2 times as fun

Yeah right!

Some of you will be aware that Stu and I took on the crazy challenge of doing the Round Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge, not just one, but twice. Known as the Enduro, it involves 2 laps of the 160km course.

Work, children (Stu's, not mine!), and laziness conspired to leave us typically under prepared for such an undertaking. Though it is difficult to know how much training you do need for such an event. Plenty of time on the saddle of course, though too much training and you would only leave your legs tired for the big day. Both of us only managed one ride over 200km, and were at best riding three times a week. So maybe on a bright note, our legs were well rested. And who really wants to go for training rides in the middle of the night anyway?

Not that we could avoid it for the ride though. A 1.30am start makes for difficult preparation. Was good to receive the text's of good luck, though not so much the ones sent after 8pm! I'm starting at 1.30am people, what do you think I'm trying to do....

Alarm went off at 12.30am, after a wonderful 45 minutes sleep (that's sarcasm by the way). Bit of a surreal feeling really, trying to take down some 'breakfast') is it still breakfast at that time and think that you've got a big ride ahead of you. JT and Steve got up to see us off (well, JT didn't have a choice seeing he was sleeping in the lounge), as Stu and I headed off in our layers and lights.

Down at the start line there were about 50 entrants or so. Some crazy guy was doing his 20th Enduro, and Colin Anderson, the doyen of the Taupo Cycle Challenge was there also (he's done 48 laps of the course in all, or something like that). Blissfully, we couldn't have asked for better conditions. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, plenty of stars, and very little wind. At the start, it was difficult to know what to do. Some guys took off, obviously going for a time, and I quickly learnt that there was no point trying to look behind to try and see where Stuey was, as you were just blinded by the lights.

Stu and I quickly found ourselves in a good group (which was of much relief), maybe of about 25 riders, which pretty much stayed together for the first 100kms of the first lap. It set a good pace as well, and certainly helped the night to pass quickly. The first 20kms is pretty much a steady climb, and this quickly got the body temp up. In fact, Stu and I thought at one stage that we had perhaps over dressed. However, once we got around the back of the Lake and down into a few misty vales, the cold really started bite. Especially on the downhills, when I really rued forgetting my long-fingered bike gloves as my fingers turned to popsicles.

I did have a small problem when one of my rangi lights started to come off my handlebars. Wasn't an issue though, as I hardly needed my lights anyway. Some of the riders seemed to have attached car lamps to their bikes they were giving off so much light. So Stu and I chatted away and spent quite a bit of time at the front of the group. The only difficult thing to contend with was trying to eat every now and then - a sports gel isn't that appetising for your stomach at 3am.

The split in the group finally came down the hill towards Turangi with about 50kms to go. Stu and I found ourselves going off the front with five other riders. For some unknown reason the seven of us decided that we were going to push hard (four of us really, we did the work as the other three sat behind and took the benefit). For the next 30kms to Hatepe Hill we would have averaged 35kph - maybe it was a wave of delusion at the sight of sunlight? Arriving at Hatepe we were buggered - and we only had ourselves to blame. It was a pretty slow crawl up there, and Stu and I both felt rubbish for the last 20km down into Taupo - not how you want to feel knowing you have to do it all again.

Though going past lots of riders in Taupo as they headed to the start line peaked the spirits, especially their reactions when you explained to them that you had already done one lap. We were both very much looking forward to a bit down and a change of clothes though. The lap clocked in at 5hrs37mins - around half an hour faster than I thought we would do it in. Back at the unit, we faffed about a bit. We both had a feed and Stu had a shower (I decided to give that a skip as thought it might throw out the body temperature a bit). The couch got a little comfortable for a while there, so we didn't finally get out again until after around an hour.

The downside of all that faffing though was that we missed meeting up with Anna at the start line. That meant we had to chase her down for the first 20kms. Not what the legs had wanted. And probably not want the riders at the back of the field want, seeing yellow-capped Enduro riders going past them. It was much to our relief when we finally did catch up with Anna. We then settled down into a comfortable pace and tried to enjoy the second - much warmer and sunnier - lap.

And it was enjoyable. Stu and I both could have gone faster - but we would have felt pretty average to have done so. We often found ourselves riding at the front of a group and a comfortable pace, ensuring Anna was getting a good draft. Admittedly, towards the end of the second lap the backside was getting pretty tired - but it had spent 12 hours on the saddle by then, so it is fair enough.

The final near mishap came just before Hatepe Hill. I had noticed since Turangi that my back wheel seemed to be sliding around a bit. It got worse and worse as I approached Hatepe, but I wanted to ignore it as the only thing I could think it might be was a slow flat, and replacing a tube was the last thing I felt like doing (it was sticking hot by now). But I eventually had to stop and told Anna and Stu to go ahead and I would catch up. Sure enough, the back tyre was pretty flat by now. But with 25km to go, I decided to just try and pump it up and hope that it was just a slow leak. Jumped back on and chased Anna up Hatepe Hill. I felt surprisingly good (the flat coke was kicking in now), and I must have passed hundreds of riders up the hill (they must have been thinking "what the....!"). Meet up with Stu and Anna at the top of Hatepe and happened to see someone with a floor pump. Hooked it up to my back tyre and it was only inflated to 40psi! Managed to pump it up a bit more, but no more than 60 psi, and decided to hope for the best.

