Taupo Cycle Challenge

Because of Nige's surgery this year he hasn't been able to ride much so wasn't able to participate in the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge but we still went to Taupo to cheer on Nige's cycling buddy, Tony.  The night before the Taupo Challenge there was a Criterion race held in town and Replete Cafe, where we'd been hanging out for most of the day, was where registration was.  The lady taking registrations that night was Sarah Ulmer, New Zealand's first to win a gold in cycling in the Olympics.  During the afternoon we both had a little chat with her (separately) and before we left we asked for a photo with her, which she very kindly obliged to.

The weather was gorgeous - hot even but there was still quite a bit of snow on Mount Ruapehu.  Beautiful!

Here's Tony right after crossing the finish line.  He did the ride around Lake Taupo (160km/100m) in about 7.5 hours - pretty good for a 68 year old I reckon!!

After the race everyone gathers for spot prizes, hoping they'll be the one to win the big prize.  This year there were almost 10,000 riders!!