Ride for MMN 2023 – Alps2Ocean – Dawn to Dusk

On 4 March 2023 I took on the challenge of riding New Zealand’s longest Great Ride Trail, the Alps2Ocean trail in the fourteen hours from Dawn to Dusk. Comprising a mix of gravel roads, off road trail and occasional tarmac road sections, the route is 300km long and although it gradually descends from 700m elevation to sea level, includes over 2200m of climbing.

Starting at Mount Cook Station at the head of Lake Pukaki, my ride begin in slightly overcast but otherwise perfect calm conditions. Aiming for an average of 22km/hour to achieve my goal of reaching Oamaru by the time the sun had set, I made good progress at first. Enjoying the gravel roads and single track that make up the majority of the first third of the route I arrived at my second feeding stop at Ohau Lodge in good condition. I was feeling confident. Even with the biggest of the days climbs immediately ahead of me, I felt my goal was achievable!

Keen to make hay while the sun shone I grabbed a quick drink, recharged my food and water supplies and set off uphill. Climbing slowly but steadily I was surprised by how rocky the route was in places and was forced to push the bike on occasion. The stunning scenery and knowledge I would soon be starting a 20km downhill stretch, was more than enough to keep morale up though. Indeed even finding the first part of the descent more technical and therefore slower than I had imagined didn’t concern me.

Reaching the next gravel road section I remained confident. Now was the time to really get the speed up!! As the miles ticked by though the expected speed increase wasn’t coming and I was working hard, much harder than my measly 14km/hour speed warranted. Seemingly out of nowhere the wind had picked up. I was crawling along….

Reaching Omarama, home of gliding in NZ it really hit me. The windsock at the airfield was horizontal and the wind was clearly not the prevailing North Westerly, Instead I was fighting a wind barrelling from the coast up the valley I was soon to be trying to ride down. At my third rest stop in the village the wind was rattling anything that wasn’t nailed down and I made for a rather drawn figure as I prepared for the next stage of my journey.

5 minutes rest and I was off. Yes I was well behind schedule, but determined to see if my goal was still achievable. You never know I thought, maybe this will ease off. So began 6 hours of slow, ever so slow progress fighting a wind that just kept on coming. Riding the beautiful singletrack along Lake Benmore, it was hard to ignore the waves crashing against the rocks and the white tops to them. As my average speed continued to drop it became ever more apparent that I would need far more than 14 hours to make the coast!!

As the wind bought dark clouds and then rain. I won’t deny, the ride was becoming a grind and a rather unpleasant one. By the dam at Lake Aviemore I knew that despite 13 or so hours of riding I was looking at about another 5 or 6 hours of riding if I wanted to make the coast.

Sometimes living to fight another day is the best option. So at this point I decided to continue until I reached the 14 hour point and then call it a day. the 210km point at Kurow was now my target.

Despite continual rain, the continuing wind and the encroaching darkness I enjoyed the next stretch of trail. The gravel was smooth and progress reasonably good. I knew though that going on was not a sensible option. By the time I reached Kurow darkness had descended and the route become stream like in places. I was tired and not willing to risk an accident.

So it was that 13 hours and 57 minutes after starting I rolled to halt opposite the Kurow Pub and called it a day. At once both disappointed but pleased I had given it my all, I was soon changed out of my wet kit and heading for a hot drink!

As the rain continued through the rest of the night and following morning I reflected on the day. I finished having ridden 207 hard earned kilometres. A long way short of my target but I was confident that with better weather my goal could be achieved. It wasn’t for a lack of training that I failed!!

As the phrase goes “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”. Consequently I will be trying again. I owe it myself, my amazing support crew and everyone who donated to the MMN research cause this year. Let’s hope next time the result is a different one!!