We have caught up with our normal life, whatever that is.
We received an email from the Air Rescue Trust confirming we managed to raise a whopping $7370! Thank you all for your contributions.
Jo is coming up with a feedback form which we will try to get out to you this week. We would love to receive any comments you have about the event, good or bad.
We would also love to share your stories about the Brevet with other riders and potential riders.
We have received a couple of Blogs already which I will load up here to help others find them.
http://steveskiwibrevet2015.blogspot.co.nz
http://pegswheels.blogspot.co.nz
I turned the KB phone on this morning, just in case someone had txt in, but alas no!
OK, carry on, catch up soon, Scott and Jo
Brian Alder's report below:
A
kiwi Brevet.
I’d been hooked on the idea of these bikepacking events
since I found out about the 2012 Kiwi Brevet a week before it started. I was
horrified that I’d missed my chance for two whole years and set about making up
for it. Thinking I was pretty fit for cycling, I entered a 70km road race and
got totally spanked, quickly realising that a 2-3 hour recreational mtb ride
and these other events were going to be completely different. For the next 12
months I focussed on the road, riding the Milk and Honey, Taupo, club races and
Le Race and generally feeling comfortable riding 4-6 hrs at a time. The 2013 Le
Petite Brevet was to be a bit of litmus test of my theories and once that went
pretty well I knew I was on the right track.
My plan for 2014 was to ride the Great Southern Brevet and if
that went ok the Kiwi Brevet. In the GSB I got lucky as I hooked up with Craig
Phillips, a veteran of this event and with plenty of long mtb touring journeys
under his belt. My basic strategy was to stick with Phelps as long as I could and
learn everything that was on offer. Through some incredibly tough times this
worked out to be a good plan and as the days unfolded we ended up riding with
Tristan Rawlence & Anja MacDonald. Tristan’s ability to generate energy on
the singletrack and Anja’s iron determination were abject lessons in how to
cope with the highs and lows that events like this produce. In the end we were
the first to complete the entire course. The GSB taught me that no matter how
bad it is, it will get better if you keep going and the trick was to keep
rolling at all costs. Ten days later I lined up for the Kiwi Brevet with a bit
more confidence in my ability and rolled around the course in much smoother
fashion than the GSB, feeling pretty chuffed that only Dave Sharpe’s ludicrous
ride and legend Nathan Fa’avae were in front of Steve Halligan and myself. To
my surprise I had discovered that I was quite good at this game.
Once Scott & Jo announced that they were going to run
the KB in 2015 and then there’d be the Tour Aotearoa in 2016, I started giving
serious thought to what I would do differently for this years’ Kiwi Brevet. I had
ridden my Scott Genius full susser in all these events so far and was pretty
happy to stick with that approach. Partly as I only had one bike and partly as
I found riding the technical / singletrack sections on an appropriate bike gave
my spirits a huge lift and was something to look forward to while slogging out
the road sections. I’d realised that the time I’d spent being a roady was quite
handy and I could keep pace with the rigid 29er crowd on the flats and then
have a fun time off road and not get too beaten up to boot. The biggest area of
improvement I could see was in spending more time on the bike. Only a couple of
short stops during the day, eating on the bike and using the “dark zone” hours
for more than sleeping – carrying food to eat in that time and getting chores
done like bike maintenance etc done in those hours too. I figured I couldn’t
ride much faster but I could ride for longer. When Scott announced the course I
realised that the first couple of days were pretty flat and fast so back to the
roady I went trying to get plenty of time in spinning miles and on aero bars.
This didn’t quite play out as planned as work interrupted a bit, but generally
I felt pretty happy with my preparation. My goal was to complete the course in
close to 4 days as I could. This would mean I would need to ride a couple of
300km+ days, something I’d never done before. On paper it looked possible but I
wasn’t quite sure whether my 50 year-old body would be up to the repetitive
grind.
As it turned out, it was. As predicted the pace was high up
the valley the first morning and when the hammer went down as we hit the gravel
I put my head down wanting to be at the pointy end by the time we hit the main
road again. I popped out with Keith Payne, with Seb Dunne and Ed McDonald a
short distance back and Steve and Joe Jagusch up the road. Seb, Keith and I hooked
up with Ed cruising off to the Brevette course. Once into the St James my bike
came into it’s own. Keith punctured and Seb & I made Scotty’s just on dark.
Seb decided to stay there when Joe appeared out of the darkness. He’s been in
front but had detoured to Lake Tennyson. Joe & I rode onto the homestead for
the night, with Stealth and then Dean Ford turning up a little later. Stealth
and I made our way into the Hanmer bakery next morning, and with a pie in my
belly and a pastie in my pocket I was out of town before 6am. I spied Seb at Culverden,
grabbed a bit more food and together we cruised through to the Wharfedale in
the early afternoon. I found the last few ks into the hut frustrating, but the
track upgrades leading to the saddle made for some great riding. Seb waved me
on here and I had a whale of a time out to Sheffield and then boxed onto
Springfield in the building NW for dinner. I was pretty daunted about riding
through Arthurs Pass into the wind alone and briefly contemplated waiting for
Seb who had just arrived but I heeded my own advice and crawled my way to the
bottom of Porters and then up the hill. Once in the basin the wind wasn’t too
bad and when I realised I could make Flock Hill lodge for a feed, shower and
bed I took that option, arriving at 9.30 pm.
