Longest Day Ride 2012: One Revolution After Another

The plan was to do a road ride around the Waikato, taking in a number of rural cafe's and food stops on our way to reduce the food and water we would need to carry.  Getting kitted up was a simple affair this year, compared to the almost self-sufficient approach to last year's ride.

I never sleep well the night before a ride or race and this was no exception.  I had dragged myself from bed while it was still dark outside.  With gear packed the night before and a quiet exit through the garage door, I left my family sleeping and drove out to the rendezvous in Matangi.

At 5:56am, as sunlight started to spill into the adjacent paddocks, Megan, Michelle and I rolled out of the gate and headed north(ish) towards Morrinsville.  We had over 14 hours and 200km of riding mapped out and no idea if we would make it.

With armwarmers and a gilet on for the early morning start, my pockets were only half full; sunscreen, bumcream, multi tool, map, credit card and phone. Strapped under my seat were a spare tube, tyre levers, and a cannister of CO2 (I figured someone else would be carrying a pump).

The morning was warm and we had soon stopped for obligatory photos of the rising sun, to remove armwarmers and gilets, and to apply sunscreen.  We stopped a lot.  The ride through Scotsman's Valley was beautiful, with the early morning light draping itself across the paddocks and the air clear and fresh.  We rode at a conversational pace, wary of tiring ourselves out too early in the day.

We reached Morrinsville at about twenty to eight, when most cafe's were still closed and most of the town appeared to be asleep. Ronnie's came to our rescue, with a hearty second breakfast of a mayonnaise-laden chicken salad wrap and a big dose of Powerade.  I glanced across the street and wondered, why do takeaway shops love horses so much?

Our next stop was 25km away in Gordonton. We took in a short section of gravel on Woodlands Road spotting a bunch ride turning from a side road onto the seal ahead of us.  After following them for a few minutes, we noted that they were travelling at about the same pace as us.  So, if we're riding easy and they are going the same speed, then we should be able to catch them without too much effort, right?  In a vote of 2 to 1 we decided to Team Time Trial and catch the bunch.  We went like the clappers, took turns doing pulls on the front, kept it tight and were soon coasting on to the back of their group. Turns out they were the B Group for the Bob's Bikes shop ride.  We chatted as we rode and then split off to stop at the FirePot Cafe in Gordonton.

 A couple of coffees and a trifecta of lemon crunch muffins for the team went nicely with a sit down and perusal of the newspaper to catch up on yesterday's bad news. Team spirits had been lifted by our success with the TTT even though we each thought it could be our undoing later in the day.  We found amusement in the Sunday amateur cyclists decked out in full Team Regalia purchased through their favourite online store and sporting VPL under their Lycra.  At least we looked the part.  We we all wearing our favourite kit; maybe it was lucky kit.  We looked like an advertisement for Twin Six, anyway.  It didn't matter to us, we were comfortable in our tried and trusted gear.

After a short ride on the main road, we turned into Lake Road for a picturesque detour around Lake D.  The D isn't short for anything, it's just the fourth lake in a series of lakes, starting with Lake A.  It's "correct" name is Lake Kainui.  The picturesque detour was not appreciated by my companions when we turned away from a connecting road we had bypassed earlier.  Still, if we took shortcuts the ride wouldn't last all day now, would it?

We finally reached Horotiu and stopped at the dairy for a break.  This was 73km into our ride and the first time we had bothered to stretch our legs.  I felt I should eat something at this point, but my stomach disagreed and I couldn't convince my legs that they should walk me inside to make a purchase.  None of us felt like eating right then, so we all decided to make for Te Kowhai and stop there.

Our freshly stretched legs felt pretty good and took us over the one small bump of a hill and through some major roading construction works fairly swiftly. Before long, we were in Te Kowhai with iceblocks in our hot little hands and were seeking shelter from the sun for a short rest.  A quick reapplication of sunscreen, mixing it in and smearing it around with the dust and dead insects that had collected on our legs left us ready to move on.

Two begrudging companions accompanied me on another picturesque route around another lake. This time Lake Rotokauri and a lot more lumps and hills to keep things interesting.  I was enjoying these hills, even though they were hard in the heat.  As I slowed down on the climbs and started to breathe more heavily, my lungs would be filled with the hot air rising off the road.  It was about this time that I realised I could hear crackling as I rode.  My tyres were popping the hot bubbles of bitumen rising up between the stone chips.  According to my bike computer, the temperature max'ed out at 33 degrees Celsius.

We were melting.  The goodness of the cool iceblock had long evaporated from my body.  We struggled into Whatawhata, spurred on only by thoughts of food, water, shade, and a sit down.  The water service was outstanding at the HerbsNZ Cafe - our bottles were filled with ice and topped up with water.  Fatigue was starting to take hold; I felt "tired, but fine" and decided to save my appetite for something "big" at Pirongia.  I savoured a cold coke and sat while it slowly revived me.

We carried on our journey along Te Pahu Road, clicking over the 100km mark as we went.  A small milestone for the day. Halfway.

The wheels began to fall off shortly after this milestone.  We stopped in the shade of roadside trees, finding the heat almost insufferable.  I was hot, but okay.  Michelle said she was pretty much done-for and felt she couldn't keep riding in the heat.  Megan's shoulder that had been niggling away throughout the day had escalated into a pain that just would not go away and was becoming unbearable.  We stood for a few moments in the shade and took a few gulps of drink.  We had to press on.

