Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone.

Racing in Vegas

Once again the Rotorua Half Ironman delivered on its promise of being one of the toughest half’s around. I woke up at 5am on race day to hear the wind howling outside, I looked out the window and could see white caps on the Blue Lake....gulp....it’s going to be a tough day at the office.

The swim was tough, but mainly because I am crap at open water navigation; and lost a fair amount of time as I zig-zagged all over the course. However, I was pretty pleased with myself when I exited the water in about 15th place, but to be fair I was already about 6min down the eventual winner – Guy Crawford of Blue Seventy. I swam in my new Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit, and man I could seriously tell the difference in flexibility over my old wetsuit. The shoulders in the Helix feel like that are completely free from the suit, and the thickness though the legs and arse make it very buoyant. If you are thinking that you need (or want) a new wetsuit, you should seriously look at the Helix.

The ride was always going to be tough, as I haven’t done much long riding over the last couple months, but I seemed to be going ok until about 70km. The ride is very a picturesque out & back course; I got to the turnaround in 10th place, but sadly, the way back was into the previously mentioned wind. I started to struggle with about 20km to go and was caught couple of riders. As you can see from the map and profile below it’s not an easy bike course.

The run actually went better than I expected, I have done so little training. I thought that I would be in the hurt box off the bike, but I ended up running a 1:22 half (somehow the results had me at 1:28). I managed to run myself into 5th place, only one place worse than last year....so not too bad.

Swim 32:02

Ride 2:41 (incls both transition times)

Run 1:22

Next up is the Tauranga Half Ironman on the 9th Jan 2010... I better start training J

World Wide Web and beyond

When I created this blog it was done on a bit of whim, and I really didn't know how I'd use it....and I am probably still a little unsure.

Anyway, at that point I loaded a stat counter that I saw on someone else's blog. I thought it would be pretty cool to see where people who read my dribble are from; well you are mostly from NZ, Australia, and the USA, but there have been visits from Thailand, Hungary, India, Netherlands, Italy and the moon!

I was only joking about the moon, but seriously who lives in the middle of Australia ?

Rotorua Half Ironman - 18 Dec 09

Should I be nervous? I'm not sure, but I am. Probably cause I am seriously not ready. I have struggled to get on the bike since Kona, and I picked up a shoulder injury at swimming last week.

This race is going to hurt.

Luckily for me the Rotorua Half Ironman is arguably one of the best courses for a tri in New Zealand. The swim is the in the pristine waters of the Blue Lake.

The bike is pretty tough but very picturesque as about 40km of it skirts the edge of the Lakes Roto Iti, and Lake Rotoma.

The run is as equally challenging as it start of with a trail loop around the Blue Lake, up the stairs to nowhere and then down a large hill towards Lake Tawarea. It does a couple short(ish) loops, and goes back up the large hill and finishes with another punishing lap around the Blue Lake.

It is a good thing Hooksie provides every finisher with a cold beer (or 3).

Rotorua Half Ironman - 18th December 2009

Carbon v metal

Well I think we all know what that the winner is Carbon....all day long right?

WRONG!!

When you phrase it Carbon bike v Metal car....it’s the car that wins, all day, every day. I am inspired to write this blog after watching TV3’s piece on 60 minutes last night when they talked at length about the ‘war’ that is taking place on the NZ roads.

Firstly, IMO this show was sensationalised, and poorly represented the majority of cyclists...the cycle courier that featured in about 85% of the piece is an absolute danger to everyone on the roads, and after watching some of the footage of him in action, he should be getting some traffic tickets for his behaviour on our roads, I only hope he lives long enough to pay them! Secondly, those who ride in bunches of 20 to 50 down Tamaki Dr are idiots....yes I know it’s a nice social occasion when you get to ride with your mates, but come on, that is one of the busiest roads in the country and you take up the whole lane..it’s no wonder people get frustrated. Thirdly, I don’t understand those riders who ride on the right hand side of the white line when there is room on the left of it...I know there is more glass and crap on the left of it, but I’d rather take my chances with a puncture, than being hit by a vehicle. That kind of behaviour is just being a dick, stay left and let motorists passed.

Now, before you think I am having a crack at cyclists, even though I am, cause let’s face it there are some idiot riders out there....I also think there are a lot of inattentive and deliberately dangerous driver on our roads. We (as riders) have all had near misses that were only near misses because we were paying attention to the clown who wasn’t watching the traffic....thankfully those a few and far between. Also, most riders will also know what I am talking about when I refer to the absolute wanker who will try and get as close to you as he can, and sometime they might add in a honk, a shout-out or even throw water bomb just for giggles...IMO these are the ones I think we need to address, they are so so dangerous. I wonder if they would do the same thing to their mother, father, daughter or son? The mind set of these individuals is truly puzzling.

