Ruapehu Gran Fondo
The Ruapehu Gran Fondo finished the way it started. With a little over 2 1/2 hours driving, and that was just to leave Auckland on a rainy Friday afternoon, things weren’t going well.
We had aimed to leave at 2, but life got in the way, but we were on the road by 3. In many other cities this would have been an acceptable time to leave, but this is Auckland. Everyone drives, and there’s bugger all public transport! Enough of the whinging.
We made good progress once outside of the city. We were heading to National Park. Situated on the periphery of Tongariro national park. The town is small. Serviced by a train. But that train is for tourists only. And only runs alternate days, and may not be able to take your bike.
once at National Park, we quickly settled into our accommodation. A small, but perfectly formed, railway cottage. I didn’t realise that so many freight trains run up and down the country, and a lot over night.
Up the Bruce
The next morning we were up early. We hunted down somewhere for breakfast. Macrocarpa café was the place. We’d been here before. The servings generous, and the staff friendly. You’re not here for the coffee, so don’t try and pull that city coffee snob shit on them. You’re here for the hearty food, oh, and convenience.
After breakfast it was time to grab the bikes and head up to the top of Whakapapa. The ski field on the northern side of Mt Ruapehu. The southern side is adorned with Turoa ski field, and NZ’s only HC climb.
The climb up the Bruce Road is gentle enough for most parts. Rarely getting about 7%. But towards the end it kicks up to 11- 17%. It has a sting in the tail. This would be evident on the race results.
The Race
The race was set for 9am Sunday morning 10th March. On paper everything appeared fine. It gave those that wanted to travel up/down on the day, time to get there. The start was at the top, even that seemed like fun. Roll down, ride 150km, and then climb the 13km back to the top. Easy you may say. But holy hell, it was the hardest NZ event I’d done. Much harder than K2!
So Sunday arrived. We packed up. Drove to the top. Got ready to race. In the mountains the weather can change suddenly. That’s what happened. The temperature plummeted. We were now freezing, and had a 13km descent. Bugger!
Fortunately we were able to wrap up warmly for the descent, then leave our garb in the back of a truck, to pick up later. I wore my merino jumper down, covered by a jacket. This was still only just warm enough. We stopped at the Chateau, undressed, and sped on.
The start was furious. Averaging 50kph for the first hour. Even the first hill was faster than I had planned. Our legs were feeling great. But we had to remember to pace ourselves. This was a hard race/event, depending on which camp you’re in.
Shortly after the first climb the bunch split into relevant paced groups. We managed to stick together and form a decent group of 10 riders (although not all wanted to work, and some worked more than others). GLCC seemed to be working more than most. This would come back to bite us.
Turning left onto highway 41 at Tokaanu, it was all up hill from here. Pretty much climbing up to the Waituhi saddle. Although not steep, it’s 13km in length. This is where the fatigue starts to set in. It’s also less than half way. The first water stop is at 115km. An unusual distance, and given the temperature, I was nearly empty. A fools mistake was to try and preserve as much as was possible until the water stop.
The descent off the top of the Waituhi Saddle was welcome relief. A long easy gradient of 17km at 4% was fun. A chance to recover. The weather was playing ball, so it was a chance to warm up and rest those muscles. As soon a you hit the bottom of the descent you turned left at Maranui, on to State Highway 4. The traffic got noticeably heavier from here on in.
Once at Maranui it was all uphill from now on in. Right until you reach the top of the Bruce Road. The gradients weren’t hard, just dull and boring. With traffic whizzing by, this was the only road where I began to feel uneasy. This was the road where we’d begin to suffer. And suffer some of us did.
One of the GLCC riders began to suffer cramp. Suffer excruciating cramp. I’ve never heard a grown man scream in agony with cramps before. Now we had a dilemma. Do we simply ride on and leave them on the side of the road, or do we stay and try and get them through this? Well, we decided tp get them through it.
A series of stops proved our undoing. We hadn’t realised there was a time cut off for this event. We had to be on the Bruce Road leading up to Whakapapa before 2pm. We had been on schedule, but for the cramping. At this point our average speed was 31kph. And with a slight downhill section leading up to the Bruce road, we would’ve made it.
Just as we neared National Park turn off, we were told that we’d probably be pulled from the race. They needed everyone at the top by 3. The Bruce road is 13km long, and after 150km and lots of climbing, most riders in group 2-4 wouldn’t be riding the Cat 1 hill at 13kph. That included us.
So with less than 5km to go till we reached the Bruce Road, we were pulled. Disappointment set in immediately. My first event where I’d DNF’d. We had made the right decision, it’s not the Tour De France. We’re not pro athletes. We’re just weekend warriors. And our friends come first. Despite being initially conflicted about what to do. We did the right thing.
Driving up to the finish line was hard. But harder still was watching the riders on the road climbing up to the line. They all looked smashed and broken. Only when they could see the line did their faces crack a smile. It was truly a great event, but things could have been done differently.
Considerations for next time:
1: start the race at the Chateau the neutralised downhill was pointless, and freezing cold).
2: More water stops
3: An earlier start time
Other than those points, I’d do it again tomorrow.
