To each his own

I see the endurance cycling guru and former Tour Divide record holder Jay Petervary  is having another crack at the event. It was pretty obvious by his comments during the official running of the event this year that he was "ill at ease" with the "purity" of how the race was unfolding (riders riding in the vicinity of others). While the event itself has probably not changed a lot in the last few years, the introduction of spot trackers has meant that, like yacht racing and many other inherently boring sports, multi-day endurance bike racing has now become great viewing.

Kiwi Brevet 2012

With great viewing comes popularity (relatively speaking) and this year when around 100 riders fronted up for the 4400km ride, the chances of anyone riding completely alone for 100% of the time was going to be very unlikely. Especially with the new level of athleticism that increased popularity ultimately brought.

I was very impressed at the way the top riders like Ollie Whalley and Craig Stapler rode this years Tour Divide, with good sleeping patterns and relatively high average speeds on the trail. To me this is racing. Riding along through the night in a sleep deprived stupor is not the kind of thing that impresses me personally. "Learning about yourself" by digging really deep sort of reminds me a bit of Steve Jobs trying to reach a new level of enlightenment by fasting. Tales of the hallucinatory experiences people have sound very  interesting in the telling, but I am not sure I want to go there.

I have brought into the world two kids so I've done my fair share of sleep deprivation, and I can say it never did a lot for my athleticism. Family is also a great way of ensuring you have some kind of a balance in your life. I never thought I'd say it, but I am really thankful to have people around me who help me put my obsessions into perspective with respect to the big picture.

For me, bikepacking is about a couple of things. Getting out there into the wilds, good company and an element of being self sufficient. I often wonder if I could be bothered doing these efforts by myself. I suspect I would get very bored with my own company after about a day. Luckily everyone is motivated by different things.

Anyway, JP is putting his money where his mouth is, foregoing the Grand Depart  and riding the 4400km completely by himself.  JP's spot tracker should turn up here. Check out his rig here. A very nice Ti Salsa Fargo with Woodchippers.

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Welcome to WELLYMUD !

I was keen to see how I was going to go in my first CX of the year. I have been doing a fair bit of gnarly hill running, but have been not quite averaging 1 ride a week for the last couple of months.

I remember last year at the end of the CX season feeling like I needed like a rest, right when I should have been stepping up my training ! I was determined not to do to that again this year, even though I wanted to support my Kiwi Brevet buddies Owen and Andy's new series.

Despite the turgid weather it was quite warm at California Park, with the friendly atmosphere that always accompanies Mike's events. A couple of people had really lifted their game from where they were when I last raced them (even taking my form into account).

Last year I could beat, or keep pace with Kim Hammer-Hurst, but now she is at the new level that saw her crowned NZ elite women's Cyclo Cross champ a few weekends back. She looks awesome in her new kit! Andy King was at another level as well. Jonny Waghorn was going really good on his singlespeed but I think the SSers found it a bit hard as the course got increasingly cut up for our race.

Pretty sure this is the exact moment
where I tweaked my back, the only time I
nailed this particular piece.

I had a wicked duel with Ken Feist and Mike Thomson for a while, eating each others dirt. Me on my Karate Monkey, Mike on his Masi SSer, and Ken on his Di2 Felt !  I had already used my last lap effort on my first lap, so there was no responding when Ken finally woke up and put the hammer down on the last couple of laps. I did manage to hold off a hard charging Mike though, and narrowly avoid getting lapped by 2nd placed Andy. I felt like I had a bit of an advantage with my big-big 34-36 granny gear combo that let me ride all the little climbs while most of the pure CXers and SSers had to dismount.

Alex Revell was in a league of his own, and he needs to be, given that he is heading off to Belgium for a CX season in a couple of weeks. What an adventure! I wonder what Belgian mud is like?


Oh yeah, I took Kens advice, which KFC gave him, on air pressures. It helped heaps.


Results from Mike:http://blog.thebikehutt.co.nz/2012/07/2012-cx-round-1.html


.. and some pix from the better half : http://www.melhamerhurst.blogspot.co.nz/2012/07/bike-hutt-cyclox-round-1.html


Rumour is that there will be a weigh-off next time, Marco's MTB vs Kens CX bike!

