Last weekend NZ switched to daylight saving and “summer-time”. My thoughts turned to escapades in the great outdoors - more specifically, Auckland’s best competitive adventure, the Futureproof Rodney Coast Challenge

Rodney Coast Challenge has something for everyone…. relaxed enough to be a fun day out, serious enough to be a fight to the finish for both weekend warriors and elite athletes. It’s a journey as well as a race – a mini Coast to Coast, at fraction of the cost of the South Island version (in time and money, aside of blood sweat and tears). The money raised goes to a great cause – the Kaukapakapa Scout Group. What’s not to like?

If you haven’t done Rodney Coast Challenge before, you might be thinking of joining a team and doing just a part of the race or committing for the whole thing. Question is……what are you in for?

From the black sand of the west coast, the start is a mad dash up and over the dunes before joining gravel roads through the Woodhill forest. Storms have brought trees down in the early part of the section and the first kilometer has some scrambling under and jumping over branches. This the only “technical” bit before the track winds its way through the trees for just under 10k. The flatter sections near the coast give way to a couple of decent (but runnable) climbs before stretching your legs out for the last 500m of steady downhill to the transition at Rimmer Road

On your road bike and the first 2k is mostly downhill to meet SH16. Undulating through Helensville to Kaukapakapa but with some short uphill's before a long climb (2-3k) with fantastic views over the Kaipara harbour. It’s a fast descent to the turn onto Makarau Rd and in a few minutes you will arrive at the grassy paddock that serves as the mountain bike transition area. From here, the road seal goes, and you are on the gravel apart from a couple short tarmac sections. This section isn’t particularly difficult, but local traffic (note: race support cars are NOT allowed) and a couple of tight turns mean that you have to ride within your ability. There are some small and medium sized climbs, before you get to the 18k mark – and the start of Noakes Hill. Winding up the valley, you find yourself saying “are we there yet?” at every turn. You definitely want to leave something in the tank for this, especially as the hill flattens out near the top and then gives a short sharp sting in the tail. The marshals at the top are used to seeing the desperate look of broken athletes whose ambition exceeded their fitness. The 3k descent to Puhoi is back on tar-seal and fast, so you soon find yourself riding across the grass to the kayaks lined up at the Pioneers Park transition

Your support team will earn their choice of post-race “refreshments” here if they suss out the best entry position for you and your boat onto the Puhoi River, but all should prepare to get wet and at least a little bit muddy. For the event on 7 th November 2021, high tide will be at about 10 AM, so there will be a lot of water in the river and competitors will be travelling with the outgoing tide. If you haven’t got that much experience in a boat – don’t worry too much, there’s no rapids to contend with and the Wenderholm estuary is usually pretty calm. But it goes without saying that you need to choose your boat to match your ability, especially for Individual competitors who will be feeling tired by now. Closing in on the beach you will hear words of encouragement (and sometimes light hearted abuse!!) from the crowd on land and the sight of your happy (and relieved) support crew will bring on a glow that is hard to match. When you hit the sand, marshals will look after your boat and it’s only 50m on the grass to the finish banner from there

Take your gear back to the car, then throw a rug down on the grass near the finish line and get out your picnic hamper. A cooler with ice cold beer (I suggest a low alcohol product for competitors!) always goes down a treat. Catch up with your support crew, your teammates, fellow competitors and enjoy Rob Howarth’s banter on the PA as the race finishes and prize giving begins. Some great spot prizes to be had, so stick around

Some other tips:

Dropping your boat and/or mountain bike at transitions the night before is a great idea, particularly for individuals. security is provided. You don’t really want to get up in the middle of the night to get this done in the morning. And fill the car up with fuel

The race can be hot and long, think about your nutrition strategy (food and drink) to get you through. I’m registered as a nutritionist with the NZ Nutrition Society so message me through Facebook if you would like to discuss your needs.

Leave a bit of $$ in the car for the support team to grab a quick coffee and some baking…Helensville is a good spot for cafés. The route for support cars on the mountain bike means any stops on this leg run the risk of missing each other at the kayak entry (and that wouldn’t be good)

Look after your support crew and be nice to them. If your race isn’t going to plan, don’t start yelling angry words at them. Nobody wants to give up their Sunday morning to be abused. This also applies to marshals