Lew and Rob's birthday on the 5th of Jan
Lew says he's dyslexic so he's only 45!
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| Jess and Steve |
That's a nice smile
With the better halves
The Stronge Men
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
We found this batch on the last night at a DOC park. Not allowed to tent so we just slept on the verandah. It rained hard that night but we stayed dry.
Chilling on the beach in the sun
Squatters
Kayaking into a cave
Our 2nd camp, Merle meet us there with food etc and gave us all a much needed massage.
We had paddled for 6 1/2 hours into a head wind.
Our lunch stop after paddling for 4 hrs into a head wind. When we left from here the wind had gone up to about 20 knots and the waves were that big that the other kayak and flag disappeared behind the waves. We had to abort the plan to go to Russell as wind wasn't being kind
Early morning start on second day
1st camp
The first few strokes of many
Our attempt to kayak to Russell from Mellons Bay, 250 kmReady to go on the 1st day
Walking the Tongario Crossing, one of the top 10 one day walks in the world. See the lava flow? Awesome
The alpine lakes at the top on a perfect day
Amazing colours
This is what happens when you take a car that has no spare wheel and jack on gravel roads. you have borrow a jack, then take off the wheel, lower it down onto some rocks and then hitch a ride out to the nearest town. Then wait over night to get a new tyre then hitch a ride back to the car. We are in the Molesworth station South Island Monday, April 19, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Saturday, September 12, 2009
My Coast to Coast Story
Lew’s Coast to Coast 2009
3 km run
55 km cycle
33 km mountain run
Sleep
15 km cycle
67 km kayak
70 km cycle
Started 7:00 am Friday 13th Feb at Karuma Beach West Coast. Finish Saturday 14th Feb in the afternoon Sumner Beach East Coast
Why would anybody want to do this? How did I get into doing things like this?
It all started years ago when I had Accord Industries and the Ironman Triathlon was new to NZ. We decided to organise a Tinman, because we weren’t tough enough to do an Ironman. Then one time Bryce Barnett said “Lew, if you run a marathon, I will do your Tinman”
I guess that was the start of my endurance events. I remember years before saying that I would never run a marathon, "That's a crazy distance to run."
So why Coast to Coast? I guess I have always heard about it and followed Steve Gurney’s attempts to win it and break the records so had a little knowledge of what it was. Little did I know years later I would compete in and finish the Coast to Coast myself. Over the years I had done and convinced Merle and my family to do with me, a few things that are out there.
Rotorua Marathon; trekking in the Himalayas ( where I climbed to 5400 metres); ocean passages in yachts; cycled around Taupo several times; 4.2 km Ironman swim; 2.4 k harbour swims (with Roxy); 42nd Traverse down then back up (Mountain bike with Roxy); visited Antarctica where I kayaked in the ice; climbed Mt Kilimanjaro (5895 metres). So somehow Coast to Coast appeared on my list of 101 things to do in the next 1001 days.
Also on the list was a Cycle trip. In early 2008 Merle and I were going down to Masterton for a few days and I said I would like to take 3-4 days and ride down. Merle didn’t say much but woke the next morning and said that she would rather me do the Coast to Coast than ride to Masterton as it is too dangerous cycling on our roads." Yes!" That was all the encouragement I needed.
I had originally planned on doing it in a team but decided that if I were to put myself through that much pain, I might as well do it on my own.
Entries didn’t open until July so started my research into all the things that I needed to know and get before the big day. I know not a day went by from there on without me thinking about some aspect of the Coast to Coast.
In October we were going to Africa with Bryce & Delwyn Barnett and Hugh & Cathy Grey. I had said if I’m going there, I would like to climb Mt Kilimanjaro. Merle and Delwyn were keen to give it a go but Merle decided not to.
So now I had two ambitious goals to achieve and train for. Just to make all this a little more complicated years ago I had had part of a cartilage removed from my right knee. So now, anytime I walk or run too much it swelled and hurts. Also I had a busy year planned with going to Canada in June to see Roxy and Wayne for a month, 4 weeks in Africa in October, and 2 weeks in Canada again at Christmas at Roxy and Wayne’s, with a little bit of snowboarding. I wasn’t sure how all this would fit in with my training and not affect my fitness. Time would tell!
“Who do I talk to about the Coast to Coast?” Reeve Barnett had done the 2 day event in 2007 so he was the first sounding board. He arranged for me to meet him at Fergs kayaks to try some multisport kayaks. I had tried his kayak out one day at Mellons Bay and I could manage 20 strokes before rolling out! So I knew there was a compromise between long skinny, fast kayaks and wide, slow, stable ones. Fergs had 3 lined up to try and I managed to stay in all of them. I think more by good luck than skill. I chose a JKK racing Eclipse 5.7 along with all the extra bits I needed. Carbon paddle, spray deck, life jacket, airbags and roof rack. It cost a small fortune! “So now let’s get familiar with all this new gear How to paddle using a wing paddle, getting in and out of it with falling out, learning how to read a moving river with rapid’s, how to empty it of water and where to store it at home."
First came a big white water trip. We were going to New Plymouth for a long weekend and I wanted to spend some time on the Waitara River with Reeve because he said it was a great river to train on. Anything was better than the sea. So Reeve, Tonka and I got down there and head up to the swing bridge. The river was a seething mass of brown water and was about 2 ½ metres above its normal level. “Oh well” I said “lets go”. It was my first attempt in years on white/brown water. Ferry glided across under Reeves instructions a couple of times. Then “oops” over I went into the brown flood waters. Where was my “Oh shit strap?”. That’s the little strap at the front of the spray deck that you have to grab when you want to get out as it doesn’t just pop off. I pulled that and out I went. I still had my paddle in my hand and kayak in the other.
The river was flowing very fast now and it took me about 300 meters to get to the side where I could hardly stand up because of the flow. I had to empty the kayak which was full of water and heavy.
I got that all sorted and got back in shaking like a leaf. Then headed off down to the horse shoe rapid which normally was two simple little rapids and easy to go down. Now it was a raging rapid. I said “oh well you guys go first and I will follow.” I then dropped down the shute and I was heading for a large rock on the edge.
Lack of experience showed and think I just freaked out and rolled again. I had to find the “oh shit strap” quickly, I still had my paddle but couldn’t even try and hold on to my kayak. It smacked into a rock then headed on down. The boys headed in to try and get it. As it is a green colour and was floating half submersed it got the name “the crocodile”.
It took me 500 metres to get to the side but in the process I went through a wave train. The waves were at least 1 metre high. I took a big breath in case I went under, but thanks to my life jacket, there was no problem. I empted the kayak again. I was starting to get the hang of this, rolling out and getting back in.
By then I wasn’t just shaking from the cold, fear had a bit to do with it! I headed on down and stayed in through a couple of smaller rapids and then pulled out by the cars. That was enough for one day. We went back the next two days.
The river was going down and I managed to get my confidence back. The best part was sitting in the half cold spa back at Barnetts thinking I survived my first river day, even though my new kayak had some scars to prove it.
My Personal Trainer
I had been referred to a lady that would help me strengthen my knee so I could get through without damaging it anymore. The first time I meet Sonya Clark we were at City Fitness gym in Newmarket with all these hard core people doing big weights and sweating like pigs! I was on my back trying to tighten my gluts, TVA’s & do pelvic floor exercises.
The only sweat coming from me was the embarrassment of a hard workout just trying to tighten my gluts. “Which ones were they?” She sent me home with a list of exercises to do with little stick figure drawings. That didn’t fit my image of a hard core Coast to Coaster.
Next week I was waiting for Sonya and saw her CV on the wall with other trainers CV’s, - 5th in Adventure race in Sweden, 8th in world championship adventure racing, 1st 24hr race. “Oh Sonya does know what she was doing!” Maybe I should put more effort into working those gluts and TVA’s.