Thanks to Ed Banks for these pix ! Go check out his blog to see his retro Downhill bike!  http://edsironmanblog.blogspot.co.nz/

Ed Banks in the "grip".

A very clean Humpy !

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What happened to quality?

Dodgy Jugs, Sunbeam left, Russell Hobbs right

In September 2010 I wrote a post about some of my favourite things; at the time one of these was the new Sunbeam Electric Kettle that replaced the dodgy Russell Hobbs Kettle that we persevered with for over a year.

Less than 2 years later the $189 Sunbeam Kettle has crapped itself as well. What price do you have to pay for quality today?

Is there such a thing as quality anymore? We paid top dollar for our European Miele dishwasher, which 4 years down the track is blowing water out its drying vent.

New jug on the block, a Zip - $40 12/07/12

The 500$ Asus netbook I brought from Playtech lasted for 1 month outside of its warranty. Not that Asus is a high end product but you'd still expect more.

The last decent watch I bought lasted a year before the strap broke off. Now I just buy Warehouse watches. These days I think my plan will just be to buy crap stuff. Your expectations are low and you can probably get 3 to 4 "crap" products for the price of one "good" one.

All of my buddies high-end Litespeed road bikes have failed. None of my cheap crappers have.

Unless my Surly Karate Monkey gets run over by a bulldozer I know its still going to be a going concern in 10 years time.

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We don't know how lucky we are

The other day Cleetus asked me if I had any photos of the local trails that we ride and run on around Welly, for sending to some of his international cohorts. I had to admit that I didn't, so when we went out for a long run on Queens Birthday monday he took his camera and we did some videoing. Apparently having "wilderness" this close to an urban environment, especially with man made trails on, is unheard of overseas. I guess we are spoilt for choice and dont even know it. 

When I was working at Gracefield, heading up the Wainuiomata Hill and along the ridge to Mt Lowry was one of my favourite lunch time runs, ripping along through the Beech Forest. If you hung a left at the top of the Wainui Hill then you could keep climbing (running) for 22 minutes. Thats real value for money training in my book. Of course, since we moved my work campus from Gracefield to Avalon (2kms from my house), they have built the incredible Wainuiomata Trail Park. Bad timing for me.

We headed up into the Hills above Eastborne on an awesomely steep out and back course. 677 metres in 10 kms. I love that stuff, well the climbs I love, the descents suck for me as my knees don't like descending at pace. See below some youtubings.

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Durace 10 speed Karate Monkey

Fellow Voodoo Lounger Neil gifted me his crashed Durace 10 speed shifters the other day. They have adjustable reach and the cables go in tight against the bars unlike previous versions which stick out in the air. They look great and feel good. The seem to have a deeper hood area than the older 9 speeds they replaced. Thanks Neil!

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Fast Derek and the toothbrush

Did I ever tell you the one about Fast Derek and the tooth brush?

I was out on an Akatarawas ride with Fast Derek some time about 1993. Well compared to Slow Derek he was fast, and in fact one year Fast Derek even won the Wellington road champs, and while the road scene in Wellington back in the early 90's was practically flat-lining, it was still a well deserved win for Derek as he attacked on the final approach to the finish while the usual suspects tried not to lead each other out in the sprint. Pretty good for a triathlete.

Fast Derek was like the rest of us, a typical Hutt Bogan and did unspeakable things like riding really old bikes with mis-matched group-sets, and shock horror, he had even been observed wearing home-made arm-warmers. Not the kind of thing likely to get him invited on invitation only group rides with strict dress codes.

The Bogan of the week trophy (awarded annually).

Slow Derek on the other hand was famous for getting beaten one year in the 100km Rainbow Rage by one guy with no legs, and two guys with one leg each. Realising his strengths lay elsewhere Slow Derek moved into the administrative side of cycling. But I have digressed. So Fast Derek and I were doing an Akas ride on the weekend, possibly as training for the Nelson to Christchurch time trial, I cant recall. The night before I can remember swapping my tire, I think it was a 25mm one, onto my trusty Avanti Super Sprint.

The ride started well enough although there was a slight hop in the wheel. I must have changed it in too much of a hurry the previous night and not seated it well enough. Part way up the hill I noticed the tire was getting a bit squirmy, maybe I hadn't tightened up the valve properly so I added a bit more air.  By the top of the Hill it was getting flat again. Damn it. Time to put in a new tube.

