Tour of NZ - Day 4: Wanaka - Giraldine The tour is all about the people
It may sound crazy but Tour of NZ is not all about cycling. I would say it is more about the people...great people who organize the event, racers themselves and the fantastic hospitalic local people.
I will be introducing the racers today and start with our virtual team in a van. We all booked the budgetary transportation option with the tour crew. We drive a rented a Toyota Previa 8-seater van to transport ourselves and we put our bikes in a bigger van which is also transporting all the crew equipment (flags, sound system, etc.). Accomodation-wise we are sharing twin rooms between ourselves or ,as in my case, my flatmate is Connor, the time keeper - this explains why I have secured the 3rd place so far :)
Jeny Rose - the driver of the van (the only one officialy signed in the rental agreement). She is an ex-professional triathelete and has a lot of interesting stories to share. Although she is in "Masters 1" category ( for those who don't know: "Open" category is up to 49 years old; "Masters 1" - 50 to 59; "Masters 2" - 60+) she has secured the first position in the female classification. She still has the power! Guess what? Jeny lives in Wellington and trains a swim squad in Johnsonville - I've signed up already and got my swimming training sorted the upcoming Ironman!
Angela - friend of Jeny which I don't much about yet, but I will fix that by the end of the trip.
Katie - the american celebrity from Idaho mentioned before. Well known extreme enduro sportsmam who rows across the atlantic at the age of 21 and collects $150K in donation for Clean water charity (rowforwater.com). She has appeared on Oprah's TV show and is seeking any enduro type challneges! She is crusing the tour but keeping her afternoon's busy with 1hr+ runs since she is training for marathon and ironman.
Klaire - the dutch DOC worker who is a Stewart Island resident. Locals call her "the machine" - she is training on the island both running and cycling. She currently leads the classication in the female "Open" category.
Mike & Luke - both are very inteligent and nice people both in "Master 2" category. They are making sure that our bikes packed carefully in the van with all dereullers covered in buble wrap.
When we are driving in the van we are all laughing, disucssing results and making plans getting back for the Tour of NZ 2017 now on North Island!
Now a bit about the riders in our leaders group which I buddied up with.
Will start with David Emery - guy from London who is a really strong rider, has very good cycling technique and strategy thinking as well.
He is leading the classification and starting all the break outs. That's his very sharp summary of today's race.
"Ballistic day on the bike. I attacked the group at the top of the only real climb of the day and four of us made the split. Pretty much smashed the last 30km on the front before rolling across for 3rd. Best day riding so far. John took the sprint after a cat mouse shenanigans between myself and Alexy. Stoked for John, Geraldine is his home town and he used to be the GP here!
What's more, our group of four averaged 41km/h and somehow finished faster than big teams that started earlier"
Nigel Whitton - we met each over in Stewart Island when crossed the toilet paper finish line together. He comes also from Wellington, Karori. Very powerfull on his uphills which proves that the capital is the perfect place for cycling training. His work is building vintage planes (!) for museums with some being displayed in Motat. Currently he is second with me falling back only 30 seconds.
John Mackenzie - according to Jeny he is a former multisport legend. He still has it, since even being a "Master 1" category rider he keeps with David, Nigel and myself riding in the first bunch. On that note...I wish there was a Junior category for under 40's :)
Everyone I met here are trully amazing people and each of them has a story to tell!
Left to right: me, John, Nigel, Mike
Quick highlights of today's race:
And the bonus to whoever has read till this point - the video from official camera guy of the tour. Epic!
PS. Whoever wants to support me in Wellington on Saturday when we will have the last day of Criterium (lap racing) just by the Beehive. The racing will happen somewhere around 8-10am. Will keep you posted and happy to see you there! http://www.tourofnewzealand.co.nz/si-stage.php?day=8
I will be introducing the racers today and start with our virtual team in a van. We all booked the budgetary transportation option with the tour crew. We drive a rented a Toyota Previa 8-seater van to transport ourselves and we put our bikes in a bigger van which is also transporting all the crew equipment (flags, sound system, etc.). Accomodation-wise we are sharing twin rooms between ourselves or ,as in my case, my flatmate is Connor, the time keeper - this explains why I have secured the 3rd place so far :)
Jeny Rose - the driver of the van (the only one officialy signed in the rental agreement). She is an ex-professional triathelete and has a lot of interesting stories to share. Although she is in "Masters 1" category ( for those who don't know: "Open" category is up to 49 years old; "Masters 1" - 50 to 59; "Masters 2" - 60+) she has secured the first position in the female classification. She still has the power! Guess what? Jeny lives in Wellington and trains a swim squad in Johnsonville - I've signed up already and got my swimming training sorted the upcoming Ironman!
