Tour Aotearoa 2018 - Bikepacking New Zealand

Tour Aotearoa  is one of the world’s great bikepacking trips: stretching 3,000km from Cape Reinga to Bluff it follows a combination of cycle trails, tracks, paths and lanes connected by the most enjoyable country roads available.

I first heard about it from Anka Martin at TransProvence 2015. It was her intent to participate in the very first event planned for February of 2016. The event is the brainchild of Jonathon Kennet who has patched together a collection of roads and trails that trace the entire length of New Zealand.

The event is a Brevet. There are a few rules. They can essentially be broken down to

1.       It is self-supported – no outside help

2.       You must complete the exact route in more than 10 days and less than 30.

3.       You must have 6 hours rest in the 24 hour period from 9am to 9am, and

4.       There are 30 photo control points where you must take a picture to prove you were there.

And that is essentially it.

I have had a fair amount of time to think about the event and the logistics involved. I have used the information I learned from bikepacking the Stagecoach 400 as well as reading many Tour Aotearoa 2016 blogs.   

I will provide more on my logistical choices in another blog.

We are required to carry a SPOT or similar tracker for the entire event. Follow us at Map Progress under Tour Aotearoa 2018. There are 6 waves of 100 riders each. The first wave starts February 10, 2018. I will be there. The last wave starts February 28. I will be posting as I travel along.

On Instagram as @jramsden59, and Facebook as john.ramsden.752.

Big Sur, California Coast

After I finished Lev’s King Ridge Gran Fondo in 2010, I organized myself a little credit card tour. You heard of this, yes? One bike, one change of clothes, and one credit card for all the other things. Pure 21st century decadence.

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My plan was to spend the 4 days after the race and ride the California Coast. Santa Rosa to Sausalito via Bodega Bay and Mt Marin. Sausalito to Santa Cruz through San Francisco. Santa Cruz to Big Sur through Carmel and Monterey, and finally Big Sur to San Luis Obispo.

Spectacular riding all, but maybe a bit too much to bite off immediately after the Gran Fondo and maybe a little too optimistic about the distances.

The days were long, the longest in distance , the last at 225 km, and because of the traffic and congestion in San Francisco and around Carmel/Monterey long in time.

Not presently in my top ten rides, but worth it none the least in other ways!

West Maui Loop: Riding in Paradise

November is a great month to get out of Vancouver and enjoy a little sun. After all , for the good of your health it is worth making sure that your Vitamin D levels are at their peak before we head into our northern winter. I was planning on a trip to Maui to windsurf when I found out that a pack of riding buddies were going to be in the area for the same week. I still hadn’t unpacked my road bike from its last trip so with little planning it was soon accompanying me to the tropical isle.

The west Maui loop is about 100km long and “loops” clockwise around the west end of the island. We looped clockwise in an attempt to miss the vast majority of headwinds that accompany the consistent trade winds that make Maui so good for windsurfing. Starting in Lahaina we headed west and then north up around the island. The traffic around Lahaina, Kanapali and Kapalua is pretty ridiculous seeing that Maui is only 1880 square km with 192 km of coast. It seems that everyone that lands in Maui rents a car and then spends pretty much all of their holiday driving around the island. Thankfully the shoulders were plenty wide and after a short while we passed the vast majority of the tourist enclaves and the traffic died off.

The ride around the west side of the island is very twisty, with lots of short steep kickers. It seemed to me that we were constantly fighting a head wind but I suppose if you are only going 15 kph because of the hills it is better to fight the head wind at slow speeds rather that than the faster speeds you might attain on the flats.

Halfway around we stopped in for “the best banana bread on the planet” and to refill our water bottles. The road down to and out of this little enclave is the nastiest of the ride. One lane, lots of rock fall, and crazy drivers thinking they are in the World Rally Championships. Once back on the road we had one more long climb before we reached the north coast of the island and headed down toward the airport in Kahului with the wind now firmly starting to push us home.