My first target was to get up Mt Kilimanjaro. So out came the training programme along with the core strength training.
Yep, I thought the training programme didn’t look too bad until I was walking around the rocks in my tramping boots at low tide. I slipped down a large rock. Stopped myself with my right leg. “Oops that wasn’t good.” It was swollen by the time I finished my 3 hr walk. That gave Sonya and Pilli (my osteo) some work to do getting it back to the right shape.
Meanwhile, I had been riding my local training circuit a couple of times a week and was feeling good. So I decided to see if Brendon Wilson wanted to cycle half of the Round Taupo course in November. I only wanted to do half because that was about the length of the longest ride in the Coast to Coast. I took off when Brendon arrived in and felt great. I had an awesome 80km ride so knew I was ok for the Coast to Coast rides, I hoped!
In October we headed off to Africa. We had an awesome time there. It was great - no training for three weeks! I was a bit worried as to how it would affect my fitness. But it wasn’t a good idea to go for a training walk in a wildlife park were there were elephants, buffalo, leopards, lions, hyena, hippos etc.
It took 6 days to climb Mt Kilimanjaro starting at 2000 metres and summiting at 5895 metres. I was pleased that three weeks off hadn’t effected my fitness too much. In fact on summit day we started at 1:00am and 4700 metres and climbed 1000 metres up in four and half hours. Then walked several Km and up another 200 metres around the mountain to the top, before descended 3200 metres. We walked 42km in total that day.
So home to do some heavy training. I had to get my grade two kayak certificate. I spent three days on the Rangitikei River with Hillary and Mad dog. I was still learning about white water and how to stay in the kayak in the rapids. I first did a run down in a white water kayak which wasn’t so tippy, then tried in mine.
After rolling out on the first rapid I jumped into Hillary’s sea kayak. Finally I got to do a few runs in my kayak and must have got some sort of skill as Hillary gave me my certificate! Then the next day we paddle 50k down the river. I found that the more time I spent on the river in my kayak, the more my ability to stay upright improved.
Next was a day on the Mohaka River with Mad Dog. “Oops” I rolled out twice that day but I am getting good at “kayak emptying”.
The last training run was to paddle the Waimakariri in January. I hired a kayak down there and Mad Dog guided me down. At this stage I had quite a fear of the unknown as I’d heard and read about the rock garden and the gorge. The Waimakariri was running at 85 cubic meters per second and I managed to get right through without rolling out. So this removed the fear of the unknown for me. But the kayak that I used was more stable than mine!
The Coast to Coast
I was now looking forward to the time when I could started tapering off on my training as you get a little sick of paddling for 3-4 hrs in the sea, or walking around the streets of Howick.
We headed down to Christchurch on Monday all loaded up with kayak, bike, Steves surf board, Jess, Steve and Merle. We picked up the Campervan on Wednesday, our support crew, Steve Edlin, Bryce and Delwyn, loaded up with groceries and headed to Hokitika.
We stopped at all the transitions on the way and then met up with Rhys and Neryl. We stayed at a camp ground at Hokitika for two nights. Tonka, his wife and sister and Peter McLeod arrived on Thursday. We spent that evening getting organised for the next day. Steve came with me to register and waited in line. I got talking to others around me to see if this was their first time too. Usually they had been support crew for someone else and then decided they had to do it. I went over and had my ankles strapped. This was to stop me rolling on them in the rocks, hopefully!
Day one started at the beach at 7:00am but the road closes at 6:00am. So all the vehicles had to be gone before then. Tonka and I were dropped off at 5:45am. We had to put our bikes into the rack and then walk the 3 km down to the start line. It was raining a little and a bit cold but not too bad. I wandered down to the Tasman Sea and touched it.
“Oops didn’t see that wave”. My feet got wet. But I guess they were going to get very wet once I started crossing the rivers in the mountain run. I had a banana and energy bar while waiting for the started. I said “good luck” to Tonka as I won’t be seeing him for a while!
Next we lined up, grouped by our race number, and waited for Robin Judkins to start the race. There was a queue at the porta loo and Robin waited for the last person to come out. We all cheered and then the horn went!!!
Day 1:-
3km Run,
55km Cycle,
33km Mountain run
We were off, about 600 of us for the 3 km run!
The first obstruction was a 2 meter high rock sea wall. Then we had to run a kilometre on sandy road so 600 of us soon spread out to a long snake with the keen people at the front. I had planned on walking this bit as I didn’t want to “stuff” my knee. The competitive spirit came up in me as I couldn’t be last and started into a slow jog. “Hey” This wasn’t too bad so kept plodding along. I came up to the main road and tried to keep on the grass at the side as was softer on my knee. Towards the end of the run I was even passing a few people, “YES”. It took about 16 minutes to complete the run.
My bike was parked at the beginning of the long line of bikes as I had a low race number. Off with my old running shoes, into cycle shoes and away.
It took a few minutes to get settled into the ride before a small group formed up. I decided to stick with them. I think I even had a small turn at the front. It took a lot more effort there than sitting in the middle.
There were a few hills in this part of the ride. The group stretched and contracted up and over them. If you were at the back you must not let a gap develop or you lose the group. At one hill at about 40k the front riders moved on and the rear rides fell back. I was left in the middle with about 4 other riders. We tried to catch up to the front group but I couldn’t keep up with the girls in front (they were much younger than me).
Then I was on my own as the guys behind had dropped back even more. I had another go at catching up. I get to about 50 meters away but just can’t hook on to the group. I started to cramp a little so just had to go the last 10km alone.
I went up the last climb then a downhill into the transition. “Yes”. That was a good sight. It put a big smile on my face. I saw Bryce and others of my crew waiting for me. Someone took my bike and Merle leads me through to were my running gear was. It was funny thinking back now but I had no idea who took my bike! I think it was Peter. The support crew were just awesome and did a great job. “Thanks.”
So I walked through to the transition area and see the rest of my support team waiting for me with all my gear.
On the mountain run there was a list of compulsory gear that you must to carry:- First aid kit, polyprop long johns and long sleeve top, hat and gloves, thermal survival blanket, second long sleeve Polyprop top, map, food and water. The back pack weighs about 4 kg. Off came any cycle stuff I didn’t need and on with running shoes. I decided that my hamstrings need stretching so I lay down on the grass and Merle does her bit! That felt better so on with the back pack and off I went.
The first bit was on grass through a paddock so it was easy going but I had just ridden 55 kilometres! I started off walking but think I should have been running. I tried that for 100 meters but didn’t feel too comfortable as I was still cramping. I was walking along side a young girl and just mention that I’m cramping a bit. She said “I had some cramp stop in my pack”. So we get it out. I had a couple of shots and reluctantly give it back. I say thanks and off I went. That was the Coast to Coast spirit that I encounter all the way.
After about 1 km I crossed the first river, plunged in and it gets up to my thighs and cold. It did wonders for my cramp! My leg muscles were cramping and I hoped it would stop soon.
Then I was out of the river and walking on the river bed looking for a track through the rocks! After 10 minutes I find a track through the bush on the riverside and started heading along it.
There were lots of runners around at this time but they mostly were running so I often moved over to let them go by. I decided at that stage after trying to run a few times that I would walk most of the way. I was not going to be first so just settle for a finish.
The 1st couple of hours were just a steady slog up the side of the Deception River but mostly on a sort of path but not flat. You have to watch your step as it would be easy to twist an ankle.
As time went by more people passed me running but there was a few that were walking so I had people in front and behind. I just kept an eye on the path that they took through the rocks and the bush as there was no marked path to follow.
By now the river bed was starting to go up a bit and get quite rocky. I had already crossed the river 3 or 4 times, so getting use to having wet feet.
