The 2012 Mukamuka Munter

It's been 25 years since my last running race. It was a flat half marathon on a perfectly still Wellington morning and I was eighteen. So I was a little nervous signing up to run 30 kilometres across rough terrain, over mountain passes and through pleasantly cool rivers. However the intervening years were not all fast cars, fast women and late nights. I'd tramped and biked through the area plenty of times and I knew what to expect from the terrain. The biggest unknown was how my body would cope with that much leg bashing for so long.

Some stats:

Note the parabola-like ascent up to Mt Matthews saddle

So close to Wellington's cafe strip, but so far...

Distance: 29.5 km
Max altitude: 689 m
Total climbing: 980 m

My preparation was ok. Some months earlier I'd had a failed build up for a full marathon that all ended abruptly with a damaged tendon in my ankle due to over-training, too much too soon. In retrospect this probably gave me a useful base to build on for the Muka. And with some enthusiasm-restoring mountain biking and gentle trail running, I was able to run and have it feel good rather than awful. An intermediate personal goal ticked off. More local trail running, a "warrant of fitness" run/tramp up to the top of Mt Matthews and back, and some strategic resting was the best I could fit into my family schedule. During one training run, a loop of Polhil I met some mountain bikers, the first of which shouted back to the rest of his group "runner ahead". I'd never been called a runner before and such flattery almost scored him a coveted Bushlove mid-trail reach-around. Anyway I fondly remember it as proof I was actually running.

So to race day, and the weather came up perfect after worrying us all week with potential misery. We assembled just across the Orongorongo river with the Bushlove troops at the back of the 90 odd entrants we began the usual smack talk and general sand-bagging. Soon we were off though with a lovely tail wind that taunted us to go faster.

The first 12 km along the rocky coastal track starts off in a southerly direction but after a few km it turns to the north and although there's some shelter from the towering hills beside us we were warned to expect some solid headwinds and horizontal sand. I tried my best to cruise the coastal section. After a while I could see I was in about 25th place, already way up on where I thought I would be and feeling comfortable. Of our original group of sand-baggers I was ahead of Sam "Rammer" Dungey and Al "North Shore" Crossling. Dave "Sharpie" Sharpe was just ahead of me, and I assumed Tim "T-Rex" Wilding was somewhere up near the front. This section of coast is beautiful and clean due mostly to its relative remoteness and intimidating signage from the landowners. The smell of the sea and kelp was refreshing and I'm sure I heard yarping seals at one point.

The next section was my favourite, the climb up to Mt Matthews saddle. As you turn in from the coast there isn't really a track so you pretty much follow the Mukamuka stream heading due north towards a v on the ridge up high in the distance. It starts out wide and shingly and you pass through layers of cow shit, then sheep, then finally near the top it's all goat droppings. The valley gets narrower and the rock-hopping begins. Then after the only serious navigational gotcha where the main valley seems to veer left you continue north through a slot in the bush, it gets steeper again and the real scrambling starts. Leaving the coast I could see a large bunch ahead of me and as it got steeper I started to reel them in. I was keeping count and passed 15 on the way up. I caught and passed Sharpie and T-Rex towards the top they shouted "show us how it's done Waggers" as I slithered Gollum-style up the stream.

Due to my lack of photo-taking action I include this 2008 picture from the Mt Matthews saddle of a lost Englishman, aka Davo Bushlove

From the saddle on a nice day you can see Wellington city but today the wind made any peering nearly impossible. I scampered the 100 or so metres of ridge to get out of the wind quick as I could. Then the fun began. The descent from the saddle is very steep with lots of roots to help lower yourself and trees to grab for emergency braking. I went pretty carefully down here as a few cramps were threatening. I scoffed all my food and drink and that seemed to do the trick. Only one person passed me down here so that was ok.

Now back in the river we begin the slog section. I paused in the Orongorongo river to enjoy the cool of the water, then bounded off up the Big Bend track. There's quite a bit of up and down along this section but I was still going ok. Passed by one more here.

At the start of the 5 Mile track T-Rex caught me. I tried to stay with him up the initial climb but my body was starting to revolt. My running at this point was best described as speed shuffling. I was hurting. This is where my lack of running history was starting to show. A little further on I hooked my foot on something and with a tweaky cramp fell flat on my face. Getting tired. It was now grit teeth and hang on for the final 6 km of mostly flat wide trail. I tried walking but that hurt more so the only thing to do was get it over with. Two more came past me on the 5 Mile.

The final 2 km along the Catchpool access road was absolute hell. To make things worse a couple more passed me, I had nothing left and could only watch them disappear. I couldn't see anyone behind me for the final half kilometre so at least I could relax and really enjoy my hurt.

Done.

