The Renegades Muster - day 1
The Renegades Muster is the brainchild of Tahi Cunningham. An 840 odd kilometre loop that starts in Wanganui and takes in Whangamomona, Ohura, the 42nd Traverse and a bunch of other trails, crossing through private land on several occasions. It's the access to new routes via private farmland that makes courses like this, and the Tour Te Waipounamu so special. It takes a lot of effort to develop the required relationships needed to pull this kind of event off, as if there wasn't enough opposition from the climate. Tahi was continually building alternative "plan-B" routes in case a particular trail was still inaccessible due to the slips and washouts that kept popping up.
My buddy Chris Shaw had said that he was keen to do it again, as it was running in the opposite direction to previous years and there had been a few changes to the course, including the addition of the 42nd Traverse segment, which was added, in the "uphill" direction of course, just to make it a bit more spicy.
I knew Chris would be good company, as the only builder I know with a Phd there is always plenty to talk about. And Neil Adersley, Chris's buddy was also fun to ride with. Banter is pretty essential on these rides, as the time just flies as the BS flows. I was surprised to find that Neil's political views and musical tastes were compatible with mine so we probably spent the whole ride going "I know, I know!" and finishing off the next verse of whatever song the other was singing, although I never did get "Camptown races" nailed in its entirety.
Chris is the ultimate planner and assured me that we could crack it out in under 4 days without trying too hard, which I was happy with. I was content to just wing it as far as accommodation went, but Chris had some spots in mind that proved invaluable. The pre-event accommodation he sorted for Neil and I in Wanganui was also top notch.
One of the best parts of the Bikepacking scene is catching up with the usual suspects, and there were a few there. Bryce Lorcet and the Coastal crew were present and there were a few names I'd only seen as dots while following other events, Grant Guise being one.
The start of the event was neutralized because of some work being done on a bridge about 20 kms out of town so we had to all stick together until then - in theory.
The first bit of the ride was very scenic and relaxing and as we hit the bridge it became obvious that some folks were already gone.
I ended up chatting with Amy Kwong from Paper Roads Aotearoa for a bit. The Bikepacking gear she has been building is really fresh and as we chatted she was wondering out loud about potentially quitting her day job.
Later on I met a guy who it transpired was Evan Wolfe. He'd done the Tour Divide a few years back with a guy I'd ridden with before, Greg Galway. We chatted for a bit and Evan shared with me some hilarious stories about the competitive nature of Greg, or "Mosquito" as he is sometimes known.
We emerged onto the seal and before long we were heading head on into a pretty firm headwind. It seemed to go on for about 100 kms, but we were able to lap it out a bit at times. We passed Nathan Mawkes who was having a bit of a nana nap on the side of the road. We moved on to fuel up at Patea, then soldiered on to Hawera, where we had a lengthy stop for a Chinese meal. Luckily I ordered some chips as Chinese doesn't come with rice in Hawera it seems.
As we left town we saw Andy Hovey and Eileen Schwab just behind us but we seemed to lose to them on the next hill I think. Eileen and Amanda Wells were both riding incredibly strongly. Amanda's blog is a good read so I hope she posts her story one day.
We rode on into the night and the hills became a bit more prevalent. I started to have a minor bonk, as I had lost a water bottle on a decent, and my new set-up meant I had poor access to food while I was actually riding. A real rookie mistake.
I had decided to ride my OPEN UP gravel bike, rather than an MTB, but the cockpit was too short to allow room for my feedbags and knees, while standing out of the saddle. Having food in a pack on your back is very inefficient when it comes to eating while you ride. We stopped at the Toko school so I could fill up my water bottles but I stumbled around in the dark, too addled to have gotten out my torch, so rode off empty handed.
As a result of Chris's excellent research we ended up stopping at a country hall at Tututawa, obviously once a single room country school. Chris set up his tent outside, under a tree near the swimming pool, Neil climbed into his bivvy sack on the deck, and I slept in the toilet, let's call it an ensuite. We had covered 256 kms, largely due to the smooth roads we were on for most of the day.
