Ngutunui: Twice is nice.

In a bid to find some fitness and some climbing legs before I committed to dragging myself around the Colville Connection, I decided I needed to find a better training ground.  I felt my progress was good and my gravel riding skills had improved over the few rides I had done so far.  But, if I was going to survive the 72km ride at Colville, I had to step it up in terms of distance and elevation gain. 

The Ngutunui Time Trial had been on my radar for a while.  This is a 50-something kilometre pan-handled loop in the backcountry between Pirongia and Kawhia.  A lot of local mountain bikers have been using this loop as a measure of their training progress and preparedness for events.  It had the right mix of climbs, descents, gravel, and distance.  And the Waipa Mountain Bike Club was doing a group ride out there this Sunday.

We met at Ngutunui School for the start of the ride.  Me, Tui, Jeff, Jo and another Waipa clubbie whose name I cannot remember.  We set off together up Pekanui Road to climb to the top of the ridge.  This warm up lasts about 10km or so and had me pretty worried.  Thankfully, the gradient varied and it wasn't the climb from hell I thought it would be (that came later).  And being on my skinny wheels and a light-ish cross bike meant that I was only a wee way behind Jo tearing up the tarmac on her carbon-framed mountain bike and the others couldn't quite hang onto my wheel.  That was pretty satisfying.

After a bit of a chat, and a stretch at the top, Tui and Jeff came rolling past without stopping.  We carried on along Pirongia West Road with the familiar and heart-warming sound of gravel beneath our tyres.  This was undulating for a short way, before diving downwards through limestone corners shrouded in native ferns and in the shadows of towering limestone bluffs.  Even the road was made with limestone - obviously an abundance of it in this area - which made me realise we were very close to Waitomo and the King County region. 

I followed Jo and the unknown clubbie through these descents, using them as an indicator of how loose the corners were and how fast I should or should not be going.  I struggled on the corrugations in the corners, with my hand firmly gripping the drops and a single finger on the brake lever the whole way.  I could feel the workload on my back, neck and shoulders take the brunt of the vibrations and holding this rather unnecessary aero position. Won't be able to hold this for long.

I didn't have a choice though, the descent just kept going and going, interspersed with ever-shortening sections of climbing, before tipping downwards again.  I ended up riding in the drops most of the time.  That way, I was ready for anything.  My hands were safely secure on handlebars and brakes were at the ready.  I almost overcooked a couple of corners, catching up to my leadout team and scaring myself silly.  Although, it was nice to know there was room to open it up if I wanted to abandon my cautious approach.

The weather was perfect - for sitting in the shade with a cool refreshing drink.  Clear skies, full sun, and barely a breath of wind.  But we were riding bikes.  It didn't take long for me to warm up on this ride and then I stayed hot.  In my usual summer kit of jersey and shorts, I was wearing a cap as second defense against the sun and also to mop my brow a little.  The odd part of my kit was my full finger gloves.

After suffering through the corrugations around Karioi, I decided I needed a little more padding and that full finger gloves would be a lot better if I came a cropper on the gravel.  As with most full finger gloves, they were hot.  The padded gel inserts in the palms was doing a fantastic job of reducing the vibrations going into my hands though, so I kept them on.

We finally made it to the end of the gravel and the intersection with Okupata Road (I almost headed off towards the Oparau Roadhouse).  We stopped to rest and regroup under the big tree.  I ate everything I had with me - a banana and an OSM. Perhaps a bit too much food to eat in one go, but it was good to get some fuel into me.  I hadn't even considered trying to eat as I rode because I was too scared I'd lose control and crash.  We sat and talked for a while before deciding we'd better push on.

From here the sealed road undulated a little, leading into a steady climb for 5km or so.  We were then treated to a fast descent to the bridge across a stream before settling into the last 5km of climbing up to the top of the hill and the intersection with Pirongia West Road where we had regrouped earlier.

This second section of climbing was a killer.  The hot sun was baking my back, and the road, with the hot air riding up off the gravel drying my mouth with every breath.  I was glad for the fuel I had taken in at the rest stop by the big tree, but it seemed as if I had left my climbing legs behind.  I'd never felt this hot on a ride before and ended up stopping to remove my wonderfully comfortable gloves.  I considered removing my cap, but thought the sweat wicking properties and sun protection were worth the extra heat.

I continued on, grinding away in my easiest gear of 34:28.  It was just a little to big for me on this day.  My legs burned, my head throbbed, and my forehead felt like it was on fire.  I was getting nearer the top, but Jo was getting smaller and smaller in the distance as she rode off ahead of me.  Rounding each corner, my heart would sink a little as I saw how much more road there was between me and the last corner I could see.

I looked behind me, but no one was to be seen.  Then I noticed the view.  Spectacular.  Another quick stop off to snap a photo, then back on the bike.  Around the next corner I saw the end - a row of powerpoles delineated the edge of Pirongia West Road only a few hundred metres away.

