physiology; psychology & tandemology

9 weeks of training, very little hill work and plenty of repairs....but we knocked the bastard off!
Since losing my sight ten years ago I've done what can only be described as some damned Crazy things.
From bungy jumping to abseiling, driving a car around a track in a paddock to cutting trees down with a chainsaw, I've gone on doing things that I did as a sighted person with little, or no, consideration for the sheer stupidity involved in doing it as a totally blind person.
I'd not thought that off-road mountain biking might fall into the category of benignly crazy but I can assure you this... it helps if you are a little closer to insane than may be socially normal to get onto a tandem bike (with no suspension) and ride 80km for no reason other than "It sounds like fun!"
So...with enthusiasm abound, insanity aplenty, bike currently mechanically sound and training kind of done I'm sitting behind Chris waiting for the rolling start of the Molesworth Muster.
I have an epiphany ...." Catch the bus back to Hanmer!" ...and then the siren goes!
rollin,rollin ..stoppin! Our first lesson - don't be behind most of the field in a rolling start as the tandem gets momentum much faster than a single does and you'll need to keep stopping!
The first 2km behind us and I'm starting to plan ahead.. wind up Wards Pass, barrel down the other side and go from there...again..traffic changes our/my plans. At the bottom of Ward's Pass we struggle to get into any regular cadence and due to an ever changing pedal speed Chris reconfirms his hatred of hill climbing and we quickly accept that we're not getting up the hill any quicker on the bike than those walking...so we leg it up to the top!
First hill completed..and we're rockin now!
Chris's report of the section from the bottom of Ward's Pass to the 50k mark is how it went...fast!...and then.. squeak, whine, groan..no, not another mechanical failure, that's the sound my hamstring would have been making..if it could make noise!
We're 50k in, things were going well..and my hammy starts to tighten..I grind through it for a bit..thinking that it'll stretch out and the pain will go..but it's a stubborn little bugger and is hell-bent on a rest. So, rest taken, stretches done -a few times, and we continue to grind away...me trying to do my job...but failing.
I want to finish, I need to finish..I'm going to finish ..even if I have to take Chris up on his offer of replacing my dodgy hammy with a cable tie!
So..we keep going..and by the mid way point of Jolly's my hammy has had the rest it needs and I'm starting to feel human again(Well as close to human as I might be typically!)..good timing I guess..the last bit of the climb is the steepest!
roll over the top, hold on for grim death and trust that Chris won't go native at any point on the descent!
After replacing the blown tube, and chewing up some more time, we roll into what I assume to be a simple ending ...well! We'd been told in the race briefing that there was 200m of single track to navigate before rolling into the finish chute..but no one told me that I'd be almost vertically above Chris as he is trying to get the tandem to go around a corner! Again Chris proves that he is crazy and gets the tandem through a section of track that just wasn't meant for the extra length of a tandem and we treddle into the finish and the waiting arms of the nearest funeral director!
I'm kind of gutted by our time, very gutted that my body was the primary cause for our much slower time ..but am rapt that we've finished a bloody good event in one piece, without breaking anything on the bike(the tube don't count) and am already thinking about what we could do next...the Moa?, The Rainbow Rage?....Around Tekapo?
We've already decided that we like this challenge enough to keep doing events so we'll be getting the bike into the guys at PushBikes Papanui for some TLC and some upgrades (budget allowing) and then it's some proper training for the next event!

---

People continue to ask why? how? and are you joking? when I say that I'm doing off-road tandem mountain biking.
One of the most frequently asked questions is what is the most important thing needed when riding a tandem?..(I assume they mean other than a tandem bike !!)
I, like Chris, believe that it is much easier for me to sit there in ignorant bliss...not actually seeing how close to significant injury we may have come; but this ignorant bliss is only achieved with one thing...trust!
Over the 9 weeks leading up to the Muster; I've felt the close calls, perceived the close trees and clench various muscles as the bike has begun to slide from beneath us...and once I've breathed again, wiggled sufficiently to remove the seat from my lower intestine and generally concluded that we were close to death but survived, trust in the ability of the Nutbar in front of me has grown...and it is this trust that I feel is the most vital component of successful tandem mountain biking 

** Trust only slightly pipped Cash as the most important thing!**

---

What was upgraded/repaired/replaced on the bike leading up to the Muster?

1. Two rear chains
2. Two rear cassettes
3. One seatpost (suspension too rigid) -- I need to get a good suspension seat post..ideas?
4. One crank
5. 3 Front chainrings
6. A small crack in the lower frame
7. Cables for brakes and gears
8. Climbing bars

Things still to be upgraded/replaced

1. Suspension forks(High quality ones to handle the extra weight of the tandem)
2. Disc brakes - 8" at least I'm told
3. the levers, tubing and associated guff for hydraulic discs
4. Gear shifters
5. Front and rear derailleur
6. Suspension seatpost for me!!
7. Stronger wheelset(38 spoke minimum)
8. some kind of helmet mounted video system -so I don't have to hold on to my camera with one hand while we hurtle downhill at ever increasing speeds!
9. Some kind of wireless communication system so Chris is able to tell me about the BIG hits we're about to take!

As noted by Chris, the plan is to buy a high quality downhill bike and rape it for it's parts...then sell the frame and buy some other bits!
That said however...I'm not too proud to accept charity -or a massive corporate sponsorship! so, if anyone has any thoughts on where I might get some very good gear at good prices..or they have a some good quality gear sitting around that they might like to donate to a good cause...shout out and let us know.
finally; I'd like to thank all of those people who stopped and offered their help on those numerous occasions when we broke the bike...your an amazing group of people!!

see ya on the hills!