Lisa Morgan - Kiwi Mountain Biker

Anyone who’s ridden in Wellington lately will know that sound all too well.  It’s puncture central around these parts at the moment!  I’ve been lucky so far with still just the 2 in the tour and another a few weeks later (touch anything but glass) and even that more than doubled my tally in the 5 years I’ve been an on-again off-again roadie.  When checking over the bike last weekend I decided it was time for new rubber since the current ones were covered in cuts, although nothing had gone right through.  But I wasn’t quite prepared for the weekend’s puncture-fest!

Firstly, I sold more roadie tubes than I think I ever have on Saturday - people were coming in with all sorts of stories about getting 2 or more punctures in a ride.  Then there were all the people who punctured in the Balfour Pennington race around the bays.  I ride around there all the time and somehow seem to dodge all the sharpest bits.  And it can’t be put down to rider weight, because Robyn’s wheel went pftshhhhhh on Sunday morning too. 

It must be the sign of a truly dedicated coach - one who will agree at the pub (just a quiet one) to meet at 7.30am on a Sunday to give me company while I put some time in before riding with the bunch.  Turned out to be a pretty perfect morning for it though.  I got too hot just riding across town, and the harbour was like glass.  The reflection against the city from the sun rise gave me one of those ‘this is why’ moments (you know, the ones that remind you of all the people who ask you why you do it?).  After faffing around for much longer than normal to replace a tube we cruised back to get tubes/cannisters/wheel before picking up the pace to make it just in time for the bunch.

And then it was puncture central!  It seemed like every few minutes someone was pulling off with a flattie.  With luck they were able to rejoin, in some cases only to be struck again a little while later!  On the ride back in to town I started to feel like I was cursed.  Gen and I had been riding together most of the day when suddenly… pftshhhhhh ‘I’ll see you guys later’.  Within 15 minutes the guy who rode in to her place… pftshhhhhhh ‘oh, I’ve got a flat, see you’. 

Fortunately I continued my non-puncture-prone trend and was able to tap out a nice 150kms without incident.

Oh, and I managed to finish Harry Potter during the week too.  Between that, Llama’s and Epanadas (one woman’s travels by bike around South America, from Wellington no less - I’ve even had the pleasure of meeting her a couple of times), and UltraMarathon Man (nutter!) I can definitely recommend some good reading.  I’ve also just started on First Pass Under Heaven - another Wellingtonian I met a few years ago, this time walking the Great Wall.  There are people who do some amazing things and I love that they chose to share it with the rest of us - they certainly lend me inspiration.

So what the hell is happening?  Where’s the excitement???

Well there’s always something exciting going on.  I got my latest block of training programme last Tuesday (and I hardly had to hound Robyn for it at all…).  This one takes me up to the next (and my last) N-duro race and it’s packed full of variety.  I read it after my ride that morning and seriously damn near laughed out my muesli I was so stoked at what I was reading.  It’s incredibly motivating to know that most days have something exciting in them - yes, only most days because I do have the odd rest day!  I mumbled something about wondering if now might be a good time for some hill work after the last race so I’ve got some cool hill circuits.  Did one last week and only took 1 wrong turn forcing me to ride back UP a VERY steep and narrow road.  I would have got off and walked if I thought I could handle the gradient in cleats - Wellington roads eh…  my point is it’s wicked to have a coach who puts so much thought in to my programme and block after block puts together something that has literally become my reason for getting out of bed in the morning (keep ‘em coming Rob, no pressure!).

I broke my personal record for continuous time spent on the wind trainer yesterday.  After hearing the wind and rain for hours I decided to give myself a sleep in and read a bit of the latest Harry Potter book in the hopes that conditions would improve enough for me to head out on the bike.  When that obviously wasn’t going to happen I debated taking the Blur instead of the roadie and heading for more sheltered tracks, but frankly didn’t want to have to clean it after.  So after a few more times ducking out and back in to check the wind and temperature I decided to stay in the garage.  The good news is Chris had finally downloaded some Tour so I set up the trainer and big screen, put the remote in my pocket, book in arms reach and watched highlights from the first 4 stages.  I must insist, if you’re going to spend 3 hours on a trainer, surely this is the way to do it!  It’s also a great way to get some high cadence efforts in - you can’t help but increase your intensity as the riders pick up the pace when they hit a few k’s out from the line.  Yep, that’s one trainer session I was happy to do in the end.

So obviously I’m reading the new HP book.  The lovely Celia was kind enough to pick up a copy for me on Saturday and now I’m under pressure to finish it by Thursday when the girls will be together again and everyone will want to talk about it.  I refuse to do trainer sessions just so I can have more time to read!  Speaking of Celia, I let her take my Blur out for a spin on Saturday and I think it may have done the trick - Blur Buddy!