About every 7-9 km was a check point for safety reasons. They record your number so that they can keep track of where competitors are and they know where to look for you if you don’t turn up at the next check point.
By now there was no clear path through the rocks and they were getting large so I had to jump from one to the other. If you look ahead, (without twisting an ankle on a rocks) I can see rock kerns stacked up by people who had been over the course before. A kern is a marker for a short cut through the bush or a path to take. The short cut is usually just a cutting through the bush that you have to duck through, watching your footing and your head but it was either shorter or faster than going up the river bed.
By now I was climbing up the boulders, were they were 1-2 meters in size and I had to pick my way over or around them. As I get closer to Goat Pass the climb gets steeper and I am getting tried. “Mate what am I doing, why did I choose to do this, DUMB. Never again!”
The final climb up to Goat pass was steep, up a little river bed that flows when it rains. At the top was a cabin, a check point, water and a bunch of people including 1st aid if needed. I stopped for a couple of minutes and drink a cup of water and chatted. It was windy up there and started to feel cold so needed to get going. I had covered about 20 km so only had 13 km to go and all downhill.
I headed off across the broad walks and down the steps and rocks. This didn’t feel that good on my knee but couldn’t stop now. After about 10 minutes I caught up with a guy running in bare feet! He needed a new challenge! I talked to him for a bit then left him behind, “YES” I actually passed someone!
Going down was not easy on my knee. After a bit a lady passed me and asked how far to Duddles Knob?
“Oops” I forgot that I had to go up again, I finally got to the top but didn’t find it too bad. It seems I liked to go up more that down.
At a number of spots along the whole Coast to Coast course there were photographers so I always made sure I was smiling for the photos! I hoped it made everyone wonder what you had been up to! There was one at the top of Dudley’s Knob. Over the top and downhill again. “Not good on my poor knee!”
Next was the Beech forest. It sounds beautiful and it is but I wasn’t in any fit state to enjoy it! The track is covered in roots and one meter climbs up and down in the dirt. It goes on forever! Eventually it drops down out of the forest and starts heading along the Mingha River bed. Still rough going but getting closer to the end of day one!
As I pasted the last check point, they told me that there were 6k to go all across a wide river bed with no clear path through. Although there were some paths at the started around the edges. There were a couple of river crossings left, so that made about 25 times that I had crossed the river and soaked my shoes.
I pass two more girls here. One had her knee strapped up after having surgery on it a few months ago and now it was hurting again. The second girl has damaged her knee and limping the last 6 k. I offer to get help but she was determined to finish this stage. That’s what the Coast to Coast does to your brain.
I started feeling better now as it was flat but still rough and I got up to a good walking speed across these. I could see the finish but still doesn’t seem to be getting any closer. About 3 km from the finish you walk along a stop bank. In the distance I see the Rav parked and a couple of guys waving and tooting at me. I held my arms up but even that was hard work. When I got close I saw that it was Bryce and Peter. “Oops” my tear ducks were trying to work! Toughen up boy. I got up to them and only had 3k to go.
It was all across the river bed and not easy going but I had to keep the speed up, about 1k out I realise that if I get going, I will be able to finish in under 10 hours. With about 500 meters to go I see Jess and Steve out on the river bed to welcome me. I started to run oops jog might describe it better, so that I could get in less than 10 hours. “Mate 10 hours; I thought that between eight - nine would be great but 10 hours!”
Anyway seeing all my support crew standing on the bank cheering and clapping along with others, was great. I climbed up the last bank and down through the finish shute with a big smile on my face. I was feeling ok, “Bring on tomorrow!”
Klondike corner was a mass of tents and campervans in the middle of no man’s land. We seem to be parked miles from the finish but make it over to the camper.
There was a strong cold wind. My crew were frozen to the bone waiting for me. I had to get showered and change quickly before I chilled too. I sat down and then tried to stand. That hurt, it all hurts! How was I going to get up the next day and do it all again?
I didn’t feel like eating much for dinner but knew that I needed to. It was amazing what came out of the little camper kitchen. Enough to feed 13 of us! Got everything I needed for the next day then got packed off to bed.
Day 2
15km Cycle,
67km Paddle,
70km Cycle,
50m run
We started today at 7:30am in groups of ten leaving one minute apart. My poor support crew had to get my kayak down at the river and ready for scrutineering before 7:00am. It meant they had a 4:30am start to get the tents down and drive the road to the river along with 500 other cars with kayaks. They then had to carry all the gear from to the car to the river. At scrutineering they check the kayak and all the gear that you had to carry. Somehow in the sorting out of my gear the night before, I had missed putting the duct tape in. “Oops” I had also miss read the list. It wasn’t a polyprop top but a polafleece top!
Steve had been able to buy some tape, and luckily he had a polafleece top in his bag so saved the day for me. Six kayaks didn’t pass so can you imagine the competitors arriving at the river to be told that they can’t continue race. “Thanks guys for the great work.”
Bryce made a suggestion that one of the campervans stay at the camp till the start so that Tonka and I can sleep later and be warm as there was still a cold wind. The ladies though it was a great idea! It just means that they couldn’t get to the first transition.
I headed over to the started at 7:00am ish and everybody was lined up waiting. I was in the sixth group to start and had a support team to see me off.
Away I went and get to lead out for the first 500m. I could hardly believe how good I was feeling, I hoped it would last. Our group soon broke into two and I was at the back of the front group. Before long we were a group of twenty to thirty and the ride was basically flat with a couple of small climbs.
At the end of the ride there was a 700m walk/run with your bike down a gravel road to the kayak transition. I walked down while eating some food. Again like the first day someone took my bike, not sure who it was now.
I followed Steve down to the kayak. Off with riding gear and into kayak gear. I had to make sure it goes on in the right order. Rhys and Steve get the kayak into the water and helped me in. So off I went with a bunch of other people.
I started off at a good pace and pass a few but also get passed by some long skinny and tippy kayaks. All I had to do was follow the kayaks in front through this bit as it was braided. There was really only one way to go.
The river was very low and it was easy to get stuck in the shallow bits that lead into the braid. It scratched the bottom of my not so new kayak!
I hadn’t gone very far and come to a sign and people saying that we should portage this rapid as there was to many rocks and no clear way through. This was a pain as I had to get out, pick up the kayak and carry it to the other side of the rapid, get back in and get going, probably took seven to ten minutes.
As I got back in a young girl beside me was all set to go but has her bow was stuck on a rock. She was trying to paddle very angrily backwards but her rudder was stuck on the bottom and rudders don’t bend that way. I told her that she was going to wreck her rudder. Then I paddle off into the distance! I think she would have had to get out to move her boat.
Not much further and the first of the rock garden rapids appeared. I had been through these a couple of weeks earlier but the river was a lot higher and I was in a more stable kayak. “Oh well here goes.” I needed to be careful not to follow the person in front but choose my own lines through. There were rocks sticking up through the rapids that weren’t there last time so I had to make sure that I miss them. I had to keep out of the main wave train but not in the back flowing eddies or I will be spun backwards or even have roll out which was the slow way down - cold and depressing.
Getting through dry is always a good feeling and I show my joy in a little scream of delight! There were four more in the rock garden series with wave trains up to three quarters of a meter high. By now full of confidence I powered on through them.
About this time I discovered many people paddle fast into the rapid but stop paddling or paddle slow when they were in the rapid. This caused me problems because Mad Dog (one of my kayak instructors) told me to paddle hard in the rough water as you had more stability and get through the rough stuff quicker. I often caught up to paddlers in front of me and that limited the space or course that I could choose. So I needed a new strategy from now on.
