Rotorua weekend – mountain biking and medicine

Rotorua – somewhere on Gunna Gotta

I will leap at just about any excuse to head to Rotorua. A day riding or running the trails is easily worth the drive from Auckland, and with the trip taking just over an hour from Hamilton it is worth it even for an afternoon. The NZ Medical Students Association Conference for 2012 was hosted in Rotorua, so naturally I leapt at the chance to head across for a few days.

I am not usually a big fan of student groups. I appreciate the work they do, but sometimes I think there can be a little too much talk and not enough action. I decided to check out the NZMSA conference as it would be my last chance to do so before graduating. The conference theme was focussed on looking at how medical students, and future doctors, can help guide change in the NZ health system.

I shot across to Rotorua early so I could hit the trails. A beautiful anticyclone was sitting over the whole region, leaving the forest crisp and clear. Soresidual moisture from the last few weeks of damp weather kept some roots slippery and added some excitement to the more shady areas of the forest. The highlight of this ride was hitting corners. This is one of my favourite trails in the Redwoods, when linked up with Huckleberry Hound it is pretty close to singletrack heaven. This was the first chance I had to ride in Rotorua with my new 700mm Enve bars and Shimano XT brakes. I could feel an appreciable difference – the wider bars allow a little more control through rough sections.

The singletrack was in such good condition.

On Saturday I really tested the new setup, with a hard run down Billy T. I pushed hard and tried to be aggressive, picking high lines through root sections and generally trying to hold as much speed as possible. By the end of this ride I could barely believe that I had ridden with narrow 650mm bars for so long. Even through some narrow sections the wide bars seemed to have no negatives.

As well as riding I also got in some good running in Rotorua. An early morning long run took in Blue Lake, Green Lake and Moerangi. Such an awesome way to start the day, with mist rising off the edges of the mill-pond-smooth lakes making the forest seem like another world.

Blue Lake, not bad for a sunday morning

In between the training there was plenty to do at the conference. I learned about some interesting projects around the country for encouraging innovation in the health sector. It was frustrating to hear how slow the current providers in the public health sector are with regards to the uptake of new technology. Surgical capability and medical technology is of a high standard here in NZ, but the patient management and day to day efficiency driving technology lags long behind. When it comes to hospitals paper still reigns supreme, and a surprisingly small amount of information is stored in computers. Hopefully this can be an area of rapid change.

As well as the serious side of things at the conference, there were also evening events. Friday night had us taking a night time luge ride to a cocktail party held in the Redwoods at Mt Ngongotaha.

Queueing for the Luge at about 8pm. Apparently it’s “dress and heels safe”

The weekend was a busy one, with lots of rushing all over Rotorua. I did squeeze a lot in; hitting the planned sessions for training and expanding my medical mind a little. Things are going to stay busy right through to departure for elective.

Europe 2012 – The Plan

Its now only weeks until I head across to Europe for the Northern summer. I have 10 weeks in Europe this year and will be taking the chance to take in a whole variety of events. The primary reason for the trip is my elective. This is part of my medical degree, 2 months in the final year where there is a chance to spend time in any specialty in any country. I chose to head to Norway for mine. I will be a student at Kongsberg Sykehuset, a small hospital in Kongsberg. I am very lucky to have one of the doctors at the hospital acting as a supervisor for the period of my trip. Kongsberg is close to Oslo in Southern Norway.

Kongsberg Terrain

 

Kongsberg also happens to have awesome terrain for orienteering and a strong club too. I have just recently become a member of Kongsberg OL. I will be representing Kongsberg in my European racing this summer. I am very lucky that a family from Kongsberg OL will be hosting me for my stay in Norway. I’m excited to get across and begin working on my Norwegian, I need to improve a little from “jeg heter Tom”!

Kongsberg OL

As a member of a Norwegian club it means that I have a team to race with at Jukola, the huge Finnish night relay. I depart New Zealand on the 9th of June, the following weekend I will be in Finland racing Jukola. The jetlag might be an advantage, especially if I am running one of the later legs. I’m very excited to finally get to run Jukola, it is a race that has in the past fallen earlier than my arrival in Europe.

