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FFC Ride 4 KidsCan

  • FFC Charity Tour - Done & Dusted!

      24 March 2016

    Day 5 - 100km Wanaka to Queenstown via Coronet Peak Climb in 4 hours 19 mins. 1800m elevation gain.

    Wednesday was the grand finale of the FFC Charity Tour with the group cycling from Wanaka through to Queenstown incorporating the Coronet Peak Climb - by far the toughest on tour with two big climbs and fast descends.

    There was some moisture in the air as we set out to Wanaka though the rain did not arrive until we hit Arrowtown just prior to lunch. The climb to the summit of the Crown Range was challenging but nothing compared to the 800m sharp climb over just 8km to the top of Coronet Peak Ski Field which was the toughest stretch of road I've ever cycled across - the hamstrings were burning!

    The descent from the Crown Range Summit through to Arrowtown was technical and fast with a lot of switch backs / zig zags. Two of the guys with Carbon Wheels managed blow outs as a result of the rims heating up from excess braking - thankfully both managed to stay upright and a wheel swap resulted in them being able to finish the tour.

    The FFC crew celebrated in style with Champagne in the Gondola up to the Skyline Restaurant for dinner & drinks as well as speeches with the party running well into the night. There were a few awards dished out and stories told but the good news is that we have now exceeded $150,000 in fundraising meaning that not three but four schools are to be placed on the KidsCan programme. Also in attendance was the KidsCan CEO - Julie Chapman, who mentioned the fourth school to be added in Porirua features a roll of 130 students with only a handful bringing in lunch each day and most don't bring back packs because there is nothing to put in them.

    Having had an opportunity to reflect on the Tour, its been very rewarding to have achieved so many personal as well as collective goals. Through your generosity I have managed to exceed $5k in fundraising, survived without any injuries or punctures and biked some big miles whilst giving 800 kids a fighting chance at a fair crack at life with the programme supplying basics we all take for granted.

    Thanks for all your support - your generosity is going to make a big difference.

    Strava File: https://www.strava.com/activities/524280163

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  • Day 4 - Hills and Speed Thrills

      22 March 2016
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    Day 4 - 113km Omarama to Wanaka in 3 hours 48 mins; 927m elevation gain. 2700 calories.

    Today was a bit tougher than the previous few days with a lot more climbing courtesy of a gradual incline all the way to Wanaka including the Lindis Pass which meant a long & fast downhill. Check out the video link below.

    The group worked well together and we got through unscathed. As usual, a bit of fun with a sprint finish at Tarras pre-lunch and an up-hill finish at Wanaka. The sprint finishes are always a bit of fun with Zak our Tour Director making sure the road is clear and providing a bit of commentary via the loud speaker from the lead car.

    There's been no rain which is fantastic though rain appears likely for tomorrow's final stage which is Queenstown including Coronet Peak. It will be a tough wrap-up to the tour with 2000m climbing involved, the Coronet Peak climbing accounting for about 800m of that total.

    So we wrap up tomorrow's epic journey with a celebration planned in Queenstown before flying back home Thursday morning.

    Today's Highlight was reaching definitely the descending. Check out the video here:

    https://vimeo.com/159892969

    Strava Link of today's ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/523360440

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  • Day 3 - I feel the need...the need for speed.

      21 March 2016
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    Day 3 - Stage 1 - 89km in 2 hours 25 minutes; 400m elevation gain; 2500 calories.

    Day 3 - Stage 2 - 31.2km in 62 minutes; 270m elevation gain

    The third day was split across two "stages".

    The first was fast and furious 89km from Tekapo to Omarama which the lead group completed in 2 hours and 25 minutes. (37km/hr average speed). There was certainly a lot "chewing the stem" which is an expression used when one has their face close to the handlebars "digging deep" and pushing hard. We hit speeds of 60km/hr on the flat during some parts.

    We encountered some magical scenery along the way including Mount Cook and a brief stop to let a herd of cows cross the road.

    We had a photographer from Meridian Energy taking snaps of the photos along the way so hopefully some picturesque scenes come through!

    Temperature wise, it was yet another warm day with temperatures soaring past 30 degrees during parts of the ride.

    After lunch, most of the riders cycled out a further 30km to Meridian Energy's Benmore Dam which is the largest earth-filled water-retaining structure in New Zealand. Lake Benmore has a volume of 12.5 million cubic metres, about 1.5 times as much water as Wellington Harbour. All up for the day, it was either 120km for most and 150km for a few hardy souls that braved it back to base through the headwinds.

    We're now 390km into the trip with two more days to go.

