Cape Reinga to Kaitaia - Epic Camp

Big day today. Not for volume but for work rate. About 90 minutes worth of Threshold split between bike/run. We were all cramping in the pool at the end of the day. All of us except Clas -- it helps to be made of steel!

We started at the top of the country at the lighthouse to the left. We ran ~12K easy through Monster Rollers down the main road. I ran easy and chatted with Roger Wacker from Texas. Roger is coming back from a run injury AND had a major mechanical today on his bike. Despite that, he stuck with it, didn't quit and - because of that - won the Green Jersey for play of the day.

Johno took the running race out fast (uphill start; either up/down; net elevation loss) and I stuck with him. Johno NEVER breathes when he races -- what I mean there is that I can never hear him breathing when I am racing him. Well, I was able to hear him today. Clas is a super downhill runner and bridge up, then past, us on a long downhill section. I stuck with Clas and held effort through a nice 1K flatter section. That was enough to get enough of a gap to hold him off for the downhill finish. I ran about 37 minutes but it felt tougher than that time reflects!

Petro, Steve, Johno and I tacked on - gently - to get to 25K of running.

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The early bike pace was too hot for me and I rolled out the back. We had a strong tail wind so I wasn't getting much draft anyhow. My power was good but my speed/watts was low given the tailwind. Turns out my brake was rubbing. Glad I caught that before the TT!

TT went well for me - 279w (excl 0s) for about 44 minutes.

90K - 2,242kj.

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We ended the day with a 3000 swim that included a 1500m TT - there were cramps-o-plenty from the two previous TTs of the day.

Steve took out the swim (just like he did the bike). I managed to be second but only because I cramped less than everyone else. It wasn't a very fast swim for any of us - I was 21:41.

We weren't really sure of the pool distance but we decided that it was the same for everyone an called it 33 meters. Times seemed about right. We'll know more when we find an accurate pool.

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So that's it.

Things are really tight in the standings but I need to sleep and pack. So update will have to wait.

Back at it tomorrow.

g