PNP Club Champs 2013

One of the things I was looking forward to about racing in Wellington was the PNP MTB Club races. I had heard good things about the atmosphere, the trails, and a good level of competition.
I headed out with Scott MacLachlan, a family friend kind enough to have me stay while I look for something longer term.
The format for the day was that there were three events - a shortish XC race, a Super D and a 3 lap Criterium. All three counted towards the overall results, with the XC worth double points. I entered for all three on the day, joining the PNP Club at the same time.
After a short spin up the first section of gravel road, I lined up for the Open mens start with some local speedsters. The start was fast, heading up the relatively narrow gravel road, but gave plenty of time to get into a rhythm before we hit the first section of switchbacks. after a minute or so the Junior grades split off to head an easier way up the hill while we headed up a reasonably difficult downhill track. Eden Cruise was just in front of me until he dropped his chain while running up one of the steep sections. I went around him and continued, trying to anticipate the pinches and stay on my bike. I stayed in the lead until we popped out on the gravel road that headed up to the top, where Eden and a couple others passed me again. I wasn't too bothered as I didn't really expect to be doing this well anyway. I headed up the road and into the downhill, which was quite rough and technical, and I struggled to hold on as I got closer to the bottom, but the track was well made and dry so it was easy to get into a rhythm. On the second of my three laps I really struggled on the downhill, I felt tense and awkward, and I had at least three or four 'moments' where I went off the track and lost a lot of speed, so that didn't help. I got to the bottom and headed up for my last lap, which was pretty routine, I managed to get up the first trail smoothly and the downhill went a lot better.
I finished in a time of 1:10:03, 6th place and 6 minutes off the winner.

In the zone near the bottom of the track.
Cheers Wayne Jones-Nevrilk for the photo.

The next race was the Super D, which I was looking forward to, as it went down the same tracks that were used for the second half of my XC lap, so I had already practiced it 3 times. There was a decent sized queue for the start, so we all relaxed in line and had a good chat while we waited. My time came around and I headed off at full tilt. Unfortuately about 20 seconds into my run I hit a rock and pinch flatted, so that was my race over. I walked down and changed my tube ready for the criterium.

I had an average start, so I didn't really end up where I wanted to be, trying my best to make up time on the road, but the race was too short to make much of a difference. It was really good fun though, and I don't think I embarrassed myself too much. Considering I came dead last in the Super D there wasn't a whole lot of pressure as far as the overall results were concerned.

At the end of the day we sat around a bit more, I ended up 7th overall, as well as getting some lollies and a drink bottle at prizegiving. Also my AvantiPlus Waitakere teammate Sasha Smith took the win in the Elite Womens category which was awesome.
I also ended up with this sweet tan line:

Karapoti Classic 2013

I hadn't planned to do the Karapoti Classic this year, but when I got offered a free entry into the 20k race I figured it would be a good chance to enjoy the the atmosphere, say hi to some people, and have a good quick ride.

The Wellington region was in the middle of a decent dry spell, so the famous start across the river was well below its usual level. I watched the 50k riders start, then went down to line up for the 20k start. There wasn't a huge amount of people so I decided not to go all out through the river. Out of the river and onto the road I rode up to the front of the race, but there was one kid who managed to get on my wheel. I stayed on the gas all the way through the gorge hoping to drop him, but that plan backfired a bit when I missed the turn off for the 20k course and headed up the warm up climb. All I knew about the 20k course was that there was one decent hill, then you came back down and home, so the warm up seemed to fit the bill at the time.
I realized my mistake when my speedo was showing 15 km completed along the undulations at the top of the warm up. I stopped at the marshal point at the top of the Rock Garden to ask the marshals, at which point I also realized that the fastest way home was to do the full 50k.
After a quick chat with the marshals, I headed off at full speed down the Rock Garden, only to smack into a rock, pinch flatting and putting two fairly decent holes in my tyre, despite running tubeless. I walked my bike back up to the marshal station, where I put a tube in and borrowed about three different peoples pumps. I finally got the tyre up and headed down, a bit more carefully this time. I then did the obligatory run/walk/stumble up the devils staircase, which despite the drought seemed to be as slippery as ever. At the feed station at the top I filled up with lollies and water and took off, sprinting, drifting, and hopping my way down big ring boulevard.
Dopers up and down was the usual, slow and steep on the way up, flat out on the way down. The river at the bottom was barely ankle deep thanks to the lack of rain, and I managed to ride all the way through. I then popped out on to the gorge track, where I went as hard as I could, knowing that the track was quite wide and well banked. Coming out onto the tar seal I again gritted my teeth, tucking low and putting every last bit of energy in. Coming back through the river I played it a bit careful, knowing that it is easy to lose time, and look like an idiot, by falling over.
At the finish, several people asked why I had taken an extra two and a half hours, so word got around that some idiot went out for a 20k ride and ended up doing the full monty, I even got a quick mention at the prizegiving. I ended up with a time of 3:25:54, and worst of all 2nd to last in the 20k.
It was all good fun though, and I had a good time relaxing after the race.
Cheers to Scott MacLachlan for giving me the entry and sorting me with a ride to and from the event.

A special mention also to Pete Reynolds, who smashed the 60+ record in a 2:55:32, his fastest time ever, and probably the most impressive result of the day for me.