Details

Written by Vaughan Hunt

Created: 13 April 2010

Karen is a previous national masters Individual Time Trial champion

How long have you been cycling? 55 years. (MMCC since about 2001)

What drew you to the sport? Cycle touring originally. The social aspect of riding. I got a little more competitive with the purchase of a road bike

What do you enjoy about cycling? The social aspect. The open spaces. Riding in the country side.

What do you hate about cycling? Crashes. Traffic.

What bike do you ride? Trek 2200

Do you have a favourite brand of clothing? Not really but I would like to try the SUB gear.

What aspect of cycling do you like the best e.g. hill climbing, time trialling touring? Sunday rides

What are you personal riding achievements? Winning the age group Masters Individual Time Trial.

Do you ride throughout the year? Yes.

Favourite rides? Dixon’s line, Reads Line, Watershed Rd.

Worst crash? Caught the side of the road seal and did a face plant a few years back.

What is your day job? Lecturer IPC

Kids? 4 children. 6 grandchildren and another due

Favourite Music? Bik Runga

Other sports and interests? Swimming.

Whats on your to do list? I really want to cycle in France. Watch the tour, ride the hills and enjoy the moments.

Finish this sentence. What the MMCC needs is …. More women cycling. MMCC keep the good work going

Details

Written by Vaughan Hunt

Created: 13 April 2010

How long have you been cycling?

Since the beginning of 2004

What drew you to the sport?

My wife says it is a mid life crisis thing… needing to feel like I can still compete with my peers. Of course I’m sure it was the health benefits and the camaraderie of other cyclists (not to mention the occasional café). Living on Valley Rd meant I have access to some great riding. Once I agreed to ride around Taupo in a team and started training, I never looked back.

What do you enjoy about cycling?

It feels good to use your body! When I started, I surprised myself with the distances I could ride and the hills I could climb. I didn’t realise how rewarding endurance sports are.

I’m a bit of a stats nut. I keep track of my road rides both on a cyclist’s website and on my heart rate monitor. I can tell you since Nov 2004 I’ve done 235 rides, 491 hours and burned over 250,000 Calories!

But possibly most importantly it gets me into a state of “Flow”. Wikipedia says “Flow is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing with a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity” I bet you understand what I mean! It is said that achieving flow is a component of being happy and it gives you mind a way to process and deal with all the information of a busy life.

What do you hate about cycling?

It’s a time consuming sport. Getting organised for a ride, finding all the stuff. It means a lot of time away from home, which isn’t popular with the family.

What bike do you ride?

My road bike…

I’ve just joined the throng of other club members who ride a Specialized Roubaix SL. It’s a beautiful machine! I still have my Avanti Giro which served me faithfully for nearly 15,000km

My Mountain Bike…

A Specialized FSR Stumpjumper. I rode the Coleville Connection (72kms around the tip of the Coromandel Peninsular) 2 years ago on a hard tail and swore I would never do that again because it was so hard on my body. This year I used the full suspension Stumpjumper (for 6 hours!) and was at least able to sit down afterwards (couldn’t stand though!).

What aspect of cycling do you like best (eg. hill climbing, time trial, sprinting, tour riding)?

I enjoy both road cycling and mountain biking. Truth is I’d ride on the road for preference, especially for training. But mountain biking can take you to some cool places. I don’t buy into the whole Roadie vs MTB thing!

The cycling events available in NZ are fantastic. It’s a buzz to participate with a whole lot of fit people and even better if you can come in the top half!

I especially like the mountain bike team events like the Moonride or the DayNightThriller. The teamwork and the night riding in the forest with lights are great experiences.

What are your personal cycling achievements?

Participation is my usual achievement… My biggest buzz was doing Taupo in a shade over 5 hrs last year. No need to guess my 2008 goal!

Do you ride throughout the year?

Yes

Favourite rides?

Taupo of course…

Living on Valley Rd, my usual ride is a 35km loop, up the hill to Colyton, across to Ashhurst and back to Valley Rd. When I have time I like to ride further up the Pohangina valley beyond Totara Reserve, up under the Ruahines. The Valley is a great spot for riding with challenging hills and quiet roads.

Worst crash?

Crashed on the first lap of the 2005 Cateye Moonride and (unbeknown to me) broke 3 ribs. I didn’t want to let the team down, so I completed 5 laps in total over the 12 hour event.

Do you have a favourite brand of cycling clothing?