I ripped off the tyre and was surprised to see a toothbrush come flying out of the tyre when I pulled out my tube!

I was in the habit of cleaning my bike with a tooth brush, and there was one on the shelf above where my tire was hanging. It must have dropped down into the cavernous expanse of my 25mm tire as I pulled it off the wall. That was the first and last time I, or I am guessing anyone else rode 50kms with a toothbrush in their rear wheel.

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Tandem newbie Inclinations

I'd only ever ridden a tandem twice before. The second time was with my wife on the back, and it mentally scarred her so much it just reinforced her fear of bicycles. Many years were to pass before she was to step over a top-tube again. The next time she rode it was as a result of the Bikewise ride to work month. All of a sudden she was commuting the 20kms into Wellington and back, and even joined the Voodoo Lounge team one year when we went over and did the 100km Grape Ride in Marlborough. She even did a Frocks on Bikes ride. That was probably the last time we had a summer in Wellington, so since then riding has not been high on her agenda.

I was starting to pine for the outdoors in the wake of the Kiwi Brevet and suggested that we load up the Jville Cycles Tandem and head for a short  over-nighter somewhere close to home. Finding somewhere was a lot harder than we thought, so we ended up just taking the Hutt Valley River trails and riding from Lower Hutt to the top of the Rimutaka Incline and camping out there.

The little Trangia stove

Tandems are a bit of hard work. (I now have massive respect for the people that used them in the Kiwi Brevet). They are so bloody heavy and getting them around the many stiles we encountered on the Hutt River Cycle way was a real team effort, a kind of two stage process whereby both of you loft the front wheel up in the air, and grab the second set of handlebars and steer it on the rear wheel. In fact the Rimutaka Incline itself was a doddle compared to the Hutt River Cycle way with all its little hurdles; all to keep bogans on motorbikes and 4wds out I guess. What really impressed me was that except for a few hundred metres you can get all the way to Te  Marua on the River Trail. So much work has been done on these trails over the years. Credit needs to go to someone.

I noticed the rear cog on the tandem was very hooked, and had to wonder if it was not just my imagination that someone was pedalling backwards at times! Getting a sore butt seemed to be the major problem for Kay so many short stops were called for. I think the fact that you really need to be still on a tandem so as not to cause balance issues is partly to blame, as the seat was comfy, and also sported a suspension seat post. Obviously a lack of ride time for my stoker was the main issue, but by the time we finished our ride there was less protestations on the downhills and I got far less arm-pump from over braking than I did on day one.

On the way back

I installed my two Freeload racks on either end of the bike, and my handlebar harness was made from an old Webstock Conference satchel. Other than that we had small back-packs on with a few little bits and pieces.

We borrowed my daughter's tent and managed to repack it into a smaller package for stowing. Other items we took were two sleeping bags and mats and a small cooking kit with my little Trangia stove which I brought for the Kiwi Brevet but had not yet been used. One dehydrated meal for tea, a couple of porridge sachets and some Milo and we were set.

More suspension than we could handle!

It was a nice warmish night in our little tent, although I gave my air mattress to Kay and I put up with the crappy closed foam one which is a poor substitute even on the smooth ground. Overall it was a big success with only the sore botty detracting from it. We will have to work on that ! With a few more miles in the legs for Kay it would have been a far more enjoyable experience.

If anyone is interested in hiring the Jville Cycles Tandem then get in touch with its minder, Peter Colvin who is building up a fleet of hire bikes and currently has 3 tandems. Peter and his lady have toured overseas so he knows a thing or two about setting one up. By the way this one seemed to have about 6 inches of travel on the front so it was a bit wasted on us! 
Contact for Pete: 021 480 775

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Drop bar set-up and STI on Karate Monkey

I have been experimenting with the positioning of my brakes on my Salsa Woodchipper handlebar. Although I really like the bar I feel it can be difficult to set up, especially for people like myself with smallish hands.

Old DA 9 speed shifters (left), much closer to bar than "aero" levers (right).

If you are serious about off-road riding then you will likely want the brakes more forward on the bar so you can access them when on the drops.