I’m about to head off shortly for the first session of 3 weeks of Altitude Simulation training at I-O.  I’m looking forward to this.  Though it can be a struggle to fit it in around work and training the benefits are worth it.  We’ve timed it perfectly as I’ve just started getting a little bit weezy, and haven’t been sleeping the best so I’m looking forward to all those great benefits (and yes, I’m taking my book with me to read while I’m there - one of the many benefits of passive training).

The PNP Balfour-Pennington road racing series starts up this coming weekend.  I’ll be in the shop so won’t be racing but best of luck to all of you who are - I’m jealous you’re racing and I’m not :o(  It’ll be a great series, as always. 

Keep the rubber side down kids :o)

Ice, mud & singletrack.  Perfect conditions to test the Blur out in a race environment…

After a good drive up on Friday night and arriving to pre-heated beds with the electric blankets already switched on by Megan and Henry we had a leisurely start to Saturday morning hitting the forest just before 11 to give the trails a chance to thaw, which they did… mostly.  But unlike on the road where it’s just treacherous, ice on the dirt is fun!  My Saturday ride consisted of an hour playing on some of my favourite trails and seeing how the Blur would ride them.  Kendall met up with a friend (and I couldn’t find mine…) so the 3 of us headed straight up to A-trail and Tickler.  There was a huge number of people up at the junction taking a break and enjoying the beautiful day - sun, blue sky - if the temperature had hit double digits one could have been forgiven for mistaking it for a summer’s day, but in fact it was a perfect mid-winter’s day.

The boys headed up the road to ride Hot X Buns as they hadn’t done it before and it was in the race, and I made my way in to Be Rude Not 2.  Heading down here the Blur showed me what it could do if I opened it up.  That track has never been more fun!  I was blown away, much as I was the first time I rode it, at how it just begged for more and responded so well.  After that I had to take it for a lap around Diamondback (now Dipper) to take advantage of those glorious berms that overseas visitors want to pack in to their suitcases and take home with them.  More bliss!  And I’m definitely noticing the advantages of 1-finger braking - less braking and carrying more speed through corners.

After a quick rip down exit trail I had some time before the boys got back to give the bike a good clean and have it ready for Sunday.  The rest of the day was devoted to lunch with Megan and Henry who’d been for a run, and Mikey and Michelle who’d finally made it up from Taupo, looking at a couple of shops, relaxing and cooking and eating dinner. 

Sunday morning - race day!  Frosty!!!  Although looking forward to a good warm up to get the blood flowing I opted to cut it shorter than normal and risk getting cold on the start line to make sure I got a good spot.  Even though I lined up immediately after briefing there were still rows of people.  Fortunately Samara had saved me a spot on the front row (in return for my advice to her to get there and line up early).  It wasn’t long before we were in the 2nd row though, as other riders came back from warming up and pushed us back.  We had a fun wee pack jostling to make it look and feel like we all fit in ok when in actual fact we had bars, mechs and pedals in some dicey places that could have made for an interesting start!  But it worked and I got off to a better start than last race.

There’s something about the first hill in these races that just doesn’t sit well with me.  Perhaps it’s being surrounded by so many riders, maybe it’s the knowledge that it goes for 7-odd kilometres, or maybe it’s just that it’s the middle of winter and I’m just not in the right space to nail it.  Regardless, I just never feel great on it and always take it far too slow.  Well, I have a good goal for next race now.

Once in to Gunna Gotta I started picking up some pace as I always do in the singletrack.  Unfortunately my bottle dropped out of the cage about a quarter of the way down and with 40-odd ks to go I elected to stop and get it back.  That put me behind some riders I would much rather have been in front of, but that was about it as far as traffic problems went.  A really stark contrast to the last race, and a welcome one at that!  After getting the first climb and first singletrack out of the way I started to develop a good rhythm up the climbs and found myself spinning much more than I have in the past - that’s those high cadence tempo sessions paying off.  It meant I was able to get up the long climbs with a more cardio effort saving my legs for standing climbs and short explosive efforts.  Frontal lobotomy seems to get easier each time I ride it, and I was stoked to have a clean run down Billy T (though I was a little apprehensive not wanting to lose the bottle again).

From there the course went out the back to places I’ve only been once before so it was nice to revisit them.  More mud and ice was out there, and I went so long without seeing any other riders I started to wonder if I’d taken a wrong turn, but eventually I’d see an arrow to follow and soon enough I started catching other riders again.  Getting past people and moving on ahead was much easier than last race thanks to the nice rhythm I was getting in to with the tempo climbing.

