A feast of lulz and skidz
- Waggers' report
The first round of the PNP spring series came with the usual menu of unpredictable weather. The day prior a huge but brief serving of rain was just an entree to the main course of fat juicy rain drops, low cloud and plummeting temperatures drizzled with a thin gritty mud-vinaigrette. However, unusually for Wellington there was no side-serving of wind.
Al the up and coming Bushlove maitre-d' gave the race briefing explaining that all tracks were as per the menu with one exception, they were unable to get a fresh supply of T3 so it was unavailable. However there's always one Angry customer who doesn't listen and demands to speak to the chef afterwards...
The long road section to start spread the M2 field out. At about the top of Swigg we encountered the slower riders from the previous start and they were difficult to pass on the narrow tracks which was a little frustrating. I was about 7th place in our start group and the stretched out field continually bunched up behind the other class riders. Frustrations aside I was only feeling average and it wasn't until the first time up Aratihi that I started to fire. I dropped Rob and a senior men rider going down into Nikau. At about this point my rear brakes were gone which made me a little nervous for the remaining long decent of North Face, Smokin, and Swigg.
On the final 4wd section to the summit from Aratihi Rob jumped past me in the mist and disappeared. I didn't realize at the time but he had mistakenly charged for home via Ridgeline. With freezing cold hands and no rear brake I still managed to pass several riders on the final descent. Most pulled aside when I yelled (politely) that I couldn't stop but others were mysteriously already lying upside down beside the track, what's that all about?
On the final road to home that pesky senior men rider went by but he did apologise for leaving me behind on my single speed. The flat road is about the only place the SS has a real disadvantage vs a gear-befangled bike.
As I fumbled with numb hands to get my number off, er race numberplate off, I was surprised to see fellow Bushie Angry arrive after me. He had been busy stuffing his face with extra helpings of T3 and some Varley's so I got the win, lucky me!
A fun day - now that I'm warm, clean and dry - and with the
entertaining Al and Ash show on mic the prize giving was succinct and fun. Cheers guys, three stars.
ps: continuing the "do these pads make my brakes look fat" theme, here's one of my sad little numbers. I was well into the pistons this time :-(
Kah's participation report
What I did on Sunday could not be categorised as racing, so we'll use its proper name here. I got kicked out of the house as I ran around trying to decide if I wanted to head out and race participate in the rainy festivities. Rolled in to the school just in time to get my ass grabbed and sign up for the events.
Turns out Senior Men had a pretty poor showing compared to the M1/M2 guys. I blame everyone else for wussing into the Enduro Men category (Tryfan, I'm pointing at you!). I tried to save my legs early by not rushing into the road climb start- turned out to be a bad idea as I negotiated traffic from the start of Koru until Missing Link. No dramas until I caught a few other riders on Aratihi.
Rode like I've never seen a mountainbike before down to Nikau - I was hopeless in that mud. Blew up going up Zac's for the final climb before letting rip (I had no rear pads left, I had no choice) coming down the final descent.
Al helpfully pointed out that I made the podium if you're counting backwards. At least I made my target of finishing with no mechanicals excuses.
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