Passing Lake Pearson in the dark on Day 3 was a bit
demoralising, the wind was buffeting me sideways, trucks were ripping past and
progress was slow. I set my sights on Klondyke Corner and made it for a morning
kea show. Once over Arthurs I was having a great morning, thinking only Steve
was in front of me and easy miles were coming. I was behind my 4 day schedule
but once I clicked past halfway I felt every revolution was taking me home. I started
to notice two sets of tracks and figured that Seb had gone past me in the night
and sure enough I finally caught him at the Blackball junction. He was heading
up for lunch and having plenty of food onboard I rolled onto Ikamatua, having a
great chat with some cycle tourers along the way. Arriving in Waiuta mid
afternoon I reckoned on missing the shops in Reefton but making the pub for
dinner and set my goal on Springs Junction for the day. The single track was
much better than I remembered and I rode most of it, only getting stumped by a
downpour just before Big River. However the sun soon came out & I had a
ripping time over the cobbles of the Big River road, finishing with a sprint
down the road to beat the store’s 7pm closing. A Giant burger later and the
evening breeze at my back I rode in digestion-mode up the Rahu. The mix of twilight
and mists gave an other-worldly feel and the dreaded slog drifted by with the
empty road. Springs Junction felt unwelcoming so I wound down along the west
bank into Maruia, parking up at the school about 10.30 pm feeling very chuffed
with my 290 km day which had started so badly.
I turned off my lights at the top of Maruia Saddle and let
the dawn light do the work down to the Glenroy bridge the next morning. By now
I’d written off the concept of finishing near 4 days and made a plan of seeing
what time I got to Nelson that night and taking it from there. The Mataki
valley was a drag, but a decent breakfast and being back on familiar ground from
a winter tour helped alot. Catching a few Brevetteers gave me a boost too.
Finally by the top of the Porika I started to feel better and I kept the stoke
going as I boxed into the wind at Kawatiri. Here I met brevette cruiser Dean
Cameron, and though he dropped me over Tadmor Saddle I kept him in sight down
the valley to Tapawera where a mixed berry smoothy took the heat out of the
afternoon sun. Dean assured me that Nelson was in easy reach, and with the “Seb
ghost” not far back, I left the sanctuary of the café. It was a welcome relief
to have a few hills as my butt had been in a bad way for a few days now and was
far worse dealing with it on the flat. Passing the Dovedale domain I reminisced
of my first game for the Waimea College 1st XI cricket team at the
ground and how I’d held a screaming catch. The last time I’d been over the road
to Wakefield was way back then, 35 year ago – so plenty of good memories to
keep the spirits up. Nice tail winds made the trails into Nelson pretty cruisy
as did a few ks with Jasper and the fat bike. My brother and then Andrew Smith
stalked me into Nelson where a resupply at Akbars had been the carrot for the
last hour or so. It was 7pm and the Maungatapu loomed – I needed to refocus a
bit and set a new goal as the Pelorus and 300km + was now possible. The cool
evening made for pleasant riding up the Maitai and I decided to go all out over
the Maungatapu to see if I could make it before dark. Not quite but I was down
in the Pelorus just after 10pm and cruised out to Havelock under the full moon
and little traffic to finally bed down before midnight – 305km and my biggest
day ever.
At the Picton bakery next morning I checked my phone and was
surprised to see Seb just about in town. I realised he must have skipped
stopping in Nelson last night and was now only 10 minutes back. I once again
thought about waiting and finishing together but decided I’d worked bloody hard
on my own up to this point and it was worth carrying on, whether he caught me
or not. I stuffed food down my mouth and scooted out of town. I tried to ride
consistently round the Port Underwood road but the hills were taking their
toll. Out of Robin Hood Bay I saw Seb back in the distance and realised that he
was unlikely to catch me with 30kms to go. Man that was a relief! Once on the
flat I kept a wee eye over my shoulder just to be sure, tacking into the wind
all the way to Seymour Square. I was
happy! 4 days, 1 hour, 38 minutes and second home. Clare my wife was there to meet me and Steve
Halligan crawled out from under a bush (figuratively) after his epic last few
hours. Seb rolled in 15 minutes later. The podium snap felt pretty special with
me the old crusty….
Standing in the shower a few hours later I reflected on my
ride. I felt I’d ridden as best I could, I had ridden within the spirit and
rules of the game and I’d managed to ride most of the route alone. Apart from
an hour or two in to the wind at Arthurs Pass I’d had a positive mindset and
enjoyed myself immensely. My prep and planning had worked out great and my bike
had been a joy. Once again I had surprised myself with what I had achieved and
couldn’t quite believe it.
Thanks to Jo and Scott for taking the reins and your
enthusiasm and positive vibes. Thanks to all the folks in blue–dot land who
keep the wheels spinning when the legs don’t want to. See you at Cape Reinga
next year.
Brian Alder