Here are some sobbing facts for you to think about;

• The number of cyclists killed or injured has been trending upwards since 2004, at a time when the total distance spent cycling as a means of transport has fallen.
• On average, 11 cyclists are killed per year on New Zealand roads, 2.6 percent of all road fatalities.
• In 2007 approximately 330 cyclists were hospitalised or killed from crashes involving motor vehicles.
• Cyclists have the second highest level of risk per time unit travelled of all road users.
• Cyclists are found to have primary responsibility in only 27 percent of all cyclist-vehicle crashes in which they are injured or killed.

The final factoid tells a sad story, however that’s doesn’t make our (cyclists) position any stronger, because a metal car will always beat a carbon bike....stay left, ride smart and be alert.

Getting chicked in Kona

What an awesome experience, if you are a sports fan or more importantly a fan of endurance sport you need to seriously consider getting yourself over to Kona to watch this event (if not compete). Now we all know that no one does hype like the Americans, and in this case the reputation is well deserved. Kona itself is a small town on the South West coast of the Big Island of Hawaii, and it’s probably only world famous because of the Ironman that descends upon it every October. There isn’t much there, but the atmosphere during race week is not something I have experienced before....granted that most big events/races I’ve ever been to, I have flown in, hidden myself in my hotel, raced, then flown out the next day....even so Kona is a seriously cool place on race week.

The atmosphere is difficult to describe, but if you can picture an idyllic little seaside town in the tropics, then imagine it being engulfed by the world biggest tri geeks and all their tri bling. Then add in all the companies that sell the tri bling. Then add in all their new 2010 tri bling. Then add in the nervous energy of the 1800 people that know they’ll testing themselves in the most brutal conditions known to man....and all of this is on top of the American hype that is being amplified by the Ironman mothership the WTC....all in all it’s pretty special.

What about the race I hear you yelling....well in a nutshell it didn’t quite go as expected, but I am surprisingly happy with my performance. In years gone by I would have plunged myself into a trough of self-pity with the way the day unfolded, but strangely enough I am content, not pleased, but content (until next time). Funnily enough I heard the phrase ‘your first race Kona is a learning experience’ several times before I left NZ, but poo-poo’d it as tri-geek mystic...but it’s actually 100% accurate. There is nothing that you can do in NZ to prepare you for those conditions.

Pre Race Prep

To be honest the pre race preparation took all week and I could blab on forever about what we did, but in an attempt to save you being too bored I won’t delve it too much other than to say, the Gianti looked mean with its Zipp 606 wheelset, and that I found myself checking & rechecking my bike, race gear & transition bags about a squillion times before it was time to check in the bikes....nervous much?!

Race Day

The Swim - Time: 7:00am, Temp: approx 28-30C, Water Temp: 28C

What side to start on was the biggest concern for me and I’d questioned it for months - left, centre or right. I started on the right.....wrong! I was right up against the pier when the starting cannon fired right above my head leaving my ears ringing for the first 400m of the swim well it was either that or the boot I took to the face after about 50m. For the first 2km I was trapped on the right hand side of the field and every 100m or so I, along with about a thousand others were forced into the other thousand people as we had to squeeze around each buoy...which seemed crazy as swimming down the inside of the buoys is thesame distance, provided you go around the end buoy, but it is what it is....and lesson #1 learned...if there is a next time I’ll be starting on the left!

That's me in the blue swim cap

The Bike – Time 8:07am (64min swim, 3min transition) Temp: approx 33 to 46C

I came out of transition feeling pleased to have the swim behind me, and the crowd noise up Palani was a welcome change from the smash & bash of the previous 64min.The bike course does a short loop around town, then heads out the famous Queen K highway to Hawi and back. Course notes: The road surface is mint, so so smooth, and although I didn’t think the course was that difficult in terms of the terrain, it is a tough bike leg, but this is mainly due to the notorious trade winds and the heat. Even though we had about 130km of headwinds on race day, we thankfully didn’t have any of the really gusty crosswinds that have been known to blow people off their bikes and into the Lava fields, but it was hot.....really really hot, it was reported that it got up to 45C out near Waikoloa. No wonder I spent most of the ride tipping water on my head in an valiant attempt to stay cool...a hopeless battle, and at one point I accidently tipped Orange Gatorade all over my head....yuk

