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Saturday, May 3, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
A new .com!
Yep, I’m working on a new website! It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. Somewhere I can dedicate pages to sponsors, a schedule, pics etc. And of course the regularly updated blog. I like how it’s looking so far, and it should only be a few more days before you can check it out yourselves.
Oh, and I booked my flights last week!!!!!! It kind of feels like there’s just one more step before I go past the ‘point of no return’. Not that I would want to turn back, but it’s definitely a pretty freaky feeling! That last step is to pay for the flights in full, which will be done this week! My race schedule is also now fully confirmed and I’m entered for the first event which is a 3 day tour with some loooooong stages. Imagine riding round Taupo and then some with 2 days and 3 stages already in your legs! That’s what I’ll be doing on day 3 of the Elkhorn Classic Stage Race in just under 2 months time. There’s kind of a cool story to this one too. In getting in touch with the organisers I got a reply back just after they’d got some exciting news - local business women had come together and were going to match womens prize money with mens, and they are going to house the women who enter as well! It’s nice to know that I’ll have somewhere local and comfortable to stay - tours are hard work so anything that benefits recovery is welcomed.
This coming weekend means race 2 of the Wellington Short Track series. The call has gone out for a kiddies race so if we have the numbers we’ll squeeze in a race for them. Rego is from 9am at the end of Waiu Road in Wainuiomata. The course is pretty different for this one - much less technical and a nice stretch of straight where the power-houses will shine, but still plenty of fun too.
Shortly I’m heading out to the Upper Hutt Sports Awards - Gav was nominated for Sportsman of the Year and I’d hate to miss it if he wins! He’ll be fresh back from 4th place at single speed nats yesterday up in Rotorua.
Training is going well. I’m loving the hours on the bike. The days are getting shorter but the weather has been nice and calm recently. Certainly some cooler weather too - but at least this year it’s not for much longer!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Quality Time and the Sort-of-Daily Commute
… on the bike that is. I’ve been riding bikes for so long that it’s easy to forget that the phase of training I’m in right now is only my second strength and endurance phase. When I sit and think about it (and I tend to do that) I realise I’m developing a really good appreciation for why I’m doing the sessions I’m doing, and when. It’s not that I haven’t understood it in the past, the concepts are fairly simple, but to actually feel the difference is kind of cool. For some reason I hardly seemed to notice the transition from strength/endurance to outright speed for racing last year. Possibly because I raced so much. Right now it’s been over a month since my last race and will be 2 months before I race again - no travel, no speed work (no intervals - not that I don’t love my intervals but the break will make me even more keen next time). So the difference in training is obvious.
One thing I’m doing differently this year is getting some of my training in on my sort-of-daily commute. All that means is that I ride on the days that it makes sense to do so, and drive when it doesn’t. I’m not your hippy-type commuter. The main reason I’m doing it is to save money, pure and simple. I’m getting so good at saving now that I even shopped at a supermarket I avoid whenever I can because they had better savings on petrol (and I suppose it’s handy that I’m now stocked up on toothpast and tooth brushes for a good while to come to get to the $80 for the better petrol deal as I kind of exceeded that just a bit).
Anyway, commuting… on nice days it’s downright cool, spinning away, bopping along to the music (gasp! yes I always ride with my iPod - the one time I didn’t I ended up semi-attached to those 2 taxi’s). And then there is the virtuous feeling one gets when cruising along past all those cars (which will soon enough come back past but much, much closer). Hey, I’m not a hippy but that doesn’t mean I don’t get to cash in on the virtue thing. Well, there may be some bright sides to commuting, but they’re more than evened out by the negatives: leaving in the cold and dark, riding a 100K stretch of road with no street lighting, getting soaked on the way in only to put your wet gear on to ride back out again and struggle to dry out helmets and shoes for the ride in again the next day… but the worst of it is the people who seem to want to kill me.
I’m serious! There are some really angry people out there. I’m probably only preaching to the converted here, though I’d quite like the opportunity to preach to these ‘angry’ people. If someone in a car runs a red I don’t see other drivers suddenly change their course to aim for that driver - but I see it with bikes all the time. No, we shouldn’t be running red lights but as any one knows who’s spent time on a bike in traffic, sometimes it’s safer to do something that’s technically against the law, so we do it - like getting a start on the big queue of traffic up our bums while there’s nothing coming the other way to give ourselves a better chance of making it to the wider shoulder to move further left. It’s common sense really.
Then there are the people with trailers wider than their cars. Ok, if you pass within an inch of me and your trailer sticks out by an inch or more… we’ve got a problem! And I’ve got an increased heart rate, and huge rush of adrenaline, and go stompy-stompy round the house telling my story when I eventually make it home. I’ve got a 5 month old kitten to look after and I’d like to be around to watch her grow up thank you (and Tempo is doing very well, crafty little food snatcher that she is).
Then when all that’s been going on I tend to think how inconvenient it would be if I really did get hit. Last time I was lucky to get away with a concussion, bruising, a massive insurance claim and a story to tell but I’ll never forget that that’s just what I was: lucky. I’ve got another 6 weeks before I go back to being a full time athlete and train when traffic is much lighter - I’m really looking forward to that. And something else I’m looking forward to is booking my tickets! This week!!! Holy cow man - it’s almost like I’m really going!