And it all worked out. We enjoyed the final 20km down into Taupo (apart from some little kid who kept on trying to take us out), by now all three of us were high on flat coke, so we probably felt the best we had all day. We crossed the line together, Stu and I clocking up 13hrs19mins - though with only around 12hrs of actual riding.

And Anna - she clocked in at 6hrs36mins, an awesome time for her - I had been thinking around 7hrs. She didn't enjoy the first half - but then no one does the first time, those hills just keep on rolling - but by the end she was wanting to come back. Brad also did awesome for his first time around, at5hrs15mins. And looks like we have a few more interested for next year - with Sharon and JT on the look out for road bikes.

And will I be doing the Enduro again? Well, definitely not next year. I actually enjoyed the ride, though I wouldn't half done so half as much without Stu's company the whole way. It is the training that is tough. So will be pack to the single lap next year, train with Anna to get her under 6hrs, and maybe look to go under 5hrs myself for the first time. At the very least I'll be looking forward to getting up at reasonable times for training rides.

Paparazzo Posso

You might remember our trip to Motuihe Island back in June. Not long after that trip, I saw that the Motuihe Trust was running a Photo Competition and I entered a few of the photos I took from that day. Well, it turns out that this photo of ours won the Landscape category. And it was only taken with our small Canon digital.

Apparently we have won a Ricoh digital camera - a funny prize considering we obviously already have a digital camera. But pretty cool to know that a photo I took was selected.

U17 Women's Football

On Saturday I took the opportunity to attend a game of one the more significant sporting tournaments to be held in NZ...the inaugural U17 Women's Football World Cup. And well worth it was.

The NZ girls were playing their second match against Denmark - after narrowly losing 1-0 to Canada in their opening match. And after having 13000 spectators turn up for that game, there was an incredible 12000 turn up for this second match. Amazing numbers when you consider that recent rugby matches haven't been able to pull anything near those numbers. And the girls didn't disappoint.

Considering these girls were under 17, the skill level was very impressive. They may have not had the speed or the weight on some of the shots and passes, but there was a lot of skill on the ball. But most of all, it was enjoyable watching athletes who were playing their game for the love of their sport. There was no theatrics, no show-ponies, no prima donna's. The game was free-flowing and competitive, not based upon constantly-changing and over-complicated rules.

Unfortunately the NZ girls lost the game 2-1, though they were very unlucky (as in their first game), not to tie it up in the frenetic final 10 minutes. The only disappointment was on the final whistle when - as after their first game - most of the NZ team broke down. It wasn't so much the tears that disappointed me - these girls are only 16 after all - but the lack of congratulating of the other team. But again, this probably just reflects the passion these girls had for their sport, something we don't usually see on our rugby fields these days.

So a very enjoyable afternoon of spectating - and I walked away think rugby could learn a lot from this tournament - both in terms of the quality of sport on the field, and also the treatment of the fans (a game played in the afternoon, and tickets only $10). For those of you who bothered to watch the - from all accounts - boring rugby test later that night, you should have switched your TVs on 6 hours earlier.

Auckland-to-Hamilton: The Hard Way

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/new-zealand/ponsonby/237143783170

And by "hard", am I referring to the fact that I biked it the long way - 170km in all - in preparation of the Lake Taupo Enduro (2 laps = 320km)? Is it the fact that I left at 5am to get some nighttime riding practice in? Am I referring to several showers I got caught in on the way down? Maybe the several freshly laid sections of chip seal that I had to ride over (one at least a couple of km long)? Or perhaps I am referring the attach of the magpie, who I just managed to because it's pre-dive squawk made me look up with enough time to duck as it zeroed in on my head? Could it also be when my back light came off after riding over a railway line, and subsequently just before I went to pick it up, some van drove straight over the top of it? Was it my aching shoulders and back? Or even worse, the welts on my backside from the stitching on my bike pants (despite having wearing the same bike pants on many occasions and never having a problem with them)?

No, it was none of those...

The main reason this ride was "hard" was because, despite living in a land that is supposedly dominated by winds of a north-westerly persuasion; and heading on a ride that will particularly benefit from such favourable climatic conditions; I had to spend most of the six and a half hours plowing straight into a bloody southerly! Not only is it physically tiring and slows you down (I could only just manage 20kph on some straights), but worst of all it drives you bloody bonkers. In the end I let Anna rescue me from my torment, picking me up 5km from my destination.

Of no relief was Stu's text telling me it was "character building". I'll be reminding his advise as I sit on his wheel as he plows into the wind coming off Mt Tongario at 4am on the morning of November 29!

World Famous in New Zealand

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4717117a13.html

And if that looks like a big grin, that's because it is about the 50th I have had to pull! Taken at the "commercial launch" of Pot Kettle Black, at Bar Edward in Newtown (Wellington). Was a successful night, the first keg on the Yeastie Boys went very quick, and we weren't far off going through the second. And it was tasting delicious off the hand pump again.

Plenty of inquiries from the article - which was seen as widely as Marlborough and the Hawkes Bay, as well as being feature article in the Business section of the Dominion Post. Not a bad start for the Yeastie Boys...

BrewNZ & Beervana '08

This was it, the first time Yeastie Boys went public - at BrewNZ, NZ's annual beer awards and Beervana festival.

