Dannevirke: Going to extremes to help CanTeen

Colin Anderson finishes his 79-hour, eight lap extreme endurance ride around Lake Taupo last weekend. Photo / Supplied

Ultra endurance cyclist Colin (Wal) Anderson may still be trying to shrug off the after-effects of his 79-hour, eight-lap ride around Lake Taupo at the weekend, but he was back on his bike yesterday delivering the mail in Palmerston North.

"My eyes are hanging around my knees, but I'll be right," the former Dannevirke man said.

Anderson, 68, began the 1280km, eight-lap Taupo Extreme ride with seven other riders and was just one of two to finish the gruelling event, with Ron Skelton finishing first in 74 hours and 3 minutes. Anderson finished in 79 hours and 40 minutes, achieving his goal of 78 laps of the lake by the time he was 68.

"We're a couple of the old die-hards of the event," Anderson said. "The weather was bloody unpleasant and, at one stage, the temperature was just 1.6C, without the wind chill factor. Riding into the wind, it was even colder."

But it wasn't the conditions which slowed Anderson down, but a major brake malfunction.

"I certainly had my moments and, when I saw two black cats running down the side of the road, I thought they were a bad omen, then my brakes busted.

"I was closing in a bit on Ron (Skelton) when it happened and so when someone came along with a trailer, I chucked the bike up on it and thought it was all over," he said. "But when I rang Christine (wife) she said she'd bring out a replacement bike, so I had to jump back on the trailer and grab the gear I'd need to finish the ride."

Once again this year, Anderson was riding to raise money for CanTeen.

"Even a fiver adds up and helps CanTeen to ensure these young folk are never alone during their time with this wretched cancer," he said.

The lower North Island winner of the Fundraiser of the Year in the inaugural Pride of New Zealand Awards in August, Anderson has already raised more than $17,000 for CanTeen.

Dannevirke School principal Stephen Snell competed in the event too, finishing well in the four-lap event,