The next race I am heading to after Jukola is O-festivalen. This is a 3 day event back in Norway. Back in 2008 O-festivalen in Siggerud was my first event in Europe. I remember being seriously jet lagged after arriving the day before the first race. I then tried to navigate my way around the model map with a southern hemisphere compass. That was only a teaser for the long distance where I got so lost on one control I had to run blindy until I found a road before relocating. Hoepfully O-festivalen 2012 will go better!

After some solid ward time in Kongsberg I head down to WOC in Lausanne, Switzerland. I will be running the sprint, long and relay so have plenty of work to do there getting used to the terrain before the big week of races. I have been aiming for WOC 2012 since the last time I was in Europe in 2010. The aim this year is to improve on past results with more accurate navigation and better physical condition.

Hopefully it’s like this in Lausanne for the races

Following WOC I am back to Scandinavia for another go at Oringen. My previous two visits to Oringen have both been amazing experiences. So many orienteers in one place is a welcome change from competing in a small sport back here in NZ. I am running in H21E, so have a sprint race in the middle of the competitions. The sprint in 2010 was one of the highlights of my trip – so many spectators and a man made bridge across a river made it a very cool experience.

In between all of the races I will be getting experience at Kongsberg Sykehuset, exploring Kongsberg, improving my Norwegian and experiencing life in Norway. With the date of departure approaching fast I have a few hard weeks of training ahead to ensure I head over in top form. I will be taking Vitasport international again, as I squeeze as much into my bag as possible without going over the weight limit. To add to things this year I am taking my Trek Superfly across with me. I have only ever flown to Australia with a bike. That trip was hassle free, and I hope this one is too. I will be wrapping up the carbon frame as carefully as possible and I will be asking for some advice from the guys at Cyco regarding tactics for protecting bikes in transit.

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Mt Ruapehu

Totalsport races fall on Saturdays. This means Sundays are free for whatever. After the T42 on the weekend I stayed down in National Park to explore somewhere in the area. Saturday was clear and fine, perfect conditions for the race, Sunday was just the same. The morning was crisp and frosty with a bright sun in a clear sky. Anna and I looked at the weather and thought it was a good chance to get up Ruapehu to take advantage of the awesome views.

The goal – clear and almost snow free

We started from Iwikau and headed uphill. We had both been up before and had a vauge idea of “the way”, and planned out a hypothetical route looking up from the bottom. Up the lower slopes things were pretty easy going, not too many boulders and a gentle gradient. We reached the top of the chairlifts pretty quickly. From here our memories faded a little, so we took what looked like the most direct, least bluffy route. We could see a group to our right creeping up onto a big spur, while we travelled up a smaller ridge. 

Our ad lib route worked out pretty well, no bluffs, no big overhanging unstable cliffs, we even thought the other group might have taken a harder route. We checked saddles on our way up to make sure we reached the summit plateau at the right point. The few hours sun we had helped make the going a bit safer, by melting the ice and keeping us warm. In the end we made it to the summit without meeting any significant ice. The top however looked very frozen, with a cold wind keeping things chilly. We took in the views, from Pirongia and Karioi to Taranaki the Kawekas and Mt Edgecumbe. The clear day meant the panorama was significantly better than what I remembered. The phone camera tried hard and at least gives an indication of the views. It was cool to watch the numerous rock falls from the top of the mountain. In one of the major valleys we could see big rocks tumbling down off cliffs into the valley below. A reminder that the mountain can be dangerous even without snow.

The downhill was much easier, as we followed the footprints of the other group to see what their route was like. If you like steep boulder climbs and loose rock then theirs was better. Guesswork and vauge memories won on the day. 

Pirongia in the distance

An out of focus Taranaki

T42

The 42nd Traverse is one of the most iconic rides in the North Island. Flowing decents, a height drop from start to finish and some awesome views make it a sweet piece of trail to explore. I have ridden through the area 4 times. The first was in the middle of the night back in 2008 for an adventure race, it was freezing cold and pitch black – not the best way to sample the riding an area has to offer. The 3 more recent rides have been each of the 3 editions of T42.

