PNP Race 5 - Racing on a shoestring

… or in this case a shoelace!!!

It was the usual start to a PNP race day for me, including the usual pre-race banter, discussion of tactics and deciding who was going to get the drinks in at the finish!!

I didn’t start well – got baulked on the start line, missed my pedal (insert further excuses here) and was playing catch-up for most of the lovely road climb. All of the girls (Masters Women) were climbing well, so I was happy to have them in sight at the entrance to Rimu – and more than happy to be free of the bug I’d been dealing with for the last couple of weeks. I let a couple of the faster college boys who had almost caught me go into the trail first, then pedal, pedal, turn, turn, pop out of the end of the trail – SPLAT! D’oh!! (note to self – must get weight forward when turning on loose gravel.) I picked myself up, discovered a couple of minor leaks but the body was otherwise good to carry on… but something was missing. Turns out I’d smashed the housing on my rear X7 shifter pod and it was flapping around just above my front tyre. Lea anne stopped to help, so I grabbed a spare twist tie, then faced the decision… coast back home – or try out my new full suspension single-speed! Was too nice a day to go home early, so off I went (not really single-speeding – I did have my front shifter to use!) Plodded up the 4wd track,

down the hill (spinny spin), up the hill until I got to MacGyver (Scotty) at the end of Koru. No tape or cable ties to be had – so Scotty sacrificed a shoelace (from one of his wildly fashionable mismatched shoes) and securely tied the shifter pod to my bars. (I hope the walk back down wasn’t too uncomfortable for him). Well – no excuse not to carry on… Up Sally Alley, down and up Missing Link, up Aratihi… MUCH respect to those who SS these trails on a regular basis. I was passed by someone that sounded like Dave on Aratihi – but he was on a geared full suspension bike, wearing shorts that didn’t hurt my eyes… so I’m not sure who it really was!! I got blown away at the top of Aratihi – once by the wind (I managed to bail before the bike and I ended up down the bank) and once by a the pace of a flying Slackboy charging to make up time after a puncture. Well – all downhill from this point – spinny spin spin, pedal, spin all the way down to Angry Corner (Wet Feet), where I carried my bike across the stream, figuring the poor thing had suffered enough for one day, and cruised home. Of course, I had to tell anyone who wanted to listen (and some who didn’t) my tale of woe – and going for maximum ‘hard’ points by showing off my leaking arm and broken bike. So – I came last in class, but was pleased to finish the race and the series. And yes, I did give Scotty’s shoelace back!

Thanks to Marco, PNP and volunteers for organizing a great series, thanks to all those who passed me (and the few that I passed) for the lack of drama, politeness and respect shown throughout. A huge thanks to Catherine, Charlotte and the other Masters girls for making having my **** kicked in races feel like so much fun!

Next event = Taupo Enduro. Which I am fully prepared for. Yeah, right!!!