In Christchurch this morning, watched over by mayor Phil Mauger, Queenstown cyclist Thijs Hubber set off for Invercargill on a very special ride.
Armed with a message from Mauger for his Southern counterpart, Nobby Clark, he’ll be tackling the 587km journey a day shy of 80 years after his grandad, Harry Hubber, undertook the ride in a then-record 22 hours 39 minutes.
Thijs, who turned 40 last week, is also riding to raise money for the Mental Health Foundation — so far he’s raised almost $7000 towards his $10,000 goal.
Originally, he planned using a bike Harry built which his parents gifted him for his 21st birthday, ‘‘but I just haven’t been able to ride on it much’’, he says.
‘‘I just don’t know I would make it, I just feel it’s too big of an ask for me.’’
But he feels if Harry was still alive he’d be riding a road bike similar to what he’ll use — ‘‘he’d probably be embracing the technology as much as I have’’.
Record-breaker: Thijs Hubber’s inspiration, grandad Harry Hubber
On his journey, Thijs will take a back road out of Christchurch, to avoid the traffic, and, in Dunedin, the old main road — ‘‘probably the road my grandad rode on’’.
He’d like to break 24 hours, ‘‘but it’s really hard to tell how I’ll cope’’.
He’s trained as well as he could expect, though, frustratingly, the weather wasn’t that flash for his weekend sessions.
Ironically, given he’ll almost certainly finish tomorrow, it’s the same day Invercargill is hosting the Tour of Southland cycling event’s opening prologue and street race.
Thijs confirms the ride means a lot to him.
‘‘I want to do it justice and represent myself, the foundation and my grandad as well as I can.
‘‘It’s a pity I never met him, but hopefully this brings me closer to him and I can make a connection in terms of how he might have felt, and what demons he might have encountered on the ride.’’
Harry subsequently retook his record 25 years later, in 1968, in 20hr 22min — he died four years later, aged 51.
Thijs’s Givealittle page, which he’ll keep open for about a month after his ride, is shorturl.at/ioySY