If you are more inclined to be gravel grinding or bike-packing then you are likely to want them to be higher on the bar, so you can make use of the different positions available. This was one of the main reasons I didn't use my Karate Monkey on the Kiwi Brevet, with my smaller digits its a real reach for the brakes while on the drops, and it causes me a pressure point after about 3 hours riding. This pressure point is in the very same spot on my hands when I rest my hands on the hoods.

A couple of views on how you could set up your drop bars.

• Drop bar set-up by Guitar Ted.
• Matt Chester on drop-bar set-up.
• Jason Boucher's tips on a Salsa Woodchipper.
• Shiggys why-for.

I have just scored some old Durace 9 speed STI levers which have been a revelation. Not only is the reach about 1cm shorter than my existing brakes, but they are lighter than my bar-end and brake lever combo, and I now have snappy gear changing at my finger tips. Check out the photo above to see the difference in reach.

Obviously I had to swap my MTB-pull Avid BB7's with the Road-pull version. My next move will be to bring them further down the bar to see where the best position of compromise is. (I did - see below). 

I have just discovered the pitfalls of trying to use STI road levers on an MTB. Its a bit of a mess.

The rear derailleur is sweet. On the front, unfortunately STI levers only pull 69% of the cable that an MTB lever pulls, so STI levers and MTB derailleur on the front is not really compatible.

• MTB's all use top-pull derailleurs. 
• Road bikes all use bottom pull derailleurs. Suck.

What are the alternatives? Surprisingly few.

1. A pulley device for changing the direction your cable comes from Problem solvers.
2. Another device to change the direction from the speen.de guys, (good luck trying to understand it). A better description here.
3. A special top-pull road-style derailleur made for CX application.
4. I just tried this one, and its 99% successful. Clamp the derailleur cable on the other side (back-side) of the bolt. It effectively shortens the lever, giving more pull. Not all derailleurs can be tweaked this way.

A very good link to derailleur stuff.

 See here my drop-bar set-up with the bars rotated forward so I get a much more comfy position for my hands and wrists while on the drops. The more horizontal the drop is, the better my OOS afflicted wrists like it.

Also note how the drops themselves are less than 2 inches below the flats on my standard XC bike (Santa Cruz Superlight), and that is with the stem in the positive position on the Superlight. If the stem was flipped they would be identical. Not at all aggressive.


Okay. My top-pull CX-70 Cyclo-cross front derailleur has arrived!  It really works a treat. See below.

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Drop bars not bombs

Having always been a rider of the racer/weight-weener variety, it never occurred to me that there might be alternatives in the handlebar department that weren't made out of carbon fibre. The first signs of my awakening started when early adopter, Cleetus built up his non-suspension ready Singular Gryphon with a Salsa Woodchipper drop handlebar. He also he put a Soma Moustache bar on Sam's old Colnago. I had never seen one of these before either. It comes from having a sheltered child hood I think.

Cleetus always has to be different. It's in his nature. He uses Linux, he's a Vegan, he reverses his mouse buttons, he has his brakes on the wrong side. He's the first to train with a Power tap, the first to have an Android phone. But he's not a gear freak, each purchase is researched intensively. He will tell you there are good reasons for all of these things, and he's probably right. Under his rebellious influence I went to the other side and put a Salsa Woodchipper drop bar on my Karate Monkey and have really enjoyed it. I cant say precisely why, maybe a change is good?



Then Bill turned up at my work. Bill is the antithesis of the race weener (except when he is in a Yacht and its anything goes). Bill's only training for the 1100km Kiwii Brevet was a bit of surfing at Lyall Bay, some commuting out to the Hutt and one long ride (over 3 hours). Like Cleetus, Bill is a seismologist at the very pointy end of things. Suffice to say that in the aftermath of the Christchurch Quake there wasn't much time for bike tweekage or training for either of them pre-Kiwi Brevet. And grinding away for 1100kms probably felt like being in heaven, compared to fronting up to the pressures of work.

