EC NZ '10 Day 6 Turangi - Wanganui

EC NZ ’10 Day 6 – Turangi - Wanganui

forgot to saythat my roomie tonight is Lee Wingate and you can find his blog at:
www.leewingatenz2010.blogspot.com

(its January 8th for those of you on the camp who don’t know what day it is either……..)

The morning started with swims and runs with most going to the lake.
David Craig. Dr. Douglas Scott, Tara and I went to the pool.
I really couldn’t face a cold lake this morning.
What I was really hoping for was to wake up next to my lovely warm wife feeling generous with the conjugal rights followed by a big mug of coffee generously flavored with Baily’s and Cointreau and then a leisurely read through the morning paper and then a proper cooked breakfast……….

I did manage 20 x 100 on the 1:30 with Tara but that was a struggle. I’m not the simmer I used to be!!! HA! That’s an understatement. I need to get back into a good swim groove at some point soon after this camp and get in there and suffer with a swim squad again.
We had a nice flat white as we walked back to our accom and that fortified me for the day ahead.
The early group got about 20 minutes headstart on us but I knew with the route ahed that we’d quickly make that up and we did. There was about 8,000ft of vertical gain for those who chose the direct route, another 2,000ft for those who chose to do the KOM to Whakapapa. It took a lot of guts to do that optional extra and full credit to those that did it as well as a swim and run today. That made for a massive day.
We had a big climb in the rain to stat the day enroute to the National Park and it was just plain ol’ hard work for the first 2.5 hours to the aid station.
The guys who did the KOM graciously waited for jo Carritt to come down from the mountain or it would have been a very lonely 140km slog for her the rest of the way.

My group didn’t take long for lunch as we were keen to get the ride done. This was to cost me latyer as I had my first real bonk of the camp on a steep hill about 25km out from Wnaganui. Luckily I talked Pete and Roder into stopping with me as I re-grouped and wolfed down 2 of Em’s scrumptious bars.

Lots of people ran off the bike to day and to no one’s surprise I just sat and sucked down Steiny’s. I’m wupped. Tired-est I’ve been so far on this camp.
I did get a nice rub from Russell Maylin again tonight. I seem to be getting my fair share of TLC and that seems to have been noted by the others. But HEY!!! Its my camp and you guys can just suck it up buttercup……

Looking forward to reading the other blogs after the camp to see how the day went for them. Too tired to read them now.
The plan for tomorrow is a jog to the pool and back for a swim, then breakfast and then another tough 200km ride this time ending in Masterton.
Looks like there will be a group rolling out really early and skipping the pool and the run so they can take it more leisurely.
Back tomorrow.