Overall I had a good ride, but at about 120km I did get pinged for drafting by (IMO) an overzealous draft buster - my version of events was that I was passing a small group of riders when one of them pulled out of the group and in front of me, and within 2-3 second the draft buster was alongside me showing the red card, puzzled I asked who it was for....YOU....was the answer. I shook my head in amazement, but had no choice but to take it on the chin....there is no point in arguing with them. I took my 4min penalty at the penalty box around the 155km mark, and once that was out of the way I pushed hard into the headwind all the way back to Kona. Lesson #2....be extra vigilant when passing or being passed.

The Run - Time 1:30pm (5h20 bike, 3min transition), Temp: approx 40C

The whole way back to Kona I was looking forward to getting off the bike and into my favourite discipline, the runJ. Alas, it didn’t go quite according to plan; I was expecting to feel a little rough for the first 2-3km, and then come right so I could get into my work. But after about 5-6km when I hadn’t come right, my feet had swelled up from the heat and I’d lost all feeling in them forcing me to stop and loosen my laces about 3 times...I was worried, but I soldiered on. I was determined that I’d come right, but it wasn’t until about 13km mark when I was forced to sit on an wall to avoid passing out, then a 300m walk to the next aid station I learnt lesson #3...I’d got my bike nutrition wrong and I was out of fuel. After stuffing my face with pretzels chips, orange quarters and about 10 cups of coke I set off. Thankfully I did come right about 3-4min later and I was into it, but geezzz it was hot. I made my way up onto the Queen K & out to the Energy Lab, passing runners and walkers....this was more like it. On the return journey I was looking forward to seeing the Palani St lights, and the 14 lap-posts that I’d pre counted on the climb up to them, as this signalled 3km to go. As I approached Ali’i Drive I could hear the noise coming from finish line, this lifted my spirits and as I came onto Ali’i Dr I unleashed a massive kick down (5min/km pace) on the one poor fella who was in my age group, and strode over the line.

Thank frick that is over!

Final Result:

Swim: 1:04.05

T1: 3.05

Bike: 5:20.54

T2: 3.08

Run: 3:20.21

Final 9:51.33

Place: 215^th Overall

Age Group: 39^th

Chicks: 15^th - bringing my total of times chicked to 17 (2 x 2005 Chicago Marathon, 1 x 2009 Tauranga Half IM & 14 x 2009 World IM Champs)

In summary, it was awesome experience, and I had a fantastic time on the Big Island and in Honolulu. Also I must say thanks to Michael Kelly, Richard Swan, Andrew Mckay, Jo Carrel, Lesley Anderson, and most importantly Kylie for creating such a cool little team NZ atmosphere in our super retro Lunapule Condo. Well done to Andy, Mike & Swanny for finishing, and thanks to Kylie and Lesley for being such awesome supporters, but the Cement Award must go to Mighty Jo for only letting a broken leg stop her completing the last 7-8km of the run.

Kona = 1

Ck = 0 (until next time)

Highlight:

Well, I think the highlight of the trip and possibly one of the funniest thinks I have ever seen was seeing Michael walk full stride into the fly screen door not once, but twice and derailing it both times....hysterical.

Screen Door = 2

Michael Kelly = 0

Slacker

I must apologise for not updating my blog for ages...I promise I'll write a race review and post it up in the next couple days.

Time well spent

Since Ironman NZ in March I have spent 93hrs 25min or 3 days 21hrs 25min swimming!! Yes you read that it correctly....swimming....and with only 3hrs of swimming in NZ left, I am going to crack the 4 day barrier....wow. That’s a lot of exposure to chlorine.

Ok now I can hear you asking, how do you know that? Well, for those who don’t know I work in the GPS Vehicle Tracking industry and I just ran a report on my vehicle...it’s a little sad I know, but I was curious.

I only hope it’s been enough to get me out of the water closer to the front of the field than I was at Ironman NZ.

Vista with a Barista

As a born and bred mainlander I am not foreign to the awe inspiring vistas our country has to offer, and over the last 3 days I have spent time in the Coromandel and today I am in Taupo....NZ is an amazingly inspiring place! Taupo is a cracking little town with spectacular views, and I have always enjoyed coming here for work or for play, and I could easily see myself living here. I never tire of this view....enjoy.

A cup of fixation coffee and beautiful view, does life get any better....thanks Mr Barista.