There was about an hour of easy paddling now before I got to the Gorge. There were some rapids but nothing to worry about so I just had to get on with the job, drinking and eating regularly. I had worked out that throughout the race I needed to eat two energy bars per hour. It all sounds good but to eat when kayaking you have to stop paddling, which wastes time. The bars were very hard and chewy because the air and water is cold at that hour of the morning, I found that the squeegee food was much easier to eat. I had one and half litres of replace in my lifejacket and a plastic cup on a stretchy that I used to drink from the river.
At a number of places along the river are check points were you have to call out your race number so that you could be traced if you didn’t finish.
I was into the gorge and there was some calm bits and some good rapids. At one rapid that swings to the left you have to slid down over a shallow bit moving to the right before turning left down the wave train. I was paddling down here when I saw a young girl ahead taking it very slowly getting into the main flow. She was almost at right angles to me but I couldn’t stop. She almost had and I hit her just behind were she sat. She almost tipped over, gave me a nasty look and then ended up pointing with her kayak at the bank.
Meanwhile I had spun one hundred and eighty degrees and was now facing upstream just to the left of the wave train. This all happened in about three seconds. “Oops how do I get out of this?”
Slowly I backed up and swing around to head downstream. Remember that this kayak was 5.7 meters long and very hard to turn around when not moving through the water. And there was a wave train roaring along beside me.
I got all sorted out and headed on down the gorge. In some parts of the gorge, the river was deep and slow so I needed to paddle hard to make good progress and other parts were adrenalin rush.
Getting towards the end of the gorge and I knew there was one last rapid to contend with called White Rock rapid. It is called this because kayakers turn white with fear at the thought of what might happen. It’s a rapid that turns to the right as you drop into it. Right in the middle of the wave train there was a rock that is about one and half meters across. If you end up on the rock you will wrap your kayak around it. If you go on the left side will be jammed between the shore and the rock, both will result in a broken kayak. On the left of the rapid just before the rock was a big eddy which if you end up in there, can make it very tricky to get out of there safely. Too far to the right and you get caught in the eddy on that side. As well there are big boils of water which can dump you out very quickly. The front of the kayak can be in an eddy with water moving up stream and the back was still in the rapid going down. So there was only one line through. You need to keep the rock on your left and the eddy/boils on your right and stay out of the main part of the wave train which is about one meter high.
As I approached this rapid I saw a lot of people getting out above it and carrying their kayaks over the rocks to avoid it. “Oh what to do?” I had been through it before but in a more stable boat. “I need to go to the loo. So if I wipe out that will fix that problem!”
I head down the V keeping to the right with another kayak about two lengths in front of me. I got my lines right but was catching up to the guy in front. The usual problem of people not paddling hard enough through the rapids.
About two thirds of the way through the guy in front rolled out so I quickly change course and I got passed him. I saw a jet boat coming up the rapid to help him. It slowed and moved away a bit to let me go by then went to help him.
My next problem was the jet boat wake. I smashed through this. I had made it “YES. Oh still need to go to the loo, no point in stopping now. So!!!!!”
I was at the end of the gorge and I had only eighteen km to go through river braids again but no hard rapids. I had about one hr from here. My shoulders were starting to hurt a bit now and my arms were a little sore. I was dropping down a little braid into a bigger flow and saw someone has rolled. It was a reminder to me to keep on concentrating.
A little further on and we were told to take a braid to left as the right led to the willows. It was a dangerous part as the willows just grow in little islands in the middle of the river and it can be very bad if you get hooked up on them.
Finally the bridge gets close, one km and two or three turns and I’m under the bridge and pulling in to the transition “YES.” I had made all the way in my tippy boat and stayed in. Steve and Rhys were there to help me out. “Come on legs work!”
I headed up the rocks and see Merle waiting for me with food etc. I striped off my kayak gear and handed it to Jess. I ate a can of creamed rice again to keep me going. I had to walk up a gravel road for two hundred meters to the bike. Off came the dive boots. On with the socks, cycle shoes, helmet, gloves and away I went. The last seventy km leg to Sumner Beach.
There was a climb out of the river to the road which was the last thing I felt like doing. Fortunately, it was in 3 sections with flats in between. I made it up there ok and headed off on my own as no one else was around. After about a one km a group caught up and I hopped onto the back.
We were riding off in a big long snake, every minute or so the front guy moved to the right and slowly slipped to the back. The next guy took the lead. Up came my turn “Oh this is a bit harder with the full force of the wind!” I dropped to the back and slow work forward again for another turn. More had joined and it was getting faster. Some of the guys were leading at thirty eight km per hour.
I was struggling to keep up at this speed even in the pack. If you are at the back it bungees out and you were either braking to stop hitting the guy in front or speeding up to close the gap. I stayed with this group for about forty km. It was the fastest forty km I had ever done! By then I couldn’t hold the speed any longer and gaps were appearing in front of me. I decided to drop off the back before I blew up!!! I was still able to ride at twenty eight – thirty km per hour as there was not too much wind. I was happy to cruise along on my own. I didn’t have to worry about hitting the guy in front. I could drink or eat without worrying about crashing into anyone.
Now there were people sitting out on the side of the road clapping and cheering. It was very encouraging. Because I was on my own I could nod or wave back and keep drinking and eating to keep my energy up.
By then I was getting into the outskirts of Christchurch. I had been warned that once you see the built up area you feel like you are there but I knew I still had twenty km to go. The ride was flat so easy and there wasn’t much head wind to contend with.
At all the major intersections there were police stopping the traffic even when the lights were green for them, to let me through. That made me feel good. I got out to the south east side of the city. There were signs were there saying how far to go, keep smiling etc.
Once I get out by the estuary the wind picked up a little and my legs slowed down. I thought they were saying they had had enough. Five km to go, four km, three km, two km. Heaps of people around now and there were cars everywhere. Cones were out for a path for us to ride in. People in high visibility jackets were there. “Yes almost there.”
Up onto the foot path and then the grass. I hopped off my bike and grabbed a drink bottle from the holder on the bike. Someone took my bike and I run down the finish shute. It was sandy about for about 100 meters and people lined up on both sides cheering and clapping.
Robin Judkins (the Coast to Coast organiser) was there to greet me. I had a photo taken with him. Next came my finishes medal. Then I was out to find my awesome support crew. I gave them all a big hug. No tears here just great joy and satisfaction that I HAD MADE IT. Chatted and cool down for a bit then went down to the sea to touch the Pacific Ocean.
243k in 2 days with no motor. What was I thinking!!!
The Coast to Coast was one amazing event, fantasic scenery, amazing competitors, superbly organised. I could not had done it without the loving support of Merle, putting up with me training for so long, washing my sweaty clothes, using her car to move my kayak around. Always having water marks on it caused by washing the kayak off. Having to fit my training around the household. Seeing me sore from training and not telling me I was nuts.
Encouraging help of Sonya, my personal trainer.
The healing power of Pilli my osteopath who was still working on me
The Support Crew
Steve Lamas Assistant Bike Manager
Jess Recording Manager
Steve Edlin Kayak Manager and Assistant Mountain run Manager
Peter Mcleod Bike Manager
Rhys Howell Assistant Kayak Manager and Mountain Run Manager
Neryl Supporter (who now wants to compete in the Coast to Coast)
Bryce Logistics Manager
Delwyn CEO
Bronwyn Well being Manager Tonka
Merle Well Being Manager Lew
Thank you everybody for getting in to help with the food, cooking, dishes, sleeping, putting up tents, pulling down tents at 4:30am. Standing in the cold waiting for me to started, finish, transition etc
When I decided to do the Coast to Coast, I anticipated eight – nine hrs first day and eight hrs for the second day. I was a little disappointed with my time of 17 hrs 57 minutes, 19th out of 21 in my age group, 232nd out of 273.
But when I consider that they are the fittest 50-59 yr olds in the country and I walked the mountain run then it wasn’t too bad! All my times except the mountain run were in the middle of the group.