It was a relief to finish and I hobbled down the wheelchair ramp to collapse on the lawn with the other finishers and supporters. I was thrilled to finish in 14 place overall. At the top of the saddle I would have been in 7th. I was 2nd veteran by just 2 minutes, gah so close! Although the nice thing about this course is that everyone does the same distance regardless of category so the pain and stories can be shared and compared equally by all. A really well organised event and the weather was perfect. It's a seriously tough day out though and not for everyone, but if you can run for a couple of hours or speed-tramp then I highly recommend it as a fantastic adventure through some wonderful country.

It seemed like everyone enjoyed it and the merry gang of Bushlovers past, present, and "day-pass holders" did awesomely, all finishing in under 4 hours. Top job.

Chris "I just finished a 100km run" Burr - 2 hours 58 minutes (freakin amazing and good enough for 3rd!)
Tim - 3:15
Waggers (little ole me) - 3:21
Dave - 3:24
Sam - 3:47
Al - 3:51

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Changing Gears - PNP XC round 1 and more

Waggers rambles on and attempts to catch up on 6 months of remiss blogging...

I wasn't expecting to have so much form coming into the first round of the 2012 PNP MTB XC Series. Standing on the top of the podium for the Master 2 category I was certainly pleased to have the fastest time across all Master 2, Master 1, and Senior Men. But I also had that niggling doubt that I might be riding a little too hot so early in the season. Looking back at how I got to this point takes me all the way back to the last real XC race I entered, the eventful 2012 Karapoti.

My preparation for Karapoti was pretty good. Well, as good as can be expected while also having a full time job, solo parent duties, and a life. I was entered in the single speed category and I'd done a couple of conservative ~3 hour pre-rides and felt I was good for a 2:50, or maybe 2:45 if all went well. However events conspired against me, first the weather caused a two week postponement. Then one week out I hurt my back - perhaps stooping to cut a lawn with hedge clippers and a 40-something year old body is not a great idea. I found later that night when I lay down then I couldn't get up without help. Rest and active rehab had me at about 90% on K day and although I did an annoyingly just-over-3-hours loop I did manage to enjoy myself, even with lots of mid race stretching and a few lie downs.

The night before Karapoti I was digging through the competitors' swag bag and pulled out the entry form for the Wellington marathon. Hmmm... I've always thought I'd like to do a marathon one day, and the timing and location was good. I like the idea of running but it's not something that comes naturally to me. With over 25 years of mountain bike racing and riding my heart and lungs are strong but my legs are just not suited (yet) to running. Every time I try I end up with some niggling injury. I tried to be super careful to ease into it and the build up was going well. I was quite comfortable running for nearly two hours. Four weeks out from race day as I got back from a gentle but long flat run I noticed a strange numb pain in my ankle. No particular injury event occurred but I had just done too much too soon and it was black and very swollen. X-rays revealed no breaks - yay - but I couldn't walk properly or even ride - boo. My marathon hopes were done for another time.

During this on-off time I watched the lovely Marjolein train and prepare for the world mountain running champs. This included a great little fund-raiser event to get her to the start line in Italy at the end of August. The Bushlove boys being a chivalrous bunch and cursed with testosterone, turned out in force to support her. A fun little course had us riding a Makara Peak grand loop followed by an off-road petite grand-loop run. Bushlove were 1-2-3-4 over the summit and into the run but then things became a bit unsightly. While both Ed McSteamer and Tiger are strong elegant runners, the same cannot be said for Angry or myself. In the end we did ok though and held on for 5th and 4th respectively. Luckily there is very little photographic evidence of said arm flapping and leg flailing. Ed and Tiger chased each other hard over the hills for first and second place. Well done.

The guy behind me is a blur because he is reeling me in so fast...

Benefactor, women's winner and event organiser Marjolein makes sure that Men's winner Ed cleans *my* bike properly, nice!

Now there is also a secret splinter group in Bushlove. A small sect of shoe fetishists. A strange troupe who would rather wear skimpy floaty running shorts than have a small pointy bicycle seat up the jaxie for hours and hours. In a moment of weakness I was discussing such foibles with this dark force and found myself aligning with their wicked ways. I had signed up and committed to running the Mukamuka Munter. My build up for the Munter has been much better than my marathon training effort. And way more enjoyable. Actual off-road trail running and hills has helped keep my focus and attention. A five hour fun and wet pre-Munter WOF run up Mt Matthews with the Bushlove dark side team was a highlight.

Getting out on the tracks and hills as a tramper was how I first got into mountain biking. For me the fundamental draw is standing on the top of a hill soaking in the light, air, bush, sounds, and views. Mountain biking allows me to get on top quicker, with a good workout, and as a bonus it's about 20 kinds of fun coming back down.