And that’s what keeps getting me out there riding, in the wind, rain, cold, dark, traffic etc - at the end of the day it’s all worth it because it’s what I love and it’s all a part of this incredible experience I’m… experiencing.
The UCI World Cup series started yesterday in Belgium on the popular Houffalize course. I’ve seen footage, I want to race there too. Judging by the results things might have been a bit wet and muddy but I haven’t found a report yet… I thought it was summer over there?
Well, enough of my ramblings. I’m still loving the bikes and I hope you are too :o)
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Putting the fun in fundraising!
Wellington put on a spectular day today for some fun short track racing up the back of Karori Park. Spectator numbers about matched rider numbers so there was lots of cheering for all the races and it seemed like everyone had a great time. The pic is of Ricky Pincott taking his ’special’ line in the trees (taken by Rowan). There was a fallen tree too big to ride over, with an optional line around it and Ricky has obviously spent some time recently perfecting his cyclocross-style super quick dismount/remount action. Very impressive to watch, and particularly entertaining in the big gear event when it finally got the better of him and he treated on-lookers to what is commonly known as a ‘botty grinder’ when a remount went bad. Poor pet still got back on to do his lap in the relay though. All that after taking out the A-grade race and participating in the granny gear race. If you ever need a laugh, line up a bunch of your mates and make them race in granny gear for a couple of minutes - a BMX track is a good place to do it.
We had a pretty good turnout for the event and raised some good funds and I’m just super stoked everyone seemed to have a really good time. Short track doesn’t have much of a profile but folks are already saying they’d like to see it on the calendar again. We’ve got 2 more left this series so if you’re wondering what all the fun is about come along to Wainui on the 4th of May or Belmont Regional Park on the 18th.
After the racing it was time for me to get my training in for the day so it was great to be able to head in to Makara for a couple of hours with Ricky, Gav and Rob Kilvington. We started out riding some tracks in the opposite direction to which they are usually ridden, then hit up a trail I hardly ever ride before doing one I’ve never done and finished off with some old favourites.
A great day all up and a great way to finish off my first week back in full training. The trails are running mint as at the moment and it was cool to see lots of people taking advantage of the great conditions.
Next week I won’t be participating as I’m enjoying a break from racing, but the PNP club champs are on at Wainui MTB Park. I’ll be out there though - the break from racing is a chance for me to do my bit!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Anyone seen some time? I seem to have misplaced some of mine…
Wow! Life sure got busy all of a sudden! Okay, maybe not quite as busy as the middle of last year when the only times I sat down for more than 5 minutes were because I was just too exhausted to move, but not far off it! The difference is, this is a really exciting busy.
It’s been pretty crazy to go from a race season without working to working and all this other stuff to do as well. When you’re racing, particularly when you’re not working through it, you have LOADS of downtime. You need it all too, because rest and recovery are critical to being able to perform when the gun sounds. You can spend 30 minutes a day stretching, an hour or more on some mental stuff, read books, watch movies, sit in hot pools (oh yeah!) and just chill - not to mention getting a decent amount of sleep (oh the memories…). It was a bit ironic to lose my job right when my riding hours were about to drop for an extended period (you don’t ride as much when you’re racing - that recovery thing). And now, when I’m about to go in to an endurance phase which means some long hours on the bike, I’m working again. Murphy - boy do you have a lot of explaining to do!
But the job is good. It has peaks and troughs so during the peaks it’s head down to get the work done, and during the troughs it’s head down to organise 2 and a half months overseas and the short track series I’m running as a fund raiser. Not surprisingly, there’s a fair amount of work involved in all of that!
The end of my break has come up much sooner than I expected - I start back on a full training schedule on Monday! Last year my season finished 2 weeks earlier and I didn’t have another season again so soon, so I got a full 10 weeks of just doing whatever. I did a LOT of running, hit the dirt whenever I felt like it and still got in some good road rides. This time it’s been 3 weeks and my mind and body seem to know better than I do so there have been lots of ‘rest days’ - I just wish I didn’t get that guilty feeling… not that I’ll have to worry about that again in a couple of days.
The itinerary for US/Canada is coming together nicely after having to make sudden changes with the new leaving date. Everything apart from the first 2 weeks is pretty much set in stone, and the hope is that which ever city I land in (will be either San Fran or Vancouver) has some good mid week racing I can get involved in. After that I’ll get a final endurance hit from a 3 day tour in Oregon, then it’s in to the final 2 Canada Cups in BC and Alberta before a long haul journey across the continent for another roadie in Ontario, then up to Quebec for Canada National Champs and 2 World Cup races. After that it’s back home for about a week (time to squeeze in an N-Duro - vegas singletrack, yeah baby!) before another World Cup in Canberra. Phew! Every time I list it out like that I get excited. I’ll add in more detail as things get closer. It’s weird but I kind of feel like I’ll jinx it or something stupid if I say ‘this is what’s happening’ too soon - go figure…
So, in my last weekend of ‘freedom’ I’m enjoying just chilling out. My week days start super early so I’m making the most of the opportunity to sleep in, downloading some new tunes for the iPods, playing with the fur babies and right now I’m watching 24 Solo - an awesome movie about the 24hr solo worlds from 06 (I think). After that I’ll probably put on Off-road to Athens - an incredible movie about the USA selection process in 2004. If you get the chance I highly recommend both of these, and MASH - a fixie movie where guys do things on fixies that will make you go ‘huh?’ and ‘but how?’.
