Back to my roots

Sunday saw the second round of the popular PNP MTB series, with another awesome turn out of riders. If you’re wondering where my spiel from round 1 is, well to cut a long story short, don’t turn up to a race with well worn drive-train (or you’ll get chain suck all day long).

After the so called ‘largest storm on Earth’ skipped the Mountain Bikers in Wellington and rather dumped itself on the Trackies in Invercargill, we were treated to a stellar day in the capital; nothing but the best for MTB’s of course! With the awesome crew from the WTP (Wainui Trail Project) grooming the tracks for some serious traffic, all was set for another fun day of skids (only on the firebreaks of course WTP ;-)).



After a quick spin down the road, dodging a randomly parked local’s car as you do, it was straight up the 4wd past the water tower; nothing like starting a race with 15mins of climbing. Right from the start I knew I had good legs so felt intent on testing them and the other guys; not long in I pulled a small gap but could still feel them breathing down my neck. Down Labyrinth then Snails, it looked liked I had pulled a decent gap, so I settled into a nicer rhythm that I could sustain for the whole 2hrs. Near the top of Jungles on the way back up I could see Alex Revell chasing hard, obviously Alex was going to be a challenge to dislodge as always. Into Beeline for a quick descent, pulling a few risks was in order to open a gap on Alex, so down I slide (on my wheels of course). On the way up to Spoonhill I managed to find a nice rhythm helping me to pull out a decent gap, but I still had the infamous descent of Spoonhill to go. In its usual sloppy style, Spoon was slippery, entertaining (still no crashes, wow) and bumpy, but that’s half the fun of riding in Wainui. Through Spoon Link, Wetlands, then onto the road, lap 1 was done and dusted.

Even with daylight behind me I didn’t let up one bit, always another carrot to chase after; the next time up the 4wd I could see Hiskey off in the distance, a perfect target. It did take me all the way to the top of Labyrinth to catch him, but the thrill of descending behind him is always worth it. Apart from the near head on with a rider lost on Snail’s, everything went smoothly. Other highlights from the final lap is passing Tiger on Jungles letting him know he still has 2 more climbs to go, and getting stuck in traffic down Spoon which by now was truly thrashed! Back on the road, into the college grounds and across the line for my first win of the series.



Another well run and enjoyable PNP race, all in my hometown Wainui (that’s right, I grew up in Wainui, but escaped before I become a prisoner ;-)). Huge cheers as always for the race organizers (Marco, Ash and big bro Al), the WTP for providing some amazing tracks (Spoon is my favorite in Wgtn) and, Mariska for dragging me out and dealing with my general shenanigans! Look forward to seeing everyone at Mt Vic in three weeks.