This winter in Wellington we have also had the benefit of two fun cyclocross multi-race series. The four race Hot CX events with round 2 doubling as the inaugural leg of the NZ National CX Series was a rude shock for my body. This series dove-tailed beautifully with the 4th (?) annual Bike Hutt series. Never have so many pleasant city parks been wrecked so quickly by so few scantily clad folks on skimpy bicycles. Much fun and skidz were had and even some top 3 results were had by Angry, Potter and myself.

It's not a proper workout unless you challenge yourself - "seating is cheating"

Mid race carbo loading.

The not-so-pretty side of too much "mid race carbo loading".

The intense short format on-and-off the bike style of cyclocross is great fun and a serious work out. I have not done any proper speed work prior to the PNP series but I think these events, cross-training runs, plus a few tip track "tests" have come together nicely to plop me on top step of the Master 2 podium.

On the day Master 2 Men started in the second wave. I took off chasing what I thought was a Senior Men rider. We went back and forth a bit and then I dropped him down the Super D section as I was descending pretty well. He then caught me and got about 10 seconds climbing up Jungle Gym and on to the 3rd pylon. Then just before the Spoonhill descent he vanished. I charged on and got close to him on our second time up Jungle only to have him disappear again down Spoonhill, mystifying. It wasn't until the results were published that I realised that he was riding a different and shorter course than me!

Quality duelling with the young Simon Lawson, cheers dude!

Now I switch gears again and eagerly look forward to pleasant weather (www.youtube.com/watch?v=okbHIClMvt4) for next weekend's silly run. Then a week to shake my legs out before PNP round 2, that is if I can still actually walk after the Munter.

PNP Round 1 stats:
Angry, 3rd Elite burglar
Waggers, 1st Master 2 burglar, and 7th overall Super D
Slacky, 6th overall Super D

Till next time, Waggers
mysportsresults.net/results/jonny

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Bushlove Du. The Brut 33 and Blue Stratus version

That's right, in Bushlove its not about the Threesome but more the Dusome.  Fastest Man and Tiger decided to touch up on some running and biking skills, with a Scorching Duathlon.  Being of running thoroughbred origin Tiger was comfortable on his feet and Fastest Man... well just being Fastest Man and a good roadie was comfort in itself.

Here is a quick race brief.  

Fastest Man donning the BLR White Kit

Tiger BLR Black Kit

Once upon a time there were two little boys, one the of the two was an angel, he wore pure white and never misbehaved.  The other wore Black and never listened to anything he was told.  

This particular day they set off on an adventure of the Upper Hutt kind.  Yes, this meant a couple of sprays of Brut 33 and the local Hutt girls set chase.  Tiger being the prettiest of the two, feared for his life and set off at a cracking pace for the first 10km run.  By halfway Tiger had a decent minute back to 3rd & 4th with Andrew Young (Who obviously opted for the more desirable Blue Stratus scent) powering off the front.  Fastest Man backed his chances with the local girls so eased up for a little flirtation with death.

Into T1 (bit of Tri talk there, sorry ;) it means Transition 1) Tiger's years of experience in the sport of Triathlon showed and he wasted the good part of 30secs looking for his bike.  Meanwhile 3rd place smashed T1 to come out ahead.  Off on the Road Bikes with Girls in Holden's chasing.  

Fastest Man finally realising the attention he was getting the the Local Girls, was not one he really desired.  As the power went down the Locals Girls could only watch as their prize rode off like a Ford V8 into the distance.  Back in 5th place, Tiger tempted fate as the lavish girls in fluffy Ugg Boots greedily pawed at his black lycra.  Fastest Man still fearing for his life, engaged Roadie Legs to take the fastest bike time of the day.

Into T2 (See there, did it again) with transitions as smooth as a teenage pimpled face.  We were off on the 2nd run.  Fastest Man chasing 1st place and Tiger being chased to save face.  5km of painful hills climbing in excess of 5mtrs per lap.  

Fastest Man = 3rd

Tiger = 4th

Mc Ds = Winner!

All done with Eliting the Tri World, we thought it only fit we Elite the local Mc Ds.

Official Sponsors of the Bushlove Triathlon Team.

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The Longest Night Ride

If you were a regular visitor to Bushlove, you might be mistaken that we are all XC sifters. Some of us though, just like going on bicycle rides.

I was invited to go on a ride with Paul and Mike from Inspiring Riding, and was promised the occasional tow from Owen. Paul's adventures had been very inspirational for me personally, and to be invited on one of his rides was an honour indeed. The "Longest Night Ride" was originally planned for the actual longest night of the year, but scheduling conflicts meant that the ride left a couple of weeks later. The weather gods were potentially not going to be helpful to our cause, but more layers that I can count, and patches of sunshine as we drove up helped quell my nervousness.

The plan was to ride from Havelock North to Greytown, for a grand total of ~320km on the back roads from the Hawkes Bay to Wairarapa. I had never ridden that far before, nor have I covered any meaningful distance recently. We eventually covered between 266.88km or 288km depending on whose Garmin you believe, discretion meant that we opted out of riding the motorway to Greytown and ended in Masterton instead.

