Sean's Outdoor Guide

My first time as an ocean to the other competitors

First let me give a little background that led my first attempt at the Coast to Coast multi-sport event which takes place in the South Island of New Zealand in early February each year. The race itself was the brain child of Robin Judkins, or (Juddy) as he is affectionately known.

In 1987, my first marriage failed. I was not in the best areas that I struggled with the break of a few years. Also, in early 1988, I damaged my cruciate ligament and had surgery on my knee to repair it. All together, I was just a state.

In 1991, my brother, Keith, seconded one of our friends, Phil, who was next to the event. At this time I began to sort my life again and the most important thing for me was the care of my three kids on my days off from the fire department.

Therefore I'm here, sitting at home when Keith rushes and announced that next year, he and I were going to the coast to the other as a team. "What is the Coast to Coast" I asked. This is a multi-sport event which crosses the South Island of New Zealand from from Kumara Beach on the west coast of Sumner Beach on the east coast which covers about 243 kilometers by bike, running and kayaking. Oh and by the way it is a string mountains as you have to run more. Although all goes well, I will enforce the leg that you have problem with your knee. This means that you, (Me), will have to learn to kayak at least level two, and get good cycling and horse riding pack.

All this has been well above me at the time, two grade?, riding boots?, What does all this mean? "No way" was dull my immediate response, I am too busy with work and children, find someone else.

Keith was so impressed its time for Phil on the other hand, his enthusiasm was hard to keep. The next thing I know, he phoned me saying that I had have a check to him next week for my share of fees for the race. It was almost June and I had forgotten the idea to any race. Keith, as only he can, go ahead and arrived at my place with a registration form, saying: "fill this form and send it away.

A little further here, we put in our tickets, they returned some time later, with the names wrong on them. I was Jacques O'Keefe was Malcolm and Keith Jacques. We rank the mix and they said they would send new ones to us. The news is not better, as we have come to the O'Keefe brothers. On the phone again and this time, things have been sorted and our own names were on the list. So the day of the race, we and all our witnesses was a bright pink t-shirt with a big black question mark on the back and at the front, we asked the question "Has anyone seen O'Keefe brothers." We thought it was funny both.

After the saga of entry Keith phoned to say he had arranged for me to have kayaking Lessons with one of his friends, Dave. I was trapped, hopeless, so what, you can always leave at a later date. Week Next came and of course I had a call from the stranger, Dave. He organized a time for me to meet him at the estuary have my first kayak lesson. You would not believe me if I told you how many times I tried to sit in this darn boat to get some balance. Never in a million years I would be able to do that I cried. Dave was made of sterner stuff, and he persisted with me over the next weeks. Somehow or other I finally managed to say afloat, but not long, and I graduated with water more profound. big mistake! The next two months were those more underwater than above. Dave taught me to "wet exit" which was one thing I have to be good, and slowly, very slowly, I triumphed in the art of kayaking.

I kept that grueling training, learned many different strokes and was soon dropped on the smooth river Avon. For those of you unfamiliar with the river Avon in Christchurch, there is not a bit more calm water anywhere in the world, not even your pool pool. out solo on my first, I was amazed at my ability again and the cruise on the river, when, to my right a couple Dog decided to bathe. No important event in the overall scheme of things, if it takes my attention away from the pool and next minute I was struggling to keep myself, my paddle and the boat together and be able to find a place where I could swim out of the water and drain boat. Not a very successful attempt.

Although I am gradually become better and Keith arranged for me to have my first training down the river, on a real river, Help! Another friend called Keith Graham's, stood up and said he would take me for a trip on the Waiau River, a stretch of about 12 km long, which had some fast and a little water performance. Graham was a very good paddler and a good teacher. With this further training, particularly with the skills I learned from Dave, I felt art kayak began to settle in me, although I was not the best students.

While all this was happening, I had buy a road bike, learn to ride, peddle it on the road for more than a kilometer, suffer from a very painful back and end learn to ride in a pack. Think of the Tour de France "with a total amateur included, funny. Bouquet riding a bike is not for the timid. They cry Yours, always, you push, you say who your parents were, according to them, and much more. In fact, it's really scary orders ten or twelve first time. The people I rode with were much better than I ever will be on a bike, they were all very patient and very nice to me. Over the weeks, I learned many valuable lessons and now I felt everything I had was a load of miles under my belt.

But who has time for cycling as the most difficult race for me would be the leg of 67 km paddle down the river Waimakariri, Mont. White's Bridge Waimak Gorge Bridge, 25 kilometers through the Waimak gorge itself, which is usually two-level pool. In late November December may be the beginning my skills began to improve, while Keith arranged for me to go with another group of his friends for a trip on the Waimakariri River on the stretch of the river we will use the exact day of the race. This trip so far has been one Travel most frightening yet exhilarating of my life. Since that first trip, I must have been in the same part of the river more than 20 times, if the first time was the most memorable.