Would I do it all again? For the first couple of weeks after the answer was definitely “NO” But as time goes by I think I would. I only had to be 2 hrs faster and I could make the cut off time for the 1 day!
I admire the people that train for this event, work full time and have a family as well. I was lucky to not to have to work, so I could train during the day. I would never encourage anybody to do this event. It is expensive getting all the gear, the kayak grade 2 course, guiding down the rivers, the trail run down the Waimakariri, all the energy food you eat, the trip down and back, campervan hire and other costs that I have forgotten.
You need a huge amount of time to train and lastly you go way outside your comfort zone. But if you do choose to do it, I will support you all the way!
Special thanks to Ruth Eggers for her time in editing this and getting my tenses correct.
3 km run
55 km cycle
33 km mountain run
Sleep
15 km cycle
67 km kayak
70 km cycle
Started 7:00 am Friday 13th Feb at Karuma Beach West Coast. Finish Saturday 14th Feb in the afternoon Sumner Beach East Coast
Why would anybody want to do this? How did I get into doing things like this?
It all started years ago when I had Accord Industries and the Ironman Triathlon was new to NZ. We decided to organise a Tinman, because we weren’t tough enough to do an Ironman. Then one time Bryce Barnett said “Lew, if you run a marathon, I will do your Tinman”
I guess that was the start of my endurance events. I remember years before saying that I would never run a marathon, "That's a crazy distance to run."
So why Coast to Coast? I guess I have always heard about it and followed Steve Gurney’s attempts to win it and break the records so had a little knowledge of what it was. Little did I know years later I would compete in and finish the Coast to Coast myself. Over the years I had done and convinced Merle and my family to do with me, a few things that are out there.
Rotorua Marathon; trekking in the Himalayas ( where I climbed to 5400 metres); ocean passages in yachts; cycled around Taupo several times; 4.2 km Ironman swim; 2.4 k harbour swims (with Roxy); 42nd Traverse down then back up (Mountain bike with Roxy); visited Antarctica where I kayaked in the ice; climbed Mt Kilimanjaro (5895 metres). So somehow Coast to Coast appeared on my list of 101 things to do in the next 1001 days.
Also on the list was a Cycle trip. In early 2008 Merle and I were going down to Masterton for a few days and I said I would like to take 3-4 days and ride down. Merle didn’t say much but woke the next morning and said that she would rather me do the Coast to Coast than ride to Masterton as it is too dangerous cycling on our roads." Yes!" That was all the encouragement I needed.
I had originally planned on doing it in a team but decided that if I were to put myself through that much pain, I might as well do it on my own.
Entries didn’t open until July so started my research into all the things that I needed to know and get before the big day. I know not a day went by from there on without me thinking about some aspect of the Coast to Coast.
In October we were going to Africa with Bryce & Delwyn Barnett and Hugh & Cathy Grey. I had said if I’m going there, I would like to climb Mt Kilimanjaro. Merle and Delwyn were keen to give it a go but Merle decided not to.
So now I had two ambitious goals to achieve and train for. Just to make all this a little more complicated years ago I had had part of a cartilage removed from my right knee. So now, anytime I walk or run too much it swelled and hurts. Also I had a busy year planned with going to Canada in June to see Roxy and Wayne for a month, 4 weeks in Africa in October, and 2 weeks in Canada again at Christmas at Roxy and Wayne’s, with a little bit of snowboarding. I wasn’t sure how all this would fit in with my training and not affect my fitness. Time would tell!
“Who do I talk to about the Coast to Coast?” Reeve Barnett had done the 2 day event in 2007 so he was the first sounding board. He arranged for me to meet him at Fergs kayaks to try some multisport kayaks. I had tried his kayak out one day at Mellons Bay and I could manage 20 strokes before rolling out! So I knew there was a compromise between long skinny, fast kayaks and wide, slow, stable ones. Fergs had 3 lined up to try and I managed to stay in all of them. I think more by good luck than skill. I chose a JKK racing Eclipse 5.7 along with all the extra bits I needed. Carbon paddle, spray deck, life jacket, airbags and roof rack. It cost a small fortune! “So now let’s get familiar with all this new gear How to paddle using a wing paddle, getting in and out of it with falling out, learning how to read a moving river with rapid’s, how to empty it of water and where to store it at home."
First came a big white water trip. We were going to New Plymouth for a long weekend and I wanted to spend some time on the Waitara River with Reeve because he said it was a great river to train on. Anything was better than the sea. So Reeve, Tonka and I got down there and head up to the swing bridge. The river was a seething mass of brown water and was about 2 ½ metres above its normal level. “Oh well” I said “lets go”. It was my first attempt in years on white/brown water. Ferry glided across under Reeves instructions a couple of times. Then “oops” over I went into the brown flood waters. Where was my “Oh shit strap?”. That’s the little strap at the front of the spray deck that you have to grab when you want to get out as it doesn’t just pop off. I pulled that and out I went. I still had my paddle in my hand and kayak in the other.
The river was flowing very fast now and it took me about 300 meters to get to the side where I could hardly stand up because of the flow. I had to empty the kayak which was full of water and heavy.
I got that all sorted and got back in shaking like a leaf. Then headed off down to the horse shoe rapid which normally was two simple little rapids and easy to go down. Now it was a raging rapid. I said “oh well you guys go first and I will follow.” I then dropped down the shute and I was heading for a large rock on the edge.
Lack of experience showed and think I just freaked out and rolled again. I had to find the “oh shit strap” quickly, I still had my paddle but couldn’t even try and hold on to my kayak. It smacked into a rock then headed on down. The boys headed in to try and get it. As it is a green colour and was floating half submersed it got the name “the crocodile”.
It took me 500 metres to get to the side but in the process I went through a wave train. The waves were at least 1 metre high. I took a big breath in case I went under, but thanks to my life jacket, there was no problem. I empted the kayak again. I was starting to get the hang of this, rolling out and getting back in.
By then I wasn’t just shaking from the cold, fear had a bit to do with it! I headed on down and stayed in through a couple of smaller rapids and then pulled out by the cars. That was enough for one day. We went back the next two days.
The river was going down and I managed to get my confidence back. The best part was sitting in the half cold spa back at Barnetts thinking I survived my first river day, even though my new kayak had some scars to prove it.
My Personal Trainer
I had been referred to a lady that would help me strengthen my knee so I could get through without damaging it anymore. The first time I meet Sonya Clark we were at City Fitness gym in Newmarket with all these hard core people doing big weights and sweating like pigs! I was on my back trying to tighten my gluts, TVA’s & do pelvic floor exercises.
The only sweat coming from me was the embarrassment of a hard workout just trying to tighten my gluts. “Which ones were they?” She sent me home with a list of exercises to do with little stick figure drawings. That didn’t fit my image of a hard core Coast to Coaster.
Next week I was waiting for Sonya and saw her CV on the wall with other trainers CV’s, - 5th in Adventure race in Sweden, 8th in world championship adventure racing, 1st 24hr race. “Oh Sonya does know what she was doing!” Maybe I should put more effort into working those gluts and TVA’s.
My first target was to get up Mt Kilimanjaro. So out came the training programme along with the core strength training.
Yep, I thought the training programme didn’t look too bad until I was walking around the rocks in my tramping boots at low tide. I slipped down a large rock. Stopped myself with my right leg. “Oops that wasn’t good.” It was swollen by the time I finished my 3 hr walk. That gave Sonya and Pilli (my osteo) some work to do getting it back to the right shape.
Meanwhile, I had been riding my local training circuit a couple of times a week and was feeling good. So I decided to see if Brendon Wilson wanted to cycle half of the Round Taupo course in November. I only wanted to do half because that was about the length of the longest ride in the Coast to Coast. I took off when Brendon arrived in and felt great. I had an awesome 80km ride so knew I was ok for the Coast to Coast rides, I hoped!