After the super fun undulating downhill of the Pondy’s and Rollercoaster, and the rolling Chinese Menu trails it was time for the last climb to the top of the final long downhill section.  I’m not gonna lie and say that was a fun hill - it wasn’t.  But what followed it was worth it.  I’d dropped to about 7th place about a third of the way through the race and had made a couple of the spots back right out the back of the course so was sitting in 5th but starting to wonder what was going on as things were taking a lot longer than expected (it sure wasn’t Karapoti - it had more climbing!) so I was relieved to see Monique up ahead as I made it to Hot X Buns.  I called to pass as we headed to the high point and she opted to crank up another gear and get out of the saddle, so I followed suit and sat on her through the final undulating section.  We sat on a couple of guys as the downhill started and they promptly moved aside (thanks guys) and I gave her another 20 seconds or so before making the call again.  By that time she was cooked and let me go - I opened up and let it rip from that point right through to the end of BRN2.  At this stage I didn’t care if I lost my bottle, there was only one short climb left. 

The bike just ate up the last few trails and even though I’d been out over half an hour longer than expected (as most of us had) I was actually happy about it because all it had meant was more time on the Blur.  I am totally loving that bike and can’t wait til there’s more mtb racing so I can ride it more often!

I finished up in 5th and was happy with how things went.  I’ve certainly got a couple of things I want to work on in the next race, but this is the time of year to be playing around with approaches so I’m happy I’m identifying things to work on and play with.

After the long drive home and a late night I was up early this morning for my recovery spin around the bays.  It was another crisp, clear morning hitting temperatures down to 2 degrees on the south coast but an enjoyable ride nonetheless in calm conditions (gotta take them when we get them).

It’s another 5 weeks before the next race, which will be my last in the N-duro series, and I’ll be doing the short course for that one, 35kms.  Hopefully the course will be as interesting and varied and include all the old favourites :o)

B-Day - Time to christen the Blur that had sat in the garage for over a week looking oh-so-pretty and just begging to be taken out.  I woke up a couple of times during the night with pain burning in various places but nowhere near enough to keep me off the dirt today.  I didn’t start out too early and with not too much cloud cover there was no need for the lights I’d fitted in anticipation of this ride.  On Robyn’s advice today’s ride would be shorter than planned, but that was perferable to the tentative suggestion that I might even think about taking the day off: ‘Oh no, there’s no need for that’ = ‘I want to ride the Blur dammit!’.

And where to ride - Makara Peak of course!  My previous 2 mtb’s were christened on Ridgeline and I saw no reason not to do the same with the Blur.  To save some time I headed up the 4WD track and dropped in to the down hill section of Sally Ally, testing the grip of the Larsen TT’s I’ve never ridden before and getting a general feel for the bike.

Oh. My. God!  It’s lush.  It’s more than lush - it’s plush.  If I had to sum it up in one word that word would be Smoooooooth.  But then it’s also fast like a rocket!  And confidence inspiring.  My intention had been to take it nice and easy but it just wasn’t right.  As I boosted out of Sally Ally and in to Missing Link I readied myself for the usual jarring of the first few rocky corners… nothing - where had the rough stuff gone?  I could see it, I just couldn’t feel it.  The RP23 soaks up the bumps like they’re simply not there, down and up.  And speaking of up, it begs for out of the saddle action and even in the slippery conditions it still stuck to the terrain like glue.  I had one minor loss of traction on a muddy switchback and was able to quickly drive the rear wheel back down and recover.

Once at the summit I stopped to smell the roses, or rather the cold winter morning air.  To the west Makara valley lay under a fine white blanket of morning frost.  Karori had smaller versions of frosty parks and lawns and further north the snow was clear on the Tararuas.  Over east was more snow on the Orongoronga’s.  I looked south hoping to see the Kaikoura’s with their helping of white stuff too, but I couldn’t, and I didn’t much like what I could see - a dark looking wall of cloud.  Time for the descent…

Riding up to the high point of Ridgeline everything still seemed easy - the bike is so light and just loves the standing climbs.  And those Singletrack bar ends are bliss (thanks Robyn)!  Crest the high point, flick through the gears and let’s go!  My latest technical goal is to master 1-finger braking.  Too easy on this bike - Charlesworth, you set that up beautifully :o)

I had been slightly apprehensive about the conditions and how hard I should really push things after yesterday but the bike just soaked everything up and begged for more, so I drove it harder on each turn and through each technical section and it just ate everything up.  While everyone else is getting ready for work and sitting in traffic here I am, high on a hill (no goats today) picking my way down it on a machine I’m already in love with.  Even after literally hundreds and hundreds of hours on the trails of Makara Peak I still get a sense of freedom and joy every time I’m up there.  I would have kept the big open-mouthed grin on all the way down the hill if it hadn’t been for the mud flying in to my teeth!

