 51st at the first cycle split (thanks to some big bunches). Then it was quickly into run gear for a 31km run over Goat Pass (1100m alt.) following the Deception River and then the Mingha River on the way down. All rocks and tree roots, hard going on the ankles. There were also several fairly deep river crossings...
Then the 2-dayers stopped and camped. I was now lying 18th overall, 15th in class, after a very good run (by my standards). Support crews got gear ready for the next day whilst competitors took it easy (yeah right!).
The day started at 4.15am, when we packed up camp and Kate took the kayak to the river for scrutineering. I tried to stay warm for the start of the 15km cycle at 7.30am to take us to the river. Bike problems left me stuck in the big front ring for the day, so I grunted up a few of the hills on the way to the kayak!
I had only done the river once before, at much lower flow, so was apprehensive to say the least. When I got going, I realised it was now technically easier but there was a REALLY strong tailwind. I took one swim when the wind blew me sideways into a rapid, but managed to recover without too much time lost. Later I found out that there were 20+ people in the water or on the bank at that same corner at the same time.
No problems after that, but several of the better paddlers were rolled in flat water by the wind. I got a much better time than I expected, and came out of the river lying 17th overall.
Getting out of the kayak and running the 200m up the hill is one of the hardest bits, as legs just don't work after 4h30m in the boat. But I still managed to run up there faster than my support crew! Kate had luckily found some help at this transition, so I miraculously had 3 people to help me out of the water!
Then it was back onto the bike for a final 70km ride into Sumner, with a tailwind at first becoming a headwind at the end. I couldn't have done this leg any faster, and when I had to get off for the final 20m run onto the beach my legs nearly buckled under me.
I managed a final time of 13:32:23 and ended up 16th overall, and 15th in the open division (1 veteran got ahead of me - bah!). That was about 30mins quicker than my most optimistic prediction, so I was pretty happy.
Go Team Le Pelle / Whitehead, couldn't have done it without all the support!!!! Now for the 1-day event....
The Kate got up early, and went to setup the first main transition from bike to run. Trying to pick a good spot to lay out the gear and be seen by me was a nightmare!
I was lying 51st at the first cycle split (thanks to some big bunches). Then it was quickly into run gear for a 31km run over Goat Pass (1100m alt.) following the Deception River and then the Mingha River on the way down. All rocks and tree roots, hard going on the ankles. There were also several fairly deep river crossings...
Then the 2-dayers stopped and camped. I was now lying 18th overall, 15th in class, after a very good run (by my standards). Support crews got gear ready for the next day whilst competitors took it easy (yeah right!).
I had only done the river once before, at much lower flow, so was apprehensive to say the least. When I got going, I realised it was now technically easier but there was a REALLY strong tailwind. I took one swim when the wind blew me sideways into a rapid, but managed to recover without too much time lost. Later I found out that there were 20+ people in the water or on the bank at that same corner at the same time.
No problems after that, but several of the better paddlers were rolled in flat water by the wind. I got a much better time than I expected, and came out of the river lying 17th overall.
Getting out of the kayak and running the 200m up the hill is one of the hardest bits, as legs just don't work after 4h30m in the boat. But I still managed to run up there faster than my support crew! Kate had luckily found some help at this transition, so I miraculously had 3 people to help me out of the water!
Then it was back onto the bike for a final 70km ride into Sumner, with a tailwind at first becoming a headwind at the end. I couldn't have done this leg any faster, and when I had to get off for the final 20m run onto the beach my legs nearly buckled under me.
I managed a final time of 13:32:23 and ended up 16th overall, and 15th in the open division (1 veteran got ahead of me - bah!). That was about 30mins quicker than my most optimistic prediction, so I was pretty happy.
Go Team Le Pelle / Whitehead, couldn't have done it without all the support!!!! Now for the 1-day event....
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