The days leading up to Challenge Wanaka were so full of random things going wrong that I thought I would share these first so that my RR is just that!
The drive down was interesting to say the least. First mini-drama was plugging the iPod into the device that plugs into the cigarette lighter so the iPod can play through the stereo, this managed to blow a fuse and the electrics in the stereo and the clock blew out. Quick stop at the garage in Mayfield to replace a fuse and buy a spare. Headed off and although the clock was now going and the stereo clock worked the stereo itself won't go, so on it was with separate iPods and headphones grooving away to ourselves and having to tap each other on the arm if we wanted to talk to each other. Geoff had spent a fair bit of time in the garden in the days before we headed away and it seems he was bitten or had an allergic reaction to something and his hand was swelling up quite a lot and was very sore so we stopped in Geraldine to have lunch and to pop into the pharmacy to see if we could get something to relieve the pain he was in. The pharmacist was really helpful but couldn't recommend anything over the counter which would help and suggested a visit to the doc would be in order. Hmm, fun times! We headed off to good old Subway and had lunch before wandering back to the car. I went to unlock the car only to discover we had left it unlocked the whole time!! Real sharp we are, iPods, cellphones etc all sitting on the dashboard, keys to the bike racks right there as well, luckily people seem to be honest in Geraldine and everything was just as we left it!! I drove from Geraldine so Geoff could rest his hand a bit and ice it using the slicker pads from the chilly bags. This was a good idea until I missed the turn-off and headed to Winchester and Temuka rather than direct to Fairlie which resulted in a detour that added about an hour to our journey!! Lucky we weren't in a hurry! To top things off we had a rather large random spider cruising around inside the car and we both took rather unsuccessful turns at trying to end his life! Both of us are pretty scared of spiders so this wasn't a lot of fun! Finally arrived in Wanaka and I headed out for a 40min ride with a 20min run off the bike, this went well and I had a good ride and a really good run so was feeling pretty happy at this stage.
Next day went to head off to get bikes checked etc and discovered that I had gotten a flat on my race tyres, again!! I had to get my tweezers out to pull out a rather stubborn piece of metal, pateched my tube, put it back in and headed off. Going through bike check I discover that my newly patched tyre was slowly deflating, uhoh! The bike mechanic passed it although he was a tad concerned about the nick in my tyre from my previous flat but let it go through, phew! Turns out the bit of metal had pierced right through my tyre so patched that one again and it became my 'only if I'm desparate spare' and I put a new tube in!
Wake up Friday morning and I have a gastro bug, hmmm, that is not fun! Quite a few unpleasant visits to the loo before finally managing to eat a tiny amount of breakfast before heading down to swim with the tri club folk at 8am. That was exciting, I managed to leave my breakfast in the lake which certainly isn't the most fun I have ever had! Shane kindly brought some Immodium to race briefing for me which seemed to work a treat. It seems the majority of people I knew racing were either paramedics, nurses, pharmacists or dentists so lots of good advice on offer about what to try and eat and what to do! Took a quick trip to the pharmacy to get some more Immodium just in case and some Gastrolyte, thanks Zarnia they seemed to do the trick. I struggled to eat much all day due to the delicate way my stomach was feeling so my pre-race dinner consisted of hot salty chips (hey they are carbs and the stayed in!!) along with a couple of mini Cadbury flakes that one of Kim's friends was feeding me while I was watching the elite Contact races.
Race morning I get down to transition and realise I have forgotten to put my goggles in my bag, Geoff had my phone by this stage so quickly borrowed a phone and called him to ask him to please get my goggles from the house (jeepers, amateur mistake!!) he was nice and quick so that was good! Everything else was ticking along well until the next morning when I realised I couldn't find my wallet anywhere, backtrack through when I had last seen it to work out that I had put it in my bag so I could leave it in the car so it would be handy post-race if I needed money for anything, turns out I throw it into a wheelie bin with my half empty Powerade bottle and other left-over pre-race food when I left transition! F*ck what a dick!! Went down there the next morning to see if I could try and find out, hahaha, that was going to be impossible. Oh well, at least I didn't have any money in it but I have had an entertaining day today trying to replace all my cards and even trying to remember which ones I have!
One final wee moment of fun which proves I shouldn't be allowed to navigate/drive.... I took us on another detour, yes out of Geraldine again! A bit quicker this time as I drove us home via Rangitata and Ashburton rather than thru Mayfield!