Nervous smiles before we start
Credit: Mike Wilson via blipfoto

I won't bore you with chronological minutiae of our ride, but will point out a few highlights instead.

Credit: Paul Smith via Facebook

Credit: Mike Wilson via Facebook.

Long black #1.

The good sorts at Bay Espresso. Beautiful slice and a great long black to start us off. We also spared them our faffing and stripping, opting to get sorted out at Beth's pad for the night instead. 


The grinds and brownie were magic at ~6 or 7am.

Paul toughing it out.

Paul eschewing the comfort of a warm couch inside (just behind him), preferring the cold, hard concrete to eat his dinner instead. This spot was also to mark the end of our Twitter (#thelongestnight #fail) plans - thwarted by the lack of any real cellular connection once outside Waipukarau.

Moonbows (a real thing!), shortly after we started our ride. This was highlighted by a long stretch of road where we rode in the dark and the sky was relatively clear. The route was perhaps not as "pancake flat" was I was hoping for, as the constant rolling hills and the final climbs into Wairarapa were definitely testing. Some excellent high-speed descending in the dark were good rewards though.

Getting closer. Credit: Owen Pahl via Google+

The inevitable faffing at both ends of our rides were excellent opportunities for banter. Paul, Mike and Owen are definitely excellent natural talents at sandbagging.

Before. Credit: Paul Smith via Facebook

After. Credit: Paul Smith via Facebook

This would not have been possible without our partners, present or absent. Beth did a stellar job of getting this bunch of smelly, sleeping cyclists home.

Credit: Paul Smith via Facebook (he was the only one still up).

Aeropress coffee at dawn was a highlight for me. I had carted 3 paper cups through the night, desperately trying to preserve their shape in my bag. Greedy guts here had two coffees.


What did I learn for next year?

1. Ride what ya brung. Don't worry too much about your bike and packing different parts to what you normally ride, chances are you'll be fine. * 
2. Bring a treat. Coffee, beer and slice might be heavy at the start, but you'll shift the weight from your bag to your belly gladly.
3. Dress warmly. It can get extra cold between 2am and 6am. Pack spare dry gloves if you anticipate rain.
4. Fenders ftw. Enough said. 

Happy eating at the end of the ride
Credit: Mike Wilson via blipfoto

Thanks to Paul and Mike from Inspiring Riding (check them out on Facebook and Twitter) for organising the ride, and putting up with my multitude of noob questions; and Owen for putting up with my occasional grumpy whining (the stretch to Alfredton was the longest 5km I've ever ridden) and giving me a tow or two.

Kah

*Unless you're a slamthatstem fan. It works for rides up to 4 or 5 hours, but 14 hours on the bike was a different issue.

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Its that time of the year again!..

Its that time of the year again!..

R&R SPORT / PNP MTB XC SERIES 2012

EVENTS SUMMARY

5 rounds
15 separate grades including Recreation, Enduro, Under 13 right up to Master 50+ and Elite.  1-2 hours duration.
Over $15,000 of spot prizes including 3 x $1,000 R&R Sport spot vouchers,
medals and trophies over the 5 round Series.
Sign in from 8:30am, starts from 10am
Entry form and more details at www.pnp.org.nz/mtb or email mailto:mtb@pnp.org.nz
Or ph Ash 5670449 or 021423174


Round 1
WainuiomataTrail Park
2nd September.
Sign in at Wainuiomata High School Parkway.

Round 2
MakaraPeak Karori
23rd September.
Sign in at Karori West Normal School,Allington Rd, Karori

Round 3
MtVictoria
14th October.
Sign in at the Hataitai Velodrome


Round 4Belmont 
Stratton St, Normandale, BelmontRegional Park
28th October.
Sign in at the Woolshed at the far end ofStratton St

Round 5 South Coast Karori
11th November.
Sign in at Karori West Normal School,Allington Rd, Karori


AshSparks, Bernie Cruise, Ant Bradshaw, Mal Bull, Dean Compton & Marco Renalli

MTB Sub Committee
PNP Cycling Club ofWellington
mailto:mtb@pnp.org.nz
Website http://www.pnp.org.nz/mtb

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QUIZ Night to send Tiger to the Worlds Triathlon Champs

?Where, When and Why?

7:30pm Sunday 8th July

Monteith’s Brewery Bar, Khandallah

Corner of Agra Cres & Ganges Road, Khandallah

I’m having a fundraiser quiz night to help fund me to the World Triathlon Champs in Auckland this year.

Enjoy a Monteith’s special meal deal: pick a meal off the specials menu and get a glass of wine or beer for just $20

Enter your team (maximum of 6) or just roll up and find one there. As we’re limited to 90 people, make sure you get in quick.