Island time

In just a little over 4 weeks I will be departing the chilly NZ spring for the warm summery climate of Kona, Hawaii....and I can’t wait. Despite my training going very well, I am over it. I am ready to race. I always find this the hardest part of training for any event – 3-4 weeks to go. I always end up using the countdown as a method of keeping me focused ie. I only have 12 more swims before leave.

A couple weeks ago a friend of mine told me he’d been speaking to a fellow Kona entrant, and this fella bravely stated something to the effect ‘oh Kirky will struggle on the bike in Kona because of the wind’. Now this kind of thing really winds me up. Granted I have only been in the sport about 10 months now and didn’t own a bike or a pair of speedos up until about 15 months ago....hell my idea of going for a swim was to doing bombs in the deep end, and I have only ever raced in 3 triathlons, but I have raced this particular guy (who shall remain nameless) twice, and beaten him twice....I smell sour grapes. Maybe he should stand in front of his tri-career drawing board and focus more on finding a way to beat me rather than making ill-informed comments about my abilities (or lack of them). FYI it has been pretty damned windy in the BOP this winter.

Update:

Craig Kirkwood = 6 Moros & 3 Snickers/Mars bars

Michael Kelly = 0 - but he did see a sea bird whoaaaaa.....

Cancer Society of New Zealand

It been just over 3 years now since my Dad died...he spent the last 18 months of his life suffering greatly as a result of Cancer.

He was diagnosed in February 2005, and on the 5 May 2005 he had is first surgery in an attempt to remove the tumour. The reason I remember the date is because my son Matthew was born on the 2 May. Dad was so excited about the birth of his new grandson he jumped on a plane and within hours he was in Auckland. I’ll never forget how happy he was holding his new grandson, it made me feel happy that we could provide the distraction he needed....he was scared.

Over the next 18 months he underwent the usual treatments of chemo, radiation, more surgeries etc... it was truly devastating watching the man I looked up to shrivel away to a frail & lifeless shell of the man he once was. Throughout this 18 months my mother soldiered on, providing her undivided care & attention on him. Mum is a stoic and private person and is not good at asking for help, but without the assistance of the Cancer Society of New Zealand she would not have been able to provide that level of care that she did. We as a family will be forever grateful to them.

Now, If that hasn’t brought a tear to your eye, you better check yourself for a heartbeat.

As you will all know I am going to the big island of Hawaii in 47 days, to take part/race in Kona - 2009 World Ironman Championship, and my aim is to raise $5000 for them.

To donate please visit my fundraising page. I am happy to accept any reasonable challenge . FYI - I met every single challenge at Ironman NZ.

Thanks Cancer Society of New Zealand

Get more go on Moro...

When you literally spend your whole Sunday on the bike you need fuel...and plenty of it. My latest craving has been for the good old Kiwi Moro bar. This little piece of Kiwiana has been made even more enticing with Cadbury’s generous ‘1 in 5 wins a Freebie’ deal that they have going at the moment.

This competition is a blessing for my Moro craving and is a bloody good thing too, because of the eight....yes, eight I have had in the last 9 days six of them have been FREE!

Craig Kirkwood = 6

Michael Kelly = 0

Mate I love free stuff...Thanks Cadbury

Art

I believe training the body to its optimum is a form of art...of sorts. It takes time, patience, skill, hard work, perseverance...and often you and others don’t appreciate what you’ve achieved until it’s all over. The art is in the balance between being a big softy and not doing enough, to being a hard arse and doing too much. I like to think that I push the envelope of the later, although some may disagree. Therefore for me the balance between doing enough and overdoing it something that I like to test in an attempt to push the boundary further and further away than what would be perceived as normal. There are a few people that I have had the pleasure of being involved with over the years that have left me with a couple of key memories that have help me mould this ability.

• In 2001 I was training for my first marathon (London), and at one point during the training I was fried. When I spoke to my coach at the time, the legendary Alan Storey, about it he simply said ‘Kirkwood, you’re in a hole, so stop f..... digging!’ - simple, but perfect.
• Right before that first marathon I was speak with one of Britains greatest marathon runners, Jon Brown (4th Olympic marathon 2000 & 2004), about racing a marathon, his advice was ‘the 1^st time you want to go (meaning pick up the pace), don’t!, the 2^nd time you want to go, don’t!, the 3^rd time you want to go, you won’t be able to’ - so true
• Earlier this year when I was training for my first Ironman, my coach Uncle Wattie (Mark Watson) and I were talking about racing the Ironman or more specifically the ride and he said ‘every 20km or so of the ride, do a mental check and ask yourself the question ‘can I still run a fast marathon after x km at this effort?’’ – so valuable

The real art to all of this is learning what you are capable of and where your boundaries lay, then have the courage and the skills to push that boundary without destroying yourself in the process. If you can't master that technique then you’ll never really discover your true potential.

