The first of four (larger) Taupö build-up rides finally arrived and with it the return of my much loved night riding. I did a Double Loop of the Aka's about six weeks before Taupö last year. This was my "big test" and it went quite well. However, this year the 3 earlier Double Loops will simply act as preparation for the Triple Loop early in October.
The "Akatarawa Loop" (Approx 95kms).
My big concern heading into the ride was getting ill from over doing it. I normally do a bigger ride once a week, but due to work commitments I needed to head off for this ride just 3 days after completing a 170km outing the previous Saturday. Admittedly I had only given notice of needing annual leave (on the Friday) back in January, so I had kind of sprung it on them!! Nether-the-less, this would well and truly let me know if I was on track for Taupö.
Riding in the darkness is a surreal experience at times. The hills provide the more rememberble experiences. Utterly peaceful, with complete silence except breathing, wheels spinning and the occasional wildlife making nocturnal sounds. Then within an instant you have the strangest feeling that you are 'floating' up a hill or conversely are struggling to feel wheel down a descent...all due to completely losing all sense of which way is up or down. This is due to your entire world seemingly being the small area of the road that is lit up at that moment in time. There is little chance for rest or respite, and then you relax again...and once again the ride becomes peaceful.
With attention focused on the weather forecast on Monday evening I saw that much of the country was to have frosts on Tuesday morning. Not good. A lot of the descents on the Aka's loop seem to be in shaded areas, so if we had a frost it may be icy on my ride. The overnight rain held though, and the cloud cover left the region with a (relatively) warm ride into work. I would actually be starting the Double Loop ride once I had finished my working day, so I was aware that it would be a long day and thus I'd happily receive any luck that would come my way. Not a good look was me naively fastening a brand new set of cleats onto my shoes. I had to stop for 10 minutes to loosen then half way up the Aka's and was rather annoyed at my mistake of using something new before a bigger ride.
Darkness fell going over Aka’s summit and with it the temperature plummeted. I strongly recommend changing out of any wet clothing just as it's getting dark (as I did) to avoid a chill. Completing the first loop I still felt fresh and picked up six more drinks for the Lap 2. I doubted that I'd need them all, as riding in the cooler weather has the body going through less fluids, but I wanted sufficient fluids for the next section of the ride. The view from the top of Paekakariki Hill was truly fantastic. At a distance everything looked peaceful and with a clear sky the lights from Kapiti really stood out. With the slightest of Southerlies I had a head wind down the other side and I was very aware that a spill would not be a good look, so took it easy on a descent where I usually enjoy pushing the pace.
At the top of the Hayward's on Lap 2 I put my raincoat and scarf on. I knew that it was time to simply put my head down and watch for obstacles on the road. Not much else to do really...apart from ensuring that the cars on SH2 kept away from me. Sitting on 40kms per hour for the first 5 kms, then 32-35 kms per hour thereafter was a pleasant feeling, as it needs to be noted I didn't care how long the ride took as long as I stayed in my target HR range on 68-72% on the flat and 75-80% climbing the hills. This is the HR range I intend to use for Taupö and on the longer rides I'll slowly get a picture as to whether the training working and also whether I'm on track.
Heading towards the turn-off for the Aka's on Lap 2 I enjoyed a brief downpour of rain and then started the undulating climb towards the Aka's summit. It was along this stretch of road that a reoccurring problem occurred and that was vehicles with their lights on high beam. The wet roads meant the brightness that worse than I had previously encountered and at times it was difficult to see the section of road I was approaching. A larger problem occurred 10 minutes into the climb into the Aka's, as my glasses went blurry and (as with the last time I did a Double Loop) I found my right eye was still blurry after cleaning my glasses. By the time I was at the summit my right eye was totally blurred, and when I checked it after the ride the left eye was still blue, but the right eye was green. This is something I'll get examined if it occurs again. (I got it checked while blurry last time, but the doctors had no idea).
For those who enjoy the peaceful views through the Aka's, you may be interested to know that there are plenty of eye's looking right back at you. On Lap 1 I was aware of very little, but during Lap 2 there were about a dozen occasions where possums ran in right of me or simply sat in the middle of the road staring into the head lights. This is fine, but on 3 to 4 occasions they (and I assume it was possums) ran behind my bike. This is also combined with thinking (for a fraction of a second) that I saw someone standing on the side of the road on the Haywood's Hill on Lap 2. I've been tired and hoping to get home, but I've never simply wanted to get out of an area. You realise how remote the Aka's truly are at that time of night, and a few thoughts go through your head that reinforce how exposed you are if anything goes wrong. It is the first time I have ever felt truly alone on a longer ride. In a word..."spooky".
Riding in the darkness is a surreal experience at times. The hills provide the more rememberble experiences. Utterly peaceful, with complete silence except breathing, wheels spinning and the occasional wildlife making nocturnal sounds. Then within an instant you have the strangest feeling that you are 'floating' up a hill or conversely are struggling to feel wheel down a descent...all due to completely losing all sense of which way is up or down. This is due to your entire world seemingly being the small area of the road that is lit up at that moment in time. There is little chance for rest or respite, and then you relax again...and once again the ride becomes peaceful.
With attention focused on the weather forecast on Monday evening I saw that much of the country was to have frosts on Tuesday morning. Not good. A lot of the descents on the Aka's loop seem to be in shaded areas, so if we had a frost it may be icy on my ride. The overnight rain held though, and the cloud cover left the region with a (relatively) warm ride into work. I would actually be starting the Double Loop ride once I had finished my working day, so I was aware that it would be a long day and thus I'd happily receive any luck that would come my way. Not a good look was me naively fastening a brand new set of cleats onto my shoes. I had to stop for 10 minutes to loosen then half way up the Aka's and was rather annoyed at my mistake of using something new before a bigger ride.