Bill has a fleet of very hip handmade bikes with names that I cant pronounce, with an array of interesting handlebars, like the Clarence Bar, the Mary Bar and the Albatross Bar. I wondered how many more alternative kinds of handlebars there were out there, so I started to collect them in a Tumblr page. I am dedicating it to Bandolero Bill. Check them out.

http://altbar.tumblr.com

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Karapoti 2012 - tyred out

We were so lucky with the 2012 Karapoti take-2. For a starter, despite not being under any obligation to do so, race organiser Michael Jacques held the 2nd event after the 1st was rained out with a massive weather bomb. It felt like a very old-school race with the reduced numbers and the vibe was great. I guess it shows how many people come from outside of Wellington to do the "Poti" each year, when they cant make it back for the re-run. The weather was awesome all week and it didn't rain until the following Monday. With my knack of picking the crap years to race, it had been a really long time since I can recall blasting down the Big Ring Boulevarde in bright sunshine. My recently acquired BPPV had pretty much cleared up, unlike poor old KC so I didn't really have any excuses for a performance that was a bit under what I was hoping for.

I was really hoping that my Kiwi Brevet endurance would come to the fore a bit, but as I have always said, the Karapoti has to be raced like a sprint race, with the same sort of intensity that you let loose on a round of the nationals. Unfortunately I didn't do any of that stuff this season so I was missing a lot of top-end. I guess I should be happy with sneaking under 3 hours again; theres only a handful of us 50 plus riders who have, but Ian Paintin is so far ahead he is in another league. I was in touch with 2nd place getter Ant Bradshaw for the 1st hour until my body realised I was faking it. From there on I rode a bit with Steve Pedley from Crankit Cycles, struggling a bit on the slippery smooth rocky climbs as my 40psi tires struggled for traction.

I stopped at the top of the grueling Devils Staircase bike-push for a precautionary chain-lube and watched as at least 4 people passed on by, never to be seen again. The only one I saw again was Brett Irving who punctured trying to find a line around a slower rider down the Big Ring Boulevard. I felt for Brett who was denied his first sub-3 for sure. The rocks were flying out from under my wheels like rifle shots and one must have tweaked my rear derailler as it started jumping in my two lowest gears. At the top of the last climb up Dopers  I checked my splits (a pretty lame 24 minute climb) and figured that if I nailed it I could just break 3 hours. I did, but I wasn't the last person to do so, with Barryn Westfield rolling in and then Kim Hammer-Hurst coming in at 2:59.59 !

The most obvious stand-out performance to me was by 12 year old Eden Cruise. With a time of 2:46 he has thoroughbred written all over him. He's probably taller now at 12 than Anton Cooper is as well ! Lets hope it stays fun for him for many more years to come.

As always, Karapoti was a race of attrition.  I saw many people around me come to grief with punctures. There are many combinations of tire set-ups you can go for, so here is some anecdotal evidence of what worked and what didn't, lets just put them in the fail and win boxes.

These are the potential tire choices:
tubed/tubeless/ghetto-tubeless (ghetto tubeless is normal tires run without tubes, but using Stans sealant to supposedly stop punctures).
low/medium/heavy tire weights
low/medium/high air pressure
narrow/medium/large tire width

Fails
1 - got impatient balked behind slow ride down BRB and took a bad line. Puncture. Insert tube.
2&3 - tubeless ghetto-set-up, tire slowly loses air through pores in rubber and has to be re-pumped or tube added.
4 - Tubeless ghetto-set-up, slashes thin sidewall and has to replace with tube as stans juice wont seal.


Wins
1. Tubeless, Nobby nics, Snakeskin, 2.25 both ends. 600 grams, 30-35 psi, 26er fully,
2. Tubeless, Maxxis EXO Ikons front and rear, 30-35 psi. 29er rigid.
3. Tubeless, Maxxis EXO Ignitor front, Ikon on back, 590 grams for Ikons, 27 psi, (light rider) 29er rigid
4. Tubeless, Maxxis EXO Ignitor front, Ikon on back, 590 grams for Ikons, 29/27 psi, 29er rigid
5. Tubeless, Maxxis EXO Ikon 2.2, Conti Race King 2.2 racesport, 530 grams,  26er rigid
6. Tubless (ghetto) Maxxis Larsen/Crossmark 2.0 combo, 30 psi, 26er fully
7. Tubed Schwable Racing Ralphs 2.25 with removable valve cores, 25psi, and Stans sealant inside 26er fully.
8. Tubeless ghetto, Maxxis Larson TT front, harddrive rear, 40psi, 26er fully.

These are all typical of the choices many people made, with a lot of people still using tubed set-ups.

