10th Anniversary Vorb Queen Charlotte Track Ride December 2, 2009

Posted by Celia in General.
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The Queen Charlotte Track is the longest piece of (legal) singletrack in New Zealand, covering 71km (according to DOC, 62km according to the Kennett Brothers) and located in the Marlborough Sounds at the top of the South Island. Vorb (well, Tama really) has been organising annual trips to ride the Queen Charlotte Track since 2000, so this year marked the 10th anniversary of the Vorb QCT trips.

Always set for the last weekend of November, the main excuse used by riders for not going along was that they were riding around a big lake for 160kms (the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge). As a Taupo race virgin however, I have never been able to use that excuse, instead opting for boring ones like “I’m too poor”, “I’m too unfit”, and “I can’t go if Scotty’s not going” (yes, bleurgh etc). However, after kicking myself for not joining in the shenanigans the past few years, I decided that 2009 was finally the year to check the track out.

Scotty and I decided to do take a few days off on either side of the weekend and do the road trip up and down the country. We set off on Thursday morning from Dunedin, stayed the night in Kaikoura (where we picked up a dragon as our road trip mascot), and drove into Picton the next day. After killing time wandering around the streets of Picton (there weren’t many), we decided to check into the backpackers that Tama had booked and wait for people to slowly arrive throughout the afternoon and evening. By 10pm, we had most of our party of 25, a motley crew of individuals from Auckland (whose plane was diverted to Blenheim) through to Dunedin (Scotty and myself), bikes from all ends of the price range, and ages from 20-something to over 50s.

Dragon welcomes us to his home town of Kaikoura

Day One:

6am on Saturday morning and we were awoken by someone’s alarm after a restless night’s sleep (obviously, backpackers who party in the main lounge till the wee hours of the morning don’t know what “quiet time” is). After trying to hide from the outside world in my sleeping bag for 15 minutes, I reluctantly extracted myself from my warm cocoon and got myself ready. Because the start of the track (Ship Cove) was waaaay out at the end of a Sound (what is a “Sound” anyway?), we had to catch a boat (I’m on a boat! I’m on a boat!..) to the starting point. By 8am, we had loaded our bags and bikes onto the boat, and at 9am, we were off.

Bikes loaded on top of the boat

Yes, that is my  hand on the wheel!

Looking pretty grey out there!

The weather wasn’t being particularly nice to us on Saturday. On the hour boat trip, I hoped that the rain in Picton wasn’t also happening out on the track, but as we pulled into Ship Cove, I had resigned to myself that it was going to be a particularly wet day and ride. After briefly stopping at the monument for a group photo, we all set off at our own paces along the track.

Most of the group posing for a photo

Now, I’m the type of girl who likes a good warm up to get the legs moving and the lungs working before doing anything too strenuous on the bike, so it was with some dismay that I realised that the first part of the track involved a lot of pushing and climbing – on wet clay. However, once the track mellowed out, it was quite enjoyable going through native bush, and although the rain continued to fall throughout the ride, it added to the atmosphere. It also gave me a chance to work on my ascending and descending in wet, slippery conditions, and by the end of the first day (about 2 hours of riding), I felt like was invincible and could tackle wet roots and clay with relative ease.

The first day did take a turn for the worse for one rider who I happened to be riding behind at the time. He slipped while trying to get off his bike and fell down the bank on the side. I hopped off and helped carry his bike up the bank as he scrambled up saying “Oww I think I’ve got a bad cut on my leg”. A cursory glance down at the outside of his right leg confirmed that yes, it was a pretty bad cut – almost 10cm long and looked like it was at least a cm (or two) deep. Quickly, I thought back to the first aid course I did six months ago (DRS ABC – that’s no help right now!) and got him to sit down, elevate his leg, and hold the wound together while I rummaged around his first aid kit (thank goodness he was carrying one) for a bandage. A few pieces of gauze and a tightly wound bandage later, we realised that the only way out was to keep going until we arrived at Furneaux Lodge (a good 5km away from where he fell). I kept him company for the remainder of the ride to the Lodge, where he headed off on a boat back to Picton for medical care. Mend up quick B!

From Furneaux Lodge, we had two options – 1) continue to ride along the track until Punga Cove, then catch a water taxi back to Furneaux, where we were staying for the night, or 2) get out of our wet clothes, have a hot shower, change into warm clothes, and hang out at the pub. Guess which option everyone decided to take?

Me looking cold and wet at the end of Day 1′s ride

Day Two:

Another early morning start, except this time we were well rested from the super-comfy beds and the peace and quiet at Furneaux Lodge. Scotty and I (plus 11 others by the sounds of it) had decided to continue riding from Furneaux Lodge, while the remainder caught the water taxi to Punga Cove (about 1-1.5 hours along the track) to continue the rest of the ride. The contrast in weather between Days 1 and 2 was amazing – blue skies galore! We set off just after 7:30am, and by 8am, we were already taking off our outer layers of clothing. It was going to be a hot day!