For now, I better go eat some chocolate before Monday 
Thursday, March 20, 2008
‘On a break’
It’s like the ‘Friends’ season when every second punch line was ‘we were on a break!’. I remember how much I struggled to settle in to my post-season break last year and thought I was much better prepared for it this time… but I’m finding it just as difficult. Last time I’d only been on a programme for 10 weeks - this time it’s been 10 months! I love having a programme and knowing the purpose of every part of every ride. I guess it’s just the way I’m hard-wired, I thrive on structure. But it means I can treat myself a little bit more every now and then and always I get the line in my head… ‘it’s ok because I’m on a break’.
But I’m a bit more conscious this year with the fact that I want to go and race overseas and do well, so I can’t afford quite as many treats as last year (but I did get a bit carried away with the hot cross buns then…).
I’ve managed to pick up some work, finally. I’m doing a stint with Rugby NZ 2011 (planning for the world cup). It’s just a small team at the moment but is due to start ramping up fairly soon. It’s a much more relaxed environment than what I’m used to - which is nice, more like other jobs I’ve been in where there’s time for a chat and to keep an eye on the cricket - not to mention meet friends for coffee and take a lunch break! The only downside is that I’ve had to commit through to the end of May, which means missing the first 3 races I was planning on doing in Canada, so I’ve spent a few hours in the last few days frantically revising the schedule and hunting for good races to get me up to form for the World Cup races in July and August. I’ve got a draft that sees me flying in to San Fran and effectively racing my way across the continent with events in both the US and Canada. It looks pretty exciting to me but I have to get the coach to ok it before I can make any solid plans.
Hopefully I’ll be able to settle in to more regular posts from now on. There just hasn’t been much on since Oce’s. I haven’t booked myself in for any races before I go. There are a few, but I’m pretty keen to help out at a few events while I can, and it should leave me nice and amped to get back on a start line when I land in the US.
Those of you in Wellington, keep an eye out for information on a short track series that Ricky Pincott is helping me to organise. I just had so much fun in the Oce’s event that I want others to give it a go. We’re in the planning and consent stage at the moment and have lots of ideas to make it super fun :o)
For those who haven’t seen it in the flickr pics, the photo is Kaytee, Gav and me at the Centre of NZ monument from when we were pre-riding the Oce’s course.
Oh, and sorry about the weather (again to the locals). I went for my first ride in ages today after so many days of stunning weather. Each day I’d look a little more longingly at the bike and it was this morning I couldn’t stop myself, so of course the weather has turned… maybe if I ride early enough I can sneak it in without the weather gods noticing ;o)
Monday, March 17, 2008
Oceanias… the end of the season
Best read with a glass of red
Oce’s XC
Your legs can’t help you if your head’s not in it… This was the first time since I started racing competitively that I felt like I didn’t give it everything. I always have that one goal, first and foremost, to feel that I’ve left everything I could out on the course. I didn’t achieve that on Friday…
As the week went on and I spent more time on the course (and we learned about additional sections that were getting added) I felt a bit better on it every day. By the time Kaytee and I finished up one final lap on Thursday morning I felt like I had it in my head, though I still had concerns over the first climb which was long and relentless, and completely non-technical. At the very least it would make a good training ride. But I was definitely missing the anticipation of a Rotorua/Mt Vic type of race where you’re feeling the race vibe and trying to keep it low key, but still amped to get out on the trails and enjoy them.
All my pre-race routines went like clockwork, but there was definitely a different feel to this event. The morning race was small - less than 20 riders in total - so there wasn’t the usual familiar buzz that happens at that time of the day. I followed my usual race day schedule and made my way to call up with a few minutes to spare. Call up was based on 2007 UCI points - Kaytee was top ranked Kiwi called up 2nd. Having no 2007 points I was at the back of the grid so was hoping for my usual good start to pick up some places. It didn’t happen, and when Gen Matthews almost elbowed me down a gutter I lost some rhythm - the starts can be really frantic with everyone vying for the best position before the track narrows and I think it’s worse at the back of the grid.
The first lap was reasonable - the front of the field split off and the rest of us formed an orderly train up the climb and after making a couple of passes (phew!) I saw the familiar sight of Erin right in front of me. We held our positions up the steep first climb as it passed under the Centre of NZ monument and along the open dirt road out to the back of the course. We hit the walk almost together and a quick glance up showed most of the rest of the field also still making their way up the climb. I’d decided to go Karapoti styles for the hike as I get more effective strides with my bike on my back but I still wasn’t fast enough to make up any places. From the top it was a fast open downhill in to a fresh piece of track that dropped us on to another walking track with a short pinch then a longer, steeper climb before heading down. The first part of this downhill was gravelly walking trail with switchbacks that were dry and sketchy, and then we dropped in to part of the old downhill course - the only really techinical part of the whole course. It had only been added in on Wednesday but had already change and rutted out since my last ride on it on Friday morning.
From there the course went up again to another off-the-bike section, only very short this time. Then back on through some singletrack. Sam caught me here and jumped in front of me. We’ve had a good laugh about what happened next… being OTA of my race I didn’t want to interfere with hers - I got some good track stand practice in while she negotiated the downhill switchbacks. Then we swapped places a couple of times on the final climb back to the start loop and I sat in behind her on the way back down and through the grass - then we just about took each other out in the feedzone both pulling in to feed! We rode close for a short while after that and I felt as though my legs were feeling good and ready to take it up a notch - physically I was all there, but mentally I couldn’t get it to engage. The pain wasn’t there and I just couldn’t seem to bring it out. Eventually I had to resign myself to the fact that it just wasn’t going to happen today.
