Cant be bother doing full write up, so bullet points it is:
Day One.
-103 starters
-2 fat bikes, one krampus, lots of fuly rigid 29ers, few CX’s
-Riding to Port Underwood was good going up on the CX not so much going down.
-wild vension and a wild pork/kumura/apple pies at Pelorus bridge were great.
-The Maungatapu track is really hard going up, and slow going down in the dark on 42mm tyres
160kms, 3100m climbing, 12noon-10pm.
Day Two.
-double breakfast, one at 6am one at 8.30 is excellent.
-bottle of coke, bottle of powerade became my go to at every stop
-carrots stay good getting bashed around and are pretty tasty after muelsi bars
-I was so stoked when one of the riders behind me picked up my dropped mandarin and delivered it to me at the top of the Porika track, made my day easily, I was looking forward to that mandarin all the was up.
-the 20kms or so of flowy downhill gravel roads to Murchison after the steep, rutty Porika track were amazing.
-Climbing a the lovely Maruia saddle at dusk was some of the best riding I’ve ever done.
-Bivvy-ing in an old cemetery and eating a can of spaghetti with a tyre lever was less amazing
220kms, 3000m climbing, 6am-10pm,
Day Three
-double breakfast, spaghetti and eggs of toast with a flat white is a good start to a day, especially when x2.
-turning off onto the brevette course from the brevet meant no more company for the rest of the ride which is something I missed.
-glad I bought my ipod shuffle for the next 95kms of sealed road.
-The rainbow road was way worse than I remember, my body took a beating from the corrugations
-I sat in a ditch to hide from the sun and drink a whole bottle before the last climb of the day.
-having a hut to sleep in with mattresses was awesome
180kms, 2400m climing, 6.30-7.30.
Day 4
-knowing there was no major climbs for the rest of the ride was awesome, my legs had lost all ‘kick’, standing up of the pedals did nothing.
-getting stung by a wasp going 40kms down a hill sucked
-coined a term for the surface of the road on the north bank of the Wairau - ‘stone-fruit gravel’ it had everything from cherry sized rocks to big peaches, it was horrible.
-running out of water with 25kms to the next stop was bad, but getting a coke and powerade at the servo was great
-finishing with some daylight to sit in the square (the start/finish line) and drink some beers was awesome, and having a few followers of the spot trackers/track the leaders come and have a chat was choice.
160kms, 1300m climbing, 7am-4.30pm.
It was an awesome ride and adventure, I’d definitely do it again.
Next time I’d do the full brevet for sure, having 20 odd other riders who are into it to hangout with at stops and chat with on the road is great.
Can totally recommend it.
Hopefully someone steps up and takes over from Simon Kennett (who has organised the last 3) to get the 2016 one happening.
