Day 5 - Mata Mata to Turanghi (at the side of Lake Taupo)
Distance 168km
Another solid in day in the saddle. We started with a good 40km of relatively flat stuff
which was a great way to warm up and get into the day.
Todays route took us through the following;
Mata Mata
Putaruru
Arapuni (clearly the home of corrugated iron on everything!! including a building shaped
like a dog!!!)
Tokoroa
Whakamaru
Tihoi
and then finally into the Hauhungaroa Range at the side of Lake Taupo
and finishing up in Teranghi.
The second half of the days riding was really rolling with some good solid climbs of a good
4-5mins, with a couple of them at 6-7mins.
I rode the second half after lunch with Nick and we had a good little tempo riding sessions
on the last couple of climbs before rolling onto the flats running around the edge of the
lake.
The legs are starting to get used to the mileage and riding day after day. Thats another
168km in the bank, which takes the distance covered so far (on the bike) to 776km in 5 days
- Sweeeeeetttttt :)
Mentally the big learning curve is that although the legs are tired, the pain/soreness
doesnt actually get any worse, so ive started to be able to play a little on the climbs and
ride tempo a little, ill experiment with this more and more as the days go by. but im
recovering well at the moment, definatelty eating and sleeping pretty too. In addition to
developing a pretty interesting set of tan lines.
The last couple of days have been great getting to know everybody a lot more and learning
about how they juggle family/work/training - some fascinating stories and some seriously
strong athletes.
I'll get hold of some of the other atheletes blog sites, which should also give a different
perspective on each particular day.
Russell Cox (full-time athlete and a 9:19 Ironman PB) is on www.trainstravels.com
most excellent quote of the day on a climb was;
- "Hey Bro, what gearing have you got?"
- "Ive got a 53/39 with a 10-speed block on the back, AND there ALL 11's!!!"
Day 6 (Friday, 8th Jan) is from Turanghi to Wanganui, 180km
Catch yer tomorrow.
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Morning (although could be afternoon or evening, delete as appropriate). This blog entry is a more upbeat sounding which is great to hear, you must have gotten over that three/four day fatigue and the body is now realising that...no, I'm not going to stop and give you a rest, so you'd better just get on and deal with it!
ReplyDeleteLoving the place names...Kona could have a field day.
Wishing you a no-chain day.
Woooohooooo Wingo keep peddling!!!
ReplyDeleteWanganui is where Tyler one of the kiwi's in our office is from and he's home at the min. I mentioned to him that youi would be peddling through so keep an eye out!!
Sounds like legs are holding out and getting used to it. Keep up the good work matey!!
Cake update next time please, I haven't had any for a few days!!
xx