Unfortunately there was no award for us. The low down is that though the judges enjoyed our Pot Kettle Black – and it made it to the second round – ultimately it was not considered for an award as it was deemed that it wasn’t entered in the right style. Apparently it should have been entered as an ‘International Porter’, rather than as the 'American Brown Ale' we entered it as. Word is that if we had entered it as an ‘International Porter’, it is likely we would have won a medal of some description. So that is a bit of a bugger, and I guess is a beginner's mistake we can learn from.

However, it was a good night for Steve Nally and Invercargill Brewery - who we brewed Pot Kettle Black with - as it took two best in class awards, for his golden lager 'Biman', and with his Boysenbeery. Well deserved. But it was Tuatara that took out the Champion Brewery award.

But it is the opinions of the punters that really matters, and it was at Beervana that Yeastie Boys was a huge hit. I don’t think it could have gone any better. Got such awesome feedback from so many people. Many were shocked at the taste and how it challenged their perception of what a porter should taste like. The most brilliant was the guy who, after taking his first sip, told me that we were “fucked up” and that the beer was "weird"…and then proceeded to have 3 glasses in about 15 minutes. Lots of people said it was the best beer they had tasted on the night and wanted to know where they could get.

The story was a real hit as well. Everyone loved the local flavour (a piece of genius having us labelled as 'Wellington') and the fact that we were just starting out, contracting brewing recipes from the backyard shed, and still in our day jobs. The ‘Yeastie Boys’ branding worked a treat as well, pulling people in and getting a lot of comments.

A lot of credit also needs to go to the 'marketing team' that was out on the floor. There were Yeast-T's everywhere, telling people where to go and try Pot Kettle Black. Lots of other stalls had fancy set ups, but this viral advertising was the coup of the night I think. People were tracking us down. We should have had some Yeast-T's for sale, everybody wanted to buy one.

We went through 2 full kegs over the two days in the end. We couldn’t have got through much more. I would say that would have been the most of any single beer sold. And if they had a Beervana public vote for most popular beer, I would have been surprised if Pot Kettle Black didn’t win it.

But this all came at a cost – my feet! I was absolutely beat. It was hard work for a desk jockey like myself. I pretty much manned the stall the whole time, so I pretty much stood for 2 days straight – when I went for lunch on the Saturday I literally couldn’t walk on my heals. And I pretty much talked myself hoarse – it was just a constant talk fest with the punters. I could hardly lift my arms they are so sore from lifting and moving kegs and boxes. This manual labour and customer service is hard work!! And most surprisingly, I hardly drunk any beer myself, I just didn’t get the chance.

So it was a great debut for the Yeastie Boys, it was a shame Stuey wasn't there to share in it. Since then we've already had orders for at least half our kegs, and there have been enquiries at places about when they are going to have it in. So now the planning starts for the follow up to Pot Kettle Black. At the moment we are thinking a low strength bitter for summer, and doubling the batch size. Hopefully it will go down as well as the Pot Kettle Black.

Some photos of the Beervana on the Friday night and an indication of how much the Yeastie Boys 'marketing team' enjoyed themselves...

Yeastie Boys: Live In Wellington
Media release: Yeastie Boys
25/08/2008

New kids on the brewing block, Yeastie Boys, will launch their hoppy Pot Kettle Black porter at the Beervana festival on 5 September, Yeastie Boys co-founder Stu McKinlay announced today.

‘Pot Kettle Black is the result of a friendly debate I had with Wellington beer writer Neil Miller over whether hops or malt is the most important element in beer,’ said Stu.

‘I’m all about malt, while Neil is a certifiable hop head. Pot Kettle Black, the first release from Yeastie Boys, is an American-style porter that combines the delicious elements of dark malty beers with the huge hopping rates usually reserved for modern craft pale ales. This beer will certainly save us a plenty of time arguing at the bar.’

In true Kiwi style, Yeastie Boys' recipes all originate from a 40 litre pilot brewery in a Wellington backyard shed. ‘Operating on such a small scale there was little chance of the beer making it any further than ourselves and those in the know, until we partnered with multiple award-winning brewer Steve Nally of Invercargill Brewery to produce our first batch of commercial beer,’ said Yeastie Boy Sam Possenniskie.

‘Part of the Yeastie Boys concept is to utilise the excess capacity of New Zealand's best little breweries and to promote the diversity in New Zealand’s craft beer scene. Steve, being one of the best experimental brewers in the country, is the perfect partner and mentor for us to produce our first beer with.’

Yeastie Boys Pot Kettle Black is only available on tap for a limited time. It will be available at the upcoming BrewNZ "Beervana" festival, and at selected outlets specialising in craft beer from early September. For more information on availability see www.yeastieboys.co.nz.

Rather than a hip-hop tribute band made up of gynecologists, as the name may suggest, Yeastie Boys is the brewing brainchild of local brewer Stu McKinlay and New Zealand's most notorious beer hunter Sam "The Grandmaster" Possenniskie. In the name of research these two beer lovers have spent the last three years immersed within the secretive inner sanctum of the brewing world, tasting more than 2,000 different beers, in 70-plus different styles, from over 50 countries. Yeastie Boys are now set to unleash this research with a series of seasonal beers unlike anything else the New Zealand beer drinking public have tasted. Stay tuned…

Pot Kettle Black by Yeastie Boys
Tech info: ABV = 5.2%, OG = 1061, IBU = 47
Malt: NZ Pale Malt, Melanoiden Malt, Crystal 55L, Pale Chocolate, Black Patent Malt.
Hops: Nelson Sauvin, New Zealand Styrian, Organic New Zealand Cascade.

