Edition Zero Gravel 2025

Even several days after the event, I was still on a high from Edition Zero. At 248km it was my longest bike ride ever, as well as my first gravel race in the spectacular and remote landscapes of the South Island.

Strange things happen in one’s mind when the distances are that long. Whilst the 70km to the first bag drop seemed to, and in fact did, take hours, once I reached the second and final bag drop, I felt that I was nearly home even though there was still 80km left to ride.

I had heard about the race from one of my Hamilton City Cycling clubmates, Ant, and although he had completed the course previously (in 2022 and 2023) he was keen to participate one more time. Our partners, Isobel and Lillian, would join us. Ant and I would ride the Main Course (248km with 3500-4000m of vertical ascent, depending on your bike computer) and Isobel and Lill the Snack (90km, 1000m). As well as those two courses, there was also an Entrée (140km, 2000m) and a Taster (55km, 550m).

Although the gpx files of the routes were available prior to the event – you need to download them for the Main and Entrée as they are not marked with signs – I struggled to get a feel of the topography from the GPS trace. For anyone that wants an overview here is a brief description of the routes.

All courses start in Waimate and head north through hilly farmland, with all, apart from the Main, reversing direction and returning southwards. The Main heads west, crossing to the other side of The Hunter Hills and forming a giant anti-clockwise loop.

(The ‘A’s on the map mark the two bag drops on the Main.)

There are three key passes, Mackenzie Pass, Hakataramea Pass and Meyers Pass. Mackenzie takes you west, Hakataramea is on the southern leg of the loop and Meyers comes as you push east back towards Waimate. There are no towns on the route, making it a remote, committing and potentially serious undertaking. We all had to carry a survival bag/blanket.

72% of the Main (about 180km) was on gravel roads. In general these comprised of fast secure gravel or hard packed dirt, but over the course of the ride we were also treated to freshly laid, deep slow gravel (the worst part of this was on a section near the start of the route that Lill and the other riders of the Snack had to cover it in both directions), unexpectedly deep gravel that you wouldn’t notice until your bike started to fishtail on a descent, gravel spiced up with rocks, and numerous stream crossings that required one to ride over rounded wet slippery stones. As is often the case, the gravel often looked smoother on the other side of the road… at least until you made the effort to cross the deeper central gravel to reach it!

Race Day

At 3.50am my alarm woke me from a restless sleep. Lillian and I drove from our AirBnB in Timaru to where Ant and Isobel were staying and I dropped Lill off so she could doze on their sofa for a couple more hours as the Snack did not start until 9am.

At 5.15am Ant and I were approaching Waimate in the car. I had been coughing the previous day but as I had slept reasonably well (after taking a Lemsip) I wasn’t sure if I was suffering from pre-race health paranoia, hay-fever or was genuinely sick. I was almost begging Ant to agree that we should ride separately as I was reasonably confident that if I paced it well I could complete the course, and I knew that Ant was the stronger rider. He refused, saying he was unlikely to perform better than previously and that he would be happy to ride with me.

At the event centre in Victoria Park, the names of the riders for all the routes were chalked onto the asphalt.

After assembling in the Victoria Park Velodrome (built in 1891!), 6am saw the Mains riders roll onto the neighbouring street for the official start of the race.

(Photo: Dominic Blissett.)

The sun was still low, with strung out lines of riders casting long shadows as we raced along the initial tar-sealed kilometres. As we flew along a straight false flat, the field split and by the time we reached the initial gravel sections (after 6km), the lead bunch was already a long way ahead.

(I am in this this group but out of shot behind the photographer. Photo: Parker Carruthers.)

After a few more kilometres a nice group of around 10 riders coalesced and the distance quickly ticked by, with the slow recently graded section mentioned above coming after about 25km. It was an effort to stick with the group on the deeper gravel, and I wondered if I was pushing a bit too hard.

However, the gravel was interspersed with sealed road and staying in the group helped on the more windy sections, like the one below where we were heading into a strengthening westerly.