Another quick fill up of water bottles was needed in Wailuku before we started the last 35 km hike back to Lahaina along the highway. The sun was out and it didn’t take long to get pretty dehydrated. The ride across the middle of the island was pretty quick. Slight downhill, 25kph tailwind. Pretty easy to pull a train at 55kph with that kind of assistance. Once back on the west side of the island we headed back north with the traffic again. It is probably about 22km of riding to get back to Lahaina. Lots of beaches to look at, but with the wind on our nose, and 75 km of riding in our legs there was quite a bit of suffering going. We eventually got back and quickly jumped in the ocean to cool off before the traditional post ride beer.

All that riding and still time to get back to the windy side of the island for an afternoon session on the water at Sprecks!

Best Ride 2010 Sun Valley, Idaho… My New Five Star Mountain Bike Location

This year, the boys elected to make our fall MTB adventure a trip to Sun Valley, Idaho.

In 1981 I had skied there during a season long trip across North America, and after reading about the riding in a few of the bike rags, I knew I had to make a return visit to check out it out.

Accessing Sun Valley requires a bit of patience unless you own your own private jet. (as we drove by the nearest airport to Sun Valley we counted 23 on the tarmac) The closest that we could get to by commercial air was Boise, Idaho. We then had to drive for about 3 hours in a rental car. Thankfully, Sun Valley has a number of good bike shops all willing to rent you state of the art equipment for your stay so you don’t have to bring your own bike.

We had our choice of several different brands in either 26 or 29 inch mode. As I had never had the opportunity to ride a 29er, I jumped on this plan. Accommodation is plentiful, and you definitely have the choice of some pretty nice digs. Sun Valley is known as a haunt of the rich and famous and by the average size of the houses we saw, the locals don’t seem too fazed by the current recession.

TL knew a few contacts that live in Sun Valley that he had met through other sporting endeavours and they kindly took us under their wings to show us the local area. We might have been a bit concerned when we first met this group of five as their average age was 67. After they put the boots to us on the first day, it became clear that these guys are die-hards, putting in 2 to 4 hour rides, 4 to 5 days a week, June to October. They then fill up their winter, doing the same thing on XC skis. The base altitude in Sun Valley is about 2000m with many of the climbs peaking out in excess of 3000m. i.e. These guys are riding at altitude. What an inspiration!!!

Day 1 was spent just north of town in an area known as Dry Horn Gulch. The altitude really seemed to make the climbs very difficult. Short kickers put you in the red zone, and although you would back off when the trail levelled, you never seemed to get your heart rate back under control before the next kicker arrived. In general the trails were very smooth and flowy with reasonable grip. (as long as your bike had tires with reasonable tread; a few of ours did not which we corrected for the rest of the week)

Sun Valley has some pretty cool terrain with trees appearing only on the western sides of the ridges. Clearly, precipitation must be at a premium and falls rarely on the eastern slopes.    They have also had a number of forest fires over the last few years and a constant feature of the whole trip was swooping down trails amongst burned out trees. The contrast of black and white makes for some pretty good pictures. Day 2 was spent a few miles south of town in an area called Greenhorn Gulch. The drive out revealed some awesome houses, quite a few were architectural masterpieces, and many seemed to exceed 10,000 square feet in size. What do you do with all that house?

The ride was amazing, especially the last 10 to 15 km which revealed some wickedly fast descents with bermed up corners. This trip was progressing as planned: Day 2 better than Day 1.

Day 3 saw us shuttle about 50 miles north of Sun Valley to an area around Stanley with the local Pink Fairy Shuttle Company.   Once again the riding was significantly different with a good portion of the ride through a recently burned area. We started high, and finished low, the definition of shuttling; but most of the riding was only slightly downhill requiring big ring hammering. There is nothing quite so fun as 5 guys completely pinned, trying to take each other down on a trail like this. The day ended with a quick trip to Redfish Lodge for a beer with a view of the Sawtooths in the distance.  Out last day of riding was absolutely the best of the week. We once again shuttled north of Sun Valley into the Stanley area. We met up with our local friends, and then drove up to the start of our ride.  By now, most of us were starting to acclimatize a bit to the altitude, and for all of us, this was the best that we felt on the climbs. We headed up into the Cloudburst Mountains and eventually peaked out at 3050m. The view was fantastic. We headed down into a big bowl that we all thought would serve up some sweet back country skiing in the winter.