For further information please contact:
info@yeastieboys.co.nz

Yeastie Boys: The Beginning

The child of many late night discussions over a pint or three, the day came when Stu and I brewed our first commercial beer. The big day happened, of all places, down at the bottom of the country, at the Invercargill Brewery. Under the stewardship of one of the best brewers in NZ - Steve Nally - we turned one of Stu's favourite recipes into a 1200 litre commercial brew.

Pot Kettle Black is in the style of an American Brown Ale, likely to be around 5.7%, with a chocolately malt palate with a serious orangey hop bite. This will be a hoppy beer to test the Kiwi palate.

The brewing itself is relatively simple exercise. First step was to unload the 360kg of malt into the miller to break up the husks. The milled malt is then put into the mash tun, where the malt is mixed with water at a temperature of 68 degrees to create the 'mash'. The temperature of the water is important, as it dictates the degree to which the starches from the malt are converted into sugars. The mash is then sparged (rinsed) and filtered before the liquid - called the 'wort' - is pumped into the kettle to boil. The wort was boiled for 90 minutes to sterilise it and prevent infections. It is during the boil that we added our 3 varieties of hops, giving our beer it bitterness, flavour and aroma characteristics. After the boil is finished, the wort needs to be quickly cooled to around 20 degrees on its way into the fermenter (again to prevent infection, as well as other off-flavours that occur at high temperatures and to achieve the optimum temperature for 'yeastie' activity). Once into the fermenter, we 'pitched' the yeast into the brew, which over the past couple of weeks has been turning those sugars extracted form the malt into alcohol. Since then, Steve has transferred our beer into a conditioning tank, where Pot Kettle Black will be finished off.

So now Pot Kettle Black is only a couple of weeks away from release - planned for the Beervana festival at Brew NZ in Wellington, September 5 & 6. The 1200 litres will be keg-only, and as well as the beer festival, will be available at some of the best independent bars and pubs in NZ. I'm looking forward to a taste - I hope you are too.

Ponsonby Cafe Files: People Cafe

If you didn't look hard enough, you wouldn't know People Cafe was there at all. But being hidden on the bottom floor of a modern office building doesn't seem to be holding this cafe back. Inside it is all modern and minimalist, with some jazz being played overhead. No Allpress coffee, but still the beans here were strong. Anna and I were both lured by the hash cakes, which were good - though I was thankful I asked for the Hollandaise sauce on the side (Anna's was swimming in it - which would be great if that was your thing).

Definitely a cool spot for a weekend brunch.

Walkabout: Te Atatu Peninsula

On a warm and sunny Auckland Sunday and with Mum up for the weekend, we decided to walk off the delicious dinner from the night before with a walk around Te Atatu Peninsula. If like me, you main memories of Te Atatu was their league team thrashing it out against Wainuiomata in the old national competition, you probably thinking of it as a strange destination for a Sunday walk. And it's true, some parts of Te Atatu do closely resemble the West Auckland of Outrageous Fortune. But the eastern side of peninsula also affords some stunning views back over the city, as well as walking through mangroves and wetlands with plenty of cabbage trees, pukekoes and fantails.









To complete the loop walk of the peninsula (a quite tiring 11kms), we also got a good look at some of Te Atatu's 'urban scenery', with some spectacular over-grown lawns and cars in the back yard with no wheels and on blocks. Though there was one feature that caught my eye...

Motuihe Island

Bad weather closing in. Rain and stronger winds forecast for later in the day. What better thing to do on such a Saturday as cruise out to one of the islands in the Hauraki Gulf for a walk and picnic. Well, that's exactly what we did this weekend.

As by way of explanation, we had credit to use that was about to expire after, of course, numerous stunning weekends in recent weeks to use it. Nevertheless, this was our last chance to use the credit, and despite low scudding clouds and a touch of dampness in the air, we decided to head out to Motuihe Island.

Motuihe Island is just a small island about a 30 minute trip from downtown Auckland, and after a diverse and interesting history, is now a DOC-controlled reserve. At various times in its past, Motuihe has been home to Maori pa settlements, farming, a quarantine station for 50 years, an internment camp for German nationals in WWI, and a navy training ground. However, since 2005, DOC has managed the island, eradicating pests and starting a native planting programme. Native species are also to be reintroduced to the island - Saddlebacks and Kakariki having been so already - and Kiwis are set to be released next year. Motuihe is also renowned for having some of the finest sandy beaches around Auckland.