As the terrain became lumpier I started to feel the odd pre-cramp twinge from repeated efforts to close gaps over the tops of the punchy ascents. On a gravel climb after c.50kms a gap started to widen, and by the end of the subsequent descent the group was gone. Ant was riding more strongly than I and could have stayed with the group I think. However, I was happy he didn’t and we rode together to the first bag drop (at 71km), picking up two other members of our original group, Anthony and Zoe.

We made introductions figuring that, all being well, we would be together for the rest of ride. Anthony had ridden the Entrée the previous year and was stepping up the distance. Zoe was an enduro mountain-biker and had never done a gravel race… or a ride this long. In the far distance we could see snow-capped mountains and nearer to us a range of hills which Ant mentioned we had to cross.

This would be over first of the big climbs, Mackenzie Pass.

(Photo: Parker Carruthers.)

On the way we tackled the first of several stream crossings.

We gained altitude steadily on rolling gravel and tar roads, and eventually started a long gravel climb heading straight over the hills we had been riding towards. As we crested the summit the gravel changed to tar seal.

I shouted to Zoe that it was good to get that out of way, whilst Ant looked on quizzically. It soon became clear why when, after a short road descent, we were back on the gravel for another long climb. That had not been Mackenzie Pass!

An off-road motorbike rally was taking place with the riders descending on the other side of the valley and in the river bed below us. I would have liked some more horse-power not least because for nearly all of the climb we were pushing into a strong westerly headwind.

An excruciating straight headwind section led to the pass.

I remembered from the overall route profile that there was a climb, followed by a descent to a higher climb that would take us to our high point of the day. As we had just completed a double-headed ascent, I thought that we had now crested that high-point. I was expecting a long, tailwind assisted, downhill then flat section all the way to the final climb.

Sadly, reality had something different in store for us. The descent from Mackenzie was directly into the wind – Ant did sterling work pulling us along – and then after a drinks stop (at km 125, only half way round!) we turned south and and I found that we had the even higher Hakataramea climb was still to come. The good news was we were all feeling okay and we now had a tailwind.

That make the conditions surprisingly hot and there was no drafting benefit. It felt harder than it looked as the road climbed gently and the gravel was a bit heavier.

(A picture of one of the groups ahead of us climbing up towards Hakataramea Pass. Photo: Parker Carruthers.)

As we ground our way up to the pass Zoe dropped back but I figured that she would catch us on the descent, which was indeed the case. This was the nicest section of the ride. 20km of tailwind and gravity assisted fun on a smooth gravel road.

Bag drop 2 was at 169km and was followed by a longish road section, where Ant again did a ton of work pulling along our little group, which swelled to around 8 riders. 50km from the finish we turned east, hit the gravel again, lost the cooling affect of the head/cross-wind and started the final big climb over Myers Pass.

(A photo of Meyers Pass featuring a couple of the leading riders in the race. Photo: Parker Carruthers.)

We had a couple of minor crashes in the fords we crossed, one involving Ant. He mentioned that sitting in the cold water helped the cramp he was starting to suffer from, but we could see that everyone was getting very tired. Zoe led Ant and I over the top of the pass and soon distanced us on the rocky descent. We decided to take it easy and not risk a puncture or a crash, as Ant had experienced a side-wall puncture on the descent previously. We didn’t see Zoe again until Waimate… where she finished as the 4th woman over the line.

At the final drink stop (after the descent of Myers Pass) Ant stopped to stretch out his cramping quads and we both stuffed a few handfuls of potato chips in our mouths. I had been feeling bloated for the last couple of hours and was really craving something that wasn’t sugary. During the final 30kms to the finish – which included one final pass a few kms from Waimate – Ant was complaining about cramp. However, as the photos below show, that didn’t stop him doing most of the pulling up the climb.

(Photos: Gareth Meyer.)

As we entered the velodrome for two laps before the finish, Gus, the MC, was trying goad us into a sprint but we decided to cross the finish line together.

It was satisfying to complete such a hard course and nice to ride and finish it together. It felt like a mountain bike pairs stage race stage in that regard.

Lillian and Isobel gave us a cheer as we entered the velodrome. Lillian had a successful day coming in as third woman and first in her age group in the Snack, winning some Maxxis kit and $200 of Rapha vouchers… which she was very happy with. She took 3 hours 38 minutes for the distance. Isobel had finished about 20 minutes behind her. Lillian felt she had been a bit handicapped by being on the mountain bike on the initial road section as most people were on gravel bikes, and rode parts of the race by herself.

