Spectacular scenery a reward for cyclist’s hard graft
Nevis roughly translates from Spanish as “our lady of the snows”, which Palmerston North cyclist Jim Sutton will confirm. He recently rode the rugged Sound to Sound bikepacking route through the South Island and if 1500 kilometres wasn’t arduous enough, so were many of the stages.
The Sound to Sound, not a race, starts at Queen Charlotte Sound in Marlborough and finishes at Milford Sound in Southland. This was its third year and about 280 rode it with a maximum of 100 per day. These treks have become all the rage for pedallers.
When he struck the Nevis Rd in Central Otago, a snowstorm hit, yes in late summer, and he also found himself belting into a cold southerly.
His hands were so cold he couldn’t attach his helmet and after donning many layers of clothing while sheltering behind a farm shed, the zip on his jacket broke.
That stage involved 2000m of climbing and wading through freezing creeks, 20 fords in total. He survived of course, on a road hacked up by 4WD vehicles and with the danger of hypothermia. His feet had turned blue by the end.
The Nevis has the highest point on a public road in New Zealand, 1275m at Duffers Saddle. Two women who were drenched were taken out by a local contractor to Bannockburn to defrost.
That day was his hardest riding, the equivalent of covering 140km.
Sitting back in Palmerston North, Sutton comes across as someone who won’t accept being in his comfort zone. He has now ridden the Kennett Brothers’ big three routes, but rated the Sound to Sound, which at the age of 70 he accomplished in 13 days 6 hours, the toughest of the lot.
The route was 50% gravel, 25% tarseal and the rest was rough shingle tracks. More than a week later his hands were still unresponsive after eight hours a day gripping vibrating handlebars while bumping across corrugated surfaces.
There was a higher percentage of off-road slogging than on the big one, the 3000km Tour Aotearoa from Cape Reinga to Bluff, which he completed two years ago in 31 days. A stomach bug saw him lose 10kg on that odyssey, so he’d like to attempt it again.
Tour Aotearoa snakes its way down the South Island’s West Coast whereas the Sound to Sound weaves through the centre of the island from North Canterbury to Tekapo through part of the Central Otago Rail
Trail and on past Alexandra and Bannockburn beside Cromwell. This time he shed a mere 2kg.
Sutton also knocked off the Kopiko Aotearoa tour last year, across the widest part of the North Island from East Cape to Cape Egmont Lighthouse in Taranaki in 10 days; 100km per day with 17,000m of climbing.
That was extra rugged because he rode it between cyclones, in torrential rain with rivers roaring and flooding through Taranaki’s Forgotten World Highway as Cyclone Gabrielle struck. The Timber Trail through King Country was also flooded.
On the Sound to Sound he took in majestic country which even his wife Raewyn, who was driving and met up with him each day, couldn’t see on the highways. His load was lighter on this tour because he didn’t have to carry camping gear.
He trained earnestly for the ride, joined a gym and undertook long rides around Palmerston North.
Cycling began for him when he was invited to be a fourth man in a Lake Taupō ride and could have ended after 5km because his backside was aching. He has since ridden many times around Taupō and has contested triathlons, an ironman in Wellington Harbour, and a few marathons.
His philosophy is to keep going while murmuring “I’ll be right’’. Despite countless injuries, there’s no stopping him. Not that he’s a speedster; long and slow is his adage. In September he’ll contest the Mooloolaba Triathlon in Queensland.
In the Sound to Sound, a rider was evacuated on day one from Ship’s Cove after falling on the treacherous track in torrential rain above Queen Charlotte Sound. Where there were extreme and slippery climbs, as on that stage and on gravel back roads, he and most others opted for safety first and did a lot of walking.
While he rode alone, he encountered people of the same level and unashamedly did a lot of drafting in places behind other riders.
The tour is limited to March because of catamaran access to Ship’s Cove and clearance through Molesworth Station. During Sutton’s ride there was also the danger of fires.
He found riding the 7.5 hours from Te Anau to Milford and through the Homer Tunnel scary, as were the massive mountains and the danger of foreign drivers. He didn’t have a single puncture and his obligatory $100 donation went to Life Flight.