Of course, on the shortest day of the year, taking advantage of the beaches wasn't a priority for us. Staying dry was one - though that fear turned out to be unfounded. Arriving at the island just before 10am, Rae, Tom, Anna and I had nearly 5 hours before we had to return to the wharf to catch the ferry back. This proved the perfect amount of time to walk around and enjoy the island. The island doesn't have the natural beauty of Tiritiri Matangi - yet - but still occupies a great scenic spot in the middle of Hauraki Gulf. From the vantage points of cliff tops and beaches, there are numerous views of Auckland landmarks like Rangitoto Island, Waiheke Island with the Coromandel in the distance, and Auckland City itself. Of course, that was when the misty showers allowed us to see them. Though despite the showers passing through the harbour, Motuihe seemed to dodge most of them and we were left virtually untouched by the weather. As well as the views, the island itself is plenty interesting enough. Apart from the young plots of native plantings, there are also some old gnarly trees, especially in a coastal strip aptly named the Old Forest. We didn't come across a Tom Bombadil unfortunately, but we did share our walk with plenty of Pukekoes, who did a surprising amount of flying.

With enough time to picnic by the beach and wander the remnants of gun placements and navy base, we were much relieved to rest our weary feet as the ferry returned at 2.30pm, most satisfied that we had dared the weather and made the most of the day.

Ponsonby Cafe Files: Landreth & Co

It's been a long time between Lattes you might say. Saturday morning hangovers haven't been condusive to getting out for early morning brunches....

Landreth & Co sits amongst a tight cluster on cafes along Ponsonby Road, and Anna and I decided to have lunch there on a fine and crisp Auckland winter's day (after having it confirmed that my finger is broken). Having never ventured there before, we were pleasantly surprised by the warm and dark interior, with one wall crowded with many framed mirrors and the opposite with NZ art for sale. It also seems to attract a more alternative set in Ponsonby, the dress of the group enjoying the tables outside being a somewhat strange mix between Grease and the Sex Pistols.

We took much pleasure in seeing that Allpress was the coffee of choice here, and once again produced a damn fine Trim Flat White. Ordering off the specials menu I had Portobello mushrooms and grilled Halloumi served on toasted sour dough, while Anna had the corn, courgette and coriander fritters. Along with sharing a couple of jokes with the guy serving, the food was delicious. This could become a favourite.

The Wild West - Piha

Last week I spent a couple of days in Piha for work. We had a pretty cool spot in the midst of a valley full of native bush. I even spotted a couple of Pukekoes poking around amongst the small stream next to the lodge.

I also grabbed a couple of cool pics while driving over there in the morning - the first from the top of the Waitakeres back over the city, and the other down onto the Piha beach.

Dinner 1988-style

A two-course dinner for two at one of Auckland's best seafood restaurants for $85 - can't be done? Well, it could this week....

Harbourside Restaurant is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and to mark it, this week they are serving their 1988 menu at 1988 prices. So not being ones to miss out on the opportunity to have a top class meal at discount prices, we quickly booked ourselves in - which was just as well as it was booked out in a couple of days.

In 2008, it isn't easy to get $8.50 entrees of Deep-fried Squid and Hot & Cold Salad with Pan-fried Sole; and $17 mains of Whole Snapper with Ginger Sake Sauce and Tempura Seafood Platter. It isn't often that your bottle of beer and glass of wine will cost more that one of your mains, or that your bottle of sparkling water will be more than one of our entrees. In fact, in the 2008 menu - entrees and mains are twice these prices.

And I can report that good fresh seafood tastes like good fresh seafood in whatever year's menu it is cooked.

WATCHing Stereophonics

What a day Monday was. It was already fortuitous, when a few weeks ago Steve McKinlay mentioned that he was coming up for the Stereophonics concert and was I interested in the other ticket he had. Offering pick up and drop off service from the airport and a bed for the night probably help to seal the deal as well. I remember missing out on seeing the Stereophonics in London and being quite gutted, so was pretty stoked that I was now going to see them in Auckland.

And the concert was awesome, probably the best I have been to. The concert was at the Powerstation, which is just a small venue that only holds about a 1000 people. It is also, by chance, directly across the road from Galbraiths, which was perfect for some fine ales both before and after.

The place was packed, it seemed most of the Welsh population in NZ had come in for the two concerts (there had been another the previous night, which ironically Anna had gone to after her Aunt also had come up for the it with a spare ticket). When Kelly Jones made some jokes in his deep Welsh accent, at least he got laughter from those wearing red int he crowd. With the venue being so small, you couldn't help but be very close to the stage, which itself is set low. So it was an amazing view of a very tight performance, and after the encore of "Maybe Tomorrow" and "Dakota" we left the concert back across to Galbraiths with ears a ringing.

Now you might be wondering what the "WATCH" reference was all about. Well it refers to a phone call earlier that capped of a great day. A few months ago I had purchased a 12-month subscription to Metro magazine and a nice girl from Metro gave me a call to let me know my name had been drawn in the competition - I hadn't even know there was a competition. she then told me that I had won a Bretling watch worth, what for it, $8,950!!!

After she rambled on a bit more I had to ask if she had really said "eight thousand". How can a watch be worth $8,950? What does it do? I was a bit stunned, and still am to be honest. I'm due to pick it up this Friday. Still not sure what I will do with it. I think I would be too scared to wear it, I'd have to wrap my arm in cotton wool. So there is the option of selling it, I can think of some better uses for that sort of money than having something hang from my wrist. But we will see once I pick it up.

Moonride - Rotorua

For some time Al here in Auckland has been trying to get me into mountain biking. Trying to sticking to my roadie routes, I had repelled his advances for some time. But recently I relented I bought myself a mountain bike a few weeks ago. This was all in aid of an event Al got me to join him in the 24hr Cateye Moonride. Not 24 hours of riding - I'm not that crazy (though there were some solo riders). No, we entered a team of 5 where you take turns doing the course over the 24 hours. Still crazy enough.

