A strong headwind greeted the 30-plus field of riders participating in the grassroots Cape2Kaitaia cycle ride on Saturday.
The group left Cape Reinga at 9am with the first rider, Bruce McDowell crossing the finish line at Infinite Scope Gym just north of Kaitaia approximately 4.5 hours later. Yes, organisers George Coulson and Pat Hira both wanted to place the emphasis on the term 'approximately' by noting recording riders' times had never been a priority.
Acting as spokesperson for the recently formed Cycle For Life group, Coulson, said the concept behind the ride was a fairly basic one.
"It's for those who just want to ride and have fun." Hira chipped in by noting another objective behind the event was just to inspire people "to get off the couch" and become more active.
Not all riders completed the entire distance, with a couple of cyclists beginning from Te Kao, and others starting earlier than the main field, while the last rider home came in at 4.30pm. The conditions weren't exactly ideal either, the riders given a torrid time by the stiff southwest headwind. Speaking from first-hand experience, Coulson said this took its toll.
"First half of the ride had all the hills, [but even] my average came down on the second half which is the flat part."
Hira and Coulson said the plan was to make the event an annual one - again reminding it was not to be confused with the other more race-orientated Cape2Kaitaia run by the Far North Flash club (and who were represented by several riders last weekend) - but will try too streamline the format a little. They are also likely to introduce a koha entry in the future compared with this year where entry was free, although riders had the option of paying $10 which included lunch at the prizegiving.
"When we added everything up we had made $4 so at least we didn't run at a loss," said Hira smiling. "We don't want this to get too big. That wasn't the goal." He also acknowledged the generous sponsorship from an estimated two dozen businesses and individuals which saw every rider at the prizegiving receive a lucky draw prize.
The Cycle For Life group which also runs the Coast to Coast cycle ride from Taipa to Waipapakauri Ramp in June, is currently working on introducing another themed ride for local cyclists.
In other news, Coulson and Hira are among a small group of Kaitaia cyclists preparing to take on the Lake Taupo Cycle Ride, the infamous 160km long distant event held annually on the last Saturday of November which has had fields of up to 11,000 riders taking part in the past. Hira, only there as support this year, said he had to wait 2.5 hours to start a previous event and when he did, a marshall told him the elite riders were already nearly three-quarters of the way around the course. He eventually completed that Lake Taupo campaign in just under eight hours.