Not really, but I do love my Performance Bike cycle shorts from the U.S. They have a chamois with gel padding!

What's your day job?

I’m an IT contractor. I specialise in software for Point of Sale systems. I’ve been working for the last 7 years for a client based in San Francisco and I’m part of a small team. I work from my home office.

Favourite foods?

I’ve spent some time working in Thailand and I love all Thai food. Otherwise anything spicy or Asian is good.

Kids?

Yes, Pam and I have 2 boys. Oliver is 11 and Jeremy is 9

Favourite CDs/music?

Big fan of Kiwi music! Phoenix Foundation, SJD, Nathan Haines. Just bought the 30^th anniversary edition of Jean Michel Jarre’s ground breaking synth album Oxygen. He faithfully re-recorded it in 5.1 surround sound using the original 1970s equipment. Sounds fantastic (even if it does make me feel old!).

Other sports and interests?

Technology, goofing off on the Internet, Photography.

What's on your to do/have /be list before you die?

I would love to do some more touring in Europe. I spent a weekend in Hamburg following a trail map. I toured for 150Km through villages and beside rivers and ended sitting at a café table in a village square that hadn’t changed since the middle ages. I was starving and ordered a beer and a big steak which was EXCELLENT. I remember feeling satisfied by almost all definitions of the word!

Climbing the famous passes with friends sounds like a must do, and I’d like to cycle tour in Asia as well.

Finish this sentence.  What the MMCC needs is....

To advocate to the local Councils a bit more. I’d love to have them seal the metal road on the west side of Pohangina valley. That would make a great loop for cyclists from Palmy!

Final message.

Great club for a great sport!

Details

Written by Vaughan Hunt

Created: 13 April 2010

How long have you been cycling?

Approximately 50 yrs. I started racing when I was 14 yrs old. I raced seriously on the local scene both in New Plymouth and Palmerston North until my late thirties and then again seriously as a Masters cyclist in later years.

Ed. Other facts about Ian:

• He is one of the few foundation members of the MMCC still actively involved with the club
• He has been MMCC committee member since the inception of the club
• He is a Life member of the MMCC

What drew you to the sport?

My father raced bikes. We had a fascination with the 100 mile Mountain Road Race in Taranaki.

What do you enjoy about cycling?

The challenge it presents and the improvement to fitness and health generally.

What do you hate about cycling?

• Crashes.
• The number of times I have just missed the first place in events – I often come second or third.

What bike do you ride?

I’ve got 6 in the shed. I like them all. The favourite at the moment is a fixed wheel bike for road training (that means one gear, no freewheeling or changing down on the hills).

Do you have a favourite brand of clothing?

Not really but I do recommend good quality shorts

What aspect of cycling do you like the best e.g. hill climbing, time trialling touring?

Coaching is my passion. I have been successful in coaching 2 NZ champs and a host of other silver and bronze medalists.

I’ve also recently reinvigorated the track cycling scene by getting the Feilding track and the club back up and running. The track has now been resealed.

What are your personal riding achievements?

My best racing achievement was winning the 40 km National Time Trial championship in 2003 for the F age category.

My favourite achievement in coaching was that I coached both the professional and amateur winners of the 1981 100 mile Mountain Road Race in Taranaki. The amateur winner was John Dykman (First and Fastest) and Harley VandenBos the (First and third fastest).

Do you ride throughout the year?

Yes

Favourite rides?

The Hunterville block up Rewa Hill, especially with a Northwesterly tail wind coming home.

Worst crash?

In my first year of racing in New Plymouth, I broke away in a group but clipped a wheel and came down heavily.

What is your day job?

Retired

Favourite Music?

I don’t listen to music riding but Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue is my favourite piece of music

Other sports and interests?

No time for other sports but I have other interests:

• I restore vintage cars
• I am interested in postage history
• I have been learning how to play the piano now for 10 yrs
• I am also involved with the series of books currently being published about the great New Zealand cyclists (three books have been completed, there are seven to go)
• I am writing a book about the 100 yrs history of the 100 mile Taranaki Mountain Road Race
• I am also involved with documenting the New Zealand cycle race records and results and having them recorded on a web page (a project initiated by the Kennett Brothers)

What’s on your to do list?

Restore my 1926 Reo

Finish this sentence. What the MMCC needs is…..

Concentrate on looking after its older recreational riders and the other social aspects of riding.