The 100k Flyer from Taupo to Rotorua

This weekend there are so many sporting events including Oxfam 100k walk, ITU Triathlon, King of the Bays Ocean Swim (with Jonesy and Gusy competing) and of course the Flyer 100k cycle race from Taupo to Rotorua.

Jonesy and Gusy at the photo booth

Joneys and Gusy did a great job at "King of the Bays", both knocking it off in under 60min and so proud of Jonesy as she held her ground, headed for the bouy despite folks swimming across her.  She gave as good as she got, Nice Work!  And they both looked like they had lots of fun! why did it have to be on the same day, oh man!

Camp Mother, myself and our wonderful support, my super wife Liza! all headed to Taupo on Friday after work for the 100k Flyer race the following day. The plan is to stay the night in Taupo, then on Sat morn CM and I ride to Rotorua, Liza to meet us there and then we drive home.  So we got to the hotel, had a very healthy burgar for dinner (carb loading you know!) then proceeded to layout gear in prep for the morning.  Squeals from the next room as Camp Mother realized she had left her cycle shorts at home, I know!  For someone who is normally so organized this is something unexpected.  Luckily she had told me to pack for all weather, so I packed long pants and shorts YAY! Go me :) Some spare shorts for CM.

Pre race, from left, CM, Liza and Me

Sat morn, despite the 10am start we were all wide awake early, so CM and I nipped down to the event centre for registration, then back to the hotel for final prep and breaky.  After a few photos we biked to the start line, where we checked out the start waves and debated which strategy to take i.e. start a group ahead and hence try to push yourself but risk getting dropped.  We started a group ahead, after all our plan was to go hard!

The first leg was out to Reporoa, a piece of road I knew well from Ironman, more downhill and generally with a tail wind. We were entertained counting the CANTAB Chris signs which were still standing on te roadside from Ironman almost a month prior, good sturdy signs eh!. We were in great form, keeping up with our bunch with a 35kph average, at times cruising along at 50kph.  We past several major crashes, one was on state highway 5 where cyclists were lying all over the road covered in blankets, a heap of bikes on the side and ambulances heard from afar. 

The rest of the race was an unknown for me, but I knew it had hills.  But turns out they were undulating with long downhills and gradual turns apart from one small section.  I felt good at 50k so continued to push on, seperated from CM.  After a while there were only two of us, a guy who I didn't know previously (Paul).  We pushed on together, I was determined to give it my all

Startline, Me

and leave nothing on the table.  He felt the same so we would race along and took turns on the front, I was surprised when we keep passing everyone, including people who looked to be fit and strong riders, but confirms just like Ironman there must be a mental qualitity??

Startline, Graham and CM

On a downhill there was a car being cautious not to pass another rider, unfortunately it mean't we almost rode into their boot!. So after a quick consult we decided to pass the car on the downhill, I know!  A few more uphill pushes, I think Paul was a little surprised I was able to keep up with him since he called me "a little ripper". I didn't realize we were so close to the finish line when he sneaked off in a sprint, I was stuck behind another cyclist but managed to pass and gunned it to the line, racing another guy who had hooked onto us around the 90k mark.  He pipped me, but I didn't care.


Let the results speak for themself, 100k in 3hrs 2mins, avg speed 32.6kph, 26th female home and 6th in my category.  Im pretty happy with that! :)

CM was please with her result, smashed her goal time and gave it her all! Which to me desires respect as I love people who have got a bit of grit! Well done!

Race recovery, from left CM, Graham and Chris

Here are my full Garmin results: