Violence may be offered

K2, it's passed for another year, this time with me as a spectator. I'd argue that the conditions this year were the worst that event has been run in, and made for an additional few challenges.

My plan was to go down, watch the bunches cross over the Kereta Hill after the start, zip through the windy 309 Road, watch the misery on Pumpkin Hill, add support and then nip back through The 309 Road and up Whangapoua Hill to watch the final misery.

It started well, and the conditions atop Kereta weren't too bad. The bunches came through in a steady procession, Tristan and The Croc safely tucked in their group, large smiles. Serge wasn't in his group, he was adrift, obviously the lurg that he had been fighting had got the better of him on the day.

After they had passed through I drove the, initially dusty, 309 Road. Close to the summit it went from dust to heavy rain and gusty wind. That weather persisted right through to the main road. By the time I got to the top of Pumpkin Hill, there wasn't rain, but it was windy and less than tropical, I could see rain around me and back up towards Hikuai. It was at this point that any pangs of jealousy about riding the event disappeared and I was quite happy to be on the side of the road.

The bunches came through, and again The Croc and Tristan were neatly tucked in their bunch, although the face of Tristan was less than a picture of happiness. I had calculated that I needed to be off Pumpkin Hill by 12:00 at the absolute latest if I wanted to see them crest Whangapoua. I also wanted to see Serge come over Pumpkin and provide a bit of support.

He scraped through at 11:58, with a face like stone and a few gestures, it wasn't a happy day to be Serge's body. He resisted the offer of a dry motor vehicle interior and carried on riding.

I raced back to the top of Whangapoua, and there met windy and moist conditions. Thankfully my wait wasn't too long, with first The Croc and then Tristan appearing. Both of them looked relieved that the suffering was at an end. After they had gone over the top, I didn't muck around and drove back down to the finish. On the way down I followed a very nervous descender, the road was greasy, but this chap was more than a little nervous. On the approach into one 25kph corner he grabbed a bit more than a handful of brake, wheels let go, he then let the brakes go, then went all the way across the road, ending up on the wrong side of the road, just short of the barrier. Thankfully he stayed upright and there wasn't a car coming the other way. I grabbed the camera and squirted off a quick shot as evidence of this tale. I won't post the pic here as the kit is distinctive and I'm not so sure this Hamilton based rider would want his moment of shame shared.

The Croc and Tristan both finished in the top 20 and a time of under 5:40, Serge soldiered on and finished an hour later. Well done to all of them for completing a tough ride on a very hard day.

Next year I will return to the start line, on Saturday there was a village missing it's idiot.