This is different form of art; maybe Blue seventy can make this into a swim skin.

Now the reason for all of this babble is that in the last two weeks I feel that I have pushed a boundary in my training, and have nudged myself up to another level. All three disciplines are on going very well, and I am feeling confident. I am training well and I feel like I am recovering very well from the volume and intensity I am putting in...and yes Alan I am making sure the hole isn’t getting too deep. I think I can put this down to 3 main elements

1. Well structured training programme - thanks wattie

2. Nutrition & hydration - Part of my nutrition is a daly intake of Resveratrol which I think is really aiding my recovery - thanks About Health.

3. Weekly Massage - thanks Kylie (Bay Massage Therapy)

Whatever it is...I like it.

Work-Life Balance

Can you believe the NZ Department of Labour has a section on their website dedicated to work-life balance.

'Work-life balance is about effectively managing the juggling act between paid work and other activities that are important to us - including spending time with family, taking part in sport and recreation, volunteering or undertaking further study. Research suggests that improving the balance between our working lives and our lives outside work can bring real benefits for employers and employees. It can help build strong communities and productive businesses.'

And according to Ezibuy, my July horoscope ‘The key to not only surviving this month but thriving, using any pressure to your advantage and as a means to achieve a breakthrough, is finding the right work/life balance.’

I can hear you asking ‘who gives a shit Craig, what is this all about?’ Well good question.

Many of you will know that I do lead an reasonably busy life – I have a full time job, I have a young family, I am training for Kona, I coach runners and I have a part time job. Believe me when I tell you that these responsibilities/undertakings take some balancing. The catalyst for this blog was that I had my work review on Wednesday, and as with any review you get both positive reinforcement for your good performances and ‘constructive criticism’ for your failings. One of my ‘constructive criticisms’ was that I need to work on my work life balance. Now I am not into Horoscopes into a big way or anything, but I am a Libra (or the Scales) and I have always thought that I do pretty damn good job at balancing activities in my life....apparently I could do better!

Libra Traits

Diplomatic and urbane
Romantic and charming
Easygoing and sociable
Idealistic and peaceable

Interestingly, these are Some of the negative Libra traits – I can also see these in myself.

Indecisive and changeable
Gullible and easily influenced
Flirtatious and self-indulgent

After pondering this information for a good 48hrs now I have determined that although it is true that I do get distracted from time to time, I think they are wrong. I believe I do a fine job, there are only so many hours in a day, and I think I use 90% of them wisely. Btw I am writing this blog while my work mates are having a coffee break....slackers.

Kona 2008

Very cool video of Kona 2008

Confusing abilty with ambition...

Well it’s been a while since my last post, but to be fair I have been very busy. Work has been full on and as my training is ramping up I in preparation for Kona I seem to have less and less time to sit put my thoughts into script.

I must say that I am little....no actually I am a lot over winter. It’s been tough to get on the bike during all of our cold wet weekends, thankfully I have a understanding wife who tolerates my wind trainer whirring in the lounge in the evenings as we both watch Le Tour replay. Last Sunday I rode 100km into a nasty cold southerly headwind...it was miserable. I was so relieved to get off my bike and into the car. My pesky calf has finally come right and I am now running 60min plus...this is a huge relief, because I felt that I was less prepared for the run at IMNZ than I would have liked....I was prepared to be beaten by Cameron, but I was a bit gutted that Terenzo ran faster than I did. I now have plenty of time to get myself into some decent marathon form before I can take it to those Euro & Nth American Tri fags in Kona.

One thing that does continue to baffle me about triathletes is that their lack of reality in their ability at each of the three of the disciplines (sorry if you’re offended...actually no I’m not haha)...and a great example of this is Rasmus Henning, last week on the IMTalk Podcast (week 168) he was asked in a interview what he thinks he could run for a marathon - ‘i could run around 2:12’ was his reply, I nearly fell off my chair with laughter, but do you know the worst part!? (rhetorical of course) The interviewers (who are experienced multisporters and should know better), didn’t even question his outrageous claim. I was miffed at their lack of knowledge....so I did some research (then emailed them...I’ll probably get slagged off this week). There is no denying that Rasmus is a class athlete, and that he has had a stellar ITU carreer, and has made an exceptional start to his IM career with a debut win at IM China, but he ain’t no 2:12 marathoner. Just as an aside the Danes haven’t had anyone run sub 2:13 for 20 years.