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| OPEN UP with 700 x 43 Panaracers and K-lite Dynamo set-up |
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| The "usual suspects". Around 65 started. |
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| It's always great to catch up with Bill Brierly to see what phantasmagorical creation he has created for his Bikepacking rig. This is his own carbon created aero-bar designed for speedy removal. |
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| There are rumours that Bill turned down a job on the New Zealand Americas cup team in the carbon fibre division. |
Renegades Muster - Day 2
Our digs were first class and we rode off around 6am I am guessing. There was a fair bit of sealed road on this segment too, as we made our way to Whangamomona. We were all looking forward to this as we knew that the event organiser, Tahi, had set up a base there where riders could call in and refuel. Food never tasted so good. Although, luckily we weren't the earliest people there, as somehow when driving to the accommodation a pair of lithium batteries made it into Tahi's coffee machine. I am sure it would have knocked any bikepacking induced "mood swings" on the head straight away!
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| The amazing spread at Whangamomona put on by Tahi Cunningham |
I didn't manage to get photos of any of the many tunnels that make up this route but it was a largely uneventful morning with some very lush farmland traversed as well.
With too much time on our hands and nothing else to do but ride and talk, we invented the term "Gate Fu". "Gate Fu" is that flow state that you can get into when riding in a group, and constantly stopping and starting to open gates through farmland. I couldn't tell you exactly how it works, you will know it when and if you experience it, probably something like this.
Rider 1, opens gate.
Rider 2, rides through and takes rider 1's bike.
Rider 3, rides right through to the next gate which he opens.
Rider 1 closes the 1st gate and gets his bike from rider 2.
Rider 1, rides on and takes rider 3's bike.
Rider 2 rides through to the next gate which he opens.
Rider 3 closes the second gate and gets his bike from rider 1.
Rider 2 gives his bike to rider 1.
Rider 3 rides right through to the next gate.
.... or something. A person could potentially save seconds over a whole farm, but it's really more about experiencing poetry in motion, or at least sharing the role of "gate bitch". We all know that the more people there are in your group, the more downtime you will have.
We had emailed our requests for food into Michelle at Ohura and when we arrived there some time around 8:30pm we we were treated to some yummy wraps and the last new food we would get for a while. We would have struggled without Michelle enroute. Search "Fiesta Fare Ohura/B&B" * if you are passing through. We rode on into the night and had some pretty nice 4wd type climbing through some forested areas, followed by some fast descending. Managing your temperature late at night can be tricky when sweating up the hills, and then descending into the cold night air, as you don't really want to be stopping and starting all the time to put layers off and on.
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| Still working on our "Gate-fu"..... |
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| You saw it here first, a completely bald horse. Freaky. |
Once again Chris had done his research and we found a nice spot near an old hall at Otunui around 11 pm. Chris and I set up our tents while Neil bivvyed on the steps. We slept the sleep of the dead, although a few Ruru and dueling roosters tried their best to spoil that. We had managed another 232kms.
Renegades Muster - Day 3
Day three. We awoke, feeling a "little bleary, worse for wear and tear" but steeled in the knowledge that the Taumaranui Mdconalds was only about 15 kms away.
We cruised in, made our orders and sat about checking the trackers. Before long Brian Anderson rolled up. And then Jason Gestro. We had come across Jason on a few occasions and I think Brian was a bit ahead of us when we stopped riding the previous night. Brian was not faffing about and said "see you later" as he rode off. We never did! I think at that point the next person in front was Brian Alder. Not that we were trying to "beat" anyone. We were just riding at our own level.
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| A friendly bambi enroute |
I seem to recall a bit of climbing through farmland and eventually around 10am we arrived at Owhango, gateway to the 42nd Traverse. We did a bit of a resupply at a Cafe and noticed around 60 off-road motorcycles ominously hanging about. Sure enough, like us they were also riding the 42nd Traverse. I have to say I was pretty disappointed in this segment. I'd heard about it over the years but in my mind I was expecting something more scenic. It was basically a 4wd/trail bike track, plus, we were doing it in the uphill direction. The steady stream of motorcyclists that passed us were pretty respectful on the whole. This was also the point where I wished for some lower gears. My OPEN's 34/42 lowest gear was not optimum and I looked enviously at my buddies using their 26/42's.