The Blur just kept eating up the trails and before I knew it I was in the crispy, frosty final couple of hundred metres to the car park.  I left crunchy tire marks in the grass, did a lap of the car park, discovered the water in the hose was frozen and rode back to the car.  When I got off I wasn’t even upset to see the Blur covered in mud.  I could have happily let that ride go on all day but alas, it was time to clean it up, clean me up and head in to the office.

“Keep the rubber side down”.  It’s a bit like ‘break a leg’ only much less ominous in a sport where bruised, cut and broken body parts are as common as Hugh Grant in romantic comedies.  It’s also something every rider aspires to achieve every time we hit the dirt or the road.

Today’s schedule was 4 hours of tempo action so, braving the cold dressed up like the Michelin girl including 2 layers of thermals, I headed out shortly before 8am on a crisp, calm and clear morning.  Clear enough to see the fresh snow that had fallen on the Orongorongas over the last couple of days.  I spent an hour and a quarter trying to warm up after the ride down the hill to town tapping out around the bays and enjoying the morning.  By 9am I’d made my way back across town to join the Sunday bunch.

You never know what the pace will be like on the bunch ride so I was pleased today was nice and cruisy.  Things got exciting however, as we rounded in to Petone Bowl (it seems so ironic) and proceeded to hit the ground like skittles on wheels smacked by a giant, invisible bowling ball.  Ice.  It played out like this:

One of the guys up the front crossed up and started to skid.  I reached for the brakes to slow up as he went down and the movement caused my weight to shift and next thing I was going down too, along with several others in front of and behind me.  Once on the ground I slid to a halt, one foot still clipped in, and wondered what to worry about first: whether I was in one piece, whether the bike was in one piece, or the fact that other riders who had managed to stay upright were doing their best to ride around me in such conditions.  Foetal position: Stat!  But not before seeing another person’s pedal closer than is comfortable.

A few seconds later everyone had stopped and a lot of us were gingerly getting off the ground feeling and checking for damage.  I got away with a sore wrist and what is going to be a very sore and bruised hip.  In fact, I think my iPod shuffle that I had clipped to my jersey hem came off worse, but it still works.  No damage to the the bike, phew.  Around this time we all started noticing just how thick the ice was, and the cop who had been sitting in his car across the road came over to half-heartedly check if we were ok (why was he sitting in his car rather than directing traffic around the ice?). 

After that we changed our plans and headed over to the Petone foreshore, one lane of which was covered in ice.  It was only a few minutes before the next crash at the back of the bunch so again we changed plans and headed back in to town.  I was regaining feeling in my injured parts and realising how much they were hurting.  One final crash as we rejoined the highway and the standing and waiting was bringing the hurt out so I decided to shorted my ride and head home to tend to the increasing pain.

Which brings me to the couch with an icepack on my hip for the umpteenth time and a warped sense of pride at having my first roadie crash.

I think I’ve earned that ride on the Blur tomorrow.  And if not, my excuse for doing it anyway is to avoid more icy roads.  Yep, I’m going mountain biking for my own safety ;o)

3 hours on the road in the wind and rain - easier to stay in bed right?  Sort of.  There are a few things that make it easier to get up and out.  Firstly there’s the thought of admitting to the coach that you piked because the weather was less than fair.  That will never happen.  Secondly there’s the constant reminder that it’s all in the plan, what I do today affects the things I want in the future.  And thirdly, it’s easy when you’ve just built your latest bike (even if it’s not the one you were riding).

I first started mulling about a Santa Cruz Blur very early in the year when I heard how light the new XC frames were.  At the time though, I was thinking more seriously about getting on to a hard tail for next season.  Then 2 things happened:  The hardtail I wanted wasn’t available in my size, from anywhere!  And the Blur could build to sub-23 pounds.  With the Dakar weighing in at 25.1, the thought of a fully that was more than 2 pounds lighter started to take over.  I finally made the decision after talking with the local importer and a frame was ordered a couple of months ago.

Somehow, I managed to leave the frame hanging on the wall for several weeks while deciding on the best way to build it up.  Finally, last week I decided to transfer all my current parts to the new frame, and make a few upgrades later in the year when 2008 stock comes in.  I was blown away at how light it built up without the upgrades and can hardly wait to ride it!  The plan was tomorrow, but it’s been raining for 2 days and I just don’t think I can stand to get it dirty!

For now, I’m just enjoying looking at it (and no doubt boring everyone I talk to…).  A few laps around the shop suggest it’s going to be totally amazing.  I’ll certainly be posting to let you all know as soon as I take it out on the dirt (it could be as far away as the next n-duro race - 2 weeks!).

Til then, enjoy the pics :o)