Like a Bat out of Hell I’ll be gone…

Haha, you have that classic Meatloaf song in your head now! But I’ll spare you, that’s where the singing stops and the racing begins; Vegas was host to another awesome race on Sunday, the Whaka 100. 100km’s, 5 hours and a whole heap of sweet Vegas single-track.

The forecast during the week was pointing to a foul Sunday, but alas the weather played ball and just held up (providing you finished by 1pm). With a decent amount of sunshine in the lead up, as well as some resealing on most of the 4wd’s in the forest, a fast race was on the cards. A few of NZ’s Pro Elite sifters lined up for the 8am start, with a decent contingent of single speeders from around the globe gearing up for this weekends World’s (100km’s on one gear isn’t my cup of tea)! With my big bro having the honour of leading us out around the field on a CX bike, it was down to business as we hit the single track.

The first 15km was literally all single-track in the core network part of the forest, allowing Cabin and myself to pull a gap on the rest (always handy sitting behind locals). All the tracks were flowing sweet, bike was riding smooth, legs were pumping; everything was looking good as we headed out for the large out back loop.
After about 20km I felt really strong, setting a rhythm I thought would last me the following 80km; this rhythm was a bit faster then what Cabin had in mind so he happily sent me on my way. Around the lakes, over three big hills (including descents of No Brains and Split Endz), through Old Chevy, everything was still feeling comfortable. Through the feed-zone for a quick refuel, a time check (4mins back to Cabin) and, onwards to the more challenging second sector.

On the way up to Billy T things began to fall apart very quickly. I could feel fatigue starting to set in fast prompting me to slow things down (hard ask when you have a 400m climb ahead). After a brief breather at the top it was time for one of the coolest descents in Vegas, except this time it was a struggle with a body that was refusing to cooperate. Into G-Rock then Rollercoaster, the race caught up quite literally; what was a 4 min lead on Cabin was wiped out in 10km, Cabin was right back on me!

After a quick jaunt across the flat towards Hot X Buns, the penultimate ascent began which would confirm my world of pain. Cabin simply rode away and all I could do was conserve my placing. Down Hot X Buns cleanly and onwards to the final hill of the day (with out dribbling on, managed to get over in one piece and press onto the finish).

At just under 5 hours I crossed the line in 2nd place, some 9mins after Cabin (that sandbagger pulled 14mins on me in 35km)! While I was disappointed to not win I was relieved to finish and improve on last year by a full half hour.

Lessons to be learnt…? Riding like a Bat out of Hell won’t always work. A 5 hour marathon race such as Whaka is a complete different story to the 2 hour XC events I’ve been racing for the past few months, but how can you hold me down when I’m thrown into a race, of course I’ll ride at 110%.
Bit of rest for now, but I’ll be back in a couple of weeks to hopefully defend my PNP series title and win the Huka race at the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge; if I’m right, on Sunday I blew at about the same point as the Huka race finishes, 80km, here’s hoping….