Angela - friend of Jeny which I don't much about yet, but I will fix that by the end of the trip.
Katie - the american celebrity from Idaho mentioned before. Well known extreme enduro sportsmam who rows across the atlantic at the age of 21 and collects $150K in donation for Clean water charity (rowforwater.com). She has appeared on Oprah's TV show and is seeking any enduro type challneges! She is crusing the tour but keeping her afternoon's busy with 1hr+ runs since she is training for marathon and ironman.
Klaire - the dutch DOC worker who is a Stewart Island resident. Locals call her "the machine" - she is training on the island both running and cycling. She currently leads the classication in the female "Open" category.
Mike & Luke - both are very inteligent and nice people both in "Master 2" category. They are making sure that our bikes packed carefully in the van with all dereullers covered in buble wrap.
When we are driving in the van we are all laughing, disucssing results and making plans getting back for the Tour of NZ 2017 now on North Island!
Now a bit about the riders in our leaders group which I buddied up with.
Will start with David Emery - guy from London who is a really strong rider, has very good cycling technique and strategy thinking as well.
He is leading the classification and starting all the break outs. That's his very sharp summary of today's race.
"Ballistic day on the bike. I attacked the group at the top of the only real climb of the day and four of us made the split. Pretty much smashed the last 30km on the front before rolling across for 3rd. Best day riding so far. John took the sprint after a cat mouse shenanigans between myself and Alexy. Stoked for John, Geraldine is his home town and he used to be the GP here!
What's more, our group of four averaged 41km/h and somehow finished faster than big teams that started earlier"
Nigel Whitton - we met each over in Stewart Island when crossed the toilet paper finish line together. He comes also from Wellington, Karori. Very powerfull on his uphills which proves that the capital is the perfect place for cycling training. His work is building vintage planes (!) for museums with some being displayed in Motat. Currently he is second with me falling back only 30 seconds.
John Mackenzie - according to Jeny he is a former multisport legend. He still has it, since even being a "Master 1" category rider he keeps with David, Nigel and myself riding in the first bunch. On that note...I wish there was a Junior category for under 40's :)
Everyone I met here are trully amazing people and each of them has a story to tell!
Left to right: me, John, Nigel, Mike
Quick highlights of today's race:
- Today Tekapo (our starting point) was the coldest place in NZ with tempertarures dropping to -3 degrees celcium.
- There was no rain today and it got warmer during the race up to 7 degrees on the finish line. Since we were dressed for zero tempertures in started getting warmer towards the end of the race.
- It was mostly downhill section today with super-eraly breakaway from David, but Nigel, John & myself didn't get him getaway. "cat mouse shenanigans" - best way to describe what happened at the end of the finish line which had some unexpected sharp corners and traffic flowing. I end up finishing 4th but keeping my 3rd posiition in general classification. Note for myself: learn the theory and practice of the finish sprints!
- Our individual leaders group was so fast that we've beaten up the advanced team guys! First time ever!
- Best part of the day and the advantage of getting in the first bunch to finish - no line for coffee!
- Tonight's accomodation is at Methven which is a middle of nowhere but is a ski mecca in the winter time (similar to Ohakune in North Island) - the nearest Mt Hutt hosts the ski resort.
And the bonus to whoever has read till this point - the video from official camera guy of the tour. Epic!
Click to viewPS. Whoever wants to support me in Wellington on Saturday when we will have the last day of Criterium (lap racing) just by the Beehive. The racing will happen somewhere around 8-10am. Will keep you posted and happy to see you there! http://www.tourofnewzealand.co.nz/si-stage.php?day=8