Crossing the one person swing bridge near the start of Day 2

The aim of the second day was to get to Anikiwa by 4:30pm in time for the boat back to Picton. We weren’t quite sure how far along the track we had travelled yesterday (my speedo sensor kept moving out of alignment with all the water we were riding through, and I didn’t bother putting it back on for the second day). The track had markers every 5km however, and I think the first marker we saw on the second day was for the 56km mark. Yes.. that’s 56 km TO GO. It was going to be both a long and hot day!

The first part of the track was fairly flat and reminiscent of the “easy” grade singletrack at Makara Peak. Then came a steady climb up to Kenepuru Saddle, and along and up and along and up, and up, and up to the Bay of Many Coves shelter, where a few people had also stopped. We hung out there for a bit, admired the views, filled up Scotty’s camelbak bladder, then carried on. By that stage, it was around 10:30am, and we thought we had heaps of time up our sleeve. At some point, I was beginning to fade and stopped for some food. I was making a conscious effort to keep myself well-fed and hydrated (something I’m not particularly good at doing on long rides/races), especially as it was getting towards the hot part of the day. We were rewarded for all our climbing with a fun descent down into Torea saddle. Time update: 12pm. Distance to go: approximately 20km.

A little stop for something to eat

Resting at the Bay of Many Coves Shelter

What a view!

Here, things went steadily uphill in gradient, and downhill in energy reserves. Hitting the steep, long climb out of Torea saddle at the hottest part of the day was perhaps our downfall. A lot of sweating, stopping, resting, bike carrying, bike pushing, and swearing ensued, and the next 4 or 5 km probably took a good 2 hours. However, the track eventually mellowed out for a while, then pointed in a downhill direction, finishing with a nice set of switchbacks dropping us down to another tarseal road. Time update: around 2:30-3pm (I’m making things up here because I’m not entirely sure!). Distance to go: between 11 and 16 km (I’m pretty sure we’d passed the 16 km point somewhere along the way!).

The final sections were pretty flat and similar to the gradient of the first part of Day 2’s ride. On fresh legs, it would have been an awesomely fast middle/big chainring ride, but after 40-odd kilometres, riding fast was the last thing on my mind. At the 1km to go marker, I let out a big “woohooo! 1km to go!” yell, and sped up slightly to get to the end at Anikiwa. Final time update: 3:55pm. Distance to go: Zero! Yusss!!

Scotty devours a coke at the end of the ride

The boat arrived a wee bit after 4:30pm and we were all pretty quiet on the boat ride back. We said our farewells in Picton to people who we only just met a couple of days ago, and all went our separate ways. Scotty and I headed to Nelson and stayed with Tama for a couple of nights before making the road trip back down the island on Tuesday. We arrived home to a garden which had just gone berserk after a weekend of sun in Dunedin, and a very affectionate cat who must’ve been wondering where we’d disappeared off to for five days.

After such a long ride, you can’t help but think back and wonder what you’ve learnt from the experience. Here are some of my random thoughts:

• Always bring spare disc brake pads. Scotty ran out on Day 1. I ran out on Day 2. Guess the clay and grit and constant water running down the track took its toll.
• I am going to go shopping for a small first aid kit to put into my camelbak. Having some basic first aid knowledge is great, but having the tools to be able to do it efficiently is even better.
• Hydration is important. I refilled my camelbak at some point during the ride and drank more than I ever had on the bike. Yet, I’ve still had a fuzzy headache for the past couple of days.
• When you have to ride wet clay, roots, and rocks to get from point A to point B, somehow they become a lot more rideable. I hope some of this skill gained won’t be lost when I head out on my next wet MTB ride.
• My knee seemed to handle the ride OK – this is a pretty big achievement I reckon. 2 hours on Saturday, and 8 and a half hours on Sunday – OK, so a couple of hours of that wasn’t “ride-time” but still, that’s definitely progress from where I was a few months ago when I couldn’t ride an hour without my knee hurting. Which reminds me. I need to go to the gym and get back into my knee rehab exercises.
• For some reason, I am thinking about my next Queen Charlotte Track ride, and doing it in one day instead of the two. Call me crazy, but that sounds strangely appealing.

Finally, a huge thank you to Tama for organising the ride (even though he couldn’t ride himself). Cheers for the time, organisation, and all the stuff done “behind the scenes” to make the event such a memorable experience. If there is an 11th Vorb QCT ride next year, I want to be the first to book my ticket.