In October we headed off to Africa. We had an awesome time there. It was great - no training for three weeks! I was a bit worried as to how it would affect my fitness. But it wasn’t a good idea to go for a training walk in a wildlife park were there were elephants, buffalo, leopards, lions, hyena, hippos etc.
It took 6 days to climb Mt Kilimanjaro starting at 2000 metres and summiting at 5895 metres. I was pleased that three weeks off hadn’t effected my fitness too much. In fact on summit day we started at 1:00am and 4700 metres and climbed 1000 metres up in four and half hours. Then walked several Km and up another 200 metres around the mountain to the top, before descended 3200 metres. We walked 42km in total that day.
So home to do some heavy training. I had to get my grade two kayak certificate. I spent three days on the Rangitikei River with Hillary and Mad dog. I was still learning about white water and how to stay in the kayak in the rapids. I first did a run down in a white water kayak which wasn’t so tippy, then tried in mine.
After rolling out on the first rapid I jumped into Hillary’s sea kayak. Finally I got to do a few runs in my kayak and must have got some sort of skill as Hillary gave me my certificate! Then the next day we paddle 50k down the river. I found that the more time I spent on the river in my kayak, the more my ability to stay upright improved.
Next was a day on the Mohaka River with Mad Dog. “Oops” I rolled out twice that day but I am getting good at “kayak emptying”.
The last training run was to paddle the Waimakariri in January. I hired a kayak down there and Mad Dog guided me down. At this stage I had quite a fear of the unknown as I’d heard and read about the rock garden and the gorge. The Waimakariri was running at 85 cubic meters per second and I managed to get right through without rolling out. So this removed the fear of the unknown for me. But the kayak that I used was more stable than mine!
The Coast to Coast
I was now looking forward to the time when I could started tapering off on my training as you get a little sick of paddling for 3-4 hrs in the sea, or walking around the streets of Howick.
We headed down to Christchurch on Monday all loaded up with kayak, bike, Steves surf board, Jess, Steve and Merle. We picked up the Campervan on Wednesday, our support crew, Steve Edlin, Bryce and Delwyn, loaded up with groceries and headed to Hokitika.
We stopped at all the transitions on the way and then met up with Rhys and Neryl. We stayed at a camp ground at Hokitika for two nights. Tonka, his wife and sister and Peter McLeod arrived on Thursday. We spent that evening getting organised for the next day. Steve came with me to register and waited in line. I got talking to others around me to see if this was their first time too. Usually they had been support crew for someone else and then decided they had to do it. I went over and had my ankles strapped. This was to stop me rolling on them in the rocks, hopefully!
Day one started at the beach at 7:00am but the road closes at 6:00am. So all the vehicles had to be gone before then. Tonka and I were dropped off at 5:45am. We had to put our bikes into the rack and then walk the 3 km down to the start line. It was raining a little and a bit cold but not too bad. I wandered down to the Tasman Sea and touched it.
“Oops didn’t see that wave”. My feet got wet. But I guess they were going to get very wet once I started crossing the rivers in the mountain run. I had a banana and energy bar while waiting for the started. I said “good luck” to Tonka as I won’t be seeing him for a while!
Next we lined up, grouped by our race number, and waited for Robin Judkins to start the race. There was a queue at the porta loo and Robin waited for the last person to come out. We all cheered and then the horn went!!!
Day 1:-
3km Run,
55km Cycle,
33km Mountain run
We were off, about 600 of us for the 3 km run!
The first obstruction was a 2 meter high rock sea wall. Then we had to run a kilometre on sandy road so 600 of us soon spread out to a long snake with the keen people at the front. I had planned on walking this bit as I didn’t want to “stuff” my knee. The competitive spirit came up in me as I couldn’t be last and started into a slow jog. “Hey” This wasn’t too bad so kept plodding along. I came up to the main road and tried to keep on the grass at the side as was softer on my knee. Towards the end of the run I was even passing a few people, “YES”. It took about 16 minutes to complete the run.
My bike was parked at the beginning of the long line of bikes as I had a low race number. Off with my old running shoes, into cycle shoes and away.
It took a few minutes to get settled into the ride before a small group formed up. I decided to stick with them. I think I even had a small turn at the front. It took a lot more effort there than sitting in the middle.
There were a few hills in this part of the ride. The group stretched and contracted up and over them. If you were at the back you must not let a gap develop or you lose the group. At one hill at about 40k the front riders moved on and the rear rides fell back. I was left in the middle with about 4 other riders. We tried to catch up to the front group but I couldn’t keep up with the girls in front (they were much younger than me).
Then I was on my own as the guys behind had dropped back even more. I had another go at catching up. I get to about 50 meters away but just can’t hook on to the group. I started to cramp a little so just had to go the last 10km alone.
I went up the last climb then a downhill into the transition. “Yes”. That was a good sight. It put a big smile on my face. I saw Bryce and others of my crew waiting for me. Someone took my bike and Merle leads me through to were my running gear was. It was funny thinking back now but I had no idea who took my bike! I think it was Peter. The support crew were just awesome and did a great job. “Thanks.”
So I walked through to the transition area and see the rest of my support team waiting for me with all my gear.
On the mountain run there was a list of compulsory gear that you must to carry:- First aid kit, polyprop long johns and long sleeve top, hat and gloves, thermal survival blanket, second long sleeve Polyprop top, map, food and water. The back pack weighs about 4 kg. Off came any cycle stuff I didn’t need and on with running shoes. I decided that my hamstrings need stretching so I lay down on the grass and Merle does her bit! That felt better so on with the back pack and off I went.
The first bit was on grass through a paddock so it was easy going but I had just ridden 55 kilometres! I started off walking but think I should have been running. I tried that for 100 meters but didn’t feel too comfortable as I was still cramping. I was walking along side a young girl and just mention that I’m cramping a bit. She said “I had some cramp stop in my pack”. So we get it out. I had a couple of shots and reluctantly give it back. I say thanks and off I went. That was the Coast to Coast spirit that I encounter all the way.
After about 1 km I crossed the first river, plunged in and it gets up to my thighs and cold. It did wonders for my cramp! My leg muscles were cramping and I hoped it would stop soon.
Then I was out of the river and walking on the river bed looking for a track through the rocks! After 10 minutes I find a track through the bush on the riverside and started heading along it.
There were lots of runners around at this time but they mostly were running so I often moved over to let them go by. I decided at that stage after trying to run a few times that I would walk most of the way. I was not going to be first so just settle for a finish.
The 1st couple of hours were just a steady slog up the side of the Deception River but mostly on a sort of path but not flat. You have to watch your step as it would be easy to twist an ankle.
As time went by more people passed me running but there was a few that were walking so I had people in front and behind. I just kept an eye on the path that they took through the rocks and the bush as there was no marked path to follow.
By now the river bed was starting to go up a bit and get quite rocky. I had already crossed the river 3 or 4 times, so getting use to having wet feet.
About every 7-9 km was a check point for safety reasons. They record your number so that they can keep track of where competitors are and they know where to look for you if you don’t turn up at the next check point.
By now there was no clear path through the rocks and they were getting large so I had to jump from one to the other. If you look ahead, (without twisting an ankle on a rocks) I can see rock kerns stacked up by people who had been over the course before. A kern is a marker for a short cut through the bush or a path to take. The short cut is usually just a cutting through the bush that you have to duck through, watching your footing and your head but it was either shorter or faster than going up the river bed.
By now I was climbing up the boulders, were they were 1-2 meters in size and I had to pick my way over or around them. As I get closer to Goat Pass the climb gets steeper and I am getting tried. “Mate what am I doing, why did I choose to do this, DUMB. Never again!”