Pride comes before a fall, and at one point I was mentally congratulating myself on my mad skills when I got into a skid while riding down the crown of a rut and went over the bars. I bounced pretty hard but my biggest fear was that my carbon bars would have been broken by the impact, especially given the extra leverage on them from the aero bars. Luckily they were unscathed, but my derailleur hanger was bent. We kept rolling to keep the blood flowing into my tenderised butt, until we reached a river crossing where I got out my tools, replaced the hanger and road link, and had a snack. I think Strava told us we got through the Reverse 42nd Traverse in around 4 and a half hours. A pretty grunty ride with some good elevation in its own right.
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| Don't leave home without a spare hanger! |
We called in at National Park for a resupply around 4:40pm and hit Fishers track which was a pleasant change. Next stop for water and ablutions was at the Blue Duck Lodge where we also picked up a sheep dog who ran ahead of us on the trail, causing us to take a wrong turn at one point. We were getting pretty tired. In the dark, with light rain and a very narrow slightly uphill track it was safer, and just as fast to push rather than ride. Head lights were strapped on for this low speed stuff. We eventually made the shelter around 9:30 I think. I cant recall being that tired for a very long time. It was lovely warm night, deep in the bush.
Day 3 over, 164 very hard earned kms.
Renegades Muster - Day 4
We awoke and I think we were moving by around 5:30am. It's hard to tell as the tracker pings were pretty dodgy. Brian Anderson had pushed on a bit further and slept at the top of the hill it appears, and got a much earlier start. The other Brian, Alder had pulled the plug at National Park after he developed a niggle in his leg. The climb out from the shelter was nice, with native bush poking out through the fog and a gradient that seemed to suit my gearing. I remembered it from the Tour Aotearoa, in a good way. It was probably drier than then.
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| Neil's in the mist. |
We eventually descended down out of the bush onto gravel and then sealed roads surrounded by more farm land. The next memorable piece of off road was the Old Coach Road near Ohakune. Surprisingly, this was actually the roughest piece of track on the whole Renegades Muster. I know because this was the first time I was noticing that I was getting more of a hammering on my 700x43 Gravel Kings than my buddies on their 2.1 Conti Race Kings. Not that bad, but it made me realise how this event was completely doable on a gravel bike if you wanted to do it that way.
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| Old Coach road |
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| Old Coach Road |
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| Whangaehu River |
A while later we were taking in some very steep gravel roads under a baking sun, riding alongside the Whangaehu River. We even passed a pond with living frogs in it. I don't know when I last saw frogs in the wild.
I sensed Chris was getting itchy feet as he had some prep to do before he got back to work on tuesday so we told him to put the hammer down while Neil and I had a leisurely appointment at Ohakune with some pies and coke.
The trip from there was largely uneventful, but somehow Tahi found a whole bunch more hills for us to climb, and a gentle headwind for the last 20 kms.
Neil and I rolled into the finish about 7:10 pm. There was a bunch of people hanging about at the finish and shaking hands, including a guy I didn't recognise initially. It turned out to be Evan Wolfe, or Wylie E, on his tracker. According to his tracker, he hadn't actually stopped to sleep for the whole ride....! Chris was there to pick us up already and drive us back to Welly.
It was a pretty good long weekend. About a third of the entrants dropped out, so it wasn't for everyone. Would I do it again on the gravel bike? At my age, probably not, but if I was younger, for sure. I could have run wider 650B tires for more comfort but I wanted to use my 700c dyno wheel.
I am embarassed to say that on the way back home my nana-nap in the back seat of the truck turned out to take a full 2 hours, leaving only Neil to make sure that Chris didn't fall asleep at the wheel. Sorry guys !
Day 4 - 190kms.
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| Job done. |
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