I found myself feeling extremely tired, like there was no fuel in my tank.  The lack of food (a wrap for breakfast in Morrinsville, a muffin in Gordonton, and an ice block in Te Kowhai) was finally taking its toll.  And I desperately needed to pee.  One tank empty, and the other one full.  With no facilities or good cover available I ducked off the side of the road into the ditch, amongst the long grass.  I knew the grass would make my skin itchy with a rash, but I just couldn't keep riding with a full bladder.  I hurriedly went about my business after a large tractor rumbled by and with the sound of traffic on the main road in the distance.  As I ride away from my pitstop, I suddenly get weak and shaky.  I know where this road leads.  I take out an OSM bar and take a couple of huge bites and wash them down with some more drink.  The recovery is almost instantaneous and we carry on.

We were all so glad to reach Alexandra Hotel in Pirongia.  It was 3pm and finally lunchtime.  Shane had driven out to meet us and did the greatest of things by coming armed with Powerade and bananas.  Jackpot on brownie points for Shane!  I stumbled inside the pub and checked that the kitchen was still open.  Yes.  I ordered a chicken burger with chips and a handle of Speights.  I perked up quite a bit with the Speights and had a good length of time for that to enter my bloodstream before the burger came to add some ballast.  I felt energised with food in my belly - the head said "go", but the body said "no". While Megan tried to reduce her pain by stretching and massaging her shoulder (along with a good dose of ibuprofen), I was happy to sit and rest in the shade, stretching my limbs and resting my eyes.  There was no escaping the heat.

I drank half the bottle of Powerade that Shane brought and poured the rest into one of my bottles.  With a banana in my pocket for later, we reluctantly rolled out of Pirongia.  We were all suffering with sore bums on seats and it took a while to settle into riding again along the Te Awamutu-Pirongia Road.  My body was aching all over and I day-dreamed about curling up in a ball to take a nap.  Megan was miserable, her shoulder pain almost too much for her to bear.  No amount of stretching or changing of position could make it go away and the ibuprofen was ineffective.  As we pedalled along, she made the call to finish her day at home in TA.  We were only too happy to escort her home and soak our hot feet in the paddling pool before going indoors to sit in the air-conditioning and cuddle with the dogs.

I got a little too comfortable.  Even Bodhi-dog's raspy hot tongue licking my sweaty leg wasn't enough to make me want to move from my air conditioned perch.  I was at risk of leaving a permanent sweat mark on the sofa; I really needed to keep moving.  My body had almost seized up and I had great envy for Megan being able to call it quits.

Eventually it was time for Michelle and I to go, or we'd end up watching the sunset from inside Megan's living room. I took some ibuprofen for my aches and we headed towards Cambridge via some back roads. I knew there was some gravel coming. What I didn't know was that it would be loose, chunky, sketchy gravel. We had our road tyres on and struggled to keep ourselves going in a straight line - so much concentration and body input required so late in the day was very taxing.  The only bonus was that my body aches were gone.

There was much cursing, followed by much deliberation at the first intersection where we had to choose: go the long hillier way and hope for less gravel or; continue the flat direct way and endure the effort required to cope with the loose surface.  I was really low on moral at this point, losing Megan, having to deal with a bad route choice and being so damned buggered really got to me.  I wasn't happy.  We agreed to take Option B, knowing it was the flatter route. Within 100 metres of riding we whooped for joy because the surface improved significantly.  The worn wheeltracks on the road are naked of gravel and are smoother than the sealed roads we've been riding so far today. Mint!

We ambled on past Monavale Blueberry Cafe and turned onto the end of Kaipaki Road away from the Lily Pad Cafe.  It was too late in the day to stop at these places, they would have been well into washing dishes and stacking chairs.  We cruised into Leamington, and through to Cambridge town centre.  We stopped for a break at the Town Hall where I scoffed the last of my OSM and a banana.  I was still hungry - no, ravenous.  There were limited options available to us at that time of day in Cambridge.  It was 6pm; cafes were closed, bars and restaurants were just getting busy, and the local takeaways was not worth the risk.  A KFC snack burger hit the spot and we set off to get dessert at Hautapu a few kilometres away.

You can't beat a Trumpet. and you can't beat sitting down after 166km of riding. I still had to find 35kms  to put under my wheels before the sun went down if I wanted to crack the double century for the day.  I stuffed a 50c lolly mixture into my pocket and got going again.

We didn't get far before it was time for another wee stop, this time for Michelle. She got the luxury of ducking behind a rural bus stop shelter with excellent tree cover and shade.  We continued home, faster (lighter?) than ever on a slight downhill and possibly with a slight breeze behind us (or had the sugar kicked in?).  It felt great to be on the home stretch. Our shadows were getting longer and the sun was getting lower. It felt like a race to get as close to 200km on my computer before the sun disappeared completely.  Dropping Michelle at her gate, I set off solo for an extra lap around the "block" (it's 8 kilometres!) to see if I could top it off.

I don't quite get there and pull into the gate on my next pass.  One lap is enough - I couldn't face another two laps on my own.   I reminisce on previous Longest Days where similar situations occurred, falling ever so slightly short of my goal.  Fourteen and a half hours and 190.1km after setting off that morning, I'm tired, happy, satisfied and feeling a little empty that it is over.

We regroup in Matangi after the ride and share a few tales from the day.  We will long remember this day after the aches and pains have gone away.  And as far as me and the Longest Day Ride is concerned, I have some unfinished business.

This is the blow-by-blow account of what happened with a gazillion photos (it's epic, take a packed lunch).  For a more succinct magazine version, grab a copy of Journey Volume 3.