Lunch was beside a mountain lake, and then the fun really started.  The first part of the descent was about an hour long and was quite technical with lots of rocks and creek crossings. Eventually we landed in a large valley bottom with all the fall colours on display.  The pitch continued down and the speeds reached quite ridiculous levels. After another hour, we reached the plum of the trip, the descent down Fourth of July creek. This one was off the chart. Smooth wide trails following the contours down the creek valley. The trail swooped into little side crevices of the main valley, and these always had huge bermed corners at the end. I swear the average speed for the descent down here was about 30kph with parts of the descent over 50. Pretty darn fun on a mountain bike. And, for the finish celebration, one of our local buddies was kind enough to remember to bring a cooler of Stella’s.

Sun Valley…. Don’t miss it!!!

Levi’s King Ridge Gran Fondo

Gran Fondos seem to be the flavour of the month these days. Last November I had heard about this ride after its inaugural year turned out to be a great success. In fact, the organizers of this years RBC Whistler Gran Fondo went down last year to learn what they could to make the whistler race a success.

Lev’s race has three distances like most of the Italian fondos do. The Pico is about 30 miles, The Medio about 60, While the Gran Fondo is about 100 miles. Last year they had about 2500 riders, this year they has 6000 spread about evenly over all three courses. While the Whistler Fondo seemed to have “race” associated with it, Levi’s race is more attuned to the Italian versions which are a ride to celebrate cycling culture. There were certainly people out “racing” it (Victoria native Max Plaxton has won it two years running) but the vast majority were out to enjoy the ride and this certainly presented a very different atmosphere when compared to the Whistler race.

The “century” course seemed pretty difficult to me when compared to the “race” to Whistler. Mind you it was 52km longer, but while Whistler seemed to be a long steady push, King Ridge threw a lot of short steep kickers at you. The group I was with rode together until the top of King Ridge about 65 km in. Shortly after that, I got dropped on a short climb and then the agony began. It seemed that for the next 10 km I was dangling off the back of the group about 100 m back. Despite all my efforts, I could not bridge back on and after trying for quite a while, I noticed the 80km marker and thought that seeing as I was barely halfway through I had better  conserve a bit of energy if I had any intention of finishing. The boys disappeared and I went into recovery mode.

The last half of the course is spectacular.
 

A wicked descent off of King Ridge is followed by about 20 km of riding south along the ocean.

The organizers set up a fantastic aid station right on the ocean just before the last kicker of the course: the infamous “Coleman Grade”. This part of the course was used in the Tour of California in 2009 and bit a few pro cyclists in the ass then also. Once up the grade it was a 30 km ride back to the start. Finish time 6 hours.

The finish area was set up outdoors with a carnival atmosphere. There were live bands, lots of food venues and sponsors booths. All in all, a very well organized event and well worth the trip to Santa Rosa. And the real beauty is, if you stay for a few days afterwards, you can go wine tasting or continue riding your bike in the Sonoma/Napa area, or head down the California coast like I did.

Climbing Mt. Hood

For me, this summer has been one of those years when I learned that sometimes you just have to listen to your body. Accumulated fatigue can take a long time to go away when you block out heavy training in March and April, race a 9 day 1300 km May race at a fairly intense pace, add the BC Bike Race in June, and sprinkle in assorted day races as icing on the cake. July comes along and you tell your body to go… and it reacts by immediately informing you that you have to be kidding. Guys you  normally pace with ease are soon disappearing into the distance. Although your ego may tell you differently, there really is only one solution. A solid block of easy riding with the emphasis on fun is what the doctor ordered, and I made sure July and early August filled that bill.

By mid August, I felt a little bit more pop in my legs so I started a bit of a build in anticipation of the RBC Gran Fondo to Whistler and Levi’s King Ridge Gran Fondo in Santa Rosa, California. I had some time off in late August and as usual made my annual pilgrimage to Hood River, Oregon to abuse my trusty Roberts sailboard on the Columbia River Gorge. Usually, I bring my mountain bike for no wind days; this year I brought my road bike too. 

