Final week to get the donations in. to all those who have thank you very much. Including the donations directly in the bank account we are currently sitting just under $3500 which is fantastic, lets see how much higher we can get it.
Well what a journey, 8 days of riding with mother nature unleashing almost all of her arsenal upon me. I had head winds for the first five days, freezing rain, heck who knew that it could even snow in November. Despite all of this we carried on, a lot of the time it was not easy and more than once I was pushed well beyond frustration, but I never gave up. I'm proud to be able to say I did this, I'm proud that what I did will positively influence junior lifeguards coming through and I'm proud to say I rode home for Harrison. What I have achieved is a true testament to what can be done if you set your mind to it, have a good plan and then train hard. To everyone that supported me along the way, I cannot thank you enough, If I singled out people we'd be here all day. Few to note though, My parents for supporting me from the get go and dad for driving the support car, it made me feel a lot safer on the roads. More FM, you guys have been fantastic. Thank you so much for all the support and helping me get the event out there to the public. My flatmates in Christchurch for frequently putting up with the noise of my wind trainer without complaining once and of course for numerous time they drove into the middle of no where to pick me up when my bike broke down. To everyone that came out today, that was breath taking, It was an honor to share the final part of my journey with you and the welcome at the surf club was beyond belief so thank you. Finally to Allan and Hayley, thank you for your support throughout this journey, I know what I went is nothing compared to what you have had to go through but I hope I have done you proud and kept Harrisons legacy alive. The give a little page will be up and running till the end of the month so if you haven't had time to donate yet don't fret. Currently we are just under $3000 which is amazing feat all round so thank you.
IMPORTANT information for people planning to join me on the final bit of the journey, mostly common sense but please read anyway. The plan is for me to start riding around 7.45 from Morea. I will be at the Domain by 10.15 where I will go over these things again. 10.30 The plan is to depart the domain, ride along papamoa beach road, turn onto Ocean beach road, carry on through to Marine parade and follow that to the Mt surf club hopefully arriving around 11am. (should be going past Omanu surf club around 10.45). SAFETY: The road is open to the public so please be courteous to other road users and be weary of cars. NO HELMET, NO RIDE, NO EXCEPTIONS. All NZ road rules will apply eg, no more than two abreast, for more info on them check out the link: http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/factsheets/01/cycles-rules-equipment.html Everyone is responsible for their own safety and their equipment, please check prior to the start, I'd hate for someone to get hurt. Ok boring stuff over, More FM will be along to join in the fun and at this stage we should be done and dusted before the showers come through to lets have some fun.
Second to last day of this epic journey is done and dusted, I started in Wairake (10km north of Taupo) where I finished yesterday at the end of my time on SH1. From here I rode 35km before stopping to have a chat with the team at More FM Rotorua. After this I carried on through to lake front in Rotorua. For the first part the weather was always going to be favourable but as the road tended more northerly I wasn't sure whether the wind would be: sheltered, funneled into a tail wind of funneled into a head wind, naturally the latter happened for a while but none the less I made it through to Rotorua. Big thank you to me old teacher Mrs Wesselink and her class for stopping on their trip down to Wellington and cheering me on as I climbed one of the last hills of they day. Also big thank you to Jaime Troughton and Dscribe media services for making the trip down to take some photos of me as I rode through. Check out the photos attached: For everyone planning to join me on the final bit of coastline between papamoa and Mt I will be posting soon my plan and timeline for tomorrow. Please have a read of it as it has some important safety messages.
Well I think it is fair to say that mother nature has thrown almost everything possible at me over the course of the journey thus far. I've battle strong head winds, temperature ranging from sub zero to 26'C, sun rain and now even snow. For the first time in this journey I was graced an (almost) tail wind which after 600km was a very welcomed change. When I left Waiouru around 7am this morning it was just above zero degrees and as I climbed up onto the plateau reaching a max height of 1080m above sea level this dropped to below zero and the snow began to fall. This lasted for nearly 25km and was quite easily one of the most amazing once in a lifetime experiences I'll ever have, I mean how many people have ridden the dessert road and had it snow in mid November, it was amazing. Once I dropped down from the clouds I got spectacular views of the mountains caped in freshly fallen snow. After this I began into the gorges which were a bit of fun, but very slippery so I took them I little more cautious that needed. Once out of the gorges I began my descent to Turangi and Lake taupo. Over the course of 5km I had an average speed of 49.5kmh nearly five times that of the previous day, it was fantastic fun, I peaked about 56kmh. I stopped in at the licorice cafe just out of turangi for a quick break before beginning my final leg around lake Taupo including the infamous Hatepe hill. I switched to my mountain bike for this with vivid memories of how big and steep it was, but after training on the likes of ""hilltop"" on the banks peninsular the hill all be it big turned out to me more a mental obstacle prior to climbing it than a physical on when I actually did. From here it was mostly down hill through to Taupo with a mostly cross wind off the lake finishing up at the Tongariro domain. After a quick rest I carried on an extra 10km. This lead me to the end of my SH1 journey as tomorrow I am on SH5 through to Rotorua with about 73km to ride and 150km to the finish on saturday.
