Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge '04; 100miles on a unicycle

Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge 2004

The Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge is a 100mile/160km ride around NZ’s
biggest lake, attracting over 10,000 riders from around the country
every year. It’s a beautiful ride, with lots of awesome scenery along
the way.
http://www.cyclechallenge.com

Last year was the first year we entered unicyclists in this event- with
two teams and a solo rider. We were a bit sparse on the unicycle front
this year- with just me competing. But I was determined to better my
time last year (8hr20min) and go under the 8hr mark.

Here’s the stats:

Distance: 100miles/160km or Enduro 2 Laps 200miles/320km or Super Enduro
(for crazy people) 3 laps and a little bit extra 500km
Total Climbing: 1500m
Total Descent: 1500m
Total riders: 10,010
Total unicyclists: 1
Total Penny Farthings: 1
Total Tandems: lots
Total Recumbents: 2 or 3
Total Handcyclists: 1
Total Olympic medallists competing: 4


Fri 26 Nov

8:30pm
Colin (my training buddy) and I arrive in Taupo, after a 5hr drive from
Wellington. Colin was riding his first challenge (on a bike), whilst I
was riding my second (on a unicycle).

Due to the fact that 10,000 cyclists and their support crews decide to
turn up at Lake Taupo (population 22,000) this weekend, all the motels
are booked out. We set up camp in somebodies front lawn.

9:30pm
We register at the Taupo Event Centre. I win a cycle computer as a spot
prize, while Colin wins a box of chocolates.

Sat 27 Nov

6am
The alarm rudely awakens us.

6:30am
I get out of the sleeping bag and have a power breakfast consisting
mostly of day-old peanut butter and honey sandwiches and Salt and
Vinegar chips. Yummy. Colin finally wakes up.
“Aw, it’s too early to be out of bed, let alone ride a 100miles”

7:00am
We’re almost ready to go for the 8am start. I attach my bell to my
unicycle. Hmmm, might come in handy.

7:15am
We cycle to the Lake Taupo waterfront, and arrive just in time to see
the lead pack clicking off the start line.

7:30am
It’s still at least 30min before we get to leave the start. With 10,000
cyclists, we are seeded way back in the bunch start. We manage to get a
nice espresso at a Café opposite the starting gates. No way was I going
to ride anywhere without my Caffeine fix!!!!

8:00am
We queue up behind several thousand cyclists at the start gate

8:30am
We finally click off the timing chip at the start line. Yay, only 100
miles to go. There was a short descent with hundreds of
supporters/spectators on either side- cheering everyone on! What a
fantastic way to start a big ride.

The first hill was it’s usual perfect unicycle gradient- even though I
had shorter cranks this year (110mm, instead of 125mm). I passed
hundreds of cyclists on the first few ascents. Taupo has exactly 1500m
of climbing, most of which is in the first half of the course. It was
great fun passing so many bikers- but I held back from going as hard as
I did last year, where I started cramping at the 20km mark. Not a good
idea when you have another 140km to go.

The bell (attached to my GB handle) was the perfect accessory for
passing on these hills *ding*ding*ding*….unicyclists coming through on
yer right! Colin finally catches and passes me at about 30km.

I overtake The Postie (dressed in his post-mans uniform and bike). “Are
you stopping to deliver mail along the way?” I ask. He rolls his eyes.
I’m sure he’s heard that as many times as I’ve heard “where’s your
other wheel?”

10:15am
I nearly fall off my unicycle when I see the ¼ way sign- that’s 1hr
45min I’ve been riding- on track for a 7:00hr finish. I’d also ridden
on one of the hilliest parts of the course. This can’t be right! I
pass the guy on the handcycle, Tom Scott, cranking the whole 100miles
around Lake Taupo. That’s gotta be hard work!

Sometime after 11:00am
I hit the 60km mark. I’m so glad I didn’t go too hard up the first
hills. I remember not being able to stand up at this point last year.
I stretch, let the blood recirculate my crotch, and take the opportunity
to tighten my nuts (which were coming loose).

I head down the hill feeling much better, until I hit the Waihaha hill.
The “Hahahaha” hill. Well, no ones laughing as we grind up this *&#!
hill. My legs start cramping, so I had to ease off somewhat.

Somewhere around Noon
I get to 80km after grinding up the Kuratau hill. It was a great
psychological boost- mainly because it is over half way psychologically-
most of the big hills are behind us. I wave at the hundreds of relay
riders changing over at the 80km interchange. I must have lost a fair
bit of time because it’s almost at the 4hr mark when I cross 80km. I’m
now on track for a 7hr30min finish if I can get some speed on the flat
part of the course.

The next 20km are mostly gentle, rolling roads. It gets quite windy and
I tuck in behind a small bunch hoping they would drag me along.
Unfortunately, with such a huge frontal profile, I end up more useful to
the people behind me. It started pelting down with rain but cleared
after about 20min.

