Having had food poisoning for Round 2 of NDuro where the weather was picture postcard perfect, I thought Round 3 would be a bit more of the same.. Hhmm.. 3 days of torrential rain turned the usual pristine redwood trails into raging rapids and slick descents.
I went out for a sifty preride in the rain on the Saturday, 15 mins in along Challenge I hear a rather unpleasant sound, sounded like a stick going through a wheel, that sort of sound.. looked down and saw a large stick had gone through my back wheel, it took out several spokes pulling them right through my lovely Slacky from Burkes built ZTR Race rim, and to top it off toasted my XTR der, game over, thought great will just call my wife to come get me, 6 phone calls and no answer left me a hike back to the motel in the torrential rain, to find my lovely wide bathing in a warm hot pool, I promptly joined her.
Queue pic of toasted wheel
Thankfully Pro Elite Tiger had just arrived and was going to be riding Cabins Karapoti winning Niner for this race so I was in luck having to ride Tigs Turner fitted with worn Conti Race King summer tyres, perfect for slick clay and huge mud.. NOT.. Having the Race King on the front looked a bit scary so swapped a crossmark off my bike for the front to give 0.0005% moar grip. I smelt a setup.
Heres a pic of a new Race King.. imagine this but well worn..
Race day arrives on Sunday and the much promised "Rain easing" hadnt occured so we spiffed up in the latest BLR kit and headed for the start.
With rain still falling the race started with Ed steaming off the front and I was having to contend with the extra weight of the Turner hence was back a couple of places after the first climb.
Theres not much to say about the race other than EPIC fun, huge slides due mainly to tyre (see above), the climbs where more difficult due to the weight penalty and I got lost once at the top of Hot X Buns so had to wait at least 3 minutes for the next person to come along.
Had one meaty stack at the bottom of one trail wouldnt have any idea which one, as they where all slippy, muddy, rutted and steep, was glad I didnt hurt my knee from which I have just had surgery on.
Trickest trail of the ride was most defintely Hot X Buns, in those conditions it was lethal, but rode most of it and crashed the rest of it, Shortly around that time my brake pads ran out leaving for some very interesting descents whilst trying not to brake, madness really but thats what legendary races are about and this one goes in the books for that.
Tigs by this time I thought would be at least 20-30 minutes ahead of me on the lightweight purpose built 29er hardtail loaned from Cabin, after all this was the bike that won Karapoti so was one hell of a quick machine.
Ed, well he smoked everyone, probably stopped for a Will Smith at the top of Hot X Buns and drank it on the way down without spilling.
Was half relieved to finally get to EXIT trail and saw Helen snapping away, She must have been there a long time as Ed was about a day ahead of me
Here comes the Tiger, at least 30 minutes ahead of me on that super light weight weapon. (or so I thought and expected)..
And finally me, after just having knee surgery and somehow mysteriously finding myself on a heavy bike with summer tyres I was pleased to just be alive, I was racking my brains to figure out just how Tigs had pulled it off, how did he know just where to leave that stick?, did he have outside assistance?.. who helped him?.
Into the race finish for a 3rd in Masters, 13th overall, I saw Tigs just finished, I couldnt believe it that after all those penalties I had for the race, I was only 2min 30secs behind.. If only I had known I wouldnt have stopped for that Gary Coleman on Gunna Gotta.
Huge HUGS to Tigs though for loaning me his Turner, otherwise I would have spent the morning soaking in a hot pool drinking lattes and not enjoying the redwoods at its best... THANKS BUDDY!!
The 2010 Winter NDuro 3 claimed many many sets of brakes pads and had around 25 DNF's, stuff of legend.
Next day I checkout out what remained of my brake pads... These pads were installed fresh at the start of the race..
Rear set lasted 2 hours.
Have kindly included a new set as comparision, see if you can spot the worn pads
Front Set
Queue Tigs
This was to be a "Family Holiday" with one little race thrown in the middle... Yeah Right I hear you say, you know me well. Second day of the holiday and I was feeling well under the weather, it seems as Jack Snot had decided to camp out in my nasal passage while Jack Hammer went to work on my head. Tossing up (Not much different to date night at Keith Manor)on whether or not to race, I decided to test the waters. A 1hr 30min ride through the illustrious "Tree Trunk Gorge" with my local homeboy Sly Guy Si, sorted me out a treat. Jack had left the building.
FTR If you have ever driven past Tree Trunk Gorge on the Desert Rd (Which EVERYONE has) you would have thought to yourself "One day I should ride that trail" I say do IT!!!! Beautiful scenic ride through some extremely wonderful native bush. Check out the Kennett Brothers, Classic New Zealand Mountain Bike Rides book for directions.
Ok back to the riding. Pre race day had arrived and as Angry said I arrived just in time to see his ridiculous attempt at dropping out of the race. A fresh stead and he was back in the game. I popped around to Cabin's (Mark Leishman) to pick up what he calls his "Training Bike". After close inspection I noticed he must have taken the "Trainer Wheels" off just before I got there. I got a tour of the "Man Den" and a history tour of his bikes. Between Nick and Him they could start a bike yard. After my lecture from Cabin about how he downed a Monteiths after winning Karapoti and stuck the bottle cap to the top of his stem (Bike stem obviously) I treasured every minute during the race steering at it... well that was until I brutally dismembered it and replace it with some class of its own (Cabin I will sell the Montieths one back to you for a shiny gold one) 
Mud was the order of the day and after 1h 30mins of racing I had already burnt out the back brake pads of the 29er. Still feeling great I troopered on dabbing the front brakes, speed was my friend I thought... until!!!! Superman here I come. I had hit a steep down hill section only to be bucked off and soar a good 5mtrs through the air completing a spectaular ninja role to recovery. The rest of the race was full of slip sliding, endos and face plants. Finishing in a little over 3hrs in the pooooring down rain. 8th over all and 3rd in the Open Mens category.
Back to the hotel where the owner instructed Angry and I to hose off before jumping into the hot pools. Oblidged and away we went, it was Rotorua after all where pooh colour pools are a normality.
The rest of the weekend we dedicated to Bushlove Keith Family. Thanks most of all to m wonderful wife for supporting me over this weekend and putting up with my endless mountain Bike Antics.
A BIG thanks to Cabin for the lend of his 29er bike. It was definitly worth its while going out for a skid on this. Big wheels keep on turning and all, I loved it one the open fire roads and its traction on the climbs. I did however have to remember to drop 2 gears at the bottom of each climb to save my punny little shanks.
Lataz
Tigs
PS..
Both families stayed at the
Alpin Motel in Rotorua , these guys rocked!.. they went to great lengths to make sure our stay was great and that we had a hot shower, soak in the hot pool and a beer after the race even though we had aleady checked out, check them out next time you are in Vegas, top people. Chur Angry..
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