After a brief pause at the top to recover and give props to Jo, we set off and raced down the hill back towards the school.  This downhill was amazing - sealed roads, tight corners, lush forest.  It is good that the official Ngutunui Time Trial events don't include this, as it would be pretty easy to overcook a corner and end up on the wrong side of the road, in the ditch, down the bank, or under a car.

We made it safely back to our cars and went our separate ways.  I was happy with my efforts on the bike today, though felt I was a little out of my league (and out of legs) on that last long climb.  I had doubts that I could manage at Colville, though I felt a little more certain that I would be on that starting line.

A week later, I had the opportunity to get in another good ride and knowing that last minute preparation still counted as preparation, I drove out to Ngutunui again.  This time I could barely see Pirongia as I drove south, the top of it was completely shrouded in heavy damp cloud.  At least I won't be hot.

Instead of suffering alone up that heinously long climb, I opted to do the loop in reverse.  I still had to climb up Pekanui Road to the top of the ridge at Pirongia West, but after a brief moment of will I, won't I, I stomped on the pedals and pointed my bike downhill on Okupata Road.  I didn't have to pedal far before gravity took over and I could sit up and take in the view.

The downhill was long.  So very long.  And I felt so very undeserving of such an exhilarating descent so early in my ride. I couldn't help but grin, though.  It sure was fun.

I was actually a little relieved to see the bridge come into view.  This meant the turn-off onto the bottom end of Pirongia West road was not too far away.  I had a little climb and a few undulations to get through first.  The climb was a welcome change; awakening my legs and mind.

The big tree came into view and I stopped beside it to take on some food, to fuel up before the climb back to the top.  I had been riding for just over an hour and completed a bit under half of the loop - the easy half - most of it had been downhill.  I was looking forward to the climb and briefly considered not stopping but just eating on the go.  Previous experience told me this didn't work so well and I needed to get some good fuel on board if I didn't want to be chewing on my stem ten minutes from now.

The climb was great.  Not one long heinous snake of a road slithering it's way to the top of the hill like I experienced on the clockwise route the week earlier.  The road twisted and turned, climbed and fell through the folds of the Pirongia foothills.  The road was narrow and the harsh light made the limestone surface look bleached white.  I struggled to keep on top of my teensy gear ratio (34:28) on some short pinch climbs, yet seemingly flew up other sections.  The motto at all times was: keep moving forwards.  At one stage I wondered if I had inadvertently turned up someone's driveway - the road had two distinctive wheel tracks with grass and weeds growing in between.

I was also beginning to encounter a few loose livestock.  A couple of sheep were looking rather alarmed that a 'thing' was moving towards them along the road. There method of dealing with this threatening situation was to walk themselves into a corner of the fenceline, point their bottoms out and keep a wary eye on me as I rode by.  My guess is they felt that it was an effective strategy and one they would employ again, because it worked - I went away and they didn't die. Success!

I was beginning to die though.  The hills were getting steeper and I was wondering where the ever elusive 'top' was.  Just as I was having thoughts of stopping for a quick breather, a small flock of sheep came trotting down the road towards me.  These ones immediately executed the "cower and don't die" strategy and headed for the nearest corner in the fenceline.  A couple of them squeezed through a gap in the fence and the rest continued cowering looking a little perplexed as to how their friends had got through the force field.  Not quite sure what the hell was going on and wondering if I was going to meet a farmer barrelling down the road in his tractor around the next corner, I had slowed down and was already recovering.

Next around the corner were a couple of goats leading the rest of the flock of sheep.  I stopped and pulled off the road to walk next to the fenceline.  I didn't want to scare them all back up the road, only to have to pass them again - or scare them all the way back to my car!  The goats went left, through a gap in the fence ahead of me and the sheep went right, to join their buddies by implementing the ever-popular cowering strategy.

I walked my bike for 20 metres and then hopped back on to continue my ride.  I only got as far as the next corner where I had to stop again because Jo and a companion were riding down the hill towards me.  They had been chasing the sheep (and goats) down the hill for the last while and were being held up by them running across the road.

That brief respite from riding had allowed my legs a good bit of recovery and when I set off again, I felt refreshed and as though the gradient had levelled out slightly.  I'd only come 6km up the road and had another 6km or so to reach the top.  And that wasn't the end of the road - there was another little descent and a final short climb to the end of Pirongia West Road.  I ate it up, determined to keep up my effort and make the most of this ride.

I didn't even stop at the top.  I turned straight into Pekanui Road and pedalled hard.  I caught up to a hatchback on the descent and had a bit of fun with it getting away from me in the straights and then catching up to it in the corners (possibly completely freaking out the driver, if not pissing them off).  I eventually passed it on one of the longer straights and held them off through the next few corners but had no legs left when the road opened out again.  Just as well.

It was a good ride and interesting in "reverse".  I now understand why some people have this as a regular training loop in their preparation for all kinds of events.  It's a ride I hope to do again, more than once.

And that was it for any training I could do - the Colville Connection was only one week away.