Russell Cox’s Blog (21/12)

Where do you live? Wherever I eat, sleep and store my bike is my answer. One occasion it involved a mattress on the floor shared with ants! Generally it’s been better than that. This week brings a new answer. For the coming months I’ll be living in Wellington, New Zealand.

Having spent time here in January it’s been a matter of re-familiarisation. Scouring over Google Maps to find some of the riding I enjoyed previously. Quickly established that I can get good coffee from the cafe 200m down the road. A dangerous piece of information! Slowly getting back into some kind of training routine.

The first few days were a process of trial and error. Plenty of trials and far more errors than I’d like. I arrived with my disc cover and a cassette perfect for flat racing on my training wheel. Whilst there’s plenty of wind in Wellington there’s not much flat. I couldn’t recall anything too tough so didn’t feel any rush to change things.

For my first ride here I headed to Paekakariki Hill. The climb winds it’s way through a valley to a spectacular view over Waekanai at the top. It had been a favourite on my first visit so I was keen to go back. I’d forgotten how nasty the climb up highway 58 on route is. Traffic, rough roads, dodgy cambers and steep in places. Not pleasant at all. Throw in my high gearing and it wasn’t much fun! A quick trip to Capital Cycles in Wellington and a climb friendly cassette on the back followed.

Happy in the knowledge I wouldn’t have to suffer so much on hills I headed out for another ride. My goals this time were to climb Moonshine Road and see if I could find a route there avoiding the traffic on highway 2. I’ve already had a couple of close encounters with trucks. They’re not something I want to become intimate with.

Using Google I came up with an alternate route that avoided the highway. Assuming I could remember a map was my first mistake. Three turns in and I was uncertain where I was going. Mistake two was assuming I’d remember place names. Did I want Wainouiomata or Waiwhetu? I’d not expected there to be two districts beginning with ‘Wai’ round here! I opted for Wainouiomata as it kept me on the current road. My vague recollection of the map was that I didn’t have to turn. Shortly after the road split and twisted back on itself leading into a steep hill.

Definitely not the right choice. Unfortunately there was a large median barrier preventing U-turns and leaving no choice, but to climb as far as it went. After a few kilometres mostly around the 10% mark I reached the top and the end of the barrier. A tough start, but the views were fantastic. There’s a great vantage of the whole of the bay and the Hutt valley for those willing to climb Wainouiomata Road.

Moonshine Road was a lot easier to find. It’s a pleasant climb on very quiet roads. You feel like you’re in the alps with the forest and the small farms. My next mistake was to climb it from the side I’d previously only descended. I can tell you now it’s a lot harder going up than down! If I thought Wainouiomata Road was steep I was in for a surprise. A lot of time was spent out of the saddle with the heart rate monitor registering numbers I’ve not seen in a while.

Heading home on the flat highway 2 I could see the positive side of my trip. Sure I’d failed to have the easy, exploratory ride I’d planned. On the other hand in the process I’d found some great locations for hill reps and one within ten minutes of my home. I won’t have to go far for a hard hill session.

Pools offer few opportunities to go wrong so swimming should be straight forward. I went to Freyberg Pool in the city for my first swim. There is a local pool, but with term coming to an end I’d been warned it was full of school kids. It was a good excuse for a trip into town and to expand my stack of coffee loyalty cards.

Still in recovery a nice easy swim with a focus on technique seemed appropriate. The warm-up was harder than expected, but then I’d not been in the water for a few days. Then some hundreds using paddles. First one done and I was either swimming very slowly, very quickly or mis-reading the pace clock. Second hundred paying extra attention to the clock and apparently I’m swimming very slowly. A third confirms I’m not mistaken.

This is when it started to occur to me that the pool might not be 25 metres. I count strokes for a length or two and that’s higher than expected. There’s a good chance Freyberg is a 33m pool. That or I should consider a future in duathlon. Once I’m home Google confirms Freyberg is 33 metres. No need to hang up the speedos yet.

Having only taken a couple of short runs I’ve not had the opportunity to make any errors. There’s a lot of good trails round here with plenty of hills. Whilst I’m looking forward to exploring them I’ve been warned about getting lost. It’s not unknown for locals to make mistakes and need rescuing. Given my ability to mix Wainouiomata for Waiwhetu I’m a little concerned!

I think I’m past the mistakes now. Okay, honestly I know I’ll still make plenty more. I didn’t choose Wellington for my winter training base because it would be easy. Those hills, the wind and the tough trails are the reason I’m here. My first visit showed me this is a place that will make or break you. You either come out a stronger athlete, or take up a new sport! My aim is to be much fitter next year and this is where I’ll get there.

Filed under : Blogs • Features
Read more about :Bike, Ironman, New-Zealand, Russell-Cox, Training, Wellington