way to go OLLIE !! O for awesome, hope Heidi survived the victory hug, can't wait to see the tan lines, and hear how every single moment of this adventure was fun. We've enjoyed watching. Ta.

Seems like Ollie has been lucky - but then in races like this good preparation & gear testing contributes a lot towards the 'luck' one has .... go you good thing.

I guess if Craig can get his pedal sorted and then do an even better time from Grants to the finish than Ollie manages then that will suggest he could have at very least stayed with him. He will have had more rest / time off the bike, but I'm sure nervous energy & frustration regarding the mechanical will have sapped the potential value of that, depending on Craig's mental make up. And how hard can Ollie go, knowing Craig is a-comin?? WooHoo, what a 'finish'.

Tried (without success) to upload some pics of Ollie here in his current home town (he's actually a Nelson native) He doesn't just ride bikes good, he turns up to track/trail building & club events lots, was recently seen marshaling spectators and haranguing riders at the Lyttelton Urban DH. I'm buggered if I can find my pics of him riding club champs SS with a gorilla suit on - later.

a wee comment to 'thatdudeonabike"  (reply631) - when I caught up with Ollie on the backside of the Wharfedale Track 2/3rds through his winning ride in the NZ / Kiwi Brevet (2010?) he was chipper as. Assuming there must have been some suffering I asked him "what have been the toughest moments?". He just looked at me and said "what's not to like - being on the bike all day is just fabulous". Here in NZ Ollie is famously bouncy & energetic, but his laid-back nature conceals a very steely competitor.

At this stage of TD'12 the lead contest is fascinating, but a lot can happen - bike, body & mind wise - in the terrain yet to pass. Go Ollie !!