RSVP 

Tony Keith: tiger@bushloveracing.com by Thursday 5^th July

Entry is a $10 per person donation (collected on the night) and it is a five round quiz kicking off at 7:30pm. There will be giveaways, a good old raffle or two and loads of fun! 

 Look forward to seeing you there :)

P.S If anyone is not able to make it to the Quiz Night but still wishes to make a donation, drop me and email to the above email address and I'll send you my account details 

 

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Back to the Future

Over 12 months since I last strung a sentence together for the Bushlove blog, I really haven’t been pulling my weight. Still, has been a rollercoaster 12months both on and off the bike. Last time I spoke I was amped on the momentum Super D was gathering, hoping to hunt down any race that showed its self and boy did I find some cool races.

A few highlights include the local Underground Super D series, which didn’t always miss the attention of those less keen on an ‘un-official’ race series; honest, just a bunch of cool kids riding really fast down a hill with a stop watch for good measure…
Super D was considered the ‘in thing’ so much they threw it in the National and Oceania Champs for good measure. Unfortunately my tires spat the dummy in both races meaning 2 disappointing DNF’s.

So what, built a bridge, got over it, then tackled the race which started it for me (Mt Vic Super D). Gunning for the win I laid it all on the line, but same as last year came up a bit short and slotted into the bridesmaid position. 3rd time lucky maybe.

It was the final race of the season I was really looking forward to though; 6hours of Super D action on the fast Queenstown tracks with a gondola to save your lungs for one of the coolest descents in NZ. One to tick off your list no matter what discipline of riding you’re into.

Even with all this Super D riding of late (and a bit of XC thrown in to keep me honest) I’ve had an itching to try something off the bike. As some of my fellow Bushlover’s have posted in the past, before riding I dappled in a bit of running. That was put to a halt 10 years ago after snapping a few ligaments in my ankle (walking like a muppet down the stairs doesn’t work).

First challenge to get me back on the scene, the Xterra Trail Run Series, right here in Wellington.
The first race was on Sunday around the South Coast area including tracks like Tip Track, Red Rocks and a few other steep suckers up to Hawkins Hill. Even with the onset of winter just around the corner, Sunday was a ripper with no wind, a mild temp and sun! After a 10year break from jogging around in short shorts and singlet’s even when the mercury is hovering around 0 degrees, I had no expectations about how I would go, or even how painful a 20k off road run really would turn out. For once standing on a start line with no pressure to perform is such a welcome change.

With 3 meaty climbs, and 3 techy descents to boot, I knew I had to get my Super D mojo on if I was to throw in a half decent performance. To save you the dribble of a never ending race report, having the Super D race face on is what made my return to running so enjoyable. I managed to hang on to the seasoned runners on the up’s but read them the good news on the way down; see, riding DH has it’s pay offs. At the same time, I admit to getting a bit carried away meaning the final 4km slog along the coastline back to Owhiro Bay was attacked with jelly legs while holding my heart in my hand. Luckily I had enough of an advantage after the hills to hold on for the win, but only just with 2nd place taking over a minute out of me along the coastline. As you can imagine, I’m stoked to start my return to running with a win and I’m already looking forward to the next race in 3 weeks out in Belmont.

Apologies for being on mute over the past 12 months, guess it finally took a satisfying win to kick my literacy skills (or lack of) back into action. After finding my running legs again and the motivation to ride the bike with anger again, I may have to look at combining them and dipping into an Xterra tri or two; but I can’t emphasise how much the swimming needs to improve. To all those concerned MTB riders out there, this doesn’t mean I have forgotten where my heart still lie’s.

Finally, I would like to thank everybody who has helped me over the past roller coaster year. Even when I was at the bottom of the hill you knew how to point me back to the top. Cheers, Ed.

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X-Terror OMG?? Nah... Xterra FTW

This was not one of my goals of the season, but sh!tballs it was fun!

Xterra is one of those races people tell you "You must do", and for a long time I had not quite got around to it. This year was going to be different, with a "little" "Very little" swimming behind me and getting back to my grass roots of running, I decided it was time.

The drive up was interesting with Ed-Winner (Fatest Man) keeping me company. The Elite nature of this race and all I had a steak, we decided to stop for a healthy meal in Bulls. Yip, you got it, quality control of the plastic food variety.

To start off I was excited to have no expectations on me for this race. No one in this race knew who I was or what I had been up to earlier in the season. That was until I found out that Cabin had a page spread in the local news paper, talking about the Xterra race and Black Dirt Racing. Reading through I realized he had dumped me in it, naming me as the "Current Masters New Zealand Bike Champ". Thanks Cabin!