For 2012 race day dawned freezing cold. Warm up was more than just about getting muscles going, I needed it to keep from freezing. The bright sun of a crystal clear central plateau day did help, but I still elected to start in arm warmers and a thin merino undershirt. On the startline I could see a few faces who would likely be fight for the win. Last years T42 champion Matt Waghorn and National Series regular Mike Northcott both looked set for the race. I squeezed into the front row on the start line and waited for the gun.

Squeezed onto the start line (far right), Thanks Paul for letting me jump in.

With a countdown from 10 we were off and into the race. The first few km is weird. It is along a piece of tarseal road, pretty flat and not at all selective. With the calibre of some of the competition I wasn’t feeling my usual smash it from the start so sat in a little. There were multiple small surges and a messy swirling bunch of riders. Up the first incline and into the farmland things settled into more of a line, and by part way into the grass Mike, Matt, Graham Norman and I had a small gap. A moment of confusion entering the track brought the front dozen back together, only for us to split again on the first gradual climb. Within another 10 minutes it was Mike, Matt and I together at the front.

On the first downhill I remembered why the 42 Traverse is so popular. Its like the track has berms! I got off the brakes and followed Mike’s lines down. A couple of sections tighten up the corners, keeping things varied and exciting. We stayed close together into the river crossings at the bottom and into the next climb. It wasn’t until the bottom of the second descent that we split up. I stuffed a corner, slightly overshooting after braking too late. I then took a horrible line down one of the steep rocky sections. With that I was 15 seconds back. I sprinted across the ford and lifted the pace to try and catch up on the next climb, but Matt and Mike were too strong. I couldn’t pull them back and settled into a tempo rhythm for the rest of the climb.

The next section was rather lonely. I couldn’t see the duo in front, and no one appeared from behind. I kept pushing, aiming to keep my cadence up and my lines smooth. I finished my Vitasport and made sure I took on some other fuel. Over the climb and out onto the access road, I remained alone. I tried to get aero on the gravel road descent while pedalling hard, the 39t big ring on my Trek was just right, didn’t end up spinning out on the high speed downhill. The bridge at the bottom snuck up on me, and before I knew it I had hit the final climb to Owhango.

This section is the sting in the tail of T42, a nasty climb to finish off the legs and animate battles into the finish. I had the luxury of riding in alone, so rode the climb at tempo without having to surge at all. 1 hour 51 after leaving Kapoors Road I crossed the finish line at Owhango. 3rd place, 3 minutes behind a close Mike and Matt.

Prizegiving photo – Mike, Matt and I back at The Park.

While not a win I was reasonably pleased with my ride. After a disjointed few weeks at uni, I was happy to have race worthy legs. So far this year Totalsport races have managed to keep me winless – 2nd, 2nd, 2nd and now a 3rd, I wish they had a consistency prize! The T42 is my last mountain bike race in NZ for the next couple of months. I have orienteering at Queens Birthday and I will be heading over to Europe just after. Keep an eye on the blog for a rundown of my plans for the trip.

My Trek Superfly 29er was awesome! The recent additions of Shimano XT brakes and some 700mm wide ENVE sweep flat bars have made the bike even more stable when descending. I highly recommend widening handlebars to gain some stability and control when going downhill. Cyco in Ponsonby sorted mine – a top place to visit to try out a Trek 29er.

Vitasport kept me hydrated for the race, helping keep cramp at bay for the 48km. Check out the new Team Vitasport website at www.vitasport.co.nz

Finally a big thanks to Totalsport for an awesome weekend at T42, as well as for their ongoing support of my racing.

The field for the mountain bike – huge growth for a young event (and check out Ngauruhoe!)

Auckland University – Stride for Success

A central city race is a bit different, especially when it is a relay race over 3 hours. Over the weekend, the University of Auckland organised Stride for Success, a 3 hour relay race at the city campus on Symonds Street. The event is part of a growing commitment the University has to student events and campus sports. The Auckland University Orienteering Club has been well supported by the Uni over the last few years so we were totally in for the race.

Auckland Uni has a huge orienteering contingent. By a quick count there are at least 16 current students who regularly orienteer at a national level, plus numerous others that race regularly. It made good sense to have a team that showed the depth of orienteers.