Apologies for not posting an update yesterday, I was battling with Wifi reception. Day five was planned to finish in Waiouru and with the 50km Head start to the day I got from doing it in day four definitely made a difference. The weather was at the upper limit of what was safely ridable, freezing rain and strong head/cross winds kept me at 10kmh as I climbed onto the central plateua. What could have easily taken an hour took three. Once I eventually made it to Waiouru I made the consious decision to take the rest of the day off, with better weather on the horizon it was better for me to rest and let my body recover a bit rather than pushing it to the limits in terrible conditions.
So today ended up being a wee bit longer than originally planned. It was a race between me and the weather and I'd like to think I won. Didn't get a photo at Waitarere beach where I started as it was raining and I wanted to get on the road and get as much done as possible before it really packed in. Made it through to bulls with the comfortably with the weather switching between rainy and overcast with a moderate head wind. From here the road tended a little more east allowing for more of a cross wind rather than head wind. The weather started to fine up a bit with the sun actually coming out to greet me. Got through to Hunterville with the weather still holding so I thought might as well carry on. With this I made it through to Taihape leaving me 48km ahead of schedule and only needing to ride 30km tomorrow to keep on track. About 15km out of Hunterville an old injury came back and in a way I'm pleasantly surprised that it took this long. For the final months building up I was battling a strain in my left knee which made even walking very painful. On the bright side the more this pain increased the more it took away the pain in my archilies and in my bum so that's a bonus. Now resting up in Taihape loosening off my muscles and strapping things into place before tomorrows ride. Overall still in a pretty good mindset and confident that I will make it all the way, especially when I think about the cause and Harrison and what he went through. Remember to keep the donations coming in as every little bit helps.
Part one of day one complete, 115km from Christchurch to cheviot. Stopped for a lunch break at the moment before the final 70km through to Kaikoura (including the Kaikoura range). Feeling pretty good, I've been able to hold a pretty solid speed thus far especially since the last 80km has had a bit of a head wind, other than that the weathers playing nicely.
Well today started off well with a fantastic ride from Blenhiem through to Picton and got to the ferry with plenty of time. When we got to Wellington we were lucky enough to be one of the first off the ferry which lead to an almost flawless run up the motorway to Paekakiriki where I began riding again. throughout the evening I had a light to moderate head wind which died a bit around 7,30 so feeling pretty good I decided to carry on for a bit after Levin getting another 10km out of the way finishing near Waitarere beach. Looking at the current weather predictions it looks like it might pack in from tomorrow afternoon through till thursday so getting a few extra km out of the way means I might be able to take a chunk out of wednesdays ride tomorrow before the weather comes through. Legs are understandably a little sore but the spirits still good and looking forward to getting up into the central plateau. Remember keep those donations coming and spreading the word :)
Well after yesterdays ride it certainly was a nice change this morning. I had a little head wind but compared to yesterday its nothing. The road from Blenhiem to Picton was amazing, beautiful scenery with relatively smooth roads. I am a little gutted in the time it took me, I was pushing for sub 1hr but I just missed this going 1.02, this meant my average speed was just under 30kmh over double of yesterdays. It was nice of my old teacher Mrs Hunt to come see me off, thank you for that . Now I'm just ""cruising on the interislander"" and resting before a 50km stint between Paekakarki and Levin this evening, the wind has come up a bit, so fingers crossed it dies down a little
