Be Here By Morning: We finished!

We made it. As tempted as we are to put an explanation at the end of that statement, we are still in quite a state of shock over how we made it through the past 4 days. To say we were humbled or in awe of the terrain and weather we witnessed would be an understatement. The Alpine Epic was more than we bargained for…on the first day! After we acknowledged this fact to one another we then acknowledged that we had 3 more days like this first day…We feel extremely fortunate and grateful for a lot of reasons ranging from the fact we had no flats during the race, no injuries or (major) falls, and we got to the finish healthy and still enjoying the company of one another. We got to see beautiful country and parts of New Zealand that included high country stations (ranches) not open to the public. We rode in the shadow of the great Mt. Cook yesterday and much thanks to him for giving us a strong tailwind to finish the final leg. The race started on Wednesday, consisting of two stages. The first was supposed to be 50 kilometers with 1,250 meters of vertical ascent. At the finish of this stage we were to be ferried across a river to the opposite bank where we began stage 2, which was a 17 km (team) time trial and only 300 meters of climbing. It would be dishonest at this point to say we weren’t nervous as we were entering terrain (and conditions) we were really not familiar with, as well as the unknown weather factor which could change at a moment’s notice. The other reason we were nervous was because the weather predictions for the day was a high temperature of 37 degrees C (about 104 degrees F). There were 38 teams competing, many who were professional athletes who regularly compete in these sorts of races or other adventure-type events for a living. (Zeph might have been so nervous that after the start of the race he managed to bounce off the rear wheel of the rider in front of him, swerving into me, almost making a mess and definitely making me laugh!). In underestimating the terrain we were riding through, we expected to finish this leg in about 3 hours, at the speed in which we usually ride. Three hours into the race, I remember questioning whether I really needed to be humbled how I was being humbled. The winds were relentless. They were warm (Northwest) winds, consistently blowing at us at 50km an hour, gusting to 75+. I remember coming around one corner and a gust of wind catching my helmet and feeling it being held down by my helmet straps. There was also a significant amount of hiking. We can honestly say we didn’t train much for the amount of hiking that ended up transpiring. It was an epic mountain bike race we entered so we expected to be riding our bikes the majority of the time. Needless to say, there were tremendous amounts of hiking because the terrain was so treacherous it could not be ridden, even by the professionals. The hiking sections were across exposed mountain ridges with the wind pushing so hard there was no way to carry our bikes to make the hiking any easier. At hour 3 we were nowhere near the finish line for this stage. As we approached the gorge where the river was for the finish of this stage, we could see the wind blowing the sand and debris down the river valley, a couple hundred feet into the air above the river. We were both thinking (and deliriously hoping) this was not the gorge we had to drop into. Long story short is that it was.

The wind was blowing the sand so hard into our faces once we were at the bottom of the gorge that we couldn’t see where we were supposed to cross. It was something straight out of Lord of the Rings (not in a good way)! We made it to the finish in 5 and a half hours…a fair amount over our 3 hour estimate. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the race organizers had underestimated not just the distance but also the vertical ascent as well. The stage that was supposed to be 50 kilometers actually ended up being 54 kilometers which isn’t terribly inaccurate however they underestimated the ascent by 400 meters (over 1,200 feet). The time trial was simple, rolling, and fast, and in hindsight, the easiest stage by far. We ended up third place in our standing and 19th place overall for all the teams. The group camp spot for the night was at a white water rafting lodge in the Rangitata Gorge. The wind continued through the night, keeping most the group from getting any real sleep.

After Day 1, we were even more nervous and apprehensive about the second day. The rumors from people who had competed in this race last year regarding the underestimates of the race officials with regard to total distance and vertical ascent also had us worried. The weather forecast for the day was to be windy and hot, similar to the first day, with the official briefing advising us of a hike equal to or greater than the first day. The predictions proved accurate as far as the hiking on the second day however we were riding a fair amount of the steep pitches.