We had a team of 10, an even split of guys and girls. Our aim was to win. We arrived early, checked the course, scoped the competition and came up with a race plan. Each lap would be 2km around the lower campus and Albert Park. Some climbs and fast descents, some tricky stairs and some turns through the campus made the lap pretty enjoyable.

Course Map

We opened with Matt. Our plan was to put the fastest runners first to grab a lead then play by ear how many laps to get each runner to do. Each runner needed to do a minimum of 1 lap, so as long as we did that we could have any order we liked. Each lap a transponder change was needed, adding a few seconds. Matt smoked the first lap and handed over to Toby with a lead. Throughout the first half hour we built a nice little lead.

One of the other teams kept closing the gap down, only for us to chuck some of our faster guys on and open the gap again. Times for the team stayed pretty stable over the 3 hours, with the fastest being just over 6.30, down to around 9 minutes. The spread was pretty even and the whole team was pushing hard.

Running through Albert Park - 2XU socks were awesome, kept the calves fresh on the all pavement loop.

Coming into the last half hour we crunched the numbers. Aiden had been recording times along with Gene and they planned out our last few runners. We timed it so that we made it out onto the last lap with only 2 minutes left. This meant we could take our time, as the 2nd place team would not have time to start their final lap.

We managed 26 laps of the 2km in 3 hours. 42km – a marathon – a twisty, rolling marathon with a 15 second stop every 2km. Does give an indication of the speeds needed for a good time when I attempt a marathon (tentatively later this year).

Thanks to Auckland Uni for putting on an awesome event and Nike for their support of the race. We were lucky enough to come away with a free pair of shoes each after getting the win – an awesome prize. Vitasport kept the team hydrated as we smashed out laps. Team Photo below, bring on next years race!

Back: D. Morrison, M. Ogden, T. Reynolds, T. Scott
Front: J McMillan, S. Bailey, K. Morrison, L. Robertson, S. Anderson

Ultra Sprint – Auckland

Ultra sprint orienteering is a bit different to the usual. Smaller scale, closer controls and shorter course. To try out the format, Martin Peat put together Auckland’s first Ultra sprint this Anzac Day. He chose the brand new Sir Barry Curtis Park in Flatbush to run the event. Scatttered trees, small walls and impenetrable scrub covered creeks characterised the map. The area would normally be too dull for a traditional sprint race, but seemed well suited to the ultra sprint format.

3 prologue loops had to be run to qualify. The rules were simple, 4 fastest combined times go through to the A final. With a good turnout racing was set to be tight. I picked up my first map and was checking myself as soon as I got it oriented. Everything seemed so close. It was impossible to plan ahead on the short legs. It was basically exit direction and some basic route choice on first glance, with a second look to see what the control feature was. Dummy controls added to the challenge.

Punching mid race

I managed to grab fastest time in all 3 loops, putting me into the A final with Jourdan, Toby and Matt. We all lined up for the mass start finale ready for some no holds barred racing. The pace was on from the gun, Toby in the front. I took a while to get up speed and sat in with Matt and Jourdan. After our first loop I had a go at passing Toby, surging into a control. He read my acceleration and jumped in step. With so many controls, punches became key, and punching first gave a split second advantage.

I took a poor route choice from 11 to 12, zig-zaging, while the other three ran straight. I was at the back and playing catch up through to number 17. Here we entered the maze, an area of tape and fenceposts that could not be crossed. The grid had limited entries and multiple dead ends. This proved decisive. I left the maze first with a few seconds in hand. It was all I needed, I lifted the pace as high as I could through the last few controls. I held off Matt and Toby, with Jourdan just steps behind them.

Course map from the final

The format was awesome! Fast, technical racing on a hot sunny day. With the 3 qualifiers plus final it made a pretty good set of efforts too! Martin and the Counties Manukau Club did an awesome job bring the format to Auckland, I’m looking forward to the next one.