The final climb up to Goat pass was steep, up a little river bed that flows when it rains. At the top was a cabin, a check point, water and a bunch of people including 1st aid if needed. I stopped for a couple of minutes and drink a cup of water and chatted. It was windy up there and started to feel cold so needed to get going. I had covered about 20 km so only had 13 km to go and all downhill.
I headed off across the broad walks and down the steps and rocks. This didn’t feel that good on my knee but couldn’t stop now. After about 10 minutes I caught up with a guy running in bare feet! He needed a new challenge! I talked to him for a bit then left him behind, “YES” I actually passed someone!
Going down was not easy on my knee. After a bit a lady passed me and asked how far to Duddles Knob?
“Oops” I forgot that I had to go up again, I finally got to the top but didn’t find it too bad. It seems I liked to go up more that down.
At a number of spots along the whole Coast to Coast course there were photographers so I always made sure I was smiling for the photos! I hoped it made everyone wonder what you had been up to! There was one at the top of Dudley’s Knob. Over the top and downhill again. “Not good on my poor knee!”
Next was the Beech forest. It sounds beautiful and it is but I wasn’t in any fit state to enjoy it! The track is covered in roots and one meter climbs up and down in the dirt. It goes on forever! Eventually it drops down out of the forest and starts heading along the Mingha River bed. Still rough going but getting closer to the end of day one!
As I pasted the last check point, they told me that there were 6k to go all across a wide river bed with no clear path through. Although there were some paths at the started around the edges. There were a couple of river crossings left, so that made about 25 times that I had crossed the river and soaked my shoes.
I pass two more girls here. One had her knee strapped up after having surgery on it a few months ago and now it was hurting again. The second girl has damaged her knee and limping the last 6 k. I offer to get help but she was determined to finish this stage. That’s what the Coast to Coast does to your brain.
I started feeling better now as it was flat but still rough and I got up to a good walking speed across these. I could see the finish but still doesn’t seem to be getting any closer. About 3 km from the finish you walk along a stop bank. In the distance I see the Rav parked and a couple of guys waving and tooting at me. I held my arms up but even that was hard work. When I got close I saw that it was Bryce and Peter. “Oops” my tear ducks were trying to work! Toughen up boy. I got up to them and only had 3k to go.
It was all across the river bed and not easy going but I had to keep the speed up, about 1k out I realise that if I get going, I will be able to finish in under 10 hours. With about 500 meters to go I see Jess and Steve out on the river bed to welcome me. I started to run oops jog might describe it better, so that I could get in less than 10 hours. “Mate 10 hours; I thought that between eight - nine would be great but 10 hours!”
Anyway seeing all my support crew standing on the bank cheering and clapping along with others, was great. I climbed up the last bank and down through the finish shute with a big smile on my face. I was feeling ok, “Bring on tomorrow!”
Klondike corner was a mass of tents and campervans in the middle of no man’s land. We seem to be parked miles from the finish but make it over to the camper.
There was a strong cold wind. My crew were frozen to the bone waiting for me. I had to get showered and change quickly before I chilled too. I sat down and then tried to stand. That hurt, it all hurts! How was I going to get up the next day and do it all again?
I didn’t feel like eating much for dinner but knew that I needed to. It was amazing what came out of the little camper kitchen. Enough to feed 13 of us! Got everything I needed for the next day then got packed off to bed.
Day 2
15km Cycle,
67km Paddle,
70km Cycle,
50m run
We started today at 7:30am in groups of ten leaving one minute apart. My poor support crew had to get my kayak down at the river and ready for scrutineering before 7:00am. It meant they had a 4:30am start to get the tents down and drive the road to the river along with 500 other cars with kayaks. They then had to carry all the gear from to the car to the river. At scrutineering they check the kayak and all the gear that you had to carry. Somehow in the sorting out of my gear the night before, I had missed putting the duct tape in. “Oops” I had also miss read the list. It wasn’t a polyprop top but a polafleece top!
Steve had been able to buy some tape, and luckily he had a polafleece top in his bag so saved the day for me. Six kayaks didn’t pass so can you imagine the competitors arriving at the river to be told that they can’t continue race. “Thanks guys for the great work.”
Bryce made a suggestion that one of the campervans stay at the camp till the start so that Tonka and I can sleep later and be warm as there was still a cold wind. The ladies though it was a great idea! It just means that they couldn’t get to the first transition.
I headed over to the started at 7:00am ish and everybody was lined up waiting. I was in the sixth group to start and had a support team to see me off.
Away I went and get to lead out for the first 500m. I could hardly believe how good I was feeling, I hoped it would last. Our group soon broke into two and I was at the back of the front group. Before long we were a group of twenty to thirty and the ride was basically flat with a couple of small climbs.
At the end of the ride there was a 700m walk/run with your bike down a gravel road to the kayak transition. I walked down while eating some food. Again like the first day someone took my bike, not sure who it was now.
I followed Steve down to the kayak. Off with riding gear and into kayak gear. I had to make sure it goes on in the right order. Rhys and Steve get the kayak into the water and helped me in. So off I went with a bunch of other people.
I started off at a good pace and pass a few but also get passed by some long skinny and tippy kayaks. All I had to do was follow the kayaks in front through this bit as it was braided. There was really only one way to go.
The river was very low and it was easy to get stuck in the shallow bits that lead into the braid. It scratched the bottom of my not so new kayak!
I hadn’t gone very far and come to a sign and people saying that we should portage this rapid as there was to many rocks and no clear way through. This was a pain as I had to get out, pick up the kayak and carry it to the other side of the rapid, get back in and get going, probably took seven to ten minutes.
As I got back in a young girl beside me was all set to go but has her bow was stuck on a rock. She was trying to paddle very angrily backwards but her rudder was stuck on the bottom and rudders don’t bend that way. I told her that she was going to wreck her rudder. Then I paddle off into the distance! I think she would have had to get out to move her boat.
Not much further and the first of the rock garden rapids appeared. I had been through these a couple of weeks earlier but the river was a lot higher and I was in a more stable kayak. “Oh well here goes.” I needed to be careful not to follow the person in front but choose my own lines through. There were rocks sticking up through the rapids that weren’t there last time so I had to make sure that I miss them. I had to keep out of the main wave train but not in the back flowing eddies or I will be spun backwards or even have roll out which was the slow way down - cold and depressing.
Getting through dry is always a good feeling and I show my joy in a little scream of delight! There were four more in the rock garden series with wave trains up to three quarters of a meter high. By now full of confidence I powered on through them.
About this time I discovered many people paddle fast into the rapid but stop paddling or paddle slow when they were in the rapid. This caused me problems because Mad Dog (one of my kayak instructors) told me to paddle hard in the rough water as you had more stability and get through the rough stuff quicker. I often caught up to paddlers in front of me and that limited the space or course that I could choose. So I needed a new strategy from now on.
There was about an hour of easy paddling now before I got to the Gorge. There were some rapids but nothing to worry about so I just had to get on with the job, drinking and eating regularly. I had worked out that throughout the race I needed to eat two energy bars per hour. It all sounds good but to eat when kayaking you have to stop paddling, which wastes time. The bars were very hard and chewy because the air and water is cold at that hour of the morning, I found that the squeegee food was much easier to eat. I had one and half litres of replace in my lifejacket and a plastic cup on a stretchy that I used to drink from the river.
At a number of places along the river are check points were you have to call out your race number so that you could be traced if you didn’t finish.
I was into the gorge and there was some calm bits and some good rapids. At one rapid that swings to the left you have to slid down over a shallow bit moving to the right before turning left down the wave train. I was paddling down here when I saw a young girl ahead taking it very slowly getting into the main flow. She was almost at right angles to me but I couldn’t stop. She almost had and I hit her just behind were she sat. She almost tipped over, gave me a nasty look and then ended up pointing with her kayak at the bank.