My son was attending a summer ski camp on the slopes of Mt. Hood with the Whistler Mountain Ski Club and needed to be picked up after the camp was over if he wished to stay with us in the Gorge. This sounded like a good opportunity to put a few miles of climbing in as training for my fall plans.

The base of the ski area at Mt. Hood is at about 2500m elevation and Hood River is pretty close to sea level. 2500m elevation over about 80km distance… about an average 3% gradient. Sounds perfect. My wife had to be at the mountain to pick Blake up with all his ski gear so my ride home was already in the bag. If the day dawned with a no wind forecast, this trip was sounding pretty much like a no brainer.

Sure enough pick up day arrived and the forecast was for marginal conditions on the water. Pick up time at the ski area base was to be about 1030hr, so I was up at 6 to fuel up for the climb ahead. Even though temperatures in the Gorge routinely reach the high 30’s Celsius, early mornings in late August can be quite cool. I was also riding to altitude, and it makes sense that if the kids are skiing, the temperature on Mt. Hood has to be reasonably cold. Arm warmers and knee warmers were the order of the day and I was soon on the bike.

The ride out of Hood River is quite scenic as you wind you way through rolling terrain filled with cherry and pear orchards. Mt. Hood is pretty much always in view so there is little doubt which way to go. If you turn around, Mt. Adams is behind you so that anyway you look a snow capped volcano dominates the horizon.

The first 20 km are pretty flat and they roll by pretty quickly. Soon you are on the steeper north flank of Mt. Hood. The road circumnavigates in a clockwise direction around Mt Hood as you ascend to the ski base on the south side. Road quality is excellent and at this time of the morning there is little traffic passing you by. By 0900hr I was still wearing every piece of clothing I had brought. Temperatures can plummet precipitously to the low single digits when you ride in shady areas beside glacial streams.

The scenery is spectacular. The broad focus is the snow capped mountain, but the narrow focus reveals signs of its power. Road washouts in various states of repair are fairly common caused by early season glacial snow melt. The view changes with every km. ridden. This is not a boring ride.

The gradient continues to increase as you ascend the mountain. Eventually you turn off the highway for the final 12 km ride to Timberline. The gradient on this road approaches 10% to 12% in places and your legs are certainly feeling the effects of the days efforts.

The last few hundred meters are through the parking lots of Timberline. You finish by  weaving your way through skiers exiting the mountain after a hard days skiing and eventually reach the snow.

Not a bad way to finish an epic climb in the middle of the summer!

TransPortugal 2010 - Post Race Analysis - On your bucket list?

So here we are several weeks after the race and I am still trying to comprehend this event. I must say that in retrospect, this race was a really good time, and will result in some memories that will last a lifetime.



The race is very hard! The hours that you spend on the bike are probably unmatched in any of the amateur multi day races out there. After the first two days, I must admit that I was not sure that I would make it to the finish. I think that the Cape Epic that I attended was harder. The total time was about the same, but the riding was downright boring and the temperature was ridiculously hot. At least in this race, each day brought several different types of riding that made the hours go by faster.

The support by the organizing committee is fantastic. They treat you like family, and care for you likewise. Accommodations and food are unparalleled. Our accommodations were 3, 4 and 5 star hotels and the food in most of the locations was of similar quality.

The after races “snacks” prepared for us were instrumental in allowing us to recover for the next days ride.

Similarly, the fact that you can sleep in a real bed with a solid roof over your head, although not essential, allows for the recover needed to complete as race of this magnitude. In comparison to other races out there the value for money is exceptional. Expect that once you land in Portugal, that almost all your basic needs are covered by the organizers fee.

The scenery is in one word “spectacular”. There is no way that a regular tourist would ever see Portugal the way the participants in this race have seen it. The flowers, the history, the culture; it is really impossible to describe. Please take the time and scan Carlos Dias’s pictures to really see how impossibly beautiful Portugal is at this time of year.