Darkness fell going over Aka’s summit and with it the temperature plummeted. I strongly recommend changing out of any wet clothing just as it's getting dark (as I did) to avoid a chill. Completing the first loop I still felt fresh and picked up six more drinks for the Lap 2. I doubted that I'd need them all, as riding in the cooler weather has the body going through less fluids, but I wanted sufficient fluids for the next section of the ride. The view from the top of Paekakariki Hill was truly fantastic. At a distance everything looked peaceful and with a clear sky the lights from Kapiti really stood out. With the slightest of Southerlies I had a head wind down the other side and I was very aware that a spill would not be a good look, so took it easy on a descent where I usually enjoy pushing the pace.
At the top of the Hayward's on Lap 2 I put my raincoat and scarf on. I knew that it was time to simply put my head down and watch for obstacles on the road. Not much else to do really...apart from ensuring that the cars on SH2 kept away from me. Sitting on 40kms per hour for the first 5 kms, then 32-35 kms per hour thereafter was a pleasant feeling, as it needs to be noted I didn't care how long the ride took as long as I stayed in my target HR range on 68-72% on the flat and 75-80% climbing the hills. This is the HR range I intend to use for Taupö and on the longer rides I'll slowly get a picture as to whether the training working and also whether I'm on track.
Heading towards the turn-off for the Aka's on Lap 2 I enjoyed a brief downpour of rain and then started the undulating climb towards the Aka's summit. It was along this stretch of road that a reoccurring problem occurred and that was vehicles with their lights on high beam. The wet roads meant the brightness that worse than I had previously encountered and at times it was difficult to see the section of road I was approaching. A larger problem occurred 10 minutes into the climb into the Aka's, as my glasses went blurry and (as with the last time I did a Double Loop) I found my right eye was still blurry after cleaning my glasses. By the time I was at the summit my right eye was totally blurred, and when I checked it after the ride the left eye was still blue, but the right eye was green. This is something I'll get examined if it occurs again. (I got it checked while blurry last time, but the doctors had no idea).
For those who enjoy the peaceful views through the Aka's, you may be interested to know that there are plenty of eye's looking right back at you. On Lap 1 I was aware of very little, but during Lap 2 there were about a dozen occasions where possums ran in right of me or simply sat in the middle of the road staring into the head lights. This is fine, but on 3 to 4 occasions they (and I assume it was possums) ran behind my bike. This is also combined with thinking (for a fraction of a second) that I saw someone standing on the side of the road on the Haywood's Hill on Lap 2. I've been tired and hoping to get home, but I've never simply wanted to get out of an area. You realise how remote the Aka's truly are at that time of night, and a few thoughts go through your head that reinforce how exposed you are if anything goes wrong. It is the first time I have ever felt truly alone on a longer ride. In a word..."spooky".
Possums - friend or foe??
I sorted out my drinks at the Aka’s summit and although I'd get home with two full bottles it was good to simply have the two spare bottles out of my jersey's back pocket. Heading along SH1 towards Kapiti on Lap 2 I was feeling pretty good (as is usually the case after a descent) and couldn't help but wonder what it will be like to be heading home to pick-up the next bundle of food and drinks for the Triple Loop in early October. Even the Triple Loop will be less than half of the Taupö distance however, so while these rides may appear long and arduous they are (relatively speaking) actually pretty straight forward. Comparing the Taupö Maxi Enduro with the Taupö Solo, the Aka's Triple Loop is about the equivalent of a 70km outing.
For those who know that I work in Porirua the thought may have occurred that I actually started the outing 30kms into the actually loop. Thus, just to keep things honest, I did 4 (10km) laps around Kapiti to finish the ride once the Double Loop was done. The thinking was that with the 10km loop basically going past my house I would be pretty much just hanging out to finish (proved correct), but that I would be aware that if I can't complete 4 laps of 10kms, then I shouldn't be attempting 4 laps of 160kms.
For those who know that I work in Porirua the thought may have occurred that I actually started the outing 30kms into the actually loop. Thus, just to keep things honest, I did 4 (10km) laps around Kapiti to finish the ride once the Double Loop was done. The thinking was that with the 10km loop basically going past my house I would be pretty much just hanging out to finish (proved correct), but that I would be aware that if I can't complete 4 laps of 10kms, then I shouldn't be attempting 4 laps of 160kms.
Not what you want to see heading through the Aka's. (I now know how the possums felt!!).
I got back into Kapiti at 11:30pm and finished the ride at 1am, so certainly wasn't pushing the pace. It was very satisfying to reach the 4th and final 10km lap. A lasting memory will be cycling along Kapiti Road, with my shadow growing longer as I passed each street light and then disappearing as I reached the next street light. Very cool feeling, and I knew that while I was doing my own individual time trial I'd be watching the real thing once I got home. Coverage of Stage 4 of the Tour awaited me. There seemed something unreal about cycling home and upon arrival watching the Tour de France live. If not in concept...certainly in our time zone.An aspect of the ride that was perfect was the food intake. I have started calculating exactly how many calories I require per hour on the longer rides, and from that what I can eat throughout the ride. Thus, fuelling exclusively on Hammer Perpetuem and Hammer Gels, I got home 13 hours since my last "meal" and felt no hunger or cravings. This is how it should be for longer rides. I am happy to discuss the benefits of Hammer with anyone that is interested in fuelling smarter.
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