The first water feed for this stage was about 3 and a half hours into the stage. After this feed stop we rode across a valley on a (thick) gravel road for a good 15 kilometers (that they had said was only 8 km). I began to not feel so good on this road. I was sitting on Zeph’s wheel, hoping my body would feel better. The only other thing I remember was that I had stopped sweating and the water I was drinking was sloshing around in my stomach, not being utilized by my body. At the end of this gravel road section, there was another feed before heading out for another loop, before finishing an hour down the road. At this feed, we thought we had another couple hours of racing left, at the most…The race official told us here that this loop was estimated to take 3-4 hours (about 15 km of riding), before getting to the finish an hour after that. It was about this moment that I temporarily went a little crazy. They told us we could take the short cut (only an hour) back to the finish, however we would be disqualified. I didn’t know if I had enough in me to do the total distance and I barely knew if I had it in me to make it to the finish. Thankfully, Zeph helped me resign my mind and make the best decision of taking out the 15 km loop and get to the finish. Thankfully, we made it in to the finish with a riding time close to 6 and a half hours. We later found out that the temperature where I wasn’t feeling good was clocked at 38 degrees (106 degrees F). We thought we were done with the race at this point as we were to be disqualified. We didn’t know if we would continue to ride the race course however we were in the middle of nowhere, with our car waiting for us at the finish of the race over 100 km away. The race officials made it hard to stop. Because so many other teams had taken the shorter version to the finish, they decided to not disqualify us but simply gave us a 4 hour penalty. On top of that, they decided to split the large stage for the third day into two parts while eliminating an hour of hiking. This helped our decision to continue.

Day 3 now consisted of a shorter (2-3 hour) stage, with a regrouping, then another group start for the second stage. The funny thing about the starts of these long stages was that there was supposed to be a neutral start, meaning the group was to be fairly relaxed until the dirt section began and the racing officially began. Needless to say these “neutral” starts turned out to be flat out time trials! Finally, on the third day’s second stage, the race start was a little more relaxed as people had already been going all out. The two of us were also beginning to get the hang of the race (and each other) a little more. Granted we ride together all the time, but racing is another story altogether as people have different points at which they’ll push themselves to as well as it being hard to gauge how much you have left in the tank (especially at hour 5). We started eating breakfasts that agreed better with our systems and we started drinking a lot more water during the race. The biggest challenge of our trip thus far was adapting seasons overnight. We were coming from training in winter conditions, not needing to be drinking tremendous amounts of water, to peak summer conditions that required significant amounts of water to function. This stage also had a lot more riding (granted steep riding) through the mountains and a higher average speed. We finished the first stage in about 2 and a half hours and the second stage in about 3 and a half hours, making our total riding time equal to six hours for the day. The underestimates of the officials continued however and at the end of the third day we had reached the total vertical that we were supposed to complete by the end of the final day! We also began taking turns in a way that enabled us to ride faster. Z began leading on the downhill sections more and encouraging me along.

The fourth and final day consisted of a 70 km stage and approximately 1,500 meters of climbing (officials had said it was supposed to be close to 800 meters but by this point we knew to expect otherwise). The first climb consisted of a hike that was a relentless 30 minutes of vertical shale rock. Its decent left us heading alongside Lake Pukaki with a view of the impressive Mt. Cook the entire time.

About mid way on this stage, Zeph’s knee started giving him a lot of trouble as mountain bike shoes aren’t meant to be hiked in as much as we had in the previous days.

We managed to zip along toward the finish line with a miraculous tailwind and were extremely happy to see the finish line! We had had enough of the dry, high desert terrain. While we were fortunate to not have any cold, wet conditions, the heat provided enough challenge! The terrain for the race was similar to the Owens River Valley on Highway 395 in California.

There were few trees for protection, with many wild roses, shale and volcanic rock as well as thorns to provide plenty of opportunities for flat tires. We passed a team on the first day who were on their 8th flat for the day (it turns out the “record” for the race was 10 flats in one day for one team). We ended up 4th place in our team standing and 32nd overall…not bad considering!
Needless to say we were really happy to sleep in a normal bed again as well as enjoying a good shower! While still recovering from the extreme sun and bruises and sore bums, it gave us great pleasure to go for a nice, flat walk today! We don’t know if we would compete in this race again, maybe if some of the hiking was excluded or exchanged for more riding. We met an extraordinary group of genuinely nice folks…many of who we will visit in our weeks of travel to come!