(Photo: Dominic Blissett.)

But on the other hand, a mountain bike made the gravel safer. There had actually been one or two women ahead of her, but they took a wrong turn. So even on the Snack and Taster it is worth downloading the route.

(Photo: Sideline Photography.)

We lounged around in the sun on the grass by the velodrome enjoying some beers from Edition Zero cups – which you get to keep – and watching the prize-giving. The cut-off for the Mains was 13 hours, so riders continued to finish over the next couple of hours. Massive kudos to everyone that completed the route.

I felt proud to have finished even though my overall time and position were nothing special. 10 hours 45 minutes elapsed time (10 hours 30 minutes riding time) and 64th out of 91 starters (84 riders finished). One of the two organisers, Sandra, had been in my Team CP support crew for the Coast to Coast and it was nice to catch up with her and to see that the event was such a success.

The men’s winner, Cam Jones, set a new course record of 7 hours and 24 minutes! It was the second time he had won the race, but as he was the winner of the prestigious Unbound race in the Kansas earlier this year, as well as the Life Time Grand Prix series of gravel and MTB races in the USA, I expect that his win will gain Edition Zero even more global attention. It deserves it.

In spite of the top class athletes at the front of the race, the event had a fun, welcoming atmosphere. I’d recommended it to anyone that is looking for a memorable day out on the bike in a beautiful environment.

(This photo – from the route of the Snack – and the one that is the featured image for this post are from Gareth Meyer.)

Selected media

Article on the 2024 race in NZ Cycling

Video of 2024 race

Video of 2025 race

Some thoughts on training

I felt that my training was not ideal but I suspect I was not alone. How does one train for such a long event without exhausting oneself? After our trip to Japan in September, I felt I had to rebuild my cycling fitness. I went into the Whaka 100 marathon XC race at the end of October under-cooked, but by taking it easy in the first half I was able to complete it feeling strong in the final sections. That was my first Edition Zero training ride, at c.7 and a half hours, completed. Two weeks later, and three weeks before Edition Zero, Ant and I completed a 215km loop from Hamilton; 50:50 road and gravel and a very cool ride looping around the two big mountains to the west of Hamilton, Karioi and Pironiga. That took us almost 9 and a half hours.

So I probably had enough distance in the legs before the race. Where I was lacking was long rides at race pace. It’s also hard to say whether the cold make me weaker. It turned out that I had indeed been sick. For a week after Edition Zero I suffered from a bad cold, and was kept awake for several nights by persistent coughing.

Perversely though, my worries about being sick and weaker than normal on race day may have helped, because they make me drop out of the group before I got properly chewed up and spat out. It consequently stopped me from experiencing a major blow-up. I often get cramp if I push too hard, but aside from some incipient cramp before we were dropped by the group, I didn’t have any cramping.

… and on nutrition

I knew this would be important and so I invested in some SiS Beta Fuel, both the powder for drinks and energy chews, thinking that these would help me be able to digest more carbs. At the start and in each of my drop bags I had a bidon of Beta Fuel and one of SIS Go mixed with a Nuuns tablet. I carried some more Nuuns tablets for the water stops and also consumed some Eat Natural sweets from a bento box on my top tube, 4 Ems Bites energy bars, an Oaty Slice cereal bar, one SIS gel and a pack of Clif Bar Bloks. Finally I had a packet of 10 Salt Stick tablets which I chewed on regularly from about kilometre 50 of the ride.

The Nuuns, Salt Sticks and good pacing helped keep the cramps at bay. I did however start to suffer from feeling bloated in the second half of the ride. That feeling, caused by slower gastric emptying, is quite common in endurance events but it means you lose your appetite and stop absorbing fluid and energy as efficiently. I calculated I consumed about 70 grammes of carbohydrate an hour which is not excessive. For example I heard in a post-race interview that Cam Jones took on 160g of carbs per hour. So it seems I need to tweak my mix of food and train my gut a bit more. Any thoughts welcome. It’s also worth noting that I did not have my regular morning coffee or any caffeine on the ride, which may have made a difference.