    Personally, I am feeling good, the legs appear fresh but tomorrow will be a tester as we travel to Wanaka covering 110km with a lot of climbing and nowhere near the fast speeds travelled today. Weather forecast looks largely favourable which is a nice change from what was initially forecast for our journey.

    Link to Today's Strava File: https://www.strava.com/activities/522553710

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  • Day 2- Geraldine to Tekapo with Brutal Crosswinds

      20 March 2016
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    Day 2 - Geraldine to Tekapo; 90km / 1120m climbing / 2400 calories.

    A slight change of route today resulted in the Stage 2 being cut from 138km to 90km due so that our two groups would remain in close contact with each other and the support vehicles.

    The day kicked off with an amazing breakfast at 630AM - a great selection and barista coffee - no complaints here!

    We set off and made good time out to Fairlie for a coffee stop, covering the first 45km in about 1hr 40 mins that included 500m of climbing - mostly false flat so gradual climbing. Some of the guys took the opportunity to indulge in the pies available at the local bakery. Breakfast was still digesting in me so I passed on the opportunity.

    The temperature started to climb once we left Fairlie, rising to 29 degrees before dropping off once we hit cloud cover up in the McKenzie country up towards Burkes Pass (Elevation 709m). At that point, we were 74km into the stage with just 16km to go until Tekapo but the last 10km was extremely challenging with strong crosswinds forcing us to work hard as a group to get through. The reward at the end was a Creamy Chicken Pie from the Fairlie Bakery which available in the local Tekapo cafe.

    Highlights of today were seeing some amazing scenery, another day without rain and everyone working together to get through the winds.

    Tomorrow we roll onto Omarama which is 90km away and mostly flat/downhill which will be a welcome relief as the final two days feature the bulk of the climbing. There's also talk of an extra 50km tag-on which will be nice to make up for the "lost" distance today.

    Thanks again for your support. We sit at $130k now, another $20k to go!

    Today's Strava Link for the Ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/521461191

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  • Day 1: Christchurch to Geraldine

      19 March 2016
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    Day 1 Done and Dusted

    Today's Stage ended up being 178km from Christchurch to Geraldine which we covered in just under 5 and a half hours. Elevation gain was 848m with 4500 calories burned.

    We set off at 8AM, split across two groups with support vehicles in tow and Zak our Commisieur (Race Director) leading the way with flashing lights and speaker in tow.

    We're quite fortunate to have Zak on board - he's a qualified Commisieur with his recent engagement being the Sun Herald Tour which Chris Froome (Tour de France Champion) won.

    Today, we rode through to Geraldine via the Rakaia Gorge - some wonderful scenery and good conditions. At some points it was tough work into the wind with a few challenging inclines along the way. I was in Group 1 which made it to lunch covering 120km in just under 4 hours. The lunch hit the spot - ham & egg rolls, slices, bananas and cold water which gave us energy for the final 60km stretch into Geraldine which we nailed in just under 90 minutes - making use of a tail wind and nice long flats.

    Sprint FInish to Geraldine - ended up motor pacing behind the Commisieur's vehicle and then a Camper Van. Recovery beverage was an Affagato - Coffee with Ice Cream which really hit the spot.

    We were fortunate to have ridden in sunshine and 29 degrees which meant for a lot of water taken on board. I'm not sure tomorrow will be the same. For a start, it's a 138 trek across to Tekapo which will have double the climbing, less favourable winds and uphill all the way for the second half.

    Our Fundraising is at 120k with a further 10k to come from the AB's Charity Night meaning we're now at 130k raised....another 20k and we get one more school on board!

    Check out the Strava Link for the Ride Here:

    https://www.strava.com/activities/520565400

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  • One More Sleep Until The Grand Depart

      18 March 2016
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    Well, the big day is almost upon us - just one more sleep to go!

    To be honest, the ride has snuck up on me with a busy few weeks at work resulting in burning the midnight oil and a last minute rush to have everything packed and ready to go. I am obsessively organised but this is not the case when it comes to travel as my wife will attest! A few dramas unpacking the bike so big thanks to Nick, Alan and Troy for helping with the mechanical!

    We have had an amazing run of settled weather in Wellington which has allowed for plenty of training miles to be logged. At one stage, I managed 17 days cycling in a row only to be interrupted by a work trip to Auckland on what was a cracker of a morning!

    At the moment the weather forecast in the South isn't too flash so here's hoping the forecasters (guessers) have got it wrong again - the only profession where one doesn't lose their job if they get it wrong!

    We have all been humbled by the support for what is a truly great cause. On Tuesday night we held as fundraiser at iRide Bike Store where 90 people attended a Q&A session with All Black's Manager Darren Shand and Fitness Guru Mike Anthony. Some great insights into one of the most successful sporting organisations going around hosted by Scotty "Sumo" Stevenson from SKY TV. We managed to raised $10k from this event which is a fantastic result and the total now sits at $130k, another $20k and we get to place a third school onto the KidsCan programme.

