It was a strange feeling for me coming into this year’s
Taupo ride. It would be the first time that my ride target wasn't to go as fast
as I possibly can, and try to better all previous times. As this was going to
be my 10th Taupo ride and the fact that last year I had achieved a ride time
better than anything I ever expected (4:18 in case you’ve forgotten 😉)
, I decided that I wanted to do something different this year.
The 3 options I came up with were :
1) Ride a Tandem with Trace
2) Ride as domestique for Trace
(and the DOC Sub 5hr group)
3) Ride the double lapper
The Tandem idea didn’t work out, which was mainly my fault,
as I always put my K2 training ahead of it.. and after one ride of the Tandem,
which was fun but stressful, I pretty much made up my mind that riding a it at
Taupo wasn’t going to be an enjoyable experience for either of us, so that was
scratched. The double lapper is still something I think I might like to try in
the future but riding domestique for Trace was an easy decision, especially
after she crashed at last year’s ride and the fact that Trace ended up helping
me complete K2 this year.
The DOC Sub 5hr group is really gathering momentum with Mike Conza
at the helm, is well organised and planned out. They had some strong
riders to contribute to the pace setting and I thought I could help do some
work on the front when I could, if Trace was going well. The forecast all week
for Saturday was pretty terrible but the day itself dawned dry, calm and not
that cold… but you got the feeling that the rain was never far away. I think a
lot of us were deceived by the early weather and didn’t put enough warm gear on
when we left for the start line (myself included). Sure enough by the time we
started, so did the rain.
Tim and Phil had joined the group for the day, and I knew
plenty of the DOC guys, so that was nice change to be surrounded by familiar
faces at the start line (whereas it’s usually only Carl and I, versus the world
😉).
The DOC guys made sure that Trace started near the front of our bunch but I was
happy at the back, knowing that I could move up once things settled down. Mike
had said pre-ride that he was aiming for a consistent effort not speed, so the
start was very evenly paced up the first hills out of town. When the road
flattened out for the first time after about 5km, I started moving up the
bunch, checking on Tim and Phil (they were going well) and finally Trace who
was still excellently positioned at the front.
I always love the decent on Whangamata Road, so sat in near
the front of the bunch, helping pull the group along. Once we started the ups
and downs on Whangamata Rd, Trace started to slide back in the group a little.
Some of those climbs are quite pinchy and the descents the same, and as it was
raining and cold, neither were enjoyable and it was easy to lose the wheel in
front. When we got near the end of Whangamata Road, I decided it was a good
time to move up the bunch, so with Trace on my rear wheel, we moved out to the
centre line of the road and I towed her back to the front. As a group, the
average speed was just under 29kph for the first 40k, so we were bang on target
for a Sub 5hr ride.
As we all know, the road is consistently up and down for the
first 80kms of Taupo, and if your legs aren’t good, then you’re going to
struggle… and unfortunately Trace wasn’t having a great day and kept sliding
towards the rear of the bunch. Each time I realised she was no longer near the
front, I’d drop back and find her, wait for a slight downhill or false flat and
tow her back to the front again (which occurred about 3 times). Soon enough we
were approaching the longer Waihaha climb and I wanted to put Trace in the best
position possible, so off to the front we went again and we started the climb
in first wheel. I stayed on the front of the bunch tapping out what I hoped was
a steady pace and as we hit the halfway point of the climb (where it levels
off) I looked around to see how Trace was positioned. I couldn’t see her in the
first few wheels so I dropped back to find her.
Unfortunately when I got back to Trace, big gaps had opened
up to our bunch and they were steadily pulling further ahead as we climbed the
second half of Waihaha. Trace was trying as hard as she could but it just
wasn’t going to be her day. Around this point Phil had been distanced from the
main bunch as well and was riding happily with us (actually he was happily swearing away,
while riding beside us 😉 ). Tim was still with
the group and going well. So Trace, Phil and I formed our own group and
continued on. At this point our ride avg speed was still around 29kph, which
remained on target for Sub 5, so my plan was to set a steady pace that Trace
and Phil were happy with, they might be able to recover and their legs come
good and we can catch the next faster bunch that comes along.
NOTE: it was not long after the summit of Waihaha that we
saw that poor guy on the road side, having had a heart attack ☹
Trace asked me if she should stop but there was already 10 plus people around
him, so I said “no, lets keep going”. Ride Captain Mike had dropped back to
check on Trace as well, but having just completed a first aid course the day
before (including resuscitation), he pulled over to see if he could help.
We rode mainly as a group of 3 to Kuratau and started the
climb together.. I really needed to go to the loo, so I rode ahead a bit and
pulled over. One long nature break later, I was back on the road and chasing my
ride companions, and caught Phil first. I happily sat in front of him and we
made our way back to Trace. Our ride avg had dipped below 28kph now and we had
just clicked over 3hrs. I knew we wouldn’t be able to make Sub 5 from here (as
we were still about 8kms to the Waihi drink stop and you need to be there under
3hr 10min to have any chance). I chatted to Phil coming up to the Waihi drink
stop, asking if he wanted to stop, saying it was no problem as we had no chance
of breaking 5hrs, so stopping wasn’t an issue. He agreed and needed water so we
stopped. While stationary I blurted out to Trace something like “well, we’ve
got no chance of breaking 5 now, we needed to be here 15mins ago” and she burst
out crying. Trace later said she wasn’t sure why she was crying, but maybe just
the effort, the cold and pre-ride expectation, was hitting home.
Being the caring and sentimental guy that I am, I suggested
we get going and hit the decent as that “should clear your eyes”… nice one
Tony 👎. From here onto the flats of Turangi and lake front, it was the 3 amigos,
me leading the way and jumping onto passing trains when we could, hang with
them as long as we could.. then rinse and repeat. Coming into Hatepe, Trace had
moved ahead of Phil a little, so I dropped back to check on him. I said we were
happy to wait for him at the top and for him to ride the climb at his own pace,
which he did and we were only waiting 30 sec’s or so at the top. The wet
weather had returned now and it was truly miserable descending of Hatepe into
the driving rain.
It was more of the same all the way to the finish, we picked
up a faster groups (or single riders) now and then but mainly it was simply
knocking it out at a pace we could all hold. This was definitely the least
enjoyable part of the ride for me, as the constant headwind and rain was
starting to wear me down (more mentally than physically). We got to the finish
line all together and in a total time of 5:28. So definitely not the result we
were wanting but a memorable ride all the same.
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