But wait, there is more…
Why am I thinking “Benny Hill”.
So apparently what must have happened in that link above, after the boat blew up, they got a bus, but on route, the bus broke down…
Someone fixed it with a Leatherman. Seriously.
Then I guess as it was parked on the wet grass on the side of the road it had trouble moving on again, hence everyone pushing it, in the video above.
Later on that day the rains came back to such an extent that the access road to Cape Reinga (the northern-most point of the country) was cut off. It eventually cleared and all road reopened.
Apart from just really shit weather, everything seems to be back on track. Currently in front on wave 2 is Mike Metz, the brother of Rob Metz, the guy that builds the Zerode DH bikes.
Wave 3 is about to start soon.
https://touraotearoa2018.maprogress.com/
why the hell would the guy in front pull the pin cos he was wet and lonely? That’s the easiest situation in the world to sort out: get a motel room, sleep for a bit, dry your kit out, rejoin ride when people start coming past. Don’t they have to rest for 6 hours a day anyway?
Yeah, that’s what I told him to do eh, more than once ; ) its a long way to come.
Shit is getting crazy on the Tour Aotearoa.
There are 300 people currently spread out over more than 1500 of the 3000kms already, with another 300 riders in 3 more waves starting this saturday.
Unfortunately, after 10 days of already really shit weather, cyclone Gita has just hit the country…
We now have advisories saying riders should probably not be using the many swing bridges over the gnarlier rivers.The planes and ferries at mid-point of the course have been cancelled due to 6-9 metre swells, state highway 1 is closed so traffic is re-routed onto the quieter route that the riders are using, causing lots of rider freakage.
A state of emergency has been declared through a good part of the course so its getting pretty unpleasant. There is a distinct lack of “hitters” in this years event. In 2016 there was a large group of hammerheads in the first wave, but this year there is lucky to be one in each wave.
Steve Halligan is the guy going the fastest so far, starting in wave 3 (4 days after the first) he has already caught all but a few riders, pretty much what he did in the Tour Divide last year where he came 4th after losing the first day when he tore off his rear mech.
Hopefully this Cyclone blows through before the next 3 waves start on saturday.
https://touraotearoa2018.maprogress.com/
Holy hell Tour Aotearoa sounds intense - who’s documenting it from the riders’ perspective?
Most people document it after the event. Well at least they did last time. I was lucky to only get rain once, in the last 5 mins, over 11 days in 2016.
Just about all of the good stuff in IG is from 2016.
Some 2018 stuff here:
Some reasonable pix here:
Oh yeah, most of the documentation is on FB, a woman shared some brutal shots of her bum blisters on FB yesterday. Not sure it would pass the Tarck censor. Cant get the image out of my mind.
ahhh, yes. On social media, where literally everyone in the universe shares everything. Sometimes I wonder if I am, indeed, a genius.
that’s one mean kiwi!
[quote=iwillbe]ahhh, yes. On social media, where literally everyone in the universe shares everything. Sometimes I wonder if I am, indeed, a genius.
that’s one mean kiwi![/quote]
That guy tore off his derailer last night, and limped past my office this morning on the way to a bike shop. I cant believe you would go bikepacking without a spare hanger. Assuming Lynskeys have replaceable hangers? I tried catch him but the trackers have such lag they are as good as hopeless. Hes from Cali it appears.
Cripes, hes got it welded and is waiting for the next Ferry already!
I hope it holds.
I was watching the tracker and I saw this dude pop up so jumped on my bike and abandoned my office for a few mins.
I think he is in 2nd place on his wave. As I got close I could here him talking. He was on the phone to his mum! (video)
VIDEO
Carl Van Den Heuvel
The Tour Aotearoa made it onto the Radavist yesterday with an audio/pictorial from Sven Martin talking to Tristan Rawlence. The GCN show are wanting content now.
http://theradavist.com/2018/02/tristan-rawlences-loaded-santa-cruz-highball-for-the-2018-tour-aotearoa-brevet/#9
Last wave is tomorrow. NZ looks like it is being invaded by smelly homeless people on bikes.
That’s because it definitely is
Bang. That’s it, the last wave is on 90 mile beach now!
No nudists in this wave. 67 riders. 3 Merkins, a Cambodian, a Latvian, a Strayan, a Soud afrikaan, and a Canadian.
Its a bit sad watching people who tear the derailer drop-outs off their bikes in the middle of nowhere, but they are stuffed because they have some smart arse thru axle thing that doesn’t allow any kind of after-market kludging. Horizontal drop-outs for resilience!
packing a replaceable hanger is so easy tho
I’ve been thinking about a light easily-packed singleator-style tensioner as a part of my kit for mass excursions
would be great if it was also compatible with DM hangers
has anyone seen any “generic rescue” hangers for 12mm axles yet?
Yeah. I cant believe these guys who haven’t bought hangers. Apparently he ordered one, but it didnt come in time. I cant even tell what bike it is.
There is a rescue misson happening via FB and best case scenario seems to be a from a guy in the hood who has an old chain-stay mounted singulator, possibley something like the following picture.
This guy has probably another 2000kms to go, so it will be a new experience for him. If anyone else has a creative idea, feel free to share.
Halflink