On the 2nd lap in to the technical downhill section I managed to ride in to a tree - not really a stack, just an unplanned stop but steep enough that I had to get off and run til I could get back on. My wrists had taken the impact against the bars and I had a few problems changing gears for half a lap or so as they were quite sore. The 3rd lap passed without incident but also without much fire. I had a very keen look at the 80% official as I came passed noticing a few of the boys had been pulled (not suprising as the Aussie boys had started passing me after a lap and a half) but I was let out for my final lap. After the feedzone I brightened up a little bit as I realised in some ways that was an achievement in itself - the top lap times on this course were very quick and Dellys set a blistering pace to win by about 4 minutes over Kaytee, so I was going to get my first ‘international’ under my belt without getting lapped.
Then, with all of a kilometre to go and having had no stacks all season, I went down in a massive cloud of dust on the technical section. It was just as I was thinking to myself ‘man, this has gotten really blo…’ and I hit the ground pretty hard. I got up, didn’t dust myself off (because I thought it looked rather impressive) and jumped back on thinking well, I had a decent stack finally and I’m riding out of it so that’s good. As soon as I had to pedal I felt all sorts of pain but it wasn’t far to the line. I was growing a pretty good bump on my arm by then and got lots of comments on my new look!
And that was it - the last official race of the season. Not my best work I’m afraid and there are lots of reasons, but at the end of the day I can’t complain about the season. From the eye-opening first elite race in Christchurch where I learned just how much of a step up it was, to the recovery issues after 2 long elite races back to back in Opotiki, to getting my first UCI points in Rotorua and the far-from-ideal lead in to Palmerston North. Then on to the home track National Champs where I achieved everything I’d set and carried the form through to another PB at Karapoti and the top 5 I was chasing.
Oce’s Short Track
The Sunday after Oce’s XC I had a chance to race the short track so I thought I might as well give it a go. Well… BEST FUN EVER ON A BIKE!!! The course was mint - a slightly uphill back straight, down in to a paddock, through a creek, along a bumpy paddock, up a short semi-technical climb, down a chicane, around a tree and back up on to the straight. I had a SHOCKER of a start almost having to stop in the end to get clipped in and losing about 20m to the field. But I was back on them by the top of the straight and right in some argy-bargy across the paddock. After that, each lap I picked off one rider up the back straight until I found myself in 6th and chasing Bob. At first I was closing the gap, but after another lap it was growing again. And then halfway through the lap before I would have started my final 3 (15 minutes + 3 laps) I punctured through the creek. It held air long enough for me to get across the line and then as I hadn’t been pulled or lapped but had no air left I ran another lap. Dellys (leading again) passed me at the top of the back straight and then the others started coming through. The crowd, which had been amazing the whole race, was really supportive and I got lots of sympathy from them and the riders coming past. I watched the final couple of laps with the others who had been pulled. What a fun thing to do on a bike!
Thanks
Since it’s the end of the season, I really want to thank a whole bunch of people who help to make the whole thing happen.
My sponsors - Bicycle, Santa Cruz and IO. John and Campbell have been backing me for 3 seasons now including local racing. They’ve made a huge difference to the equipment I’ve been able to race and train on, and through my time in the shop I get to keep in touch with the masses, something that is really important to me because I only ride because I love it so much. Mike got me on my beloved Blur - we had a great conversation before agreeing to it and I was really impressed with how well he knew his product. It’s amazing to ride such a hot little bike. It fits me like a glove and never has a problem (looks wicked too!). Bronwyn at IO keeps my asthmatic lungs in check (most of the time). I’ve been really pleased to have stayed strong through to the end of so many races and even when my asthma has played up, it hasn’t stopped me and I recover from it much better than I used to.
My family - especially Mum. I moved home to help save to get overseas (good thing too when I lost my job!). Mum has looked after all the stuff that used to get done super early in the morning or super late at night (cooking, cleaning, washing…) and enables me to focus more on recovery and just not have to worry about all that stuff. Where would any of us be without our mum’s? Dad just likes knowing that I’m happy. And Sara and Tempo - the little fur balls who give us all lots of laughs :o) And Michelle, Holly and Lydia (cousins) who came out to support me at champs and are put off mountain biking forever even though I tell them how much fun it is!
The crew of riders and racers - one of the things I love so much about this sport is the fact that so many of us know each other and support each other, even when we’re competing against each other. We’re all out there for the same reason so we’ve got something fundamental in common. A huge thanks to Gav who had an inspiring season - he does so much work on my bike while we’re on the road it hardly needs anything doing when we’re back home! To the rest of the road trip crew - Ricky (getting older but faster), Scotty and Celia (great to see C achieve her goals), KC (even with all the pink stuff!), and Connor - another great season - make sure you get to Italy nipper! Nic - the Monday rides, the Maxxis tent and the wonderful boy you bring to the races who supports us all so well. Sam - great value for one so young (keep your weight forward on the downhills…), Trev and Sam’s folks who are always watching and cheering, ‘Mrs Avery’ - always yelling great support - and everyone else out at the races yelling so loud I can’t hear my breathing - especially the parents who get in behind us all, and the junior girls at the Mt Vic race, that was awesome. Bob and Chris - for letting us take over their house in Nelson for a week in return for banana cake and a bit of deck building - and Chris especially for the sounds up the hill in the race. All the vorbettes for never-ending support - Paula, Jo, Catherine, Jen, Rita, Jude, Rachel (get out of my head!), Michelle, Karen (I hope I haven’t forgotten any).