We left about five hours and went to Mt. White's Bridge, and build boats. There were five of us, and of course the other four guys have all paddlers GOOD. They looked after me on the way downstream, each of them approached me when one or the other tips and advice on how to improve my technique and how to treat different types of water. This was a wonderful journey exhilarating, the river was about 100 cumecs and I loved every minute of the day. In the meantime, I was always a small amount of time on the bike, the bike leg I was doing was only 55 miles long and most undulating roads.

Finally the big day came and we left. There was Keith, myself, our dad and mom were going to be our second, two bicycles, a kayak, tent, sleeping bags, clothing, food and other miscellaneous equipment. We were off to our first two teams of Coast Day to Coast and would you believe it, for this weekend there would be the worst conditions for a decade.

We arrived at little Kumara Thursday afternoon. We set up camp at the local racetrack with hundreds of other competitors, registered with all the right people and acquired all our official stickers, bibs and goodies from various sponsors events. Back to the tent, with the help of our support team (Mom and Dad) we attached the stickers from the car supporters and kayaking. We have prepared everything for the next morning, then headed off back to the Community Kumara Hall for a fabulous meal, which is formed by the inhabitants as a fundraising event for the entire city, then gave his famous speech Juddy race before. The man is a born comic and he is very entertaining introduction to DOS and do not make the event. His accomplice boy, Steve Gurney, has something to say about another way to circumvent the rules of racing that is thrown by Juddy. A great evening is done by all. Now back to the tent and sleep.

Race day is finally here. I have to walk my bike to the station and walk from there on the beach for Kumara the start of the race. My partner and support team are out of phase transition first to the Deception River. It rains regularly now and it is still dark and uncomfortable. We line up in numerical order so that we can count off then with the help of a horn Juddy fog starts the race.

All competitors in the individual events and two days off teams on the track until the bike. Once the bike is up and out. With the emergence of mass of bodies and bikes that are fighting for a position so be first clusters makes the race much easier. I am a little behind the main tip and manage to enter a bunch of ten riders. We left and it's a race largely uneventful first transition Deception. The rain is still down and I am happy off the bike. My brother Keith has crashed off the mountain goats Pass, completely ignore the problems ahead. I changed a few dry cloths and with the support team was led off to Klondyke Corner on the transition point to come up and camp for the night after a day longer.

Meanwhile, the weather was getting worse. On the track, which is a race of mountain rivers and streams began to fill quickly. At sometime in the afternoon it was decided to stop other competitors from entering the race because he was becoming dangerous. For those already in the race, things got worse. Competitors previously managed to pass before conditions became too bad, but the middle group, which Keith was one, things were becoming a concern. Surprisingly about twelve hours later, everyone has been considered safe and the camping area. Helicopters were used to extract some competitors and other just managed to scramble through.

The rain was getting worse and the river has been put in place. Later that night, as we were in the tent, you can here the river rocks and trees to roll his way and the noise was deafening. We also managed to park our tent the landing site for helicopters, big mistake, and he was very nearly fly. Even if we managed to done through a most uncomfortable night. The next morning, Juddy convened a meeting of competitors and said the river was now running at about 600 cumecs and paddle leg was officially canceled. This now made the event one day a biathlon. In my heart, I had the pleasure of hearing the palette has been canceled while I do not know if I was able to slide up the courage to enter the river as it was. But, and there was a big BUT. I now had to cycle Klondyke Corner in Sheffield, where they had set up a temporary transition. As I had not done the training cycle that I knew that I struggle.

Of course, it was still raining and the wind chill was about -5 Degrees, very cold to say the least. I made two batches of a hat beanie under my helmet and thermal nothing else I could scrounge, borrow or fly. I lost count of the number of major hill climbs there was that day, but I'm sure I walked most of them. At the top of Porters Pass, the highest point on the road, I had a photograph taken of me and to this day, I always look frozen. Anyway I finally made in Sheffield almost the last person I'm sure. My brother was waiting for me and asked me something that we share the bike. My answer was for him to take the bike all bloody and I threw it on him. I was not in the best of moods as you can guess.

Mom and dad came with me for a hot drink and a towel and we went back to the car which was parked in the temporary parking approximately one kilometer in a field. I changed my clothes, which helped tremendously and we put the bike on the rack. We're getting into the car, and yes, he would not return. A walk back in Sheffield and the local garage we found a little help. After a moment, the diagnosis was a dead battery. We bought a new one was installed and, finally, on our way to Sumner.

Keith, meanwhile, was cycling his heart and managed to exceed a few people on his way in. We did it at the finish line in time to see the cross and is given by Juddy a beer, which is trying to accommodate everyone at the end of each article, each year a great effort by him, a true winner. We packed up Keith bike and returned to her car and a change of sheets. We gave each other a big hug and said that we were happy it was over. After returning to change and warm up we all went back to Sumner and met in a local restaurant with our partners and team support to have a wonderful holiday meal.

Believe it or not I went to the next hill to the other as an individual two competitors daily. In this way, I would, hopefully, get the finishing lines on the two days and I would get the beer! … But another story.

Now, visit http://www.daysoff.ws if you want that is.

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