My introduction to mountain biking didn't start too well. My first ride out at Woodhill (a MTB park west of Auckland) saw me vault the handlebars and use my right ring finger to cushion my fall. The finger looked pretty grim for a few days, and even a month later now doesn't look quite right - I'll get around to having it x-rayed at some stage...

Crazy certainly came to mind as we drive down to Rotorua on the Friday, with seemingly half the farms submerged in water. And when we turned up at the site at 8pm that night to put the tent up, it was still raining and spirits were pretty low. But the event and other 100 teams all looked pretty well set up - tents, marques, coffee cart, generators, BBQs, though unfortunately no spa pool this year.

It all kicked off at 10pm and Al pulled the short straw in having to go first. However my turn wasn't too far away as I was going second. Because of the rain, the 8km loop had been reduced to 6.5km, but still took us on average 30 minutes to do each lap. We had already decided that we would each do 1 lap each, and then do turns of 2-lappers, so it wouldn't be as stop start and would give us each a chance to get some sleep (well, that was the plan anyway).

It wasn't long before I headed out for the my first lap, after a quick debrief from Al. I had only just gone for my first night ride the weekend before, so I was still a novice at this, and the track was very muddy and so made for a lot of hard work. Not least some pretty deep puddles, which turned the dirt after them into a quagmire. But with fresh clothes on and just one lap to do, that first lap wasn't so bad. Though returning back to the tent, it was only in the light that you realised how muddy it was - I was covered head to toe. But there wasn't much you could do about it, and no point trying to get too clean as you were just going to get muddy again.

My next trip out was at 1.30am and it was still raining. The track was more chewed up now too, so made for a much more difficult (and muddy) ride. Even more so by my battery for my light starting to run out on my 2nd lap - I may as well have held a candle out in front of me. That made for an interesting ride, often having to just cruise until someone caught up to me with better light and then having to try and sit on their heels. But I managed to make my way back without too much mishap and tried to get some sleep before I had to get up again at 6am for another two laps. But there wasn't any chance of sleep, what with the blood pumping from just finishing a ride, generators humming, and knowing I would have to get up again soon.

It was so muddy now that also had to hose down your bike before you headed out again, as all your gears and brakes were one big brown lump. Pulling on the cold, damp and muddy bike gears to head out again at 6am after no sleep, I was really wondering why the hell I had agreed to get into this. I mean, who holds an event like this in May - when there is no daylight savings and little prospect of good weather. The only relief I had was that now the skies were lightening and I didn't have to worry about light so much. But not surprisingly, these ended up being my slowest two laps.

The new day at least dawned dry, but 10am saw the start of the 12hr race with another 300 teams on the course (looking annoyingly refreshed and clean). This meant a lot more congestion, but also helped to flatten out the tracks. So much so that my two laps around 1pm I could actually term as fun. Riding in the light of day was obviously a lot easy, and it also allowed you to pick better lines to bike down (and showed you all your mistakes from the night before). But this was short lived, as by my last two laps at 6pm, all those riders had chewed up the course again and by now the body and soul were very tired.

With the ride still not finishing until 10pm, there was the prospect of squeezing another lap in. But I had had enough and I let the rest of the boys go for glory at the end (well, they have all been riding mountain bikes for years), while I enjoyed a few beers and some clean clothes. the finish gets a little crazy, some pushing it to fit in another lap, while others go a little crazy - with a couple of naked laps.

In the end we finished quite high up, completing 48 laps and coming 18th of the 97 24hr teams. Though the only reward was having to pack up the tent and all the gear when all we really wanted to do was go to bed. It certainly was an interesting event, though I am not sure I will be signing up to do it again (unless there is the promise of fine weather). This mountain biking can be fun though, and will be making a few trips down to Rotorua I think - though for rides most definitely in the day though!

A few muddy pics from the event here.

Taupombledon 2008

With the sporting world left in limbo in 2007 when there was no Fulhimbledon, the sequel - Taupobledon - had been highly anticipated. As some of the best athletes from Auckland and Wellington descended on the Huka Village Resort, questions were being asked whether the relocation of this big tournament to the other side of the world could be a success. After two days of tennis at a level you would expect, and drinking you won't believe - the answer was a resounding YES!

As we all trickled in on the Friday evening, much concern was for the imminent arrival of the Owen-Burns pairing. Not because we wanted to see what shape these perennial finalists were in, but because they were bringing up the keg of Emerson's Bookbinder in their car. And considering their recent diversions through Wanganui, such concern was warranted (an escort through Bulls was in fact considered). It wasn't long before we had all arrived and headed off to bed early to prepare for the next day's tennis - yeah right....

No, as all good tennis pros will tell you, the best preparation for a big tournament is to stay up the night before drinking. And so we duly obliged. The keg was going down a treat. The tap system James had brought up was giving a great pour, the only issue was the lack of appropriate glass ware - but what's wrong with a mug of beer anyway? Some tried to get in some sneaky practice on the swing-ball, while others tried to help Jimmy see how many shapes we could put his bed into. The decision to cook up some bacon sarnies are 1am in the morning was also an inspired decision, and must surely help to explain the quality of tennis the next day. Foggy memories tell us we finally drifted off to bed at around 3am, with Taupombledon off to a great start.

