Posts
I'd avoided local mtb races in the past - mostly due to the chicken factor! I was worried about looking like a twit, coming in noticeably last, getting in the way of faster riders etc... So this year it was time for a handful of HTFU pills and time to get on with it :-) One of the best ideas I've (well, OK, my coach) had - the series has been an absolute blast so far!! This has been written a little after the events - so I may or may not have taken some unintentional liberties with the facts...
Round 1 - Makara.
This got off to a great start when my semi-planned warm-up was interrupted by my lungs remembering that I hadn't taken my inhaler... hmmm - warm legs or breathing; which to choose? Lungs won, so I rolled up to the start line in a less than ready state. Not that it really mattered in the end!! Nice to have some familiar faces in Masters Women - the boys can have their smack talk, we were discussing who was going to get the coffees & what to have for lunch!!
The race got off to the usual chaotic start, as we start with the teenage boys who all absolutely HAVE to get to the singletrack first. A classic moment right before Big Tom's Wheelie where Charlotte had missed the turn off and had to come back down: "You go first... no you go!" I slipped, slithered, bounced and gasped my way around the track (with a quick 'yee-har' when I cleaned the tricky bit (for me) of Livewires. Splash through the river, then home in 4th place.
Round 2 - Wainui.
This was always going to be testing for me - with my vast technical skill and love of mud (yeah, right!) And, just to add another excuse, my legs were still feeling the effect of the previous week's 12hr effort. Charlotte took off from the start & I didn't see her again until the finish... where she'd had time to clean her bike and crack open a beer :-). Much swapping of places and cursing of hills on the Crazyman climb - was in second for a while, but Phillippa's vastly superior singletrack skills saw her pass me just before the bypass. Slippy, sloppy, muddy and tree-rooty trails made the descent pretty slow for me - managed to stay more or less upright until the final chute, where I made use of a friendly tree.
Round 3 - Mt Victoria
Hills, burning lungs, more uphill... once again my skills let me down as I was passed on the first downhill!! I don't remember a lot about this race, apart from toppling over a couple of times - but I'm sure it was fun!!
The series has been more fun than I'd ever imagined it could be... a great bunch of ladies to race/ride with, challenging trails (um, thanks Marco!) and on the whole the faster riders (usually blokes) have been patient and good natured about passing. I'd highly recommend these races to anyone that's thought about it, but has been put off by thinking that you have to be a 'real racer' to enter.
Round 1 - Makara.
This got off to a great start when my semi-planned warm-up was interrupted by my lungs remembering that I hadn't taken my inhaler... hmmm - warm legs or breathing; which to choose? Lungs won, so I rolled up to the start line in a less than ready state. Not that it really mattered in the end!! Nice to have some familiar faces in Masters Women - the boys can have their smack talk, we were discussing who was going to get the coffees & what to have for lunch!!
The race got off to the usual chaotic start, as we start with the teenage boys who all absolutely HAVE to get to the singletrack first. A classic moment right before Big Tom's Wheelie where Charlotte had missed the turn off and had to come back down: "You go first... no you go!" I slipped, slithered, bounced and gasped my way around the track (with a quick 'yee-har' when I cleaned the tricky bit (for me) of Livewires. Splash through the river, then home in 4th place.
Round 2 - Wainui.
This was always going to be testing for me - with my vast technical skill and love of mud (yeah, right!) And, just to add another excuse, my legs were still feeling the effect of the previous week's 12hr effort. Charlotte took off from the start & I didn't see her again until the finish... where she'd had time to clean her bike and crack open a beer :-). Much swapping of places and cursing of hills on the Crazyman climb - was in second for a while, but Phillippa's vastly superior singletrack skills saw her pass me just before the bypass. Slippy, sloppy, muddy and tree-rooty trails made the descent pretty slow for me - managed to stay more or less upright until the final chute, where I made use of a friendly tree.
Round 3 - Mt Victoria
Hills, burning lungs, more uphill... once again my skills let me down as I was passed on the first downhill!! I don't remember a lot about this race, apart from toppling over a couple of times - but I'm sure it was fun!!
The series has been more fun than I'd ever imagined it could be... a great bunch of ladies to race/ride with, challenging trails (um, thanks Marco!) and on the whole the faster riders (usually blokes) have been patient and good natured about passing. I'd highly recommend these races to anyone that's thought about it, but has been put off by thinking that you have to be a 'real racer' to enter.
No comments:
Post a Comment