canfan

We applied Feb 2023, only received notification that it’s approved yesterday. Now waiting for the ceremony which they say can take 1-4 months. And then we can apply for passports, which again is currently taking a good while.

Are you doing the 100km version of the Whaka or one of the shorter distances? The 100km is pretty brutal. I am doing the 50km again this year on the Saturday and then the 25km with my son on the Sunday. Happy to meet up for a ride if you keen. I am close to Woodhill and Riverhead but also happy to travel to Hanua/Totara. I have only been to Hanua and Totara once each.

My mom is visiting in a couple of months, if you send me your address I can send it to you in any case once she goes back.

I actually have one that I bought as a spare when I had a Fondriest F900 frame. Problem is that I now live in New Zealand. I am happy to post it to you and hope for the best that it actually reaches you if you are happy to cover the postage fees. Another option is for me to try find someone this side that is visiting SA sometime soon. Feel free to pm me if you keen to go for the postage option.

They are riding as team Trainer Road 2. Currently in 24th overall I think.

Will be interesting to see how Sina Frei goes over the duration of the race. I think Robyn de Groot and Ariane Luthi might have a really good shot.

When you signup to Sufferfest you get 14 days free. When you register on Wahoo you should get a code emailed to you that is a $30 voucher that gives you 2 months on Sufferfest. So after the 14 days trial you have to select a plan and enter that code which basically pays for your first 2 months.

My experience has been similar. Finding people to regularly ride with seems to be harder here than what it was in SA. The other thing is that personally I find being entered into events helps a lot with motivation. The issue is that the price of most cycling events are pretty steep. So depending on priorities it can be a bit prohibiting especially for the out of town ones.

Back in again, hopefully this year goes better than last year.

The Epic is this one: https://www.lakehaweaepic.co.nz/ I have heard it's also super tough.

Same here. This thing is a beast. I know a couple of really strong riders that have ended up taking 7-9 hours to complete the Whaka 100. The 50 definitely seems more like it could be fun but still challenging.

Here to give it another go. Both 2018 and 2019 didn't go to plan so hopefully 2020 is the year.

Hey Wayne. I am about to sell my sons Giants XTC 24” if you are interested. It’s still in great condition as it hasn’t had much use. It’s the one with disc brakes and the air shock. Let me know if you are interested and I can send you some pictures tomorrow.

April was a bad month for me with my son's birthday and all the pubic holidays. Also next to no riding done. Hoping for a better May.

Ok back at it, I joined the challenge last year January and straight after that had a disastrous 6 months where I picked up about 10 kg and hardly rode my bike. Never even logged my weight last year. Finally in August realised this cannot continue and got serious again about training and eating properly. From August to December I lost around 13 kg and felt the best I have in years, both on and off the bike. Then, this year January I decided to join the challenge again and guess what, the wheels came off again. Too many work commitments, etc, etc and I have managed to pick up about 4.5 kg from what I weighted end of December. Luckily decided to fix this sooner than what I did last year so rejoined Weight Watchers last week and managed to loose 1.8kg in the first week back. Now to just stick to being disciplined and accountable. I have to get down to goal weight this year. 10kg more to go.