Well what was planned to be a 5-6 hour day quickly turned into an 8 hour slog today. It started well, leaving Kaikoura and heading along the coastline. I actually felt privileged to ride through such a beautiful section of coastline, the photos below do not do it justice. About 60km in the north east wind picked up quite significantly to the point where I was slowed to my lowest gear (Road bike) when riding along the flat. as I got closer to the hills where the road headed inland it turned to a north westerly which was not ideal at all. At the end of the coast (about 80km mark) I decided to switch to the mountain bike as the wind did not let up as I began to climb through the hills. I apologies for posting an update during the ride, but I sort of didn't stop, just kept chipping away at the remaining km's. Today was quite possibly the hardest physical and mental challenge of my life (thus far), the wind was relentless and it slowed me to half the speed I was holding yesterday, and added to this I have been battling an unhappy left calf muscle straining the archilies. Mentally it was a huge challenge, being able to stay positive was very hard especially when you get as frustrated with the conditions as I was. Despite this I managed to push through the pain and anguish to make it through to Blenhiem where I'm having a well deserved rest and looking forward to a big sleep tonight. Sorry about the live tracking today, I forgot to turn ""mobile data"" on this morning and the forgot to turn it on at all this afternoon. Will have this sorted for tomorrow
Part one of day one complete, 115km from Christchurch to cheviot. Stopped for a lunch break at the moment before the final 70km through to Kaikoura (including the Kaikoura range). Feeling pretty good, I've been able to hold a pretty solid speed thus far especially since the last 80km has had a bit of a head wind, other than that the weathers playing nicely.
Part one of day one complete, 115km from Christchurch to cheviot. Stopped for a lunch break at the moment before the final 70km through to Kaikoura (including the Kaikoura range). Feeling pretty good, I've been able to hold a pretty solid speed thus far especially since the last 80km has had a bit of a head wind, other than that the weathers playing nicely.
Well what a day it has been. Big thank you to everyone that came out to New Brighton to see me off all be it at an ungodly hour. Personally I exceeded my expectations, going into today I was almost terrified, prior to today the longest ride I have done is 120km so the thought riding 186km with hills and on open road was a big struggle to get my head around. Once I got into the riding the further I got the easier this became. I had planned to split the day up into two parts: First part was 115km of mainly flat through to Cheviot, I am happy to have made it there in such good time even with a light head wind. Only thing to really note was the Magpie that started attacking me, I've had birds dive bomb me before, but this is the first time ones actually clawed my helmet. Part two was 70km from Cheviot to Kaikoura. The first 30km were similar to before but then it started to climb as I reached the Kaikoura mountain range, this was a 20km stretch of ups and downs with some stunning views. For this I decided to switch to my mountain bike as ""marathons aren't won in the first 5km but they can certainly be lost"", As much as I would have liked to stick with the road bike I have a long way to go so there's no point in blowing out this early. The final stretch along the Kaikoura coast was significantly harder than I would have liked, I had quite a strong headwind which was less than ideal but I still made it in once piece. Now onto recovery a few hot/colds and some stretches and get ready for tomorrow ride through to Blenhiem. Make sure you keep those donations coming in and to those of you who have already awesome stuff
Bikes are set up and ready to go. Big thank you to Ford and the team at Torpedo 7 Christchurch for the replacing my back brake on such short notice. Make sure you keen an eye out for the red and yellow wheels (surf colors) I have to admit I am a bit nervous but I'm sure once I'm on the road I'll be fine. I look forward to see everyone in Christchurch at the pier before 6.30am tomorrow morning
Just posted a short clip of me training up in the port hills a couple of weeks ago to the facebook pag. follow the link below to check it out. I'm into my final taper now getting ready for the big event so I'd like to thank my physio Claire and the team at Riccarton physio for keeping me moving over the last eight months. If it wasn't for her I'd still be fighting a number of niggly injuries and likely struggling to walk. https://www.facebook.com/events/959067714119460/1003492753010289/?notif_t=like