Would I do it again? Not sure yet. 9 days is an awful long time to race a bike, and 174 km in one day on a mountain bike is really a bit ridiculous. That being said, if you have to do the above two, I cannot think of a better location to do it. The same organization Ciclonatur puts on a similar adventure in early June. The major difference between the two is that instead of traversing the distance in 9 days they do it in 14 days. This clearly cuts the daily bike time down although potentially the total time could be the same or longer. It is advertised as a tour, not a race, and in fact this is the original TransPortugal. The version (i.e. race) we participated in was created to fill a need for those participants who wanted to traverse the country faster.

Whatever your choice, I would certainly put down the traversing of Portugal in the spring as a must do. For those of you with bike “bucket” lists, out this one on it.

TransPortugal 2010 - Days 9 - Its all over!

Day 9, Monchique to Sagres – 99 km, 2028m elevation gain - Profile here

Last day!!! It literally poured rain last night. I was so tired, that after dinner I just went straight to bed and never heard a thing. The morning revealed that the hotel resides deep in a very wet valley and it will require some steep slick climbing to escape.

Mark, Josh, Paul and I all started together this morning and had a fun ride until it started to pour rain again. They stopped to put on jackets, and I decided to keep pedaling. I was cruising along talking to one of the other riders when out of the blue I hear “Rip Ram, get on this train!” A quick look over my shoulder and my conversation with Greg ended mid word as I accelerated onto a pace line including all of the boys. Turns out Mark et al decided to hide under a tree when the downpour came through, and as they started out again, Graham and Trevor came blasting through. They hopped on the train, and the next group up was Greg and I. The rest of this day was about as good a ride as you can have.

Graham, Trevor and I with the assistance of a few other riders eventually cracked most of the other riders on the train. The pace remained very high and I suppose predictably, Graham with the assistance the remaining riders then cracked Trevor and I, leaving the two of us on our own. We eventually reached the Atlantic coast and once again the scenery was spectacular.

As you are not allowed to ride your bike on the beach in Portugal, we had to walk our bikes, and this gave Trevor and I a chance to refuel for the last blast into Sagres. The headwinds off the Atlantic were pretty strong, but with the two of us alternating leads we made excellent time. The sun came out for good and both of us started feeling better and better.

Our pace steadily increased for the last 30 km; initially at about 70% effort and finally for the last 15 km or so riding totally flat out. We came upon a few unfortunate souls that were soloing against the head winds but on this day we were taking no prisoners. We would ride onto their wheels, rest shortly in their draft, then pick our spot and blast through leaving them gasping in our wake. Not very sociable, but we were on a mission to finish this race on the right note.

The last few km weaved through several towns along the coast and we certainly had to pay attention to out GPS’s not to make a wrong turn. Eventually we could see the finish on the beach ahead and sprinted through.

The organizers had a few tubs of cold beers on ice waiting, and Graham had two in his hand waiting for our parched lips. Beer has never tasted so good. Calindy was also waiting, having elected not to ride today after her skin issues of yesterday. The rest of the racers made their way in over the ensuing several hours.

The finish was right on the beach and more that a few cooled off in the Atlantic as a reward for a hard day’s effort.

Many pictures were taken; hugs and handshakes given and received. 9 days of intense riding were finished, but no one seemed to want to leave the finish area.

Eventually we had to depart the beach as our bikes needed to be packed for transport back to Lisbon in the am, and there was still a party to be attended later in the evening. Our finish hotel was amazing, located on a cliff above the local town protected harbor. What a view!

Awards were presented after dinner, and in this race everyone receives recognition. Our group of 7 did reasonably well with 3 finishes in the top 25 overall despite our various problems over the week. After awards, a large group of us retired to the bar to continue our reminiscing and to discuss our various plans for the next few days. For Calindy and I, we intend to relax on the Algarve coast for a few days and then to make a jump to Italy to watch the Giro d’Italia.

Once again thank you to Carlos Dias for some of the amazing pictures.

Final Results can be found here.