This year Maxxis Igniters and Ikons seemed to be popular combo. The trend is for people to run much fatter higher volume tires at karapoti than you would in a normal XC race. 2.1 to 2.2's instead of 2.0's. The Maxxis Larsen TT front and Crossmark rear have always been a popular combo in the past at Karapoti and are still quite popular.

I guess the bottom line is, if you want to get a trouble free run, don't skimp on your sidewalls, run a UST or equivalent tire, or run a ghetto set-up with a tire with stronger than normal casings. There are many things that can slash a tire in the Karapoti. Beefier tires also means you can run lower pressures for better traction and a softer ride if you are on a hard tail. Take a c02 and a pump!

See you next year.

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Enthusiasm

Here is a nice image from my workmate Grant Kellett's partner, Jude. They are both part of the Place Recruitment Cycling team that has been really getting into it big-time since their enthusiastic sponsor Mike Stewart got the bug.

Grant has been TTing for less than a year and he has broken the magical 60 mins barrier 3 times now, in fact, each time he has attempted it; his latest time a 57:47. That's impressive. Like me, Grant was a mountainbiker who drfited to the dark side.

Grant says the enthusiasm of his Team Leader Mike, is what drives him at the moment. Enthusiam is most definitely contagious. During a water-cooler conversation yesterday I found that another of my workmates had experienced one of the RPM classes that Grant runs at Les Mills and he swears he is going to the gym now at least 3, maybe 5 times a week for the rest of the year.

I had a pretty good time trial on Sunday at the WVCC's open event. The "National Veterans TT Champs". Its an historical event that I don't think has any true national status, but in the past has pulled in some very good riders. It was my first 40km since 2007, and I managed to slash my old PB set in 2003 by 19 seconds down to 57:30. We were very lucky with the weather. In my many years of time trialling I have probably only had three "optimal" weather days, and they all resulted in records, two of which still stand. Its a bit like doing the Karapoti. If there is a fast year and you are not there, then its your bad luck.The old saying of to finish first, first you must finish should also say, but even before that you have to turn up!

Lee, Grant, Jude and Mike warming up. Two sub 58's in there.

There has been plenty written on why you don't necessarily have to go slower as you get older. I tend to think that most people get slower because over time their motivation wanes and they tend not to hammer as much. In other words, they don't do the intensity any more, and settle for long slow distance rides.

There is one obvious way to counter this. Enthusiasm for new types of riding.

Can you imagine discovering Cyclo-cross and not getting some intensity in your week? Can you imagine discovering Bike-packing or Randonnuering and not getting a massive base?

Garry Humpherson uber-vet - Image from PNP site

There are so many different kinds of things you can do on a bike these days, and they needn't all be competitive.

Many people fail to see the symbiotic relationship between riding buddies and how it can really lift both their games. Maybe you are not enthusiastic one day, but chances are your buddy will be.

Inspiration is another motivator. When I see 75 year old Gary Humpherson smashing the world pursuit record, and 65 + rider Alan Luff breaking 60 mins for 40kms its hard not to be impressed.

--------------------------------------------------
TT geekage below - do not go past here if you are not a tester/tt-geek
------------------------------------------------------------
There are probably more rules to time trialling than there are to pursuiting, which only has the 5 rules.

1. Dont start to fast.
2. Dont start to fast.
3. Dont start to fast.
4. Dont start to fast.
5. and dont start to fast.

Having said that, it's the main rule I always tell people to adhere to in TTing, especially when they are new to it.  I also say "knowledge is power" and have a raft of electrical devices giving me more feedback than I know what to do with. Sometimes its a good distraction from the pain of TTing, and can give you a good idea of where you are in relation to your goals.

Funny then that I mostly ignored it on sunday and rode by feel.

Funny also that when you look down at the Power Tap CPU you are always doing "god-like watts". I was so worried by this phenomena that at the top turnaround I checked my average watts, (a very un-aero three-button press) and while it was way higher than I would have normally done, it was nothing like I was imagining from my casual glances. Note to self - You are not a god.

To cut a long story short, the watts declined over the course of the race, (not ideal) but to dress it up a bit, if I divided the race into 4 quarters, my second quarter's watts were the same as my last, which is what I try to maintain if ever doing intervals.