100km- it’s all downhill from here (almost). This is my favourite
decent, with lot’s of fast sweeping corners and a pictoresque view of
Lake Taupo as you descend the Waihi Hill.

110km- it’s all flat going for the next 40km. I’m glad I switched over
to 110mm cranks and a GB handle this year. 125mm may have been easier
for the hills, and the KH handle better for descents, but my new setup
couldn’t be beaten for this flat stage. I tuck down low and try to make
up some time before the Hatepe Hill.

I’m passed by a bunch of Enduro and Super-Enduro riders. They started
at 1am this morning and 7pm last night respectively, on a mission to
ride either 2 laps (320km) or 3+ laps (500km) around the lake. They
must be mad!
“Go Ken”
“Geez- you guys deserve a medal. Go Enduro!”

I save just enough energy to grind all the way up the Hatepe Hill. It’s
a short 2-3km ascent, but after 140km it’s the last thing your legs
need.

A guy three quarters of the way up sitting on his lounge chair plays his
banjo:
“Not far to go now….
Not far to go now…
Up the Hatepe Hill….”

The Challenge riders: “*&$!”

I race down the other side of the Hatepe and pedal hard toward the
finish. It’s still another 18km but I was still optimistic of a
7hr30min finish. The legs couldn’t do it in the end, and I rolled
across the line in 7hrs 43min 9secs. Not bad, I’d cut 37min off my time
from last year. Woohoo!

It was a great event, hopefully we’ll have many more unicyclists
competing here in future.

Ken Looi

Results:
Two-wheeled winning time: 3hr57min57s
Unicycle Time: 7hr 43min 9secs
Unicycle placing: 4077 place from 4424 solo riders
Super Enduro winning time: 19hrs 6min 9secs
Enduro winning time: 10hrs 35min 22secs

Equipment:
Coker standard frame
36”Airfoil rim
Coker 36” tyre; Stans Tubeless conversion
Tommy Miller SS spokes
UDC hub
110mm BE cranks
Snafu Sealed bearking pedals
KH Carbon seat, Fusion cover, cut-down foam
GB Handle, cut down bar-end attachement
My lucky Ding Ding bell.

I rate my setup pretty highly this year- it was perfect. No saddle
soreness after 160km is a good thing. And that Tubeless wheel just
flies up those hills. The GB handle was a bit scary on the high-speed
descents, but very stable on the flat.

Food eaten during the race:
5 Whittakers Almond Gold Peanut slabs
2 Leppin Squeezees
1 banana
1 savoury muffin
4 blueberry muesli bars
About 3L of water


http://www.cyclechallenge.com


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That sounds like an awesome ride! Congratulations on the improvement on
your previous time. The largest bike ride I've unied in only had a
couple thousand riders and almost no spectators, but even then you could
feel the energy from all the people. I can't imagine a ride with a ten
thousand riders and cheering fans. That must be pure electric.


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Wow, congratulations Ken! That's incredible...you ascended and
descended about 1/6 the height of Everest!

On a side note, Everest is now officially 8850m high (as opposed to the
old 8848m).

Will we get to see any photos of you riding the course?

Andrew


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Thats incredible! Thanks for the writeup. I enjoyed it very much.


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Fantastic ride, awesome time, your an animal.


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Ken, the machine does it again. I have no idea how he managed those
hills with 110mm cranks. I struggled up them last year on a coker with
150mm cranks!

For those who haven't had the opportunity to ride or drive around lake
Taupo, the hill climbs are definately not nice. Plenty of cyclists get
off and walk up the hills because they are so tough.


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Ken, that is awesome. Congratulations on having the guts to use 110mm
cranks (and then being able to climb 1500m on them too)! But I think I
know what really got you through: it was the 5 Whittakers Almond Gold
Peanut slabs!! Man those are great.

If you lose a little of your speed and fitness next winter before we
head to Switzerland it's ok. I'd like to be able to ride some of the
time with you!

Sub-8 hours!!!!! Wow.

---Nathan


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That is an incredible pace for 100 hilly miles.

100 miles in 7 hours 43 minutes gives an average speed of '12.96 mph'
(http://tinyurl.com/67bty). That's a good pace to maintain on the flats
for 100 miles. It's damned impressive with the hills and the time taken
for rest breaks.

Do you have a cyclecomputer to keep track of your max speed during the
ride? Any idea how fast you go up the hills? My guess is that you must
be going almost 10 mph up the hills and about 15 mph on the downhills to
keep up that kind of a pace.

We need to get you a geared Coker and give you a shot at the 100 mile
speed record before Christian Hoverath gets a chance to take the record.


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so you only did the 160km Ken? i read in the booklet that you were goin
for the big double? still, an impressive effort nonetheless, you are by
far the road/endurance guru


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Well a MOPED or whatever you call it...yeah good one security

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very impressive riding
very kewl write-up



can u give me some idea of the kind of training program u do?


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