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Picture Perfect at The Pioneer on Day 4

As far as bike riders at The Pioneer are concerned, today was Hump Day.

Mike Blewitt 03.02.2016

As far as bike riders at The Pioneer are concerned, today was Hump Day. Day 4 was about 111km and about 1500m of climbing. It doesn’t actually sound so bad. But you can never read a race by the numbers alone.

To that effect, looking at the race, it looks like Team Danton of Dan McConnell and Anton Cooper have an unassailable lead, as do New World in Mixed, and Torpedo7 in open women’s. But as all the teams have come to realise, The Pioneer is tough. The terrain, the surface, the temperature and the distances are all very demanding. Very few teams would be resting on their laurels. A bad flat tyre, or worse, could easily change the leader board.

The opening kilometres of today’s stage traversed from Tekapo along irrigation canals before hitting the Alps 2 Ocean cycle trail, winding along the terminal lake of the Tasman Glacier. That cycle trail is over 300km, but we only used part of it.

That meant the start was pretty flat. And while it wasn’t a slow start, the pace was pretty comfortable for most involved for the first 60km today. The leading teams kept themselves near the front and out of trouble, and riders ate, drank, and prepared for the beastly climb over the Ben Ohau range.

There were few surprises as riders boosted out of the 2nd feed zone. Team Danton took off as you’d expect some of the World’s best to do, with Kona A Team (Cory Wallace and Spencer Paxson) in hot pursuit. Kona B of Wicks and Sneddon were trailing, and the long climb and zero trees meant you could see a long way ahead. After these three teams, the EpicCymru.com Team of Matt Page and Sam Gardner trailed, with the mixed leaders Kate Fluker and Mark Williams (Team New World) just behind them.

The climb was a real brute, the the descent was on a small farmer’s track down a scree slope, with lots of big, loose rocks under your tyres, and they weren’t stable. In the saddle, the trail moved back to the next ridgeline, on an old disused trail that seemed to sit right under the sun.

Views across the hidden valley were amazing, a wall of tussock grass and rock sat opposite, obscuring the view that we had earlier to Aoraki.

The final descent was some of the most challenging trail we have ridden yet. Every grass tussock hid a toaster sized lump of basalt, or a ditch that ran off the edge. The need for intense concentration was matched by the need to look after you and your bike. There’s a good chance that plenty of people put a dent in themselves, their bike or their race on this descent today.

Full results are online.

The ride of the day belonged to Kate Fluker and Mark Williams. The Queenstown pair are dominating the Open Mixed Category and did so again today to the extent they were 4^th overall on the stage.

“I am really happy, it was nice to have that flat start where I could ease into it,” said Fluker. “It has been really interesting learning from Willy (Mark Williams) how to take on the climbs at our own pace, we are finding we are getting into our rhythm and picking others off as we climb.”

Fluker is loving getting the riding under her belt in The Pioneer as the cross country rider contemplates a possible Olympic selection in the coming months.

“Normally this would be base miles at this time of the year so this is the perfect opportunity to get this done in a fun, competitive environment. This is so much better than riding on my own in Queenstown, the self-motivation you have to have, this is so much easier to get it done in a pretty awesome environment.

“I totally think this race will match the best in the world. I was talking to the Kona boys as they have some good international experience and they say The Pioneer has all the ingredients to be right up there with the best stage races in the world, they say it is a matter of time and I agree.”

Fluker was especially proud to ride with thoughts of her close friend Kelly McGarry in her heart, just 36 hours after he tragically passed away while riding in Queenstown.

“I can’t stop thinking about him, he was just such an amazing guy and a special friend. That helped me get up the hard parts of the ride today, those climbs are nothing to the pain of losing him and the pain that Kelly’s family and friends are all feeling.”

The Open Male Category came down to a sprint finish, and in what was almost a carbon copy of yesterday it was Anton Cooper and Dan McConnell who just held off the Kona Factory team of Spencer Paxson (USA) and Cory Wallace (CAN), this time by a mere two seconds.

“Today was kind of nice to have that leg speed, rolling along with beautiful views for the first two hours,” said Paxson. “Then the climb almost felt harder today, I’m not sure what it was. It was tiring but I was whooping and hollering down the last descent once you pop out and the lake is right in front of you and it is just so spectacular.”

Wallace paid tribute to the stage winners.

“Dan and Anton made it hard too, they didn’t stop for the second feed so they got a gap on us and we were in chase mode the whole day, we got them at the bottom of the final descent and then chased home together.”

Steve Gurney and Simon Callaghan continue to lead the Male Masters 50+ category, but it was a bandaged Gurney who arrived at the stage finish and headed straight for some first aid on a lacerated arm that required stitches.

“Oh man, that was just stupid! It wasn’t even a crash, it was all in slow motion. I had stopped at an aid station to refill on water and turned to see Simon (Callaghan) and before I knew it I had collided with another rider who was also looking around so didn’t see me. From there it was like a slow motion scene in a movie, we both went down and my arm came down on his brake lever and did some damage – but really it is more embarrassment! Medical wanted me to stop for some stitches but I knew it was okay and after all, the race clock was ticking!”

The Open Female Category is simply a one team race, with Erin Greene and Kath Kelly ‘owning’ the leaders jerseys all week, today winning their fourth consecutive stage to extend their overall lead to a massive three hours fifty nine minutes.