An amazing experience: TransPortugal 2010

TransPortugal 2010 - Days 7 and 8 - Heading for the beach!

Day 7, Evora to Albernoa – 107 km, 1269m elevation gain - Profile here

Once I finished last night, I went into survival mode trying to find some way to continue my race. Thankfully, the organizers were right with me. Turns out that earlier in the week, one of the other riders had toasted his front wheel. The organizers had purchased a wheel set to get him back in the race, and now the rear wheel was available. Even better, they were happy to rent it to me for the rest of the week.


Today we decided to rein it in a bit because after yesterdays long hours. We hear that tomorrow’s course is also very difficult with some significant elevation gain. The weather is also supposed to change for the worst with rain in the forecast.

Mark and I headed off, and after about 15 minutes, I asked about his family. For the next 3 hours we bantered back and forth about our respective families and their plans for the future. The day cruised by.

Our only mishap of the day was a pretty scary crash at about the midpoint of the day. I was out front punching into the wind with Mark on my wheel. I felt a bit of resistance to my forward momentum and actually had the time to think I had potentially ridden into some loose sand. I pushed even harder on my pedals, and that was when the piece of wire fencing that I had picked up on my pedal came up tight. Instantaneously, I was on the deck and with Mark right on my wheel, he didn’t stand a chance. His bike went right into mine, and his momentum carried him right over my head. He was immediately screaming and I was sure that he had broken something or dislocated a shoulder. I kept asking if he was OK, and in between the screams he would say yes. So, if you are OK, stop screaming. After a little bit of rearrangement we checked the bikes and they were OK too. Unbelievable luck with a crash like that.

Josh rode with the leaders today and paced them pretty well all the way to the finish. Great riding.

Calindy came in but was starting to have issues with her asthma. All those flowers equal large amounts of pollen. High pollen counts do not bode well for environmental asthma. Grahams butt end was slowly starting to heal but he said that it seemed like he spent most of the day standing up.

Our residence for the evening was a hotel associated with a winery. The accommodation and food associated with this event is in general fantastic. This particular hotel was literally in the middle of the fields and had a great pool and surrounding fountains. One almost thought they might be in Vegas.

Our 1900 evening retreat to the bar continues to be a big hit. Everyone gets caught up on the days happenings and really gets to know the other competitors. I think that one of my best memories of this trip will be of the stories told during this time.

Wine is always served with dinner, although perhaps not surprisingly very little is actually consumed. If you haven't already tried Portuguese wine, I can recommend it highly.

Day 8, Albernoa to Monchique – 137 km, 3162m elevation gain - Profile here

Today was another killer day. Our start took us through the vineyards of the winery that we stayed at last night. From there on, the day deterioriated.

The weather changed for the worst and by the time I finished I was pretty hypothermic. The last hour or so was spent at elevation in pouring rain riding against a fairly stiff headwind. It finished with a substantial fast paved downhill. Most of us were under dressed further compounding heat loss. It didn’t help that circumstance kept me out on the course as one of the last finishers, despite the fact that for the majority of the day I was near the front of the field.

The initial part of the day was spent riding with Mark. After our “rest” day yesterday we decided to ride hard. It took about 3 hours before the leaders made up their half hour deficit on us. Josh was right with the leaders and as he rode through, there was no conversation. It was obvious he had his race face on and we expected we would not see him again.

Unfortunately, shortly thereafter the rain started falling. While we were coming down a rough jeep road descent we came upon the worst crash of the race. Our female leader Lindsay Haak was on the ground after what was clearly a very nasty fall at speed. Surrounding her were the rest of the field that had passed us including Josh, about 10 in all. Lindsay was having a great race to that point. Although she only started 10 to 15 minutes ahead of me each day, I had not yet caught her on any of the 6 preceding days. Pretty inspiring riding!

When I arrived on scene, I did a quick assessment of her and the situation. Through the translation of her boyfriend (also racing), it was clear that she had had at least some loss of consciousness with the crash, and was amnestic about her fall. She was moving all of her limbs, and from a quick survey did not seem to have any major fractures or dislocations. She had significant facial abrasions from the fall but had no other major cuts. She was a little disoriented but knew her boyfriend was there. There is not a lot you can do in this type of situation. About the only thing to do is keep the patient warm and leave any mobilization to the professionals.

