Karapoti - A Day at the Spa

I hate mud. Just in case you didn’t know, I really hate mud. However, I’m told that it’s fantastic for the skin, so I decided to head on out to the Karapoti Day Spa for a full body mud-wrap. We got to the venue early – Shane set up the tent while I sat around and yakked, watching the rain slowly ease off. This was good – rain might have washed off the mud before it had a chance to work its magic!! The conversation then turned to why on earth I had thought this would be a good idea!



3-2-1 Go!! With bike on shoulder I stumbled my way through the river crossings, then climbed on board and we were off. I tried to push myself here – which worked well up until the end of the tar seal, where I ended up as part of a procession. A routine was quickly established – splash through muddy puddle, squint, blink rapidly to clear crud from eyes, repeat… I got to the warm up climb to see a crowd walking/preparing to dismount and yelled “riders” (just because I could, really) only to get grumped at for not specifying which side I wanted to pass on. Funny! Especially funny considering the walkers were spread 4 wide along the climb! I then enjoyed the novel sensation of calling to pass most of the way up – although I bailed at one point through not anticipating the rider in front of me stopping. I was wary of the loose descent down in to the stream, so stumbled down on foot, trying to stay off the ride line. At this point a girl asked me if this was the Rock Garden. My reply “giggle, snort – um, no… that’s further on!!” I lost a little time at the bottom trying to get going while staying out of the way – in the end I had to stop and run the small rise at the end along with the riders ahead of me.

I pedaled and pushed along and up Deadwood – stopping for chain suck at one point. I’m not used to this, so it took me a little while to figure out that the chain had skipped off one of the jockey wheels. Luckily this first episode of was also my last – while it got harder to shift as my drive train filled up with mud, the bike still behaved perfectly. I didn’t ride as much of Deadwood as I had hoped to (story of the day, really) – some of which I put down to the slippery and heavy conditions, some (especially the rockier descents) to self preservation. It was great to watch several women go bombing down some of the places that I wimped out on – gives me confidence that I can ride them next time!

I paused briefly in the river at the bottom of the Staircase – the time was up on my initial mudpack and my face felt like it was going to crack… and the mud on my lips was not that tasty. Onwards to another procession up the staircase, stopping a few times as others further up slipped or paused for a breather. It was slippy, sticky and slow – the top section even had a small river running down it! A quick stop at the top to re-lube my chain and fill a bottle, and on the bike again. I finally got some music going on the downhill section – I’d been blasting Evanescence in the van all week and now was singing it out loud (sorry to anyone that may have heard). A time check at the bottom of Dopers was disappointing – I’d felt that I’d been riding better this time around, but the clock doesn’t lie and there was no way I’d be getting back any faster than last year, let alone anywhere near my goal time. Oh, well. S**T happens. On to Dopers…

I rode through the stream (yay) and up as far as the first rut, off and running around the corner, then back on board and riding past plenty of walkers – it was hard to find enough breath to call for room, let alone be polite (why do people walk on the ride line, anyway?). I did get some nice encouragement from a few guys, though. I walked more than I had in my pre-ride – partly due to conditions, and partly I guess through just not having the carrot of a faster time in front of me. I stopped at the top to mix another bottle, then set out for the last leg of the race. I was fairly conservative down this descent (yeah, I know, as usual!), dismounted to run the stream at the bottom (having fallen in it previously) then prepared to give anything I might have had left on the way home. I quickly passed some guys who had zoomed past me on the downhill, then set about chasing down anyone I could see. I caught and drafted another bloke for a while, then hooked out and passed him as he began to slow… and left him behind. Ooops. A thorough re-application of mud ensued as I was well past trying to ride around the puddles by now. On to the tar seal, hammer to the river, off, try and figure out where Shane meant for me to cross… I stuffed things up a little, and my bike was dragged off my shoulder and just about headed off, taking me with it! I staggered, splashed and swore my way to the bank (sorry, kids), back on and rode past a few guys who were walking up the finish chute. Stopped to have my timing chip removed and get my medal – with a white ribbon, which is now brown. Off to the didymo wash for my lovely hubby to clean my bike – then had him empty a bottle of water over my head to at least thin out some of the mud. I reckon I must have been carrying at least a kilo of mud and crud between my clothes and the bike! I had mud everywhere. Really.

Overall – At first I was pleased to have ridden better than last year while disappointed that I was slower than last year. I had high hopes of a better time, thinking that my riding and strength should have improved… but this wasn’t the day that I was going to prove it.

I caught up with Charlotte after the race – she had already cleaned up, changed and gotten her lunch by the time I got in – she was surprised and super-stoked to find she’d finished in 3rd place in our category. Congrats, Charlotte – a well deserved result!