The Gutbuster - The meatist race of the south.

With BLR’s one good roadie Angry off racing around Taupo and the rest of the team racing the associated rec ride I thought I better get out for a spin. After finding out about the Bannockburn Gutbuster I knew it would defiantly fit the bill. Basically it’s a 75km race from the thriving town of Garston (pop 12 people and a dog) across the Nevis range to Bannockburn. With 2 decent climbs up to 1300m it earned the reputation as the Meatist race in the south.

My day started with the drive from Queenstown where I was staying for the weekend to the finish at Bannockburn. Being a point to point race the organisers had arranged transport for the bikes (on a twin carriage truck) and riders (on a bus) to the start of the race at Garston, a two hour drive away. Waiting around for the start I noticed the difference to a NI race. There wasn’t a Santa Cruz in sight and a disproportionate number of as BGA would say strawberry blonds. Was pleased to see lots of riders on the wagon wheels including some fruity crabon stumpjumpers, superflys as well as some lovely niners.

The race started with a brief road section then on to a 12km 800m climb to the 1100m summit. The day had really warmed up without even a breath of wind so my choice of arm and leg warmers combined with the black bushlove kit wasn’t the smartest move. I found the heat really sapped my energy and I had trouble finding a decent rhythm. Also disturbing I was in my lowest gear a few km into a 75km race. After 40min of climbing I started to feel a little better and after maybe 10 false summits came strongly over the summit. A long fast gravel downhill to the valley floor followed where I must have reached speeds of up to 130 internet km/h. While not technical riding the beautiful valley flanked by the Remarkables and the Garvie mountains more than made up for that. Gradually sloping down over 25km with only the occasional river crossing to break it up a big ring would have come in handy. After the halfway point (where apparently you could stop for tea, coffee or soup) disaster struck in the form of a herd of cows. These weren’t any cows though they where South Island cows and much like South Island mountain bikers they’re harder than there North Island brethren. They even had fucking horns! Fortunately they had not yet been in communication with their Wellington posse so they let me pass unharmed. Otherwise the only issue I had was dropping my chain a handful of times due to a poorly adjusted chain guide on the 1x8.

The second climb climbed up 1300m to Duffers saddle from which there were amazing views of Bannockburn and Clyde. Despite feeling pretty spent managed to catch a couple of people on the climb to salvage some self respect. After this there was another epic gravel road downhill to the finish in Bannockburn. Crossed the line in 3:24 well back on the winners in 7^th overall and 3^rd open men but happy with my days work.

Overall I’d highly recommend the Gutbuster (and the rest of the Cromwell summer series). It’s an amazing part of the country with some great backcountry rides and interesting heritage. I look forward to exploring it a bit more in the future.

Rest of my weekend was pretty mint as well riding to Macetown on Sun morning then out to 7 mile delta (the venue for the ss nats for 2010) for some madcore hucks in the afternoon.