Although the crash location was potentially at the worst place possible from the point of view of access for vehicles, one of the Portuguese racers had managed to establish cell contact with the organizers and help was on the way. I always carry a reflective space blanket with me and we covered her as best as we could with everyone’s extra clothes and the blanket. There wasn’t much point in everyone milling around so I suggested that if you were not intimately involved with the situation that the rest of the group move on. We headed on, although we all agreed that since the race leader (our Portuguese translator) remained on the scene we would not race.

The rain had started to fall with some force and our group slowly became smaller as individuals stopped for food, or to put on extra clothes. Eventually Mark, Josh and I as well as two other riders ended up on the pointy end of the field. I lost Mark and Josh on a particularly steep uphill, and this produced enough of a gap to save the two of them a significant amount of nasty riding. The two remaining riders and I went through CP 3 heading for most of the elevation gain on the day. In the time it took for Mark and Josh to reach CP 3, the organizers had decided to neutralize the day and get all the riders to the finish as fast as possible. They were stretched pretty thin trying to extricate Lindsay from her crash site. With the temperature plummeting and rain falling they felt that it was better to pack it in now, then end up with potentially 20 more rescues.

At CP 3 the organizers started directing all the riders onto a paved route to the finish town of Monchique. Mark and Josh were the first to head for home. I on the other hand was still on the original course with two other racers heading up a major climb. Bad luck does come in three’s, and shortly after CP 3 I had the third crash in three days. This time I was riding along, crossing and re-crossing a creek bed. The surface was that hard loamy dirt that when wet becomes super slick and as I attempted to ride the hump between two large potholes filled with water, my front wheel slipped into the left one, as my body crashed into the right. Covered in mud and water, when I got up I found that I had bent my chain, bent the drop out and snapped the right shift lever right off the shift pod. Shivering, I fixed the chain, but it was clear that I would have only three gears for the rest of the day; three chain rings and the middle cog. The other two riders passed me during these repairs and shortly after I resumed riding I reached a paved road. The organization was there and told me that the race had been neutralized and directed me down the road toward Monchique.

I was by myself, and really had no idea where I was going. My GPS was of limited use as I was now off course. I plugged along in the pouring rain with my limited gearing; slowly making my way up a paved climb toward what I hoped was the finish town. The organizer who had directed me down the road said it was about 20 km to the finish. Those next 20 km were some of the nastiest km I have ever ridden. When I reached the top of the climb the road followed along the ridge line directly into a blistering head wind. I just couldn’t find a gear that seemed right, and I am sure I was becoming increasingly hypothermic. I was literally counting down the km to 20.

When I finally did reach the 20 km mark, the organizers were there and told me I had a further 12 km more to the finish. I must admit, I had a meltdown! How I found my way to the finish hotel is beyond me. I couldn’t think straight and I am sure that I freaked out a few drivers in Monchique as I made my way through the town. Thankfully as I neared the finish hotel, a few other riders appeared and it became clearer where I was going. As it turned out, because I was the farthest person out on the course, and therefore I had the farthest to ride back to town. The rest of the boys were showered, warmed up, and dressed by the time I made it in.

The bike was a mess, and it again spent the night being repaired. I spent about 45 minutes in a steaming shower before I could again feel my toes. I then retired to the local grotto bar, and had a few beers to massage my beat up ego and hear all the other stories of the day.

Lindsay was transported to a local hospital and then to Lisbon where a CT revealed no major injuries other than a severe concussion. Calindy pulled out at CP 1 after finding that she was breaking out in a rash whenever a plant touched her exposed skin. She took a few pictures and she was literally covered in a raised rash on her exposed skin.

Mark and Josh cruised in to the finish and were one of the earliest to hit the showers. The rest of the boys were not to far behind. Quite an eventful day all in all.

Once again thank you to Carlos Dias for some of the great pictures!