DAY FIVE
1 December 2018
Tears of pain or tears relief. Stage five, the last one, was the big one where the emotion was going to pour out towards the end of this epic ride. We were 2km out from the finish and my mind was on Mark thinking, bud we have almost nailed it. Then out of a clear sky there was a 2 minute brief shower of rain which felt like it was a message coming from my mate who had been on my shoulder all the way. Weird but comforting.
The morning started a little earlier with a 7.20 start time. There was excitement in the village as we set off for the last time. A short down hill and then the work began. At the 8km mark the climb started with 12km of climbing reaching an elevation of 1351 meters. We were about to be introduced to Mt Michael after departing the village of Bannockburn. Probably 40% of my climb would have been walking, it was steep, however offered spectacular views of the surrounding countryside. At about 1000 meters we were above the clouds. Then came the descent down to Roaring Meg. This was tough on the hands as the first half were rough tracks with many large sink holes which would have swallowed any bike and rider. The temptation was to take the hands off the bars and give them a good shake, however this would have ended in disaster. The second half was a smooth metal road where we could let it rip with speeds up to 65 km, however on the right were some fairly steep drop offs! Not a good way to end the week. Trying to conserve energy knowing we had 55km ahead of us with some hard climbs didn’t stop the competitiveness of passing the rider in front. Having ridden with Will for 4 days I had improved my skills and I had the confidence to let the bike go.
At the Roaring Meg Aid Station it was a very quick refuel on the bike and 3-4 nasty climbs before we got some reprieve through the Gibson Valley into Queenstown. 35 km of fast Queenstown cycle trails was very welcoming as we blasted through the last Aid Station putting us ahead of a number of riders we had been chasing most of the day.
We finished very strongly as we did most days from the last aid station home.
What a relief to get over that line and to have the welcoming committee of Kim, Kylie, Brad, Roger, Sue, Sophie and Dan. Our support team was unbelievable, turning up in places you just wouldn’t expect to see them.
I got up this morning thinking I could do another day! That was short lived as the body started to penalise me for the strain I had put it through over the last 6 days. After lunch with the team at Arrowtown I hit the sack for a few hours, I’m buggered now!
Would I do it again - yes under the same circumstances as it gave me a time to think about Mark and what an undeniably good person he was. Definitely for the charity, Recreate NZ and the work Anna does for them.
Again a big thank you to all our followers who have sent many messages of encouragement, it has blown me away the amount of support received.
To Cris Knell of Suncorp (Asteron, Vero), Roger Abel of Rothbury, Tina and Peter Cave of Lifetime this challenge would not have been possible without your support.
To Will my riding partner. What a unbelievable person to have as a partner. Coming in at the last minute due to Ken’s broken shoulder allowed us to compete. We hadn’t ridden together before the race, and within 500 meters of our first race I went over the handle bars- Will only today at lunch admitted that he wondered what sort of partner he had, however we got through it reasonably well with no falls for Will and 8 for me. Plenty of bruises however no injuries. For anybody wanting advice in riding or a bike, talk to Will at Hot Cycles Saint Heliers.
From Team Freck’s - Over and out.
