K2 2008

200km / Tairua to Tairua
www.arcevents.co.nz/k2cycle/content
Time: 7:28:
Category Placing: 10th

Damn, slept through my alarm. Awesome start. I like to be up for at least 3 hours before embarking on these little expeditions. The weather in the morning was exceedingly calm and clear. Seemingly metaphorically reminiscent of the calm before the storm.

2 km’s into the ride we approach the first climb, Pumpkin Hill (240 m), a relatively easy climb on fresh legs. Up the coast toward Whitianga I rode within a bunch of about 15-20 cyclists. This section is all a bit of blur to me now, the pace was pretty intense and there was a strong head wind in parts. I had to work exceptionally hard not to get dropped, but after a period started tagging precariously at the back and inevitably got dropped. DAMN! I rode solo for at least 10 km before reaching Whitianga where I was fortunate to be caught by a very friendly and welcoming bunch of about 10 guys who verbally invited ("hey - slow down and join our bunch!") me to tag onto their bunch. We worked together harmoniously up until the little steep rise out of Whitianga where I (inadvertently) climbed the hill at twice their speed but they again caught up to me about 1.5 km back onto the flat.

This was a predominant theme for all 40-50 km of hills and really showcased my strengths and weaknesses. Within the bunches I rode in, if we were riding up the hills at the same pace, there was no way I could keep up on the flats – and vica versa! Part of this can no doubt be attributed to the fact that the majority of riders were men whom on their own weighed more than myself and my bike combined. Hill climbing is all about your power to weight ratio and technique. Part can also be attributed to my self-perceived weakness on hills which has lead to obsessive hill training for the last 10 months.

I eventually went off the front of the bunch for good after Myundermann’s hill – a relatively short hill but with a steep grade that was made more taxing with the wind against us.

The next section of undulating terrain was probably the hardest point of the race – I rode mostly solo and the wind was heinous! I looked down at my computer a few times and felt pretty demoralized and lethargic at a lacklustre 18-20 km/h! Nevertheless, I wasn’t going keen to try anything heroic with the ominous Whangapoua hill approaching (albeit slowly). By far the hardest hill of the ride, Whangapoua is around 380 m and must be 4-5 km climb.

Whangapoua started off *very* slowly but I was actually feeling pretty good and re-energized near the top. Endorphins? I had to stop at the water station to fill my 2 now empty bottles and that cost around 1.5 mins. Down the windy descent into Coromandel town I started getting the first hints of a blistering headache that in retrospect I believe was due to dehydration.

Felt pretty good over the next two hills leading onto the flat Thames coast. I caught up with 2 guys who over the course of the 30 km coast line turned into a bunch of about 10-15 riders. The pace was pretty good, around 35-40 km/h. I unintentionally pushed the pace too much when I was leading (out of fear of not being able to maintain the pace!) and the group eventually split into strands, but most of those left behind caught up further down the coast anyway. Was possibly a bit too fast for most of us!

Past Thames is the last of the 7 major climbs – Kopu-Hikuai which is 13 km. It’s a fairly steady climb that is not too step in most parts but I was certainly starting to feel the 150km’s in my legs and I didn’t press my pace for fear of blowing up. My headache returned halfway up the climb with double the intensity of the first bout – AAARGGH! - if it hadn’t been that there was only 30 or so km's to go I would have seriously considered pulling out based on how pounded my head felt at that point! I even shed a few tears, just quietly! It was nasty and consuming and I couldn't think straight to save myself. The huge decent was pretty dampened by how bashed my head was feeling. I took the time to just stay steady and safe, drink heaps and try to recover a bit for the last flat 15 (or more?) km's to finish. It was a little tactic that worked in my favour and I managed a pretty good pace to the finish line – despite not been able to shake mental images of my hurting brain being eaten alive by cock-roaches and magpies (!!) and just wanting the whole thing to be over!

I finished with a time well and truly under my tentative goal of sub 8. If it wasn’t for how bad my headache was I feel I could of sliced at least 10 minutes off that effort. Sub 7 next year fo' sure!