    We have also featured in a few local newspapers and a YouTube video put together by Meridian Energy who are our principal sponsor. It was loads of fun filming - check it out here...

    I've also been fortunate enough to have receive great backing from my employer ANZ who supported mufti day collections across the business. Also my team has cut me some slack in covering me on days when I was on-call during the weekend's scheduled team rides - thanks guys, you've been awesome!

    So here we are in Christchurch with the grand depart tomorrow morning where we head to Geraldine, a trek of 170km on Day One. We've had the pre-tour briefing by our Tour Director Zak which included being given professional "race" numbers to place on our bikes - a nice wee touch.

    It's been a rewarding experience arriving at this point getting to know the FFC crew and also receiving everyone's generous donations to what is a truly great cause that we all believe in.

    I'll aim to post an update each day to let you know how we are getting on each day.

    Finally a big thanks to my wife Rachael who's holding the fort back in Wellington looking after two young children Kayla and Jackson. Rach has been awesome in cutting me plenty of slack with my bike obsessions lately which I really appreciate. To all our family and friends lending Rach a hand, thank you also!

    Here's hoping for good weather, nice tail winds and everyone keeping the rubber side down!

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  • Last FFC Friday Ride for 2015 - Wet like Taupo!

      18 December 2015
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    Since the last update, a lot of the FFC crew competed in the Taupo Cycle Challenge, biking 152km around Taupo.

    Despite the rain, a lot of us managed to achieve personal best times which was really pleasing and made the beers taste that much nicer afterwards. I clocked in at 4hr 5 mins, which was over 40 minutes faster than my previous attempt back in 2011.

    Conditions were perfect the day before and day after the race however on race day there was a large downpour of rain for the first couple of hours and a tough headwind coming back in from Turangi.

    It was another lesson in bike racing with a few rookie mistakes made such as being over-dressed, starting in a fast group and being “dropped” at the 70km mark but stubbornly pressing on solo for 50km instead of slowing down to be picked up by a passing bunch. Hopefully, improved fitness and some more racing experienced will help me hit that magical 4hr 30min milestone in 2016!

    This Friday was the last official FFC Friday morning ride of 2015 – windy, wet & cold so usual route of around the Bays was swapped out for the a few hills around Wellington with a group photo atop of Mt Victoria and crumble & ice-cream for breakfast back at the iRide bike store - the benefits of burning calories in the morning!

    Time to enjoy the Christmas festivities as the big volume of training ahead of March starts in the New Year!

    Thanks again for everyone’s continued support to this great cause!

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  • First $50k has been raised!

      25 November 2015
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    Things are really taking shape for our event next year so I wanted to keep you all in the loop and updated.

    We have secured $40,000 in corporate sponsorship from 10 sponsors and combined with individual donation pages like this one, we have now surpassed our first $50,000 raised.

    Our kit has been designed and the wheels are in wheels are in motion for some great fund raising and social events.

    Taupo Cycle Challenge – November 28th 2015

    This weekend is the Taupo Cycle Challenge “Round the Lake” event which comprises of 160km cycling.

    A number of the FFC crew have been training for the event with a few showing great form in backing up from the K2 Race earlier in the month. For me personally, it will be just my second time around the like with my first and only foray into cycle racing being back in 2011 as part of the build up to Ironman - it will be great to have a beer at the end of the cycle this time around instead of going for a run at the end! I’ve found road cycling a nice challenge after having spent the last 7 years competing in Ironman events as it is definitely more social! And of course, the FFC Charity Ride is such a great cause that I’m proud to be associated with.

    ** Sponsorship **

    A huge thanks to our sponsors, who are providing cash to go directly to Kidscan and helping us achieve our goal of raising $250,000!

    Gold Sponsor – Meridian – not only have they made a major contribution but they have paid the entry fee for two of their staff to join us! Welcome aboard to Sharon and Li Ing Peh.

    Silver Sponsors - Spark Digital and EMC both of whom were really passionate about the cause and have offered to help us in other non-financial ways

    Bronze sponsors – Thanks to all of our bronze sponsors (primarily members of the ride) for their generous support! The are Inside Recruitment, New Balance, Area 3, iRide, AJ Park, Duo / Checkpoint and Tuatara.

    ** Big Thanks **

    Thanks to those that have generously donated to the cause including the anonymous donors that I cannot thank personally. If you are able to share my page with your contacts I would greatly appreciate it.

    The link is - http://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/marekffc

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