80 | AG Outdoor
Aoraki (Mt Cook), New Zealand’s highest.
With the mercury nudging 30 degrees I
reckoned even up there, on the 3724m summit,
T-shirts would suffi ce. After a plunging descent
to the fi rst feed station brotherly love was not
uppermost for one team as elder threatened
younger sibling with a foul outburst and a
promise to smash his face in. Perhaps it was the
heat but it was only Day 3. In contrast, Laurence
and I were working well together; enjoying the
company and support. He was very much up for
the task and my goal was to not be too slow
that he’d miss his afternoon sleep.
Crossing braided rivers cooled aching legs
and, at one channel, Laurence threw down his
bike and went for a full submersion. Given we
were on the up again soon after, it was a wise
move. The fi nal run to Lake Tekapo was a relief,
the turquoise waters even more so.
As the post-dinner awards ceremony rolled
on, Megan rolled across the fi nish line after 12
hours; straight into a microphone held by the
MC, Andrew. About 30km in, her father and
teammate pulled the pin, exhausted from heat
and hill. She rode on and found herself in the
company of two British ex-army guys. They
continued together until one realised he had
nothing left in the tank and pulled out. Then, on
a rutted descent 10km before Tekapo, Megan’s
third man of the day went over the bars and out
of the race. She rode alone to the fi nish.
Day 4 to Lake Ohau was billed a ‘recovery’
day, a mere 1900m of elevation gain across
111km. Indeed the fi rst 60km were fl at, fast and
furious and it was good to be in a similarly
paced bunch as we fl ew along gravel roads
hugging hydro canals. Sections of the Alps to
Ocean cycle trail wound along the shores of
mirror-calm Lake Pukaki, taking us into Macken-
zie Country; fl at, dry, glacial outwash plains. But
this was a mountain race and sure enough,
before Twizel, we turned to face the mass of Ben
Ohau, and up we went. And up. And up.
Today’s rewards were the views whence we
came, then the snows of the highest mountainsand fi nally the distant dots of the orange soldier
crabs way below on the far shore of Lake Ohau.
An insane descent plunging off the side of a
mountain had us cackling madly and, with
adrenaline still high, we rode the fi nal 20km
around the lake on curling singletrack before
plunging straight into the waters of Lake Ohau.
A recovery day indeed.
That evening we watched the sun slowly fade
off the mountain gash that had been our
descent route. At Ohau we were joined by 50
riders who’d signed up for The Pioneer 3 Day
Traverse. It was as though they were gatecrash-
ing a biking bender that had already gone on
for days. Massage therapists worked to keep
bodies going whilst bike mechanics prepared
for another all-nighter to keep bikes dancing
another day.Sections of the Alps to Ocean cycling trail wound along the
shores of mirror-calm Lake Pukaki, taking us into
Mackenzie Country; fl at dry, glacial outwash plains.
Riding up to Snow Farm on Day 6 with
Mt Aspiring as an inspiring backdrop.