I think that must just about be my quota of things going wrong for the year! :)
The drive down was interesting to say the least. First mini-drama was plugging the iPod into the device that plugs into the cigarette lighter so the iPod can play through the stereo, this managed to blow a fuse and the electrics in the stereo and the clock blew out. Quick stop at the garage in Mayfield to replace a fuse and buy a spare. Headed off and although the clock was now going and the stereo clock worked the stereo itself won't go, so on it was with separate iPods and headphones grooving away to ourselves and having to tap each other on the arm if we wanted to talk to each other. Geoff had spent a fair bit of time in the garden in the days before we headed away and it seems he was bitten or had an allergic reaction to something and his hand was swelling up quite a lot and was very sore so we stopped in Geraldine to have lunch and to pop into the pharmacy to see if we could get something to relieve the pain he was in. The pharmacist was really helpful but couldn't recommend anything over the counter which would help and suggested a visit to the doc would be in order. Hmm, fun times! We headed off to good old Subway and had lunch before wandering back to the car. I went to unlock the car only to discover we had left it unlocked the whole time!! Real sharp we are, iPods, cellphones etc all sitting on the dashboard, keys to the bike racks right there as well, luckily people seem to be honest in Geraldine and everything was just as we left it!! I drove from Geraldine so Geoff could rest his hand a bit and ice it using the slicker pads from the chilly bags. This was a good idea until I missed the turn-off and headed to Winchester and Temuka rather than direct to Fairlie which resulted in a detour that added about an hour to our journey!! Lucky we weren't in a hurry! To top things off we had a rather large random spider cruising around inside the car and we both took rather unsuccessful turns at trying to end his life! Both of us are pretty scared of spiders so this wasn't a lot of fun! Finally arrived in Wanaka and I headed out for a 40min ride with a 20min run off the bike, this went well and I had a good ride and a really good run so was feeling pretty happy at this stage.
Next day went to head off to get bikes checked etc and discovered that I had gotten a flat on my race tyres, again!! I had to get my tweezers out to pull out a rather stubborn piece of metal, pateched my tube, put it back in and headed off. Going through bike check I discover that my newly patched tyre was slowly deflating, uhoh! The bike mechanic passed it although he was a tad concerned about the nick in my tyre from my previous flat but let it go through, phew! Turns out the bit of metal had pierced right through my tyre so patched that one again and it became my 'only if I'm desparate spare' and I put a new tube in!
Wake up Friday morning and I have a gastro bug, hmmm, that is not fun! Quite a few unpleasant visits to the loo before finally managing to eat a tiny amount of breakfast before heading down to swim with the tri club folk at 8am. That was exciting, I managed to leave my breakfast in the lake which certainly isn't the most fun I have ever had! Shane kindly brought some Immodium to race briefing for me which seemed to work a treat. It seems the majority of people I knew racing were either paramedics, nurses, pharmacists or dentists so lots of good advice on offer about what to try and eat and what to do! Took a quick trip to the pharmacy to get some more Immodium just in case and some Gastrolyte, thanks Zarnia they seemed to do the trick. I struggled to eat much all day due to the delicate way my stomach was feeling so my pre-race dinner consisted of hot salty chips (hey they are carbs and the stayed in!!) along with a couple of mini Cadbury flakes that one of Kim's friends was feeding me while I was watching the elite Contact races.
Race morning I get down to transition and realise I have forgotten to put my goggles in my bag, Geoff had my phone by this stage so quickly borrowed a phone and called him to ask him to please get my goggles from the house (jeepers, amateur mistake!!) he was nice and quick so that was good! Everything else was ticking along well until the next morning when I realised I couldn't find my wallet anywhere, backtrack through when I had last seen it to work out that I had put it in my bag so I could leave it in the car so it would be handy post-race if I needed money for anything, turns out I throw it into a wheelie bin with my half empty Powerade bottle and other left-over pre-race food when I left transition! F*ck what a dick!! Went down there the next morning to see if I could try and find out, hahaha, that was going to be impossible. Oh well, at least I didn't have any money in it but I have had an entertaining day today trying to replace all my cards and even trying to remember which ones I have!
One final wee moment of fun which proves I shouldn't be allowed to navigate/drive.... I took us on another detour, yes out of Geraldine again! A bit quicker this time as I drove us home via Rangitata and Ashburton rather than thru Mayfield!
I think that must just about be my quota of things going wrong for the year! :)
3 comments:
Jeepers, who would have thought so many things could go wrong to one person, in such a short space of time, and some of them were quite serious!! I don't really know how you kept your head (then again, I don't think you did - you're sounding rather senile!). :-D
If only things came in threes like they say, you'd have had your lot done before lunchtime Friday ;-)
Glad to hear you were tucking into the hot salty chips - thadda girl!
You managed to hang it altogether despite all the challenges. Well done.
Di
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