I was using my Power tap (with disc covers) and another speedo, so at a glance I had:
Power
Speed
Distance
Time
Average speed

I had an aim of averaging 42kmh, I don't know why. It was just a target. I had no reason to think I was going to do a PB, considering the usual conditions we get to race in, and the lumpy unfriendly nature of the Kahutara course which I always struggle with. In the past I have ridden the outward leg a bit conservatively (evenly) and found that I couldn't make up the speed elsewhere on the course. This time I was not going to do that again. It had nothing to do with Peter James placing a bet with my minute man Pat Evers that I would catch him inside 3kms.

On the final return leg, after dealing with the hammer blow of the initial head wind I was able to knuckle down and use up every last piece of energy still lurking in my cells. When I noticed 5kms come up on one of my computers , I thought cripes. 5kms, that's not even one lap of Liverton road, I can do that with my eyes closed, and I  probably did.

There was 1 watt difference between my average and normalised power on that last leg so I had it pretty much pegged. In leg 3 you can see the difficulty I had maintaining power with the only slightly downhill part of the course. This is always a challenge for me, and a good place for a power meter. Its relatively easy to make "big watts" going up hill, but try doing it downhill. Its hard.

For more inane anorak wearing wattage stuff, see below:
4 splits 8.7km the first two, 11.3km the next two. Two turns.
Watts    av/np       rpm  kmh
              315/317     87   41.7
              289/293     90   41.7
              275/278     87   43.9
              281/282     90   40.2

Overall  289/292     89 41.9
--------------------------------

Results here: http://www.sportsground.co.nz/files/Site/867/5/Pdf/120311214359GPGTOGXC.pdf

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Karapoti check-list 2012

See below my simple Karapoti check-list.

I have done around 11 Karapoti's over the years. In at least one of them the weather was actually really good. In many its been a bit challenging; while  it's true that "it is the same for everyone", we all know, its not about beating your buddies, its about beating your best time! In order to beat your best time, you need to finish. Some of the tips below may be useful in helping you finish with fewer problems.

Keeping it clean
Crudcatchers, one on the fork, one on front tube above your water bottle. You can make them out of old plastic milk bottles or 2 litres icecream container lids. Look at the difference one makes here. (From the Crazyman).

Some people carry a water bottle full of clean water to rinse out their eyes/glasses as well as to drink from, you can't rinse your eyes with carbo drink. Put your carbo drink in your camelback pack.

A peak on your helmet is also a very good way of shielding your face from mud off the rider in front's rear wheel. Be warned though that a peak can trap condensation from your breath and cause steaming up of your glasses, if you wear them. This only happens in really cold conditions. I don't wear glasses myself. Contact lenses and crudcatchers for me. Sports glasses and normal glasses both can get condensation on them.Trying to clean them with muddy gloves is very tricky : )

Gloves
I prefer fingerless myself so I can do any repairs without taking them off.

Protection
Some of the crusties (masters) wear shin and or elbow guards to protect their old fragile skin !!!  ; )

Drive chain
Take oil and a rag for cleaning your chain so you don't get chain suck. The top of the Devils staircase, or the bottom of the Dopers climb are popular places to add some lube. Make sure that you go over your drive-train a few nights before the race, and with an old toothbrush pick out any "toe-jam" wedged between your chain-plates and on your chain rings. If you don't, you are opening yourself up to more dirt sticking and then the dreaded chain-suck. Chain suck... SUCKS!
Cleaning your bike with a toothbrush is a great way of finding stuff you may not have noticed otherwise : )

Spares
Brake pads, take spares; you should know how to change them. You might need a certain allen key? Start with new pads, sintered metal, not organic.

Tubes, I always take two. Patches and glue, not self-sticking ones. Take at least one spare tube if you are running tubeless anyway.

Inflation devices, two small c02s or one large, plus a working pump (dont store it on your bike, keep it in camelback pack to keep it clean). I heard three different stories of pump/tire interface failure (Ptif) in last weekend's pre-rides. You'd be surprised what can go wrong!

A tire boot is a really good idea, many people slash tires in the Rock-Garden and the tubless gizz wont repair them. Make one from an old piece of road tire or anything that works.

Brakes
Don't drag your brakes excessively as this will wear them out quickly if conditions are bad. Even when running or walking the bike it can be an issue.