My club - PNP, Marco in particular for providing such great local races that help us prepare for the big ones.
And the coach - Robyn. An inspiring mentor who laid an opportunity in front of me that has changed the direction of my life. I used to be addicted to riding… now I’m addicted to racing!
What’s next?
For a few weeks at least I reckon I’ll take a bit of a break and concentrate on a couple of other things - study and hopefully making a bit of money. I’d always set in the plans for this year to get overseas for racing and while the job loss has been a pretty major spanner in the works I’m still planning on getting there. The destination is Canada for the 5 race Canada Cup series and 2 World Cup races at the end of that. It’s been a bit of a rite of passage for a number of Kiwi racers and I’m hoping to hook up with some others over there for at least part of it and make the best use of contacts of friends of friends (of friends). So I’ll also be looking to do some fundraising in the coming weeks. It’s going to rock around pretty quickly!
Thanks again to everyone for your ongoing support. It’s a wild ride, and it’s not over yet!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Karapoti Through The Eyes Of A First Timer
Sorry I’ve been a bit quiet since Karapoti - I’ve been pretty busy with study and have spent the last week here in Nelson in preparation for Oceania Champs. Gav and I came down on Sunday and have been staying with Chris and Bob. The hill climb was today - Gav won men’s and Bob won women’s (I’m not sure I’m worthy of being in the same house with these Oceania hill climb champs!). I didn’t go to watch as Kaytee and I had gone out early for a lap and were having a bike cleaning session with Sam and Connor. But everyone is all ready to go for the XC race tomorrow. The course is killer thanks to some pretty relentless climbing. Nothing really technical except for one small section of an old dh course, before another short but very tough climb, some fun single track switchbacks down again and then one final short but tough climb before the start/finish. And that’s all after a LOT of climbing at the start…
But what I really wanted to post up was this link - a mate of mine from Canberra was here for the Nduro 24 hour and Karapoti and has done a fantastic write up. They sure don’t have hills like that in Canberra… Happy reading, and I’ll post again shortly with the Oceania race report (ooooh, Oce’s! …)
Sunday, March 2, 2008
KARAPOTI!!!
It’s fair to say that the focus of my racing has changed over the last year or so and Karapoti is no longer the be all and end all of my racing, but lets face it - there’s something about it that just keeps calling and taunting, so even though I know it’s not all that important in the scheme of things, it definitely holds a special place in my heart.
Those of you who saw my article in the local rag earlier this week will know I had set 2 goals for this year’s Classic - top 5 and sub 3. Well frankly the sub-3 was always an ambitious one and the realistic goal was 3.10 - but again the heart rules the head when it comes to this race and deep down I knew I was chasing that special 3 hour mark, as were a few other girls that it has eluded to date. This year was not our year with Bob, Erin, Sam and myself having to wait until at least next year to enter the record books but we had a flippin’ great race trying! Here’s how it went down from my point of view… (ok, go make the tea - chances are it could be another epic!):
I was really excited about racing Karapoti again, and weeks of hot, dry weather were begging for another fast year like last year. For days and days the weather men and women tried to (literally) rain on our parade but every day I would look at the sky in the morning and say ‘nah - not gonna happen!’. So when I woke up yesterday morning I was pretty pleased to see some high cloud, not too much wind, and no sign of rain in the immediate future.
Upon arrival at Karapoti park I headed straight for the Maxxis tent which has been my base at every north island race this season. It was conveniently located right next to the dydimo wash. I don’t think I made any friends there as I wasn’t too keen to have the yellow zip tie sticking up off my bars (to say it had been cleaned of all the bad stuff) so cut it down in front of them, and then asked if they would be washing again after the race. They said yes and seemed none too impressed when I asked them if they’d wash the whole bike (woops - but hey, no one likes to clean their bike after Karapoti the bike killer!).
Time went very quickly as usual and after saying hi to a few people and picking up my race pack it was time to get kit on and warm up - then a quick stop to drop the warm up bottle and pick up the camelbak and coke and I was off to the start line.
There was a distinct lack of the usual heckling that goes on in the river and the first call was the 1 minute call - all together now: bikes on shoulders. Then the 30 second call - everyone starts to sneak forward. Then the count down - 10, 9, and the rest is lost as we all splash in to the river. There was much less water than usual, but a big hole saw me wet up to my hips before getting back out and running to get on the bike to try and get a good start. Last year I felt like I could have gone harder up the road without any harm later on, so I just went out hard like every other race. Of course, the difference here is that there are hundreds of people around you (as opposed to 5) so for every person you pass, 1 passes you.
