Why the solstice you might ask? well, the day with the longest daylight hours just makes sense to me for a challenge that’s going to take some time.

Less riding in the dark is less mentally fatiguing and generally just easier to see what’s coming up. The nature of the event being a long day and being on the solstice got me thinking that it’d only be appropriate to call it the longest long day.

With a date set and a name it’s as good as happening, my ideas and thoughts continue to grow with it starting to become a real thing.

I figured that if I’m going to do such an activity I may as well raise money for a worthy cause and that being the makingtrax foundation.

An inclusive tourism and outdoor sports facilitator for all. After a couple phone calls and emails to the founder Jezza. It was happening, now it’s really got to happen. All of the talk of it happening, now time to do the mahi and be physically ready.

I’ll be the first to say I know nothing about long endurance efforts but I had a theory of alternating big month of vert then a “chill” month. It feels like it’s worked alright with my fitness jumping up greatly, staying stoked on riding my bike and still getting out on the miserable, grim, wet and snowy days and nights of winter into spring.

Not every day is easy at all, I struggle to get out the door in poor weather but mostly can get myself out in the cold and wet. There’s been a few memorable days of bad weather with a day of heavy rain for an entire ride, I was wet through before even reaching the access road to start the majority of my climbing. Searching for the firmest part of the water logged gravel road, sometimes the high points are best, sometimes the stream of water is. It’s a character building experience that’s for sure, using the hose to rinse my clothes off of all the mud before undressing outside and getting in the shower to then ride to work in time for a shift.

Another memorable bad weather ride was another heavy rain day, I skipped my pre work ride as the forecast looked to clear up in time for an after work ride.

5pm rolls around and it’s not raining, awesome. I get changed into my riding gear and head out, half way up my first lap it’s starting to rain again and by the top snow. Not keen on hanging around for it to get worse I crack on. Its well into the dark now and the heavy snow and head light makes for a Star Wars “hyper drive” feeling but just cold and snowy.

With my glasses wet and instantly fogging up that’s no longer and option. Snow hitting me in the face and eyes, I’m keen to get the vert done and get home to be dry and warm to get ready for the next day for a 6:45am start.

With September now wrapped up with another 50000+m and a trip to the Nelson to ride some trails on my chill month.

We head off to ride the Wakamarina track, rugged is one way to describe it or even well weathered perhaps. A wee slip on an off camber rock slab and down I go like a sack of s**t. A tweak feeling in my collar bone which has previously broken and been plated. Brush myself off and we carry on for the rest of the epic trail. The following days were at The Wairoa Gorge and barely a niggle I thought I was in the clear for the collarbone. The days after The Gorge and back in Queenstown it’s apparent something isn’t right. A trip to accident and emergency is in order, a few hours later and it’s in a sling with an inconclusive outcome of no easily visible fractures but could have a minor crack somewhere. Perhaps the plate stressed the bone or a minor fracture, I don’t know. All I know is it's painful and I can’t ride. I rush and get myself a indoor trainer to connect my bike to so that I can maintain some fitness whilst I can’t ride outside. Luckily the pain subsided quickly and only 2 weeks off the bike.

Crisis averted!!

November rolls around and it’s time for another big month. 

I was lost for a goal at the start and then I come up with 56,789m purely because it’s an numerically ascending number.

This meant 1,892m everyday for 30 days.

It’s a daunting number when your sitting at 0m at the start of the month knowing how much time and pain your legs are going to deal with. But my pockets full of stubbornness and a variety of snacks. I head out morning and night on work days as early at 5:45am and out to as late at 9:15pm. My days off usually consisted of 2000+m days in case something went wrong on work days.

The month wasn’t the smoothest with a quite bad toothache popping up and subsequent tooth extraction having to take place but overall it was great. The daily ranged from as “low” as 780m and highest 3,294m on the final day, with a total of 61,192m for the month. I had managed to creep my daily average over 2000m a day. Big job month was done.

December is here, the nerves are building.

The day now getting quite close. I keep chipping away each day riding and setting myself up to start tapering off and being recovered for 8848m of vertical. 

At the time of writing, I’ve taken my first day off in 53 days straight of riding and just coming off a trial run with a 12hr day in the saddle and 5,327m gained.

I wanted to test out nutrition and hydration over a decently long period. What I took away from the day is that I’m feeling quite fit (mentally and physically) and able to sit in the pain cave for a long time the riding was a lot better than July’s 4627m day. I was able to focus a lot easier with less mistakes and my legs felt up to the challenge.

To get back to the why do I do that question. I have some weird theories about some life things from time to time. One of them was (whilst climbing the access road of course) that there will always be some suffering in your life no matter if you choose it or not, and the past 5 months have had quite a bit of physical suffering by choice but with no regret.

To me the mental clarity and happiness I get from riding my bike on the climb and the descent is something I always come back too, kind of like a bad drug habit. It’s my happy place even though it’s a place of physical suffering and pain, it’s such a positive mentally charging thing.

I do “that” because I love the suffer and I love riding bikes.

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