When the seriously unexpected happens

My riding buddy got a humble bee sting today that taught us both a hard lesson or two. His adrenaline spiked big time according to the doctor which is why he actually blacked out on the trail as we were in one of the remotest spots. With absolutely no phone coverage, he stopped riding up the hill, started losing mental focus, collapsed on his bike, got up and wandered around a bit, and then lost all consciousness and toppled forward leaving me to quickly catch him before his face hit the gravel track. Very scary. A group of motorcyclists with support vehicles drove us back over the thirty kms we had just cycled to have him checked out by a doctor and cleared to ride again tomorrow.

A bee sting!? Who would’ve thought? Not an anaphylactic reaction either, just an adrenaline spike combined with the effects of a raised heart rate climbing a hill.

The decision to press the SOS button on my EPerb was much easier than I ever thought it would be. He wouldn’t give me his name when I asked it. I could tell he was scoffing at the question, so asked another. His date of birth. Again he held back and I told him I’d push the SOS button if he didn’t answer, so he did. Then suddenly he collapsed again onto the bike on his back, his eyes wide open and staring at the sky. I pushed the button.

After 14 minutes, we heard the sound of motorcycles. At first I thought they were the emergency response. They behaved like they were too. Not responding so much to me as focusing intently on my buddy who by this time was lying on the road and in a pretty bad way. They let us know a support vehicle was on its way and they’d be able to take us to Murchison with our bikes. Wayne stabilised a little, the vehicles arrived and that’s what they did.

The emergency service never arrived and we cancelled the SOS after around twenty minutes. The helipad we later saw out front of the medical centre suggested they would have probably taken us to the same place anyway. That’s once they got us out of where we were. There was nowhere to land a chopper where we were.

No internet, nowhere to land a chopper. We were kind of lucky it wasn’t more serious and that the guys came past when they did. A big thanks to them for caring and putting a stranger’s life first on their planned day of fun.

Fuel

One of the most fun things about the TA, at least at the start, is the diet. A lot of the careful food choices typical of home go out the window when you’re using thousands of calories a day and your priority is energy. Pies and milkshakes are popular for sustenance and some important nutrients and shops and hospitality services in the know have both on hand for the riders coming through. I remember noticing the visible glee on one or more shop owners as the riders arrived and the pies began disappearing. Of course there’s also an abundance of electrolyte drinks and powders people use and try to replenish at 4 squares & bike shops. I tried a dairy electrolyte drink for what might be the first time after Wayne G mentioned that a sport coach he knew recommended them, and I was indeed impressed with the boost they gave me at times. I did read somewhere that the heart needs calcium for contractions and magnesium for de-contraction, so it’s good to ge...

About the Bike

Three areas of responsibility: body, bike and mind. Lose or critically damage any of the three and the show’s over. Of course you start the TA with your bike in the best condition possible. Some even have brand new bikes. Most have at least done things to their bikes to match them better to the job at hand. In that regard, most people have hard tail mountain bikes and many have gravel bikes, trying to strike a balance between fast (my gravel bike adds at least 5kph over my mountain bike) on the considerable proportion of pavement in the TA, able to handle the gravel and cycle trails that constitute a big part of the remainder and still good for the a few gnarly challenges like the Maungatapu. Many trade the last one away and just hope skills and/or hike-a-bike will get them to the end. Mine was the best bike I had for the job, a full suspension XC bike. I changed the chainring to 34 teeth for the pavement, put some good general tires on it (Vittoria M...

Curious to cows

I’m travelling home to Christchurch by Intercity bus. We think of the bus as a slow and relaxing form of travel, and it is. Since you’re not driving, just sitting back in a comfy seat for hours at a time, you do get to do little more than survey the passing landscape and sights and punctuate that with the odd stretch and refreshment or station stop. However here in the bus, you are still kind of separated from nature and the environment around you to a degree that you aren’t on the bike. One proof of that: the cows don’t take any notice of the bus let alone you. As you pass them in the bus, there is no reaction at all from farm animals most of the time. Compare that with being on the bike, where every cow and other farm animal seems to notice you as you pass, often even when they are far from the road. And they don’t just notice you, they stare at you for ages. To them you are a curiosity. In fact, as you can tell, the feeling is mu...

Wayne’s Tour Aotearoa 2023

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