There were only 8 women entered in pro-elite (an all time low? come on girls!) so I guessed it would be harder than ever to know where everyone one was. Heading up the road Erin passed me. This is the same Erin I battled it out with last week on Mt Vic, and at Karapoti for the first half of the race last year. But soon in to the gorge at the ford she was off the bike with many others getting back up to the track and I was able to hold a good line and get past a few people. I had a pretty good run up the gorge - it seemed to be easier to pass people than last year and felt like a highway. I held a good pace along the flattish section and in to the undulating part before the warm up climb. About half way along that I caught up with Sam and encouraged her along.
Hitting the warm up climb I was pleased to see a clear run for about half of it and hoped it would stay clear the whole way up - I have a tendency to guage my day by how I take the warm up climb and a clean run would give me the best indication. But everyone else was off their bikes and I caught them quickly, including Sandra Vincent (the relationship here being that she kicked my arse in Nelson last year) and Cathy Hamer. Then I had to fight for my lines and held on well almost until it flattened out but ended up off and running til I could get back on. That was pretty much the order of the day up the warm up climb, and deadwood was not much different - riding until it was impossible due to either sketching out on a bad line trying to get around people, or just getting stuck in behind people. I was getting pretty frustrated as I’m so much faster riding than I am walking, and I have a bit of an expectation that if you enter elite you should be able to ride this stuff. Anyway, I decided the walking section at Mt Vic had been the training I needed and rode when I could. I spent a lot of time on the way up on Sandra’s tail but Cathy was off in the distance. Eventually Sandra pulled away from me too, and Sam and I were switching positions every few minutes it seemed.
Along the ridgeline it was all me and Sam. She would get me when the terrain was smooth, I’d get her back up the rockier stuff, and so it went for quite a while. I didn’t realise how close Erin was at that point but afterwards she told me she was watching our little game and willing herself to get up there too. I really enjoyed this part of the race - having a competitor so close really makes racing fun, especially when it’s someone you know quite well. But my enjoyment there was NOTHING compared to what happened when I got to the rock garden. To me (bearing in mind I’m nearing 20 laps of the course in all my years of riding) it seemed like it had a conveyor belt on it and I just flew! I happily ripped past the 2 guys who seemed to be out for a bit of a laugh rather than a race (entertaining for me as I saw and heard a lot of them - ‘ooh, the lady’s coming though’ was their comment each time I passed them) and then was stoked to come past both Sandra and Cathy who were both off their bikes. I was ripping the rock garden up and simply loving it. There was a guy in front of me for about half of the way down but eventually I got past him too, after complimenting his riding, and then really opened up on the bottom section.
At the stream crossing I looked up and was surprised to see Bob (’Hey Bob!’). At this point I was in 3rd place! I followed her up to the bottom of the staircase proper but then we were in to my weak section - hike-a-bike… I don’t have a running/multisport background and never seem to get up the staircase as quickly as I should, or rather, as quickly as those around me. You can only make up so much time by hammering down the rock garden… so one by one the girls came past me, in pretty quick succession. Cathy, then Erin and Sandra and Sam - I wonder if I made them feel on the rock garden like they made feel on the staircase. But not to worry, I just worked on getting up there as fast as I could and keeping the gap small (last year Erin put 7 minutes on me from that point). We were around half way up when they passed me so the worst of it was over. I got a little bit frustrated again at not being able to ride everything I wanted due to congestion but at the same time figured it was a good thing because I’ve never had that before so I must be feeling strong and up in the field.
From the top of devils to the summit I felt really strong - much stronger than I have before in training or racing and then I enjoyed blasting down big ring boulevard. I’ve used coke in racing for the first time this season and have liked it (it’s yummy at the very least - strange because usually flat coke is awful!) so I had a bottle of it to drink on the flat between the 2 streams before dopers. Up the steep bit after the stream I ran in to my 2 funny guys again (’here comes the lady!) who were pushing so I asked why they weren’t riding. ‘Too old’ was the excuse - ha, never!
Heading up the last big climb I did some quick calculations and it was starting to look like a sub-3 was unlikely, but it would be close. When the gradient started to pitch up I noticed that my chain was completely dry of lube - I’ve never heard that sound before, it’s not very nice. I started to wonder (all the while making these horrible noises) if I should see if anyone had some lube, but there was just one guy ahead of me a little bit. I was catching him slowly so thought I might ask when I got to him. On one of the pitches Carl Patton tried to give me a push after he fudged a gear change trying to pass me but I was all ‘no, no, no, I’m ok’ as it would upset my rhythm (hey, I wasn’t the one off my bike here…) and then didn’t think to ask him for lube before he motored on past me. When I caught the guy up ahead the voice in my head just said ‘no way am I stopping - chain’s still working, forget the noise’ so I rode on as he stopped to lube his own chain, possibly think it was his bike making all the noise. As I rounded the next corner I saw Cathy off her bike looking like she was having mechanical issues and, even though a lube stop wouldn’t have taken long, I was grateful I hadn’t. Working out who was in front of me I was pretty sure if I could hold my place now I would make the podium. We were about 10 mins from the top of dopers.
The rest of dopers I knew I was riding strong, much stronger than last year despite the calf cramps that threatened if I got out of the saddle - but the fact I was getting out of the saddle at this point told a story in itself. Suddenly I was at the summit (with the freshly painted ‘Top’ on the bank). Just a couple more tiny climbs and it was all down hill! I just flew. I was feeling awesome. Once I was at the summit I was confident I could hold my position. I was popping some air and holding wicked lines and knowing even though I wasn’t going to sub-3 I was going to take a good chunk off my PB.
