Full Circle

Day 8

Paul has completed the 1100km with half a day remaining!! A great effort.

He has ended up where he started in Blenheim all those days ago.

Having him back in the house was pretty funny, he had one leg bigger than the other and kept eating for two.

He has been creating this Slide Show so here goes. A good taste of what he has been up to.

The End is Nigh

We are on the last section of this Epic voyage. I say we as this house has been following his every wiggle.

I mentioned that the aim for last night was Nelson, but that would leave too much to do on the last day so the troops (3-4 of them and hardly any strength left to be called troops) stayed in Havlock last night. They rode in a Peloton formation and had only just 15mins to book their nights stay and order dinner.

Day 7

So today is all about pushing for Blenheim. The end. Keen for it to finish. Legs are like "wood".

There is one last slog though the Port Underwood road, which on google earth doesn't look that intimidating but according to the dude who finished the ride in 3.5 days!! "it's a Slog".

As I am typing this PB is moving along alright....maybe he's found some inner spring.

I found out more about the crash on day 2. Sore legs (both) shin and a swollen ankle. Nothing like starting a 1100km ride with a few damaged limbs. Must get some photos of the Santa beard before it gets taken off too.

The last push across the hills

Dawn till Dusk

Received a call from the big man yesterday and must say he sounds rather coherent. Must be the flat white he just drank.


All is moving on nice both body and bike are holding up (thanks to his sports massage therapist dude)

Stayed in a backpackers last night and indulged in a shower and the art of brushing ones teeth.  Oh and washing his riding gear. One of lifes treats on the Brevet.

Last I heard he was having beer at the backpackers @ St Amaud with 5 other mates from the ride.

Day 6

So today sees the aim of making Nelson by nightfall and one of the last big climbs too leading into the City.

My figures for yesterday were incorrect. Ride finishes mid Sunday so there still is 2 1/2 days left.

904kms completed with 196kms left. Sounds easy  huh??

If any of you UK troops have any spare pounds or hula hoops and would like to donate for the cause you can drop it in my UK account and I can get the funds out here. (yes we have Money machines in NZ)

First Direct
M J Becker
40-47-59 95256720 

Long Way Round

Here I am sitting at work watching the updates, trying to pretend I am actually doing work!!

Its 13:18 on 9th Feb. That makes it day 6... 5.. no 6. I am struggling to keep track also. 2.5 days left.

PB n co had a super long day yesterday finishing up @ after 10pm in the small town of Springs Junction, where they found everything was closed and had to camp out near a river. The plus being water to have a bath in aye.. I think he managed over 180kms that day, though forest tracks.

From the injury list. Shoulder is playing up along with every other body bit.

His clock says 788km completed. So that's 312km left. 2 1/2 days left.

The terrain looks unrelenting though and with every nice long downhill comes the mother of all climbs.

We all wishing him well.

 

Another Day Another Dollar

Paul is making up some good ground today as he is nearing the West Coast after 570kms. Peeking at his ride history I see he's been keeping a good pace though I bet that behind is starting to burn :) 

I have no idea where he is planning to spend the night and I don't think he does either.

Looking at the Spot Tracker he is nearing the town of Stillwater and I don't think there are many options there. Maybe he will be pitching the tent on Steves lawn. (who's Steve? no idea, made up local)

We found out yesterday that he came off and fell down the hill, then spent the rest of the day carrying his bike though the thick soul sucking mud. I will get told these stories for years to come i'm sure.

Oh hang on a minute, after another refresh I see he's shot past Stillwater ...(Steve wasn't home?) and is approaching Blackball!! It's 8.40 and light is fading. PB wanted to make up some ground today after Day 2 was cut short by those magical reappearing beans.

and he's off...

Mr Becker Jrn here. I have taken over the show while Paul is peddling around the South Island.

Air New Zealand couldn't fit his bike on his flight, so it had to be sent later that day. Cheers Mr Fyfe, slick company you have there.

But it wasn't all bad, as the bike arrived and Day 1 began.

At the Start

A brutal day at that, as I sit here with a cup of tea laughing at the Elevation charts.

We have been glued to the Computer watching a little arrow bouncing around. It is very addictive and Mum hasn't moved from the Computer seat much at all. A long 7 days ahead for all :)

Well Day 1 complete and we heard from Mr Becker. His voice was the sound of a slog was had. But upbeat and giving nothing away. We find out later that it was dang hot and he had a wee lie down under a tree. He was not alone as a few riders had spells of the nasty heat stroke.

Keeping it nice n steady on the metal

View of half of the Beast

Day 2 saw a tough start to the day, with Pauls breakfast, Baked Beans being returned back out of the place they entered. Yep. Not sure what he had eaten, but there has been a rumour that it was the Indian Rice.

Few kgs lighter Mr B heads off for another day. Today should not be as tough as yesterday, though after this mornings efforts it may be.

4 days till start on Saturday 9am.

Zoe's Trust Account for donations is ASB 12-3031-0126670-53 


Thanks to everyone who has either already made a donation or signed up to support.
I had better make it around otherwise I will be issuing too many credits for the km not done!!
One training session left for Wednesday night, bike is all boxed up and ready to go.
I have made a last minute decision and decided to take a small cooker, tiny bit of extra weight 
but I think there will be a few nights out the middle of nowhere. All up with water on board about an extra 12kg to lug around.
Last full training ride was on Sunday with everything loaded up.

Remember you can follow the event on kiwibrevet.blogspot.com
Click on the link to live tracking.
Cheers

Zoe

Happy New Year,
No I have not disappeared with the donated coin. The donations that have already come in are safely in Zoes trust account. Where is the Facebook page? we don't know. Facebook took it down and all we can get is automated replies so we gave up. Have now created this blogspot to replace it and we are still happily taking any donations.

My Kiwi Brevet ride is now only 12 days away. I have been busy training over the last 4 weeks, clocking up 1053km and 17,888 mtrs of ascent. Bike is nearly finished having rebuild so all is nearly ready for the 4th Feb start in Blenheim.

You can check the kiwibrevet.blogspot.com for all the latest ride info. From this site you will also be able to  track the progress of myself and all the other riders, so far 57 have entered.
On the kiwibrevet.blog you will also see a link to Great Southern Brevet which started  last Saturday, 1200km around Central Otago. This also has live tracking if you are interested in having a look.

I will try and do one more update next week before I set off.

Fully loaded and leaving Clevedon 6:30am heading through the Hunua Ranges to the Kaiaua Coast

Seabird viewing box on Kaiaua coast

Track from the viewing box back to the road, back through the Hunua Ranges, days ride was 12hrs, 140km, 2453 mtrs accent.

New Site and 26 days to go!!!

Hi all,

I have had to create a new site as Facebook closed my account!. I've decided to go away from them and create a Blog. 

Cheers
Paul