Tuesday 12 January 2010

Good VIbrations


This will be quick as i have little battery left.

At any point during the day conversation in the camp will always turn to the state of our respective undercarriages. Cycling 100 miles a day for two weeks can cause some serious damage without daily lashings of chamois cream and good hygiene principles (dont sit around in your bike shorts for hours after the ride).

Add in the state of the Kiwi roads and you have some athletes in severe discomfort. Ah yes, the famed Kiwi roads. I promised you my thoughts on the topic, so here they are. They suck. I would like to ask the guy in charge of roads here what exactly where they thinking in leaving so many roads half finished? I mean, lets be honest, its not like they dont know how to build a normal smooth tarmac road. Many of the main urban areas and bridge areas in the country are surrounded by smooth tarmac that shows no signs of overuse or wear and tear. So why not the other thousands of km's of roads?

You learn to spot the nature of the next strip of road by judging how the light reflects off it. A shiny surface denotes smooth riding and a chance to relax. A dull or uneven reflection and you start tensing automatically to protect yourself against the onslaught. Its fatiguing mentally and physically, not to mention slowing you down by at least 3-4kph compared to smooth tarmac.

One plus point however is the lack of potholes, dents, random strips of dug up road and general road debris that you find on any average british street. It makes group riding much easier.

Today started with a 10km run, warmed up with a 180km ride to Christchurch and ended with another 10km run. I can 'feel' the camp ending. I can literally taste it. 4 days left.

POTD is self explanatory - the Kiwi chipseal

4 comments:

  1. Reminds me of the slow but sure transformation of the roads in Lanzarote. So great that 90% of the IM route is now good. For the rest, you have had your training camp prep now!

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  2. I think you will find it comes down to critical mass, ie population. Roughly 4 million only, in NZ. Over quite a large area. Simply a matter of taxes vs insufficient critical mass. Good to see the end in sight then, isn't it?

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  3. Roads shmoads. Stop whingeing :)

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  4. About as challenging as my bungy in Queenstownn was. Only my challenge was mental, not physical. You will be very proud of yourself in a couple of days. We're still with you here, waiting for every exciting evening installment. You have guts, and determination. Not long now!

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