Meanwhile I had spun one hundred and eighty degrees and was now facing upstream just to the left of the wave train. This all happened in about three seconds. “Oops how do I get out of this?”
Slowly I backed up and swing around to head downstream. Remember that this kayak was 5.7 meters long and very hard to turn around when not moving through the water. And there was a wave train roaring along beside me.
I got all sorted out and headed on down the gorge. In some parts of the gorge, the river was deep and slow so I needed to paddle hard to make good progress and other parts were adrenalin rush.
Getting towards the end of the gorge and I knew there was one last rapid to contend with called White Rock rapid. It is called this because kayakers turn white with fear at the thought of what might happen. It’s a rapid that turns to the right as you drop into it. Right in the middle of the wave train there was a rock that is about one and half meters across. If you end up on the rock you will wrap your kayak around it. If you go on the left side will be jammed between the shore and the rock, both will result in a broken kayak. On the left of the rapid just before the rock was a big eddy which if you end up in there, can make it very tricky to get out of there safely. Too far to the right and you get caught in the eddy on that side. As well there are big boils of water which can dump you out very quickly. The front of the kayak can be in an eddy with water moving up stream and the back was still in the rapid going down. So there was only one line through. You need to keep the rock on your left and the eddy/boils on your right and stay out of the main part of the wave train which is about one meter high.
As I approached this rapid I saw a lot of people getting out above it and carrying their kayaks over the rocks to avoid it. “Oh what to do?” I had been through it before but in a more stable boat. “I need to go to the loo. So if I wipe out that will fix that problem!”
I head down the V keeping to the right with another kayak about two lengths in front of me. I got my lines right but was catching up to the guy in front. The usual problem of people not paddling hard enough through the rapids.
About two thirds of the way through the guy in front rolled out so I quickly change course and I got passed him. I saw a jet boat coming up the rapid to help him. It slowed and moved away a bit to let me go by then went to help him.
My next problem was the jet boat wake. I smashed through this. I had made it “YES. Oh still need to go to the loo, no point in stopping now. So!!!!!”
I was at the end of the gorge and I had only eighteen km to go through river braids again but no hard rapids. I had about one hr from here. My shoulders were starting to hurt a bit now and my arms were a little sore. I was dropping down a little braid into a bigger flow and saw someone has rolled. It was a reminder to me to keep on concentrating.
A little further on and we were told to take a braid to left as the right led to the willows. It was a dangerous part as the willows just grow in little islands in the middle of the river and it can be very bad if you get hooked up on them.
Finally the bridge gets close, one km and two or three turns and I’m under the bridge and pulling in to the transition “YES.” I had made all the way in my tippy boat and stayed in. Steve and Rhys were there to help me out. “Come on legs work!”
I headed up the rocks and see Merle waiting for me with food etc. I striped off my kayak gear and handed it to Jess. I ate a can of creamed rice again to keep me going. I had to walk up a gravel road for two hundred meters to the bike. Off came the dive boots. On with the socks, cycle shoes, helmet, gloves and away I went. The last seventy km leg to Sumner Beach.
There was a climb out of the river to the road which was the last thing I felt like doing. Fortunately, it was in 3 sections with flats in between. I made it up there ok and headed off on my own as no one else was around. After about a one km a group caught up and I hopped onto the back.
We were riding off in a big long snake, every minute or so the front guy moved to the right and slowly slipped to the back. The next guy took the lead. Up came my turn “Oh this is a bit harder with the full force of the wind!” I dropped to the back and slow work forward again for another turn. More had joined and it was getting faster. Some of the guys were leading at thirty eight km per hour.
I was struggling to keep up at this speed even in the pack. If you are at the back it bungees out and you were either braking to stop hitting the guy in front or speeding up to close the gap. I stayed with this group for about forty km. It was the fastest forty km I had ever done! By then I couldn’t hold the speed any longer and gaps were appearing in front of me. I decided to drop off the back before I blew up!!! I was still able to ride at twenty eight – thirty km per hour as there was not too much wind. I was happy to cruise along on my own. I didn’t have to worry about hitting the guy in front. I could drink or eat without worrying about crashing into anyone.
Now there were people sitting out on the side of the road clapping and cheering. It was very encouraging. Because I was on my own I could nod or wave back and keep drinking and eating to keep my energy up.
By then I was getting into the outskirts of Christchurch. I had been warned that once you see the built up area you feel like you are there but I knew I still had twenty km to go. The ride was flat so easy and there wasn’t much head wind to contend with.
At all the major intersections there were police stopping the traffic even when the lights were green for them, to let me through. That made me feel good. I got out to the south east side of the city. There were signs were there saying how far to go, keep smiling etc.
Once I get out by the estuary the wind picked up a little and my legs slowed down. I thought they were saying they had had enough. Five km to go, four km, three km, two km. Heaps of people around now and there were cars everywhere. Cones were out for a path for us to ride in. People in high visibility jackets were there. “Yes almost there.”
Up onto the foot path and then the grass. I hopped off my bike and grabbed a drink bottle from the holder on the bike. Someone took my bike and I run down the finish shute. It was sandy about for about 100 meters and people lined up on both sides cheering and clapping.
Robin Judkins (the Coast to Coast organiser) was there to greet me. I had a photo taken with him. Next came my finishes medal. Then I was out to find my awesome support crew. I gave them all a big hug. No tears here just great joy and satisfaction that I HAD MADE IT. Chatted and cool down for a bit then went down to the sea to touch the Pacific Ocean.
243k in 2 days with no motor. What was I thinking!!!
The Coast to Coast was one amazing event, fantasic scenery, amazing competitors, superbly organised. I could not had done it without the loving support of Merle, putting up with me training for so long, washing my sweaty clothes, using her car to move my kayak around. Always having water marks on it caused by washing the kayak off. Having to fit my training around the household. Seeing me sore from training and not telling me I was nuts.
Encouraging help of Sonya, my personal trainer.
The healing power of Pilli my osteopath who was still working on me
The Support Crew
Steve Lamas Assistant Bike Manager
Jess Recording Manager
Steve Edlin Kayak Manager and Assistant Mountain run Manager
Peter Mcleod Bike Manager
Rhys Howell Assistant Kayak Manager and Mountain Run Manager
Neryl Supporter (who now wants to compete in the Coast to Coast)
Bryce Logistics Manager
Delwyn CEO
Bronwyn Well being Manager Tonka
Merle Well Being Manager Lew
Thank you everybody for getting in to help with the food, cooking, dishes, sleeping, putting up tents, pulling down tents at 4:30am. Standing in the cold waiting for me to started, finish, transition etc
When I decided to do the Coast to Coast, I anticipated eight – nine hrs first day and eight hrs for the second day. I was a little disappointed with my time of 17 hrs 57 minutes, 19th out of 21 in my age group, 232nd out of 273.
But when I consider that they are the fittest 50-59 yr olds in the country and I walked the mountain run then it wasn’t too bad! All my times except the mountain run were in the middle of the group.
Would I do it all again? For the first couple of weeks after the answer was definitely “NO” But as time goes by I think I would. I only had to be 2 hrs faster and I could make the cut off time for the 1 day!
I admire the people that train for this event, work full time and have a family as well. I was lucky to not to have to work, so I could train during the day. I would never encourage anybody to do this event. It is expensive getting all the gear, the kayak grade 2 course, guiding down the rivers, the trail run down the Waimakariri, all the energy food you eat, the trip down and back, campervan hire and other costs that I have forgotten.
You need a huge amount of time to train and lastly you go way outside your comfort zone. But if you do choose to do it, I will support you all the way!
Special thanks to Ruth Eggers for her time in editing this and getting my tenses correct.
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