A few weekends ago I competed in the Contact Epic, a 125 km mountain bike race around Lake Hawea, near Wanaka, New Zealand. It was a tough ride, probably the toughest I’ve ever completed, but my efforts were rewarded with numb feet, soaking wet gear, mud in my eyes and a sore lower back. Seriously though, despite the poor weather, the scenery was stunning, I got a free massage afterwards, and I won a spot prize during the presentations.

It was still dark when the ride started at 7am. The first leg was a 30 km cruise on sealed road up the western side of the lake. I had a lot of fun here drafting from the various groups that formed. I formed a habit of joining a group, sitting near the back for a few minutes, then pulling out and sprinting up to the next group. I did this 5 or so times, so I probably annoyed a few people; whatever, I had fun. This sealed section was the only difference between the 125 km ‘epic’, and the 95 km ‘classic’, so I think the classic would have felt just as tough as the epic.

We soon turned off onto the beginning of the next leg, approximately 30 km offroad to the northernmost point of the lake. This section involved a mixture of unsealed road, rough rocky fire trails and smooth forest tracks. It started drizzling around this time; I didn’t mind the rain at first, as it cooled me down somewhat, but I wasn’t aware that it would continue for the rest of the race. There were some tough climbs, and a number of creek crossings leading up to the Hunter River at the north. My feet became numb after the first creek, and remained so until about half an hour after I’d crossed the finish line; the water was very cold.

The river crossing was interesting; I was already soaked from the rain and the creeks, and the water was just below waist deep, so I hoisted my bike onto my shoulders, and waded through the 30 or so metres to the western shore. A rider behind me tried to cycle through, to the cheers of onlookers. When I reached the other side, I had a quick breather, a bite to eat, and a look at the GPS. I’d ridden non stop (well, apart from walking through the creeks and river) for 3 hours and 20 minutes, covering 63 km - pretty much exactly half way. The

next section was another 30 km through similar terrain, with a few climbs through rock gardens and a few fast, rough descents. I was pretty happy with my performance; I was tired, but still capable of standing and pushing up the rough climbs. I did, however, begin experiencing some serious cramps in my hands and forearms which made changing gears painful. The cramping continued for the rest of the race, and my hands were still stiff the next day. There were quite a few people having a break at the 90 km point, where a local family has started a tradition of serving tea and coffee to competitors. Everything was a bit of a blur at this point; fatigue was starting to set in, and I was struggling to see clearly due to the constant barrage of mud being flung into my eyes by my front tyre.

Without really thinking it over, I rode straight through the rest point and onto the final 30 km. There were two very steep climbs to start off; at least they felt steep. I was riding in a group of about 20 others, spread out over a hundred metres or so; every single one of us walked up the hills. It was good to have a break and a chat with a few of the others as we pushed our bikes up the road. After the second climb was a ride along Rocky Point, probably the most scenic section of the race - a fire trail with a cliff face on one side, and a sheer 50 metre drop right into the lake below on the other.

After descending from Rocky Point, I was greeted with a smooth, wide gravel road which eventually turned into tarmac. I almost shouted out something like ‘sealed road, I could kiss you!’, but managed to restrain myself. The final 10 km along the road were still tough, as I was really tired, but still pushing hard. I suppose everyone does it; when you’re that close to the finish, you just want to get there as quickly as possible. All in all, a seriously epic ride.

I managed to finish in 7:32, about middle of the pack. I can see myself doing it again next year, although I wouldn’t expect to improve on my time. I spent sunday driving around Wanaka. My original plan was to walk to Rob Roy Glacier, a 4 hour return walk about an hour drive from Wanaka. I got to the car park, but the weather was looking very dicey, and I was concerned that the road might flood (I had to drive through a few small creeks to get there). So I took some photos, drove back to Wanaka, and climbed up Mount Iron, a small hill to the north east of the town. The summit provided good views of the town, the lakes, and surrounding mountains, although it’s a pity that the weather was so poor.