As I crossed the river the marshal said ‘the next girls only 200m in front’. 200m is kind of a long way when it’s all down hill, but I had to give it a crack. I was out of the saddle again monstering towards the gorge and then all the way down the gorge, one of my favourite parts of the race every year. The cramp was holding off and everything felt good. There was a bit of a head wind on the road so I was trying to get aerodynamic and then as I headed in to the river I heard people cheering for me. I had a wee threat of cramp in the river so decided to run a bit once I was out to make sure I didn’t cramp up getting back on, but you have to ride across the line so with lots of people yelling my name I jumped back on and up through the chute in 3 hours 8 minutes, 6th woman overall and 5th pro elite. So the sub-3 will have to wait a bit longer, but I’ve taken nearly 2 hours off my time over 5 Classic’s. Sandra, Erin and I finished within 2 minutes of each other with Sam another minute ahead. The 4 of us will have to wait to go sub-3. And by the sound of things, Bob will have to wait longer as there is a tandem challenge on for next year!
For all the ‘I feel so strong’ that was going on out on the course, after about 10 minutes of crossing the line I was feeling pretty weak and light headed so set about eating and drinking. It was actually a long time before I worked out I had placed 5th so I wasn’t celebrating at that point, but when Gav found me he told me he came 3rd! Another PB and another awesome race to add to his best ever season - I was totally stoked at that so finally working out that I was on the podium too, and achieved that goal, made it seem like a great day all round.
After prize giving (just to be certain of the placing) I texted Robyn in Beijing, just so she knows I’m chipping away at her PB… oh, and the rain came and well and truly settled in during prize giving.
With one more race to come this season the post-race was pretty sedate, a quiet wine and movie with some of the boys including a couple of mates over from Canberra who raced the 24hr duo last week (placing 3rd) and Karapoti putting in pretty respectable times.
The rest of the last few days I’ve been out watching the women’s tour which has been brilliant (including riding in the #2 car on Friday - a whole other story) so it’s been a fantastic few days of cycling for me.
Next up, Oceania Champs - Nelson, 14 March. Bring. It. On.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
The Big One - National Champs!
There’s been a lot of firsts and ‘big’ races this season - first elite race at a national level, first UCI race… and now it was time for my first elite national champs!
After a week of unbeatable Wellington weather there was a bit of an eyebrow-raising moment when I woke on Saturday and heard rain falling. Being 30kms away I wondered what the weather was doing in town, so after breakfast started texting for reports. Light rain that had stopped already. It didn’t even settle the dust…
With Celia racing in the morning but without her usual support crew (Scotty had to work at Bicycle) I headed in a bit earlier than usual just in case I was needed for anything - but I wasn’t, just a feed between laps. Robyn was there early too as she was REO for a couple of hours in the morning while Marco was racing. I was super stoked to have her at a race, and not just any race! I only got told off for arriving too early, being on my feet and being in the sun (I was walking to the shade!) - it was awesome having here there :o)
The morning wasn’t without it’s share of drama… there were 2 available feedzones but only 1 would be used in the morning. The drama for me was the suggestion that the top zone might not be used in the afternoon as all my bottles were set up for feeding up there - it was a few hours before that was confirmed. Then the start was different to past races - starting above the velodrome and riding in to it instead of starting in it. It was good to know that early in the day. And the poor U19s who were only told on the line that they had been moved to racing in the afternoon.
And then they were racing! One of the good things about being around for the morning race is that you can get a bit of an idea as to the factors that might come in to play in the afternoon. This time it was starting to look like it might be a race of attrition. Apart from the obvious factors of the heat and super gruelling course, the first casualty of the morning was Ricky who hugged a tree a bit too aggressively. Next from our camp Nic pulled up with a lame bike and despite his best efforts and unfathomable knowledge Oli wasn’t able to fix up her rear mech and she opted not to try and single speed the remainder of the race (on Mt Vic, who would!).
Soon after that we spotted Laura Smith, also of senior women, at the rego desk instead of out on the course. On the bright side, at this point it meant Celia only had to hold her position and finish the race to take out 3rd in her first national championship race :o)
Between races the time flew as usual. Robyn would appear from time to time to check in and make bottle arrangements and KT, Gav and I sorted all our gear in the lower tech zone. Not long before it was time to get on the trainer my parents arrived with my cousins who were coming to watch their first ever mountain bike race. After the usual warm up, it was time to go and get called up.
The start was narrow so even getting called up 6th put me in the second row, and soon we were inside the 2 minute call. The gun went and the start was frantic! The flat part of the track was narrow and passing wasn’t particularly safe - I got myself in to 3rd off the line but quickly had girls coming around on both sides of me. There was real potential for carnage, not something I’m in to, so I quickly lost places and came in to the velodrome in about 10th picking up one spot before we exited up to the start climb. I wasn’t too happy at having lost so many places so early, but that’s how it goes.
The field seemed to stay pretty close together up to the summit, through the first downhill section and in to the ’steep climb’. By the time I was at the walk section I was still in contact with most of the girls in front of me. Around this point I saw KT walking her bike as she’d burped her rear tyre - not again after similar trouble last year! She fixed it up once but ended up with another puncture and lapped out of the race - gutting. But my race was still on. The 3rd major climb of the course was the dove tail - just long and steep enough to be a real killer, followed by a short downhill and then back to climbing up to the feed zone. My start bottle was well and truly empty by the time I picked up the next one. There was a HUGE crowd up there making truck loads of noise. I grabbed my bottle from Rob and tried to let her know KT had punctured as she was feeding her as well, and listened for her advice, which I think was mostly go hard and dig it in. From the feed zone we crested the climb and headed in to another downhill through singletrack where there were still heaps of people making noise.
