Trio ready to face brutal ride

LONG HAUL: Whanganui cyclists Rob Manson (left), Debbie Cain and Brian Hayward have a long, hard ride ahead in their second BDO Wellington to Auckland Cycle Challenge starting Sunday.PHOTO/BEVAN CONLEY

THE PAIN of last year's effort has been put to one side as three Whanganui athletes contemplate the 797.7km ahead in the BDO Wellington to Auckland Cycle Challenge.

Brian Hayward, Debbie Cain and Rob Manson all competed in and completed the annual event for the first time last year and are eager to saddle up again for the 2016 version kicking off in the capital this Sunday. It runs for seven days in stages ending in Pukekohe on Saturday, February 20.

Departing from the main street in Lower Hutt and finishing in Pukekohe, each day is divided into one or two stages covering anywhere from 38km to 122kms. The challenge rocks into Whanganui on Tuesday afternoon and then leaves for Kakatahi and Ohakune the next morning.

The Whanganui crew know only too well the challenge that lays ahead.

Hayward (50-59 category) only began cycling 27 months ago spurred on by the success of uncles Ross and Kevin Hayward back in the day in Masterton, Cain (40-49) has enjoyed the sport for several years after initially cycling to lose weight, while Manson (50-59) is a fitness freak who rode his first challenge last season less than 18 months after double open-heart surgery.

All three agree pain is very much a part of the challenge which takes in more than its fair share of hill climbs, including the Rimutuka Hills on the first stage to Featherstone.

"But before you get to the Rimutukas there's the Kaitoke Hill and that's short, but very steep - it's a great start to the challenge," Manson said.

"In fact, it's almost all hills, there's not many flats throughout the entire course."

The trio reflected back on last year's trek, recalling how the weather was freezing leaving Wellington on the first stage, but humid and hot by the time they c reached the northern stages.

"It was about 5C when we left to head to Featherstone, but soon warmed up over the days to be around 30C by the time we reached Hamilton," Cain said.

While the 116.41km leg from Palmerston North through to Whanganui was tough, the next morning stage to Kakatahi and on to Ohakune was worse, all three agreed.

"You might have Reed's Hill to cope with coming into Whanganui, but the ride along Fields Track to Ohakune is a gruelling climb. It's about 7km of steady climbing and it's tough," Cain said.

Meanwhile, Whanganui and national cycling treasure Ron Cheatley has been invited by TVNZ to join the event to ride the Palmerston North leg to his hometown with TV One weatherman Sam Wallace.

Wallace will be competing the entire length of the course in the corporate class and will be delivering live morning weather reports for TV One from each stopover venue.

All abilities are catered for with elite riders, competitive masters, weekend warriors, cycling tourists, and social or corporate teams competing.