‘Possibiltarian’ on a mission
Cyclist knocked off his bike pecked by birds and chased by a helicopter
He’s been attacked by magpies, stung by bees and knocked off his bike by a car resulting in a dislocated shoulder, but that’s not deterring Kevin Collins from his mission.
The Taupō librarian’s latest challenge — to cycle around Lake Taupō — is all for a good cause.
Referring to himself as a “possibiltarian” he hopes to raise $180,000 so his 22-year-old niece Caitlin Umbers can get the treatment she needs to cure her of a painful and debilitating condition called Ehlers Danlos syndrome.
“She’s in ER every week. It dislocates all her joints. Her bones aren’t brittle but her joints keep separating and she is in constant pain. So we are desperately trying to raise $180,000. They do surgery to fuse the bones and that’s done in Germany.”
The 160km Around the Lake section of the Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge is not the first epic adventure he has set out on, having done IronMan NZ in Taupō in 2020 and then the 4.2km Lake Taupō Across the Lake Swim in 2021, despite the fact he could not swim at all until 2020. He followed that up with a 100km ultramarathon in 2022.
“My son is type 1 diabetic and he watched the end of the IronMan here and thought he would love to do that one day and a few days later he came up to me and said ‘I will never be able to do that’ with his diabetes and I thought, ‘right, I’ll show you’ and I trained on his diet and did the events on his diet — low carbs. Showed him that as long as you plan it you can do anything.”
He has done all of his challenges on the same diet, which did leave him feeling quite tired. Athletes traditionally load up on carbs before races and training.
That hasn’t been the only challenge for Collins as he prepared for his latest adventure, which takes place on November 25.
He was set back by a bad accident in April when a car came through a roundabout in central Taupō and sent him flying through the air. He hurt his back and had a dislocated shoulder, which put him out of action for a whole month.
Covid-19, and subsequent complications with his asthma, also put him out of action for a week and then it was a slow journey back to full fitness again. He has also been struck down by other chest and sinus infections, not to mention angry birds on the Taupō by-pass where he usually trains.
“I think magpies like the taste of librarians because there is one specifically, on the bypass road, it loves waiting for me. Every time it comes down from behind and thwack on the helmet.”
He has also nearly been run down by a car driving on the dedicated cycle path. “I saw two headlights, I thought it was two cyclists. Lucky I got out of the way.”
He was also suddenly thrust into the spotlight when out training one night, quite literally.
”[The helicopter] was above me, it must have been looking for someone because suddenly this spotlight came out of nowhere. I thought it was UFOs coming to pick me up. I gazed up and then I was blinded, the bike was weaving everywhere.
“They probably thought I was trying to escape so they followed me on for a bit, They thought this must be the guy.”
Far from being part of Taupō’s criminal underbelly, Collins is actually a senior customer service officer and children’s librarian at the Taupō Library, where he has worked for 21 years.
“The team here and my family, they have been my engine, my motivation.”
He is doing the cycle challenge on a bike borrowed from Robin Parfitt who did the very first challenge in 1977 and who has done it six times.
The 160km ride next weekend, which will be the same day as his 52nd birthday, would be his longest ride yet and he hasn’t even tried out the section which runs along the western side of the lake yet.
“I didn’t want to do it until the day so I haven’t even been down the Western Bay, 82km is my best at the moment. My legs are certainly feeling it. Running is more my thing.”
His recent physical exploits follow a period of about 20 years when he didn’t do much sport at all.
In his younger years, he represented New Zealand at karate, so he does have pedigree as a sportsperson.
These days he sees sport as a metaphor.
“I always try to teach the kids to find meaning in leisure.”
So far about $7000 has been raised for Caitlin’s treatment through a givealittle page.
“Her endurance is my endurance which gives me strength,” Collins said.