The next significant section of the course is the technical downhill behind the hospital - HEAPS of people up there no doubt hoping for a bit of dust ball action. The trick is to ride it smooth and know your lines and stick to them. But the top half had become so blown out my lines didn’t exist anymore! Fortunately it was pretty well flattened out so avoiding the ruts wasn’t really an issue and it was actually much easier to ride than it had been any other time recently.
The rest of the course is fairly uneventful and I’ve always thought of it as a bit of a break with all the tough climbs in the first half of the course, so I settled in to complete my first lap.
Coming in to the velodrome I saw Gen Whitson just up ahead and I’ve always loved putting the hammer down through here. I exited just behind her and was out of the saddle to make the pass up the grass bank. It felt like a really solid pass and gave me the extra motivation to dig deep up the tough start climb to make sure it would stick. Heading towards the summit I saw a couple of the guys walking their bikes back, obviously too damaged to even lap out. This climb was open and 100% exposed to the sun and it was HOT. I still had half a lap before my next bottle so had to be careful about rationing the juice - I could have easily used another 150ml or so per bottle.
As I headed in to the steep climb for the second time I saw Erin just ahead of me and she was dismounting much earlier than I was. I became focused on catching her in the remaining 2 and a half laps. On the downhill just after this section we came past Nina who had burped her tyre (remember what I said about race of attrition?). I could see Erin up the dove tail and just kept focusing on her. As I came up to the feedzone for the 2nd time Monique came past me having an absolute blinder (U23 for champs). I grabbed my bottle and powered to the crest in a position to cut her off going in to the singletrack, but held back - we were racing different grades.
The next time I saw Erin was on the start climb and again she was just ahead of me. In my head all I could hear was a voice telling me to keep in touch, keep in touch, close the gap. The gap would open and close, open and close. On the steep climb for the 3rd time I had her within all of 5 seconds, but it’s a tough place to close even a small gap like that. Up the dove tail again she was still just in front of me with a few more seconds and I was giving it everything. Coming across the top of the dove tail I knew I’d just surpassed the Christchurch race - I was officially in the hardest race of my life and I was loving it.
By this stage the boys were starting to lap me… as we came through a technical root section just before the velodrome Erin was still in my sights when one of the guys cut me off as he passed - I had to dab, and lost both time and rhythm which was incredibly frustrating. I still saw Erin twice more - on the start climb and on the steep climb. It appeared we were both fading roughly equally but I literally felt like I was on empty as I struggle to keep the legs moving in circles up the steeper climbs. By the time I hit the dove tail for the last time I had to concede. Erin had got away and I didn’t have anything left to try and catch her. I was ready to just finish it off and come home as strong as I could but I really had to let off for a minute up there for a bit of a break. It was the only time in the race I wasn’t giving it everything, but it was about all I had at the time.
When I got to the feedzone for the last time it was much quieter. Some of the junior girls who had raced in the morning had been cheering me on all day from just below the zone which was absolutely awesome. Some of those girls are super quick and they are tiny little things! Can’t wait to see them in another few years. I grabbed my last bottle and got some last words of encouragement from Robyn and set about bringing it home.
As I came in to the velodrome for the last time I came past the maxxis tent and it seemed like everyone was there - they gave me a big cheer so I gave them one final effort on my way to the line.
6th place! In my first elite national champs! I was stoked, still am - just totally stoked. I left everything out there. In fact, it was a good 20 minutes before I got off my bike properly because I needed it to prop me up! Half an hour later my breathing still hadn’t returned to normal! I caught up with Erin - what a great race we’d had pushing each other - she was worried the whole time, and I was just dying to catch her but she was too good that day.
I caught up with Robyn (still propped up by my bike) and was really happy to see she was so pleased with my result. I had been so stoked to have her out there supporting me and am really proud to have had such a good race with her there.
It’s left me even hungrier for more than ever, but what a great pinnacle race. Yes, Karapoti and Oce’s to come, and I’ll give them everything I’ve got too, but I’ll spend at least another day thinking about this one.
And to top things off, Gav came 3rd!!!! I think he surpassed everyone’s expectations with that one and we’re both just fizzing off our results. Sam took out U19, Monique held her top form that I saw early in the race to win U23, Connor came 2nd in U23 behind Carl Jones.
That night most of us met up again as we had a farewell for Lee (Poston) who by now is in his new job in Rotorua (Cycle Centre). Top quality entertainment with 7 of the boys taking on the 2 litre ice cream challenge which was won in a staggering 4 minutes and 33 seconds! Ricky had his second dnf of the day, poor boy. None of the girls were up to the challenge although Nic and I had kindly offered to be feeders to Robyn - 2 spoons on the go - but it wasn’t red wine flavour so she declined.
After not quite enough sleep, I went for a nice recovery spin on Sunday before the wind picked up too much, then headed in with Gav to watch the short track (talk about exciting!) and the DH.
A fantastic few days of championship racing. This is what it’s about! I’m still tired, but still buzzing too :o)
