The Molesworth Muster.

The Molesworth Muster is an annual 80km mountain bike event that starts at the Cobb Cottage on the Molesworth Station. The start is situated 80kms into the backcountry behind Hanmer Springs, home of the famous hot pools. To compete in the event it is necessary to travel in the night before and camp at the station. This is usually a very cold night. The route follows the original road used to muster the cattle from the station out to Hanmer Springs. The first 7km of the ride is undulating and windy gravel road, just enough to get you warmed up for the first climb, Wards Pass. You then descend off Wards Pass and take on 7km of flat riding across Isolated Flat which is exactly as its says – flat and isolated. At the end of this you begin the gradual climb up onto Isolated Saddle. From here on there is a superb combination of undulating and winding road, with moderate and small hill climbs and some flat sections. At this point you are riding beside the beautiful Acheron River. At approximately 56km, just past the historic Acheron Accommodation House the Acheron converges with the Clarence River, which is followed until the Jollies Pass turnoff. The final climb is 4kms up Jollies Pass followed by the steep descent and a short ride on the flat to the finish at the Hanmer Springs Forest Camp.
This year I had decided to take the soft option and act as support driver for the Blackwells Holden Team and another friend John 'I will never shave my legs' Phillips. My son Chris was coming along for the experience!
The rendezvous was at a rental house in Hanmer. Here we abandoned (lovingly said "Goodbye"!)the rest of our families, it did not bode well as it was tipping it down with snow. Fortunately this soon cleared up and we were under way. At this point I was alittle intimidated to be driving a van with a big trailer on rough roads when the van contained two car mechanics a parts expert and an ex power boat racer. Somehow it felt like a driving test.

The journey in passed without event and we were soon stuck into erecting our tents. All of us that is except John who was jumping up and down at the back of the trailer saying "****", "****", "****".

Hmm.....not good. Some very gentle interrogation revealed that John was in possesion of his wife Kathy's suitcase as opposed to his own. No tent, no sleeping bag, no cycling clothes but lots of ladies' stuff, even a hairdryer. The situation was actually far too serious for us to take the mickey at this point. In the absolute middle of nowhere we thought there was no chance of rectifying the situation. John and Mark went off to speak to the organisers. John had figured that if there was any possibility of contacting the girls in Hanmer it may just be possible to get his gear into an incoming vehicle.


Meanwhile the rest of us got on with erecting the tents. Barry was in possession of the biggest tent and was in danger of ending up with a hypothermic John in with him. Also, Kevin was harbouring a dirty little secret. Unbeknown to the rest of his team he had made a late chain replacement and was having some difficulty with the gear shifting on his bike. John returned looking slightly happier, it turned out that the St. John's ambulance crew were in possession of a satellite phone and contact had been made with the ladies wine drinking team in Hanmer. They were under orders (or maybe they had been pleaded with) to get the case into any car heading for Molesworth. They were up against it as the gate locking time was fast approaching.
Back at camp, the pasta was on and plans to get John through the night were hatched. It was also decided that he should if necessary ride in some of Kathy's gear from the suitcase. John was now actually smiling as there was a slim chance he may get his stuff. A couple of helicopters passed overhead and I could hear the cogs turning with thoughts of "How much?"!! When quizzed the next day John admitted that he had been seriously considering this possibility.
The evening meal was scoffed and the riders started last minute bike checks and attached race numbers. There was some obsession over tyre pressures. Chris was lapping it up and asking questions about all the different types of suspension. At 7pm Chris and I went down for the drivers briefing, all quite simple, be out of there by 7am or go the long way round via Blenheim. Ok, that's a 5 hour drive at least, no way we're missing that cut off time. At 8:30pm we went down to see if John's bag had arrived. Incredibly it had. We didn't meet the guys who brought it in but reports from Dee and Kathy implied that they had no trouble stopping a car. John was a happy bloke! We gave him some help with his tent. Actually we put his tent up for him after he asked "Why are there two parts to it?".

Meanwhile Kevin was testing his gears and saying nothing.

The night is always cold at Molesworth at this time of year so a few brews later and we were all tucked up our pits. I slept in as much gear as I last used at 21,000ft. in the Himalayas. No joke! Chris woke me at 5am and people were up and about. Up and thawing out is a better description. The gang were huddled round the gas stove keeping warm. Everyone was a bit nervous, even Kevin who has done every edition of the Muster. Being a driver is easy, bit of an adventure without the suffering, but also without the satisfaction in Hanmer. Chris was very impressed as all the tents were covered in frost. The time goes quickly at this point and before we knew it and after the horrors of the dreaded portaloos, Chris and I were on the road. For the record I have to state that on the way out I drove just like Sebastien Loeb or at least Sebastien Loeb in a Mazda van with a trailer. It must have been the lack of pressure or maybe the lack of 400kgs of guys and bikes? In two hours were drinking coffee back in the house in Hanmer. Actually we were being interrogated, "How did he react?", "Did he swear?" etc....

Race reports are a bit limited I'm afraid due to not actually being on a bike. However we were at the finish to see the first riders come in at around 2:30. That is 2.5 hours not 2:30pm, an incredible time. It took us 2.5 hours to drive in. Allright say no more......

John was the first of our guys to finish in 3:13, a real solid effort, this was good enough to get him third in the Vet 2 category. We are talking hardware now. My mobile rang shortly after that with a call from Mark who was sitting at the top of the final descent. He and John had worked together so Mark would have had the same time if he had been riding individually. The rules in the Molesworth Muster say that all members of a team must finish together. Barry joined Mark a bit later with the news that Kevin had been having bad problems with his chain and was possibly still some way away. Eventually Mark and Barry rode down to the finish as they were getting cold and fortunately Kevin arrived shortly thereafter. The team has achieved placings in other years but unfortunately it was not to be this year.
The really cool thing about this race is that it finishes in a town with thermal springs....and cafes, and shops, and mini golf, and pizza etc... In fact, an entry ticket to the pools is included in the race pack.
All that remained was the prizegiving and a relaxing evening in Hanmer. As usual talk turned to next year and the times that could be possible. I tried to convince John that shaving his legs is worth 15 minutes but I'm not sure that it worked. John received a nice medal for his efforts, everybody was pleased for him as the mental scars from 4th place in the six hour blast were still fresh. Another 4th would have been hard to take.