Tools
Take a multi-tool with a chain breaker and/or power link.
Tire levers for if your tires are a tough fit, or you need to pry open disc calipers to replace worn pads. A spare drop-out if your bike has a soft (sacrifical) one.

Tires
Look on the vorb forum to see what the current trend is with what tires are in vogue. If you are using new tires, make sure you can mount them yourself. Take some tire levers, small plastic ones weigh nothing, sometimes the exertion of racing leaves you with less energy for changing tires by hand (without levers).

If you are using a new tubeless tire set-up with goo in them give yourself a week for them to settle down as sometimes it can take a while for them to seal fully. Do some commuting on them to bed them in and spread the goo about.

Write splits on handle bar or stem with twink pen

Cables
There is no doubt, fully enclosed cabling is the way to go. These days its common for bikes to come with no cable stops so full lengths of cable outer from shifter to deraileur keep the dirt out and mean you should finish the Karapoti with as many gears as you started with. In the old days you could end up with a three-speed or a singlespeed! The Goretex and Nokon systems both work brilliantly but they are quite expensive compared to just using normal full-length housings.

Splits
Write your splits on your handlebar with a twink pen. It wont wash off in the wet unlike paper ones cellotaped onto your bar or stem. See the Karapoti site for some useful split-points.

Pumps and C02's
I like the lezyne style pumps, like the pumps we had in the "olden-days" where you had an external hose. They stop you putting too much pressure on your tire's valve stem, and ripping it out, as I have done with the other "clamp" styles ones, which you have to use by holding the wheel and pump head in the one hand.

There is one important downside to the lezyne style. It screws onto your valve stem. If you are using tubeless wheels you will have "replaceable valve-cores", and its possible, that if that core isn't tweaked in tight enough, you might unscrew it, while unscrewing the end of your pump after adding air to your tube/tire!

1. Always tighten your valve cores to an appropriate level.
2. Always carry a valve core tightener. (A small piece of plastic) in your kit.
If you do 1. you will be sweet. UNLESS you use a "screw-on" C02 device to air up your tire!

C02s
Anything other than a press-fit or clamp styled C02 dispenser is a recipe for disaster in my view. When compressed c02 comes out of a cannister it freezes everything around it. If the end of your device is screwed onto a replaceable valve core, no matter how tight it is in there, you will probably wind it out while trying to detach your threaded c02 tool, and lose all your air. Use a press-fit or clamp one and safe yourself the grief.

This is my favourite and it has never let me down. The top is threaded where the head screws onto the actual cannister, but the end is press-fit, and its 100% reliable. Before I had this one I only had about a 33% success rate with C02 tools. Very light, one moving part, can accept different sized cannisters. Air chuck elite.

Mousses/tire-in-a-can
Zefal make one. Vittoria used to as well. Not that common in NZ, but more so in Europe. They all have different names so it can be difficult googling them. I brought an MTB one at Rotorua MTB worlds that I still havent used.


After the event
Take one big rubbish bag to throw all your smelly disgusting muddy crap in.
Also take a brush for washing your bike in the river, and a small plastic bag with a clean face cloth in so you can scrub up good on the podium! Also have a clean top from your sponsor if you are likely to be on the podium : )

Take a really good beanie to keep in the warmth after the event, a poly-pro top and jersey and a full length raincoat in case it is windy/cold/wet; something warm on your legs; a deck chair to sit on so you don't get a wet bottom.

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More handy hints from the field

Marco says:
Run through or around the bogs, don't try to ride through them.

Tigers tyre tips:
Tubeless - Tick (Make sure you do not run these too low as it is easy to burp your tyre in the Rock Garden)
Stans sealant goop - Tick (Have saved me from many punctures, SERIOUSLY)
Fast rolling - Tick
Exception Series - NOOO!!!!! not in this race anyway!!!!
Good hook up - Not essential, but helpful

Jeff says:
If you suffer from the cold, having an ear-warmer type of strip ready to pull down over your ears is good, in case you have to stop for repairs. Sweat goes cold very quickly and you lose a lot of heat through your head. Even a nylon shell in your camelbak could be handy on a really crap day.

Francis says:
Take a spare brake pad split pin. They will work in most brakes. A bobby pin or even a twig can work in an emergency if the original ever falls out.

Callum says:
Spray underside of frame parts with Silicone to encourage mud not to stick.

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