Earlier this year, my Dad and I voyaged to Australia for the inaugural BMC Mountains To Beach (M-T-B, get it?) race… 11 stages over five days from the shadow of Mt Kosciuszko, Australia’s highest point, all the way to the beautiful beaches of the NSW south coast. I rated it as the best, or at least the most enjoyable race I’ve done in recent years.

Personality type has a lot to do with race tactics and attitude. Elite riders start from the front, have a clear run through technical sections, and rain or shine score the best track conditions. However the number of variables by which they measure their success can yield only a 50:50 ‘enjoyment on investment’ return. Age groupers are niche operators. They’re only concerned with the half-dozen riders in their category. Training is full-on and placings hotly contested. But regardless of results, come the after-match they’re likely to be the ringleaders drumming up enthusiasm for next year. Sport riders pay the event organiser’s bills… the lemmings in the sandwich. Fired up on the starting line, they are perhaps most likely to engage in the true spirit of competition: seeking self-improvement or something equally noble.

John and I raced the Mountains to Beach as a Pair. A conjoint of washed-up elite rider and age grouper took us hors catégorie, but still firmly in the at-risk group of taking it all too seriously. This risk profile was down graded by Huw Kingston, the irreverent event organiser. With a combination of local knowledge, a history of backcountry touring and a dose of creative luck Huw and his Wild Horizons’ team designed an outrageous race through interesting and varied terrain. The timed stages were interspersed with non-competition stages, usually along less challenging farm tracks and backcountry roads. So no Tour de France style transfers by plane, train or space shuttle – resulting in a more connected flow to the event. In the pairs category there were three stages raced as individuals, while the longest day across the plains and off the escarpment required team mates to always be within two minutes of one and other.

http://www.groundeffect.co.nz/underground/underground-1.htm

Beached As
by Laurence Mote