With the start of my ride just over a week away I have finally got the route plan sorted. Over the course of the ride I will mainly be riding by myself with a support vehicle near by. For safety reasons this will be the case for most of the open road parts, however if I'm passing through your town/city I'd be more than happy for you to come say hi and join me for a bit. Also don't forget the open invite to everyone to join me for the final 12km stretch between Papamoa Surf Club and Mt Maunganui Surf Club. Also anyone that is in Christchurch who feels like an early start I am planning to depart from the New Brighton Pier ( car park on the New Brighton Surf Club side) at 6.30am on saturday the 8th. As much as I would like the sleep in, the first day is the longest so I'm going to need all the time on the road I can get. As is the nature with outdoor sports Mother nature will no doubt play a role so the times and locations mentioned are all subject to the weather conditions at the time. I will post of here before hand if that is the case. The plan is: Day 1: 8/11/14 6.30am start at New Brighton pier 12 noon reach Cheviot for lunch stop 4pm arrive in Kaikoura finishing at the Takahanga domain Day 2: 9/11/14 6.30am start at the Takahanga domain 10am reach Ward for morning break 1pm reach Blenhiem finishing at the info center on grove road Day 3: 10/11/14 10am start info centre in Blenhiem 11.30am arrive at Picton ferry terminal 1.15pm interislander ferry departs Picton 5.30pm Restart riding from Paekakariki 8pm finish day at Levin adventure parkin Levin Day 4: 11/11/14 7am start at Levin adventure park 9.30am arrive in Bulls and have a morning tea break 12noon finish in Hunterville stop at the Hunterville park Day 5: 12/11/14 7.15am start biking from the Hunterville park 9.30am stop in Taihape for morning tea break 12 noon finish at Waiouru army museum Day 6: 13/11/14 6.30am depart from the Waiouru army museum 9.30am stop in Turangi for morning tea break 11am arrive in Hatepe and begin climbing that monster of a hill 1pm Finish in Taupo at the Tongariro domain Day 7: 14/11/14 (sisters birthday) 7am depart from Tongariro domain 10.30am arrive in Rotorua and finish at lake Rotorua water front Day 8: 15/11/14 7am depart Rotorua from the waterfront 9.30am pass through Te Puke 10.15am arrive at Papamoa domain 10.30am depart the Papamoa domain 11am Finish at the Mt Maunganui Surf club Please share this around you friends and family remember the great cause that all of the funds raised are going towards. and one final note make sure your listening into More FM Tauranga to catch the awesome promo ad they put together for Riding Home for Harrison.
Thank you again to More FM for their continued support and the cool article on their website. I have just about got everything sorted so hopefully in the next day to two I will post the details on when are where I will be riding. One thing to note from the article is on the final day (Saturday 15th November) I am planning to be at the Papamoa domain at 10.30 and everyone is welcome to join me for the final stretch of coast to Mt Maunganui surf club. As always the time and date of this is subject to weather over the course of the ride so fingers crossed mother nature comes to the party. (note the roads will not be closed for this, so be aware that normal road rules do apply). The link to the More FM page is below http://www.morefm.co.nz/Riding-Home-for-Harrison-Fundraiser/tabid/231/articleID/14264/Default.aspx
What a busy few days it has been. I hope everyone in Tauranga has been listening in to More FM and heard ""Riding home for Harrison"" being mentioned. Big thank you to them for their support. I am very pleased to announce that when taking into account the money donated through the give a little page and directly into the bank account we have cracked the $1000 mark. Thank you very much to everyone that's donated thus far, your support is awesome. Attached are some photos of my training route on Friday. Whilst most of my friends were off celebrating the end of term with the annual T-Party, I decided to go for a quick 103km ride around Christchurch instead. With the start the ride under 3 weeks away there is a lot yet to be done (including exams), but the all of the support and funds being raised are definitely worth it.
Got an awesome write up in today's news paper thanks to the team at the BOP times. To read it follow the link below, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503343&objectid=11339507
Apologies for not posting any updates recently, I have been busy with uni and training. I am very pleased to announce that More FM Tauranga have come on board to promote/sponsor Riding home for Harrison. Their support is greatly appreciated so make sure your listening in over coming weeks
Had a quick stop at the start point whilst out riding this afternoon, fingers crossed the weather is this nice come November (check out the photo) I'm still working on the details but the general route plan is: Day 1 Christchurch-Kaikoura Day 2 Kaikoura-Blenhiem Day 3 Blenhiem-Levin Day 4 Levin-Hunterville Day 5 Hunterville-Waiouru Day 6 Waiouru-Taupo Day 7 Taupo-Rotorua Day 8 Rotorua-Mt Maunganui A frequently asked question is ""will you be riding whilst on the ferry?"" Answer Is will have a wind trainer with me but it's not likely that I'll be using it. Enter details of your update here
