Sea2Sky 2023 Race Report and the Most Scenic Triathlon in New Zealand

A year ago, I said that one day I would address the question of the most scenic triathlon in New Zealand, and more recently, I hinted that I was coming closer to a conclusion to the question. Well, today is the day folks. Read on to find out my verdict on the most scenic triathlon in New Zealand. But first, I'm going to make you wade through yet another race report. This time, for one of the contenders for the most scenic tri, the Sea2Sky Challenge.

One of the unique (to the area) features of Sea2Sky is the swim. Surf swims are not common in this neck of the woods, and this has got to be one of the best surf swims out there. On a good day, big swell beyond the breakers, and good body surfing into shore. On a bad day, you’ll spend half of your time with a nose full of water and not knowing which way is up. Unfortunately, this year was neither fun nor scary. For maybe the first time ever, the Scarborough surf was non-existent.  This made for a fast swim, so I went out hard and came out in 4^th place and a solid time (assuming the distance was as advertised, GPS signal was lost moments before the start).

A rare fast transition (the fastest of the day) and I mounted my noble steed, who would take me from the sea to the sky, even with a stripped barrel adjuster on the rear mech (but thanks to some dodgy home mechanic work, I had it shifting smoothly).  Early on the climb to mount (un)Pleasant, I had made my way into second, with the leader in my sights, when like a bolt from the blue, I was overtaken by young talent Laurie Watson. I tried to go with him for all of two pedal strokes, before resigning myself to just plodding along at my own pace. A little later, I made another pass I thought would get me the lead to get back into second. At the summit, Laurie had put 30-40 seconds into me, and I’m not a fast descender, so I’d be doing well to come back from this one. Ah well, I thought. He might have a mechanical. A quick glance at the view, Christchurch City, the Canterbury Plains, and the Southern Alps, and turned back down the hill. Shortly into the descent, I glimpsed Laurie closer than I expected and then rounded a corner and saw him slow to a stop. I considered just riding past and taking the lead, but considering it was me who had caused his misfortune, I stopped to check what was wrong. He had a flat tyre, and no means of repairing it.  As I felt so bad for cursing him, I presented him with my saddle bag before carrying on, now back in second place, having been passed while stopped. I chased hard back down to the pass, and along the rolling road to Godley head. I did enough to get into T2 in first place, with the fastest bike split of the day (even with my short stop), although still slower than I would have liked.

A slower T2 had me exiting transition with the slimmest of margins. Putting on socks has been added to the list of things to work on over winter. Unhappy with my one second lead, I hit the start of the run hard. It starts with a roughly 1.3 km long descent, on which I regained a comfortable lead. This section is followed by a rolling section. I pushed hard, running scared and mostly blind as I was looking over my shoulder most of the way. A worthwhile investment may be those sunglasses with a little rearview mirror on the side. I crossed Taylor’s Mistake beach, getting my feet wet in my search for the firmest possible sand, and embarked on the dreaded Scarborough bluffs track.

I had some misguided idea that I would fly through this section, sprinting the climbs and bombing the descents. As it turned out, I had burnt a few too many matches to sprint up the steep climbs (which is all of them) and lacked the coordination to maintain any speed on the technical descents (which is also all of them). In fact, I did take a tumble on one tight corner, however, I think it was probably the fastest of a series of tight zigzags. Due to the way my feet slipped out from under me slowing for the turn, I landed facing down the hill on the next section of track, in something resembling a sprinters start position.

On one of the final climbs, with about one km to go, my greatest fear came true. I had been caught, by none other than arch-rival, Brett Clifford the big red dog. He easily passed me. I tried to go with him, but it was like an elephant trying to keep up with a mountain goat. I just didn’t have enough of a spring in my step up the hills, or the agility down them to keep up. In the end, I crossed the line 21 seconds behind Brett, having to settle for 2^nd place. Would I have won the race if I hadn’t stopped to help a competitor? Maybe, but also maybe not. Would I have felt like I had done the right thing? Almost certainly not.

Alright, now that the drama is over time for the bit you’ve all been (maybe) waiting for. After racing two races in consecutive weeks, both of which claim to be NZ’s most scenic tri, what is my verdict?

Well, on one hand, there is Lake Kaniere Scenic Triathlon. It’s in the name. A great grass roots event. Wild west coast bush, probably some mountain peaks on a clear day, a stunning lake. On the other hand, Sea2sky lacks in the native bush department, but has some stunning wide-open views (I am a sucker for an expansive vista).

Drumroll please. The most scenic triathlon in New Zealand (in my opinion, of those that I have done) is Challenge Wanaka. You thought I had forgotten it, didn’t you? Well, who’s laughing now. Is this a cop-out? Yes. Is it also true? Yes.

Thank you for allowing me to waste a few minutes of your time.