When Saturday morning dawned, the skies were brilliantly clear. Much unlike our heads, which were under some heavy clouds. James tried to clear his with an early 8am pint of Bookbinder. And while you have to admire his devotion to the cause, hindsight told us it didn't help him with the following day's proceedings - on and off the court. After an athletes breakfast - bacon and eggs - everybody headed back to their quarters to get changed to head over to the courts.

Everybody looked slick in their whites (or near whites), the Federer-effect unmistakable, with the trouser look very popular - JT having even donned the blazer (reminiscent of his tweed wearing days). Once the keg was set up and the can of balls cracked open, it wasn't long before TournieMaster Tom had us out on the court playing. And it was tough going out there. Rallies were long and the sun was hot, and this required frequent draughts of beer and punch by boys and girls alike. Both pools were competitive and favourites were steadily trying to edge their way to the finals. Of course, JT won the award for being the most animated - though disappointingly didn't throw his racket....this time.

When the final did come around, it ended up pitting previous winners - Sam & Anna vs Mike & Iris. And even at the end of the day nothing could part these two couples, with the final needing to go to a tie-breaker after it was 2-2 after service games. What followed was a seesaw of fortunes and some great tennis from the girls. But eventually Mike & Iris triumphed and became the first 2-times winners of the much coveted giant tennis ball-cum-trophy.

With the tennis over for another year, the boys also got to engage in that traditional - but forehead numbing - game of tennis-football-header with the trophy. But with the lights starting to be turned down on a beautiful Taupo day, we all headed back to carry on the celebrations. The keg - which I wondered whether we would get through - failed early on the evening and with the evening coming to an end around 3am again, we were left to drinking some pretty watered down punch. And while it is questionable whether tennis was the winner on the day, our livers were most definitely the losers. Between the 18 of us, its calculated we got through a Grand Slam winning:
+ keg of Bookbinder
+ additional 6-dozen beer
+ 25 bottles of wine
+ 2 bottles of Pimms
+ 1 bottle of vodka

But despite some understandable grogginess on that Sunday morning, consensus was that the Taupombledon format was a resounding success. Thoughts were already turning to the next year, where the tournament will do doubt get even bigger with some notable pairings missing this year. After a cleansing walk around Huka Falls, the North/South divide split once again, with those heading south making an unfortunate stop at a dodgy Taihape cafe. Dodgy tummies aside, I'm sure everyone had a great weekend.

More pics from the weekend are here.

Rotorua-to-Taupo Anna Flyer

After plenty of badgering from me, and a lot of training from Anna, the big day finally arrived when Anna (and I) was competing in the 100K Flyer from Rotorua to Taupo. She has been putting in lots of training, and despite plenty of nerves and stress on her part, I knew she was ready.

We were staying down in Taupo, so that meant we had to drive up for the 10am race start in Rotorua. Despite some worrying forecasts earlier in the week, the day had dawned near perfect conditions - high cloud and hardly a breath of wind. We headed towards the rear of the 2000+ riders and slowly moved up through the waves of starters. We were finally off and Anna started off nice and strong. However, the cruel twist to the 100K Flyer is that it begins with a long steady climb out of Rotorua for the first 10km or so. Anna was finding this pretty tough (she always finds the first part of her rides tough, and the long delay between breakfast and actually starting the race probably didn't help either), but I knew once we had gotten through this climb it would be relatively easy. And the reward was a good long descent down the other side of the hill, and passing lots of riders that had gone past us up the hill.

The next 70km of the ride is then relatively flat, covering the rolling countryside of the Waikato. Anna really hit her straps and we were often averaging 30kph and having small groups drafting behind us. This was a very pleasant part of the ride and Anna was surprised about how quickly it went by. The only disturbing part was the amount of carnage on the road - I've never ridden past so many people being attended to on the side of the road or had so many Ambulances whiz by. It must have been at least four times that we rode past a rider or riders with strapping on cuts or arms in slings.

Fortunately there were no problem around us and it was pretty soon that Anna just had the last climb up into Taupo before the finish. She was pretty tired by now - which I would now say was probably partly because of dehydration, as I found out at the end she still had plenty of water left - but I reminded her that it was just this last climb. It isn't that hard of a climb, but after 90km it seems that it is (I should know, I had to do it twice in the Ironman), and me racing up it a couple of times to take photos probably didn't help. After a few 'false summits' and many "how much further Papa Smurf", we finally turned down into the last couple of (downhill) kms to the finish.

Speeding down the hill - picking up a few places, though I think more importantly to Anna, getting to the finish line so she could get off that bike seat - we finally reached the finish line in the time 3.46:17. That's an average speed of 26.5kph, which is much faster than Anna's usual average speed on her long training rides. So thoughts of being tired were quickly dispelled by feelings of achievement, and I was very proud of little Anna.

Rangitoto Swim

With hopefully some Ironman fitness left in me, I decided to enter in the Rangitoto to St Helliers 4.6km swim, which was on the Sunday after getting back from our week up north. I'd only been for a couple of swims since the Ironman, but I've wanted to do this swim and I thought now would probably be as good as any time.

