Blogs

Sand, puddles and bike wash.

Good pace, plenty of hills.

Ah, Tien... what a sadistic b@st@rd he is for suggesting this!

A surprising number of suckers willing riders showed up 7am this morning though and off we went. Soon though, the hills ticked by, as did the laps and one by one they fell away until just Tien, myself and another mystery rider (oops... I forget your name, how embarrassing) were left.

Below is a list of excuses for finishing last (of, did I mention, only 3?) pick which one you like the best...

Did 8 hours out of 12, a fair share for my 1st 12hour pairs race.

In a word this ride turned out to be everything I hoped for, EPIC!

We took it steady, with plenty of breaks to take onboard extra water and food. So it took close to 9hrs to complete. Stopping all stations at: Helipad, Woodford Gate (food), Creek Crossing, Ingar End (food), 2nd Creek Crossing, Woodford Gate (food), Helipad.

I finally banished my 70km demon as I went on to add an extra 106km on the clock. So now I know I can go the distance. I'm a very tired but happy chap this evening.

The WWS round 2:

The way to the start line was interesting as I almost crashed in super big hole hidden under the grass…Mmm that was not a good start. Two other solo girls were next to me at the start and one looked strong (she had The Look..)
Start and here she went like a rocket ….

Getting up at 5am is always hard, but a nice race day makes it worthwhile.

The track this year had a small change from last, with a nice section of technical climbing added that I'm happy to say I cleaned on every lap. Later on though didn't quiet have the strength left to clear the original section later in the course and had to dab on the last two laps. Still - I didn't get up that once last year due to being forced onto the right line so happy with how this went.

Bike: Surly Karate Monkey 29’er and single speed (32/20)
Weather: 25-29 degrees sunny and windless.

My mindset approaching today was that this was a “me” day. I had gotten a day long leave pass to go riding and train for the Dirt Works 100 so I wanted to test ride my SS over a reasonable distance (not just Terrey Hills fire trails) and to see how my ass and quads would survive.

My goal was to ride consistent times but to also keep my average heart rate down to around 150 bpm (85% of max). I knew I would blow it on the hills, but with an average of around 150.

Another great race with the Lap Dancers, this time at Yellowmundi. I was keen to have another go at the 8 hour race as at the first round I couldn't really get in the course and I felt I didn't do it justice, struggling with front end grip and the furnace like heat. This one was different and I loved it. I had swapped my igniter for a new Panaracer XC and it made all the difference, I had controllable front wheel slides and I actually didn't have a crash (who'd have thought?)

With rain in Wellington all day and night Friday plus some more Saturday morning, the Karapoti course was a mud pit. I set out to achieve a time of less than 5 hours.
The race begins with a quick dash across the river, which was freezing cold and waist deep due to the rain. I’m glad I didn’t pack my phone so I could take some pictures during the race, the start would have killed it.

After Rotorua I went to Taupo to ride the W2K track, a ride that Jason who I met at Summer Hill suggested. When I set out I did not plan to do a long ride but it ended up turning into one. Luckily I planned ahead and had extra food and my lights with me.