Taking it nice ’n easy for Tour NZ
“It was the best cycling experience I have ever had, bar none.”
Doug Bogardus from Oromahoe was unreserved in his praise about his 2015 Tour of New Zealand campaign.
“It was such a blast. One really enjoyable week,” the retired physiotherapist said only days after completing the North Island stage of the eight-day event earlier this month.
A self-described “farmer, now, I guess”, Bogardus cycled the event on a “hand-me-down bike” which had been passed on by his son. Having also taken part in the BDO Tour of Northland last month, the 66-year-old said he was glad to have fulfilled an ambition to take on the Tour of New Zealand as it had become such a “well known event” within the national cycling community and increasingly, the international one as well.
From the first day, he noted cyclists formed into packs of similar pace and began to ride together, with the leader riding hard in front and breaking the air for the others for a time, before falling back and letting another take a turn at being the group leader.
Although the event officially finished last Saturday with the top eight from the two separate stages racing off in poor weather around the Beehive, the campaign for the majority of cyclists ended on the seventh day with a ride into Masterton in “beautiful weather” last Friday. Bogardus was joined by his son and some friends for that last leg and noted the arrival of fresh and younger legs really gave a new burst of energy to the weary road warriors.
“It was a great finish!” Bogardus said of the penultimate day, a laidback American drawl still detectable, although he has resided in New Zealand for the past 36 years.
He went on to note the final day was more of a chance to get all of the cyclists from both stages together for the event prizegiving. There Bogardus, as the fastest in the masters over-65 age group, was presented with a plaque, a bottle of wine and a T-shirt. Asked if he’d gone out on the town to celebrate afterwards, Bogardus said he was sure there were parties all over Wellington, “especially for the younger riders”, but had himself opted for “a good night’s sleep”.
The keen cyclist felt he had coped surprisingly well with the seven days of relatively full-on pedalling.
“I was more comfortable than I thought I would be. I could have got on
Riders ready at the Kaitaia start line for the North Island stage of the Tour. the bike the next day and kept going.”
With the tour held every two years, Bogardus wasn’t quite ready at this stage to commit to doing it all over again, although the option of taking on the South Island stage was attractive in that it would allow him to claim he’d more or less cycled the length of New Zealand. He had heard the South Island riders had it far worse than their northern counterparts, having to ride through snow at times when a seriously cold front, representing a premature start to winter, had struck the night before the tour began.
The easy-going Far North man didn’t hesitate for a moment to recommend the Tour of New Zealand to anyone interested in having a go the next time it rolls around.
“Who wouldn’t want an opportunity to ride some really nice back-country roads with a group of riders. It’s a wonderful social environment and at the same time, you raise a lot of money for various worthy charities.” The third Tour of New Zealand from April 11-18 featured 240 Kiwis and 75 from overseas and began with with two simultaneous starts at either end of New Zealand. Well over 100 riders taking on the 688km North Island leg did a quick time trial for 24km from Cape Reinga before getting their tour officially under way at the Te Ahu Centre shortly after lunchtime, following an official welcome/ send-off by councillor Dave Collard standing in for Far North Mayor John Carter.
Day 1 saw the group — which included trans-Atlantic rower Rob Hamill — ride 65km to finish at Kohukohu. Day 2 was a 79km distance including a ‘neutral’ ride from Omapere followed by a timed start from Tane Mahuta in Waipoua Forest to Dargaville; Day 3 was 70km from Dargaville to Brynderwyn. Day 4 was 84km from Tuakau to Raglan, Day 5 was 86km from Te Kuiti to Taumaranui and from National Park to The Chateau, Day 6 was 133km from the Chateau to Pipriki and from Ranana to Wanganui, and Day 7 was a 106km from Palmerston North to Masterton.
The eighth and final day in Wellington on Saturday saw the tour conclude with a ‘criterium event’ at the Beehive with the top cyclists from the North and South contingents racing off on a short course in front of Parliament.
All riders raised money for nominated charities, with organisers citing the example of Hamill and his teammates having raised more than $50,000 for the Unicorn Foundation, which supports neuroendocrine cancer patients, before the tour had even begun.