The swim starts on Rangitoto Island, so it starts with a ferry ride across in the morning. I was surprised to see a very large contingent of swimmers at the ferry terminal when I was dropped off, I don't think so many speedos have been seen walking around the Viaduct before. It was nearly 500 swimmers in all. This, in fact, was going to be my first trip out to Rangitoto - Anna and I have just never managed to organised to get ourselves there yet. Not that I spent much time on the island. Time to lube up, get into the wetsuit (though some do it without - crazy) and jump into the water. After some mixed weather forecasts during the week, the day turned out sunny but with a bit of wind and swell (but more on that later).

The gun went off and the start was the usual mess - some bugger even kicked more goggles off! But I eventually found myself some room and settled into the swim. Though for all the wanting to get away from the pack - once you do there are always those thoughts about "why is no one around me". The only company I did seem to have was some crazy lady who seemed to be intent on swimming 6km from the way she was criss-crossing in front of me.

The first half of the swim was pretty good, except for the fact it felt like I was going no where. When you are sighting your destination from 4 kilometres away, it takes a while for it to look like it is getting any closer. The second half of the swim was much tougher. I was definitely starting to tire and my stroke with my left arm was only just getting out of the water. But worst of all, the swell really started to pick up, so much so that sighting became worthless as every time I looked up all I good see was waves. Apart from making it really hard to keep your rhythm, the swell had an even worse affect, it started to make me feel sea sick! This was most uncomfortable (I don't even get sea sick on a boat), and now really how you want to be feeling when you still have 1-2km of swimming ahead of you. I had to stop a few times to right the stomach and make sure I wasn't swimming out into the Pacific!

I soldiered on, but more than a few times I wondered what the hell I was doing out there. It was much relief to finally get within St Helliers Bay, with the finish now not too far away, but also with the seas much calmer. I finally managed to make my way up on the beach after 1:23.16 of swimming, in 97th place. Rich, you'd be happy to know one thing crossed my mind as I ran up that beach - "nutter"!

North by Northwest

That was the direction we headed on the morning of Easter Saturday with Rae & Tom and Duncan & Leanne to spend the week up in the Bay of Islands. We had a place in the sleepy town of Russell - New Zealand's first capital, albeit for only a year. And what a brilliant relaxing week it was.

Duncan and Leanne were only up for the weekend, but with it being Easter weekend, sleepy Russell was pretty much in a coma. Nevertheless, we made our own fun, Duncan's birthday was cause for some champagne, and the boys trumped the girls in every game we played.

On the Easter Monday we thought we would head over for lunch at Kerikeri and a look around. Now, you would think that if you owned a cafe, a long weekend Monday would be a pretty good day to be open. You would think.... But no, Kerikeri was as dead as the Dodo, and we ended up doing four laps of the place before we found somewhere for lunch - only to be charged an additional 15% surcharge (thank you General Secretary Clark and her comrades). In fact, we were a bit miffed about all the fuss that is made of Kerikeri, there didn't seem much to it to us.

On the Wednesday, we decided to make the journey up to the tip on the country - Cape Reinga. Note for anyone else thinking of making the trip - it is a bloody long way! With a short stop in Kaitaia (you wouldn't want it to be a long one), it took us nearly four hours to drive all the way up. We kept ourselves amused, however, but trying to guess the name of Craig & Suz's new baby boy - I still can't believe it wasn't Larry!

And though you would think there be good scenery along the way - there isn't. Even though you travel up a thin strip of land, the road someway bisects it perfectly so that you have little glimpse of sea until you make it to the Cape. All you do see is farmland, upon farmland, upon farmland. And noticeably very green farmland - no drought up here.

But the long journey was well worth it - Cape Reinga is a pretty special place. The coastline is a dramatic place, not least the meeting of the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea. To opposing swells meet dramatically just off the cape, looking somewhat akin to a river rapid. Cape Reinga also plays an important part in Maori mythology - where the dead are meant to leap off on their way to the afterlife. It certainly could have engaged in some good marketing on the day we were there, as octogenarians were being dropped off by the bus load.

The return journey in the afternoon was much more enjoyable. First we stopped off down 90 Mile Beach for a picnic lunch. Heading back down along the eastern coastline, we drove up to the very picturesque Matai Bay for a swim in its horseshoe-shaped bay. This was followed up by stopping at the fabled fish and chips at Mangonui (including some sneaky oysters) - which were superb. When we finally got back to Russell, it was nearly a 12-hour round trip, a long day, but a good one.

That ended up being enough for us, as we decided to spend the last two days just hanging around Russell. There was a good swell out, and Tom and I made the most of it. Our days had settled into a comfortable rhythm of....sleep in, brunch and beer, a read of newspaper, a body surf, a couple of pints at the local pub (which were only £3.50 - $3.50!!), then dinner and a few more drinks.

It was with some reluctance that we packed up on Saturday morning, it was so relaxing just hanging out in Russell - where the fish and chip shop and the pizzeria are closed by 7pm every night. It is certainly the pick of the towns around the Bay of Islands, cut off from the mainland by a 10 minute ferry ride, it's not as tacky as Pahia or dull as Kerikeri. Even though we were only away for a week, it felt like it had been a month. You know you've had a good holiday when you are planning how to return the very next weekend.

You can see some holiday pics here.