Anyway sandbagging aside, its time to get down to race talk. A perfect day dawned and I was ready for what ever Xterra was going to throw at me. I had heard rumors that it was always a perfect sunny day, and I was not to be disappointed. As you drive over the hill and get your first glimpse of the lake, it becomes apparent you made the right decision to enter. There were sponsors tents up everywhere, a huge stage for the finishing chute and people milling around generally enjoying the atmosphere. Xterra is not just an event for the Multi Sporters, but also individual Runners, Mountain Bikers and Walkers alike. By 11am they had already had a run, walk and mountain bike race.

Big ups to a Rae Rae who won the Women's MTB race earlier in the morning. Nice work Rae Rae, I don't REALLY have trophy envy... much!

So with preparation out of the way and my family there to cheer me on, I was ready to go, Or was I... nothing can prepare you for the onslaught that is the start of the Xterra swim. Trying to explain it is not going to help, so I will let these pics do the talking.






























For those of you out there that want to know if the water was warm (Mainly you soft feet JAFA's). I can confirm the water was actually of a nice temperature. After 15mins sluggishly trying to hold my own in the water, it was onto the main event of the day, the Mountain Bike. I really do love this part, and I feel soo much more at home. Up the first few hills (and there were a lot of up hills). I was chatting away to the odd person who would return my conversation with a grunt, sometimes more. Struan Robertson, thanks for keeping me company on the first climb, was good to have someone to talk to. And fcuking nice result to buddy.

Into the first single track "Frontal Lobotomy" aptly named, as some might say they wish they were having a Frontal rather than climbing this grueling trail, that pinched more and more the closer you go to the top. It was about now I was starting to get into the grove. The first downhill of "Billy T" was ahead and it was time to open up the taps. I could feel the roadies just falling off at this point **. Now this is where the fun begins, take a look at the below link to a video from Xterra a few years back. You will understand the mildly amusing phrase of TRI-Podding.
Xterror TRI style

**(No roadies were harmed during the making this blog post, some maybe in the race though FTR, Some of my best mates are roadies, "Good Roadies" even, aye Angry Clive Bennett ;)

So the rest of the ride went something like this Uphill hurt, Downhill grin, Uphill hurt, Downhill laugh, Uphill laugh deliriously, Downhill finish.

Transition 2 or T2 for you T-Geeks out there. I was making good ground, just a little 11km trot around the scenic Blue Lake, can't be all that hard... Wrong! Lap 1 of 2 and I was hurting really bad, I'll even admit to walking 5 of the 22 steps. Focus I thought, you're being stupid. Back to thinking about a good relaxed running style. I could feel my rhythm come back. I may even have enjoyed part of the 2nd lap. Chugged on home for a 2nd place in my age category, 22nd over all and even qualified for Xterra Worlds in Maui, Hawaii. Unfortunately I will not be going this year, bit bloody expensive :) But I have been assured, well maybe not assured, more teased. That if we saved well enough and I "actually train properly" (Quoted by wife) next year, we might be able to go. Obviously I would have to qualify again :(

Anyway I AM STOKED with the result and race in general.

It was off to the Brew pub for some much needed Crouchers (Yes shameless punt for the sponsors) and a feed of... you got it, Sausage fest. Has Dave Aldred written all over it.

Thanks to all those supporters out there who cheered or abuse me along. I'll be back next year, with some more swim and run training behind me :)
Oh sh!t for got to mention, thanks to Cabin's camera magic I made it into the Xterra Official video. 5mins 55secs in, Orange Bikes (Tang Niner Air 9 Carbon, perfect for Xterra type races, light and nimble) and black kit (Black Dirt Racing)

Cheers
Tigs

P.S Props to my Mountain Bike technique trainer, Travis The Cat (Ease off on the catnip though buddy, that sh!t does your brain cells in)

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Dirty fantasy League - Al takes the lead

Could this be the post that tips the Bushlove blog over 100,000 views?

The "BLR DH League" with it's huge contingent of 11 team managers, has Al Crossling in the hot seat after Round One. Savvy picks from the top five. Misery in the lower ranks, hundreds of points behind with a litany of DNS and DNF failures.

Go to dirtfantasyleague, start a team and join the "BLR DH League" (PIN 1247) to compare your DH knowledge against the current small, but distinguished  array of punters.

There is a MAJOR cash prize and a set of Maxxis tires of your choice for the winner of each round*.

Good luck for round two!









* this just isn't true.

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Karapoti Take 2 2012.

Karapoti is one of those races you love to hate due to its relentless nature of climbing and rocks, its a course I always think should suit me but never really does, and in previous years I always lined up to race not for position but for time, the magical sub 3 time. However since turing the grand old age of 40 I have always wanted to win that M2 grade and for the past 2 years I have been bridesmaid to either the legend himself Trevor Woodward or Lower Hutt midlifer Nick Warring, both awesome riders who know how to ride Karapoti well, was 2012 going to be any different?.


