Still spinning the wheels
Craig Donaldson (left) and Graeme Usher are awarded the inaugural life memberships to the Taupō Cycling Club.
They may be getting long in the tooth, but the cogs keep turning smoothly for a couple of keen cyclists, awarded inaugural life memberships to the Taupō Cycling Club (road cycling).
By Chris Marshall
Graeme Usher and Crunchie (Craig) Donaldson had the honour bestowed on them at the most recent annual meeting of the club.
Club secretary Rachel Bartells describes them as ‘local legends’.
Graeme has served as club president, treasurer and committee member. He’s been around the lake (Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge) more than 20 times.
He has run the club’s Sunday bunch rides and is still involved in the road racing the club does at the Taupō Motorsport Park during the summer.
The smooth surface and being closed to traffic make the park an ideal place to experience road cycling and saves the club from organising traffic management.
Graeme has also been involved running events or training weekends leading up to the LTCC for people going around the lake for the first time.
He still rides, not so much on the road, but enjoys the races at the motorsport track.
Crunchie’s local legend status comes from the insane number of times he has been around the lake – not just in total but also in one hit.
Luckily, he’s come to the interview with some stats.
“Ten two-lappers, three three-lappers, one six-lapper which is 1,000kms, and then a 1280 (eight laps), a few gravel rides.”
His preparation involves a week's leave and riding around the lake every day for seven days in a row, before taking a break and then doing the challenge.
“There's been a fair bit of time on the bike. It’s a bit antisocial. These fellows are out there going for a four-hour ride, and I'm out there going for eight or nine hours.”
Crunchie says he’d always ridden bikes.
“I finished playing rugby, did a few triathlons and then had a stuffed knee and the specialist said ‘if you get on a bike, it might help your knee a bit.’”
Years ago he entered an Auckland to Wellington bike race – starting at the Auckland Central Train Station and finishing in the Wellington Central Train Station.
Crunchie got fatigued and a “little doo-lally” by the time he hit the capital, got lost and ended up on the motorway.
This didn’t impress a local police officer who pulled him over.
“I said ‘I've got to get to the train station. I’ve just biked from Auckland.’ She said ‘not on the motorway. Get off at the next exit.’ So, I had to try and find my own way through Wellington… she didn’t give me an escort. I sort of thought she might have but she wasn’t that happy.”
They’ve both enjoyed advising and encouraging younger riders.
Crunchie says their “claim to fame” is beating the under-23 world champion.
“But Sammie (Maxwell) was 12 at the time. However, we did beat her. She became a world champion later on.”
The club has seen a few locals do well, Graeme says, like Paddy Bevin and Kiaan Watts.
“That's been good, that side of things, there’ve been quite a few that have come through and gone on to bigger stuff and raced overseas.”
And while the two are modest, believing a lot of other club members deserve mention as well, their part, big or small, in mentoring some high performers has been recognised.
In fact, Crunchie admits the more he thought of it later, the more he realised life membership was an honour and a privilege.
Graeme undercuts this with a wry smile: “It's probably not about winning these days, it’s just making it hard for the young ones. If you want to win, you're going to have to earn it.”