Long Ride – Epi-Blog: after the ride

After the ride .

The cycle ride has finished. It is time to reflect on the trip and for me to acknowledge the input of a few key people.

But first some key statistics:

According to my cycle computer (which I am taking as the definitive record) the Long Ride To Work covered a total distance of 1039 km on the route from Wellington to Auckland. Darin’s cycle computer consistently told us we had travelled further, but we think this was optimism on his part to compensate for fewer training hours. Even though he has longer legs than the rest of us his bike still travels the same distance!

As a team we had a total of four flat tyres (two while cycling, two while consuming food when we weren’t on the bikes!). Darin and I managed the total trip without a single puncture. Our only breakage was the busted derailleur caused by the loose chip seal on the road leaving Mahia.

We cycled 12 days and had two ‘rest days’ when we weren’t on the bikes. On one of the rest days we traded bike seats for car seats and drove the 300 km around East Cape.

During our 12 days cycling we ascended more than 5040 metres (twice the height of Mt. Egmont/Taranaki and more than half the height of Mt Everest). We spent a total of 43.5 hours on a bike seat. We had a sore butt on 13 of the 14 days (93% of the time).

Our longest day (time) spent cycling was Day 11 Whakatane to Tauranga – 4.5 hours. Our longest distance cycled in one day was Day 3 Pahiatua to Waipukurau – 101 km. Our shortest distance cycled was 67 km and the average distance per cycling day was 86 km.

During the 15 nights away from home, 14 were spent in different beds.

The tallest hill we climbed was over the Rimutaka Ranges on Day 1, but the worst hill to cycle over was Day 8 cycling to Gisborne (the steepest hill and in the hottest conditions).

Arguably the most scenic and interesting ride (from a cycling viewpoint) was Day 4 – the route from Waipukurau to Napier adjacent to the Tukituki River valley, even though the weather was overcast. But this is not an obvious choice – many other days were similarly scenic and could be categorised as the ‘best’.

The most ‘pleasant surprise’ from my perspective was still feeling good about cycling on the morning of Day 4. And the ride along coast in brilliant sunshine from Mahia – before the incident with the broken derailleur.

Our overall average cycling speed (over the 12 cycling days) was 23.8 km/h and our fastest day was Day 3 Pahiatua to Waipukurau (also the longest distance, surprisingly) – averaging 27.5 km/h.

While on the Long Ride the team consumed 17 batches of baking (which included at least 4 batches of chocolate brownie and 2 batches of chocolate fudge cake). We had two trips to the chocolate shop in Greytown, to stock up on chocolate supplies. This was accompanied by no less than 60 cups of coffee (not a lot over 12 days cycling).

The number of days when we stopped smiling, got sick of each of others company and wished we had already reached work: 0

So to thanks and appreciation…

My biggest thanks and appreciation goes to my fellow cyclists: Darin, Rose and especially Keryn for assistance with training and support before and during the ride. Without her encouragement and assistance this ride and fundraising effort would not have happened.

Thanks also to Keryn for making the pink booties, chocolate brownie, chocolate fudge cake, assisting with planning the route, overnight stops and accommodation.

Special thanks and appreciation to Barbara for managing the support vehicle, refreshments, returning to Greytown for more chocolate, ferrying the broken bike to Gisborne for repairs, and organising lunch stops.

The following very generously provided accommodation, hot showers, food and drink at various places on the way, for which the cyclists are most grateful:
Colin & Dianne Goble (Napier); Shale Chambers & Glenda Fryer (Orere Point); Paul & Claire Feeney (Tauranga); John and Jan Ferguson (Gisborne); Darin’s brother Pete Millar (Wellington).  Thanks so much.

Thanks to the Holmes Fire team at work – esp. in Auckland & Christchurch and to my family in Auckland for their patience while I was away – during training and while on the Long Ride.

And finally – acknowledgment to other key people:
Allen Gray at Ultimo for the great cycle shirts – our most distinctive feature on the ride.
Dennis Gear in Gisborne for leg massages. Thanks Dennis – that provided welcome relief to sore muscles.
Shelley Hanna for her encouragement along the way – thanks Shelley.

And thanks to everyone that left comments on the blog. I have read every comment and appreciate the support you have given me and the team during the ride.

Last, but certainly not least: thanks to all of you who donated so generously to support this worthy cause.

Martin F