2:12 - wake up dreamer

Anyway this outrageous claim has given me to a new goal for Kona - I want to smash his run time.

On the mend

I am pretty excited that my calf muscle has improved to the point that I am now planning on running tomorrow. In my experience a calf muscle take between 5-6 weeks to come right, and I think by the time I am able to run for a solid 45min it will have been 6 weeks since I was i..... It'll be a very slow and very short jog tomorrow. I think I’ll start with a 5min walk, 2min jog, 1min walk, 2min jog. If that goes well, i'll go 5min walk, 5min jog, 1min walk, 5min jog on Thursday.

This time off running hasn't been a complete dead loss though as I have used this time to get my bike miles up and work on my swimming. My swimming has improved in leaps & bounds since Ironman NZ, and I feel like I am now swimming more efficiently; I am defiantly swimming faster. My riding has also come along nicely, and I am now feel like I am riding more smoothly and can hold a decent tempo for longer. Although I did suffer a mechanical meltdown on Sunday, when my rear tyre was shredded by some little pricks broken beer bottle. I had to call a Kylie to come and pick me up. This leads me to my questions for this week;

Should Beers & RTDs be bottled in plastic or glass? I vote plastic

Now don’t get me wrong, I like a nice cold beer (or 2) from a glass bottle like any kiwi bloke, however every time some loser throws an empty from his car on to the road and I run over it, it costs me money. I counted up the patches on one of my tubes last night and it had 6 patches on it. Imagine if I’d purchased a new tubes every time that happened – it’d would have cost me $110 on that tube alone. It's a good thing I find patching tubes therapeutic.

Frustrating

Biggest of BIG Wendesdays

I think everyone in New Zealand will be buying a Big Wednesday for this tonight’s draw...$25 million...can i say that again....$25 million. How nice would that be (it’s rhetorical question of course)?

I, like many others, have already decided how we’d spend it, and thought I share with you the first five things I’d like to do....now I say ‘like to do’ because ultimately Kylie will have to approve any decisions.

1. Share my winnings with my family
2. Buy a new house and car etc...
3. Donate huge amounts of money to the Cancer Society
4. Buy a property and open an endurance training base
5. Invest in the dreams of my friends
6. Then I’d have a coffee

Ok that is 6 things, but hey it’s my blog, and if all goes according to plan I’ll be worth $25,000,010 tomorrow - so really I can do what i like J

Some other questions that I have always pondered about when you hear about other people who have won big - $25million big

• Would I continue to work? No
• Would I even ring my boss to tell him? No
• Would I invest it? Only in the future of family and friends

Wish me luck - cause the odds are in my favour 1 in 2,715,000

North Westerly’s blow

What would you consider more daunting, riding 215km or riding from Tauranga to Auckland? And what if I tell you that you it was a headwind for 175km?

On Saturday Mike & I encountered all of the above!

It was an interesting ride, one that started in comfort and progressed though rain & wind, pain & discomfort, and suffering & regret...but not even that fact that we were riding through Mangere could damped my joy at seeing the Mangere Mount, and knowing that a hot shower and a comfortable chair was only minutes away.

A couple of key memories from the ride

1. A puncture before Katikati didn’t go down well, and then I found out Mike had 2 spare tubes but only one CO2 cansiter...humour
2. Steak & Mushroom pies in Paeroa at 9:30am are awesome
3. Headwinds suck
4. Miranda? Where? I must have missed it....head down and suffering I suspect
5. Did you know there was such a place as the Seabird Coast? I didn’t, and I still don’t know why it’s named that...I didn’t see any...although maybe I should refer back to #4
6. Coke in Kaiaua was a savour
7. Snake Hill wasn’t as bad as I feared
8. Headwind = yuk
9. Kawakawa Bay was as peaceful and serene as ever
10. Coke in Clevedon was heavenly
11. West Road after 180km was bloody awful! Every sinew in my legs demanded that I stop, and it took every ounce of pride & determination to keep pushing
12. The contrast in the suburbs of Auckland is astounding - Whitford, Danemora, Flatbush then into Otara, Otahuhu & Mangere
13. Did I mention how I feel about headwinds...they blow

Thanks for the company & the tow Mike