Check out this short video from Duncan Morrison covering the event:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=3800939260125

Coming into the finish

NZ Champs – Relay

The final event of the Nationals is all about club. The title of National Relay Champion is a revered one, and has seen many close battles. The 3 person teams include runners from a mix of grades – this is because the NZ Champs rules prevent certain grades from running particular legs. The aim of this is to have many teams in the championship grade and to allow clubs with fewer elites to be competitive. Each year picking a team that takes advantage of the rules is always a challenge. As hosts of the 2012 Nationals, NorthWest was looking to try and reclaim a title last won in 2009.

NorthWest has great depth in elite men, as well as in junior women. We lined up with 5 or 6 teams that were all about even on paper. While we lacked the dynamite of Wellington or PAPO, with Nick Hann and Carsten Jorgensen on their last legs respectively, we would have consistent teams ready to capitalise on any mistakes from the favourites.

I was running first with Renee Beveridge and Cameron Tier on 2nd and 3rd leg. Both are fast young juniors and capable of good runs. Warming up I focussed on my own race, I always try and run a relay like a normal course. The extra excitement comes on the line and is enough to give the legs the punch they need. If anything, it is being relaxed enough pre start in a relay. We had plenty of sledging on the line right up to the start gun. With the long blast on the air horn all smack talk was off and it was time to let the legs do the talking.

NorthWest runners near the front just after the start.

I tried to block everyone else off the line. I wanted to get the first two controls clean and in control. I was on a different line to most of the pack into 1, punching about 4th, but I had looked at the next leg and exited more directly than the others. I punched number two first. With some clear forest in front and feeling well in control I decided to turn on the gas. I pushed hard through the next few controls. I had one feeling of hesitation on the way to 7, but held my compass bearing and kept the pace on. I wobbled a little on 11, turning a little too hard on my exit from 10 and losing 5 seconds. By the spectator control at number 12 the front group was splintered, with only Tane Cambridge, Matt Ogden and I together at the front.

Coming into spectator 1

At the first spectator control we had a map change. I grabbed the new map and was initially a little surprised by the length of the second loop. The planner, Andrew Bell, had anticipated how fast the k rates would be and had set correspondingly long courses. I kept the pace high hoping to force Tane or Matt into a mistake on one of the split controls. Tane held tight, he was too quick for me to get a gap. Matt drifted back a little, until an error by Tane and I allowed him to reverse the 15 second gap and lead through the spectator control.

Matt about to assault the spectator control with Tane and me in the background.

The final loop was through an area of complex contour detail. I exited the spectator at maximum pace. I had planned my route to the first two controls on the run through and just executed the plan. I came past Matt up the first hill and didn’t look back for Tane. I ran as straight and as smooth as possible through 22 and 23 to emerge from the forest in the lead ready to hand over to Renee.

NorthWest had 5 runners in the top 10 after leg 1. Most of our teams had a junior women on leg two, teams need at least one male and one female, and we had elected to place them on the middle leg. It was a nervous wait as there was a big bunch of teams heading into the forest around 2 minutes behind my teammate Renee. The teams benefited from being in a group and managed to pass Renee. We slipped to around 10th as she handed over to Cameron for the final leg.

Renee passing over to Cam.

Cam disappeared into the forest just ahead of the flying Carsten Jorgensen. To stay with Carsten would have been an amazing feat for Cam, who is still gaining experience. We ended up in 14th.

The battle at the front was very exciting. Matt Goodall ran Counties Manukau into the lead, leaving Greta to run for the title. As the minutes passed she looked like a sure win. Nick Hann sped into the forest about 6 minutes behind, many were skeptical he would be able to make up the time. Nick flew through the forest, slashing the lead at the first spectator control, and having it down to just over 60 seconds with the last loop to go. Nick looked like a man possessed as he tore off into the forest. The crowd waited with baited breath for the return. In the last 800m Nick managed to nail the controls and overhaul Greta to take the 2nd win in 3 years for Wellington. Carsten Jorgensen went faster still on leg 3, shaving 30 seconds off Nick’s time to run PAPO into 4th.

Nick punching the final spectator control and heading out to hunt down Greta.

The first leg runners managed to dip under 5 minute kilometers, I ran 4.43min/km for leg one. Nick and Carsten managed to go even faster, with Nick running 4.38min/km and Carsten going faster still. These were the fastest km/rates in an NZ National relay for years. A fitting end to an awesome nationals.