28 October 2009

Services List

Planning and enjoying your ride is going to depend a lot on wise use of the services along the way. So here's the start of a list of them. What you still need to find out is when they open & close, what they offer (and at what cost), and if bookings are required.

Chances are that you'll get to a small town just after closing time at some stage in your ride. If you are in tour mode (riding well within your limits) you might have the energy necessary to push on to the next town. But if you plan to ride into the small hours, you'll want to have a sleeping bag and spare rations tucked away.

Please let us know if there are services en route that are missing from the list.
If you want the contact details for these businesses a google search, or call to the local info centre or 018 directory should do the trick.
Note that most towns also have a service station.

I'm not sure how cutting and pasting an Excel file is going to work - it looks great before I press post (which makes me very nervous). If it's crap, email me and I'll send you the file.


Distance Location Services
0 km Blenheim all
Waikawa dairy
58 Picton food, accom
Momorangi cafe
Linkwater service station
89 Havelock food, accom
Canvastown hotel
Pelorus Bridge cafe
143 Nelson all
Stoke all, ex hospital
Richmond all, ex hospital
Brightwater food
Wakefield food
233 St Arnaud food, accom
297 Murchison food, accom, hospital
Maruia cafe, accom
373 Springs Junction cafe, accom
416 Reefton all
Big River hut
491 Blackball hotel, accom
553 Jacksons hotel
Otira hotel
588 Arthurs Pass food, accom
Bealy hotel
Flock Hill station food, accom
Springfield food, accom
679 Sheffield food
Wharfedale hut
Hurunui hotel
Culverden shops, hotel
859 Hanmer Springs all, ex hospital
Awatere Valley B&B
1064 km Blenheim all

10 October 2009

Some Useful Links, a budget, & a Schedule

So, in the interests of seeing 100% of starters actually finish, here's some info you might find handy.

The Great Divide race
David Blaines GDR blog
http://www.ultracycling.com/
The Tour Divide site
Bike Packing
Rough Stuff Fellowship

Warning! There's some really interesting reading in those links - take care not to let it get in the way of your riding!

If you are thinking about a budget for the Brevet, you first need to work out what gear you will take. After looking at the links above, Googling 'great divide gear list' will give you more to think about. Or you can look for the gear list on my Great Divide Kiwi blog. I'll probably carry a very similar load of gear (minus the overmitts, booties, anti-biotics, sun umbrella, and shower caps).

Once you have your gear sorted, what will the event cost you to complete? Here's my estimate:

Travel to the start/finish - $100
Accomodation (six nights in a backpackers) - $180
Extra Food than normal - $200 (plus normal expenditure)
Bike repairs/replacements (tyres, chain, brake pads, etc) - $350
SPOT nav-tracker hire - $65
Koha - $50
Misc (anit-flammes, sunblock, batteries, etc) - $100

Total - roughly $1045

Next up I was having a think about an 8-Day Finishers schedule - what're the minimum distances to aim for each day? Something like this perhaps:

Sat (noon start) - Blenheim to Havelock - 90 km
Sun - On to St Arnaud - 144 km
Mon - On to Springs Junction - 140 km
Tues - On to Jacksons - 180 km
Wed - On to Wharfedale/Townsend Hut - 156 km
Thurs - Thru to Hanmer - 150 km
Fri - Rest area at Hodder River - 135 km
Sat - Finish in Blenheim - 70 km

Since the eight day time limit actually kicks in at noon on the Sunday, this leaves a half day spare incase of delays required for bike repairs or bad weather. It's interesting to see that you could stay under a roof at the end of every day except for the night by the Hodder River.

The distances are estimates based on Google Maps and Classic NZ MTB Rides. They might be a tad on the short side for some legs. They come to a grand total of 1065 km.