Race day arrived and what a stunning day for a race, especially in comparision to 2 weeks prior when the weather bomb hit, as much as I LOVE an epic race in appaling conditions 2 weeks ago I would have been disappointed to finish in UNDER 4 hours as I was hoping mother nature would throw its all at me and that it would be so terrible bringing about awesome stories to bore my grandchildren with, but alas Michael Jacques saved me from myself, I digress.. The vibe around Karapoti park that morning was awesome very chilled and although I had the usual pre race nerves I lapped it up.


I was entered in Expert Class and my good buddy and NZ Representitive Triathelete Tiger had seen the potential for an Elite Top 5 finish given the Boy Wonder was hunting Lions and the Dinosaur was otherwise engaged, I mused about swapping but really wanted a crack at the M2 win.


Race start was the usual river crossing, this time I took the 2 river crossing start and liked it a lot better than the random am I going to drown crossing, I didnt get a great start as I saw the lead bunch a huge distance down the road before I sorted my junk and was in top gear.


I do love the starts to the Karapoti the smash up the gorge is huge fun and really suits my strengths so it wasnt long before I was picking off riders up the road tucking slightly in behind each one for a micro pause before launching to the next and so on until I had caught the lead bunch and sat in behind Tigs and we formed a rolling train that quickly left fresh air behind us and the remaining crowds, my new pals for the next 50mins were Matt, Dave, Alex, Tiger & Gav. We made great time up the gorge hitting the bridge in 14mins and the bottom of warmup in 21mins.


The race then turned upwards and I was loving the Niner Air 9 Carbon running Maxxis EXO Ikon out back and Ignitor out front also my doubts about running a 28/40 XTR front chainring where unfounded as I loved the gearing and didnt feel undergeared at all, in previous years on a triple I have kinda wussed out and stuck it in the granny for the climbs which resulting in just going slower, so being forced into a bigger gear helped me mentally more than anything.


Down the scree slope into the river I lost sight of my pals as my risk bar is just not high enough, I thought I was dropped until I hit warmup and started to reel Tigs back in , I managed to pass mid deadwood and at the top we were basically neck and neck, the race then pointed downwards and although I dont think im slow, im certaintly not as fast as the top 5 downhill and they soon said goodbye to me leaving me on my lonesome. (que 'All by myself.. im going be all by myself')


I often find myself becoming complacent when I have no direct competition at hand, but still forced myself to keep my eyes on the prize so rolled on at a good tempo towards Rockgarden, which I hit at 1:04 so I knew I was on for a good time, however Rockgarden was still a bit of a shambles for me and I just didnt ride it smoothly and dabbed quite a few times and got off at the large drop about mid way, this probably cost a minute or so, and something im going to work on during the year.
At Devils Staircase my little legs struggled as usual to mount the huge steps and it wasnt long before my poor descent of Rock Garden had allowed the Painting man to start nipping at my heels, at 143yrs old hes quite the legend and his love of running shows as he pounded up the staircase just ahead of me.


Out onto Big Ring , Ian paused to change the batteries in his pace maker and I pulled out a nice lead and didnt think I would be seeing Ian again, but much to my suprise was caught coming down the trail leading up to Dopers and he started to pull away downhill, I just couldnt match his pace in the corners without drifting too wide, again more practice needed here, and its good to know there are areas I can speed up on to be even faster, so thanks Ian for showing my weakness to me so convincingly.


I hit the bottom of Dopers at 1:56, so bar a mechanical a Sub 3 was a certaintity, and I spied Ian just up ahead and quickly spun up to catch, (hill climbs are not something I need to work on :-) ) I remarked that the M3 record was not looking safe this year, Ian was not so sure and had the onset of cramps, Great news!.
My ascent of Dopers was the fastest yet in 18:40 ish, but my legs where also starting to feel a bit like jelly towards the top as I caught up to another legend (and my enemy according to Alex my 9yr old) Garth Weinberg, I still dont fully understand how one can ride a Single Speed around there that fast, but there you go. Garth was pushing up some sections but I could barely ride as fast as he was pushing, my legs were approaching their limit and at the top Garth rode away from me.


I now too hard the onset of cramps with some twinges appearing in the quads, damn, probably because I only had 1/4 a bottle to drink, so dumped back another 1/4 bottle and rode through the pain down the gorge to the finish, with a keen eye behind me.


I finished up 1st in Masters 2 and 1st in the Expert class, in a time of 2:42:27, which is 3Mins and 1 second faster than my previous best in 2010, and thanks to the missing elites 6th Overall, so finally a Masters win under my belt. Stoked!.


Ian came in shortly afterwards to break his M3 record and I loved to tell him "I told you so".


But more than that I loved to hear the other riders stories, like Hiskey who busted a rear mech and Ken Feist who stopped to help him with a Single Speed conversion, costing Ken the race CX record by 10 seconds!.


Congratulations to Matthew Waghorn for the win!.. And Tiger for scoring the Top 5 (actually 4) he so wanted, his battles with Gav will be many this year I suspect, but Gav just pipped Tiger for 3rd, so well done to the owner of the cleanist bikes in Wellington Gav!.


Its good to hear post race stories from people who love to race hard but dont take the whole thing too serious, its when you take it too serious the fun goes, and once the fun is gone, whats the point.


I also love to see all the kids riding especially in the Challenge, some as young as 8yr old Mac Madsen, a future legend i predict!. And my own big fella Alex Bushlove who knocked a good 30mins off his last years time and still managed to bring back an interestingly painted rock he found mid race to show us.

Proud Dad

Medal Handerouterer Warrior Princess

Reflecting pensively at prize giving

My latest trademe listing

Thanks to Niner Bikes and Burkes Cycles in Kilbirne for the support.


Big thanks to Joel Healy for the advice and coaching, especially his cruel and brutal training sessions he knows I love so much, its much appreciated, if you seriously want to ride faster (I probably shouldnt let on), but contact Joel!..

Even Bigger thanks to Trudi, Alex and Alana for cheering me on and their support throughout the year, what a lovely family.


Thanks for reading, sorry I waffled so long.

Angry.

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Dirt Fantasy League

Attn all those who need another way to waste time on the internet.

Dirt Fantasy League Get in, join up and apply to join the:    BLR DH League        PIN 1247

Can you beat "Blackadder's Beasts"? Or squash Crossling's unstoppable "Ninja Frogs"?

Regular updates after each rounds issued here and Farcebook.

Fame and glory await you.

Or Shame and glory holes if your picks are shabby.

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And in more BREAKING NEWS

Tigs smashes this guy...




Yeah, Get some...

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How to run a Non Event 101 & Karapoti what next?

As most of you in the bike industry would have heard, Karapoti was cancelled due to extreme weather conditions. Gutting as it may have been for all of us that have been training hard for the past week for this event, take a minute to stop and think about how hard the decision to cancel it may have been. Knowing that there were 1000 compeditors out there amping to get on the start line. I have been in events in the past that have been cancelled due to extreme or dangrous circumstances and have been appauled at how they were dealt with post cancellation. The thing that seperates this event from the rest for me was the professional way it was dealt with, and the extent the organisers went/are going to to rectify this for us punters.

As you can see below are some examples of why it was cancelled and for good reason. Imagine what would have happened to Anton Cooper crossing the river this year???

Thanks to Craig Madsen for the Pic of Anton

Some of the Bushlove riders are still trying to consol themselves.The river levels:
Below is an email sent out from the Karapoti organsers, outlining why they made this decision and what they are going to do about compensation for it. I think you will agree they have gone out of their way to keep people happy.

“Well, what can we say except "Gutted!"

In 27 years Karapoti has never even looked likely to be cancelled. To give you an idea of the conditions out there; in last year's rain the river level readings we watch was 9 cumecs. At 10am on Saturday it was 71cumecs! The cancellation wasn't taken lightly. We've had a couple of complaints that we didn't give enough notice, but this was because we didn't want to pull the pin until we were 100% confident it was the right thing to do. Karapoti is a lot more sheltered that many of the regions affected by the storms, so the issue was river levels and the cold. Our search and rescue crews typically give aid to around 80 riders in a normal year, but in those conditions it would have been 200+ people, and with the added risks of hypothermia and no helicopter rescue being available. In the end we had to be guided by them because they are the experts. Incidently, on Sunday we know of a couple of people who went to ride the course but turned back after getting too wet and cold very early.

So, firstly to the obvious question that a few people have already been asking... We're sorry, but the refund policy is clear when you enter. Entry fees are non-refundable after Feb1. In the case of cancellation this is because despite the event not going ahead we still have to pay for it.

Secondly, to the 132 emails we've received from people showing sympathy and support, thanks so much. It means alot to us, because we know how disappointing it is for you. The nicest email was actually from a couple in Invercargill, who couldn't even go home on Sunday. We've been a tad blown away by the support and have answered every email, so thanks.

Thirdly, as we speak we are looking at organising a Karapoti make-up event. But there are alot of things to work through (concessions, volunteers, search & rescue crews etc) before we can announce anything. But it will be a free event & you'll be the first to hear when or if we get something sorted.

In the meantime, we've teamed up with the Colville Connection to offer all 2012 Karapoti riders the chance to enter the Colville Connection Mountain Bike events at half price.
2012 KARAPOTI / COLVILLE CONNECTION OFFER - Half Price Entries for 2012 Colville Connection Mountain Bike Events, this Saturday 10th March.

ENTER ONLINE AT http://www.colvilleconnection.co.nz/ - use the promotion code TS12KARAPOTI when you enter.”

Looks like the Mountain Bike season is not over yet, MEAN!

Cheers

Tigs

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