Seaview Criterium - Sat 17 October 2009

The best thing about this race was that it was in the afternoon, so I still got my sleep in. During the morning it rained on and off, and we weren’t sure if we should go or not. In the end we did (obviously) due to the fact that it seemed to be clearing. We got out there and I was surprised how few people there were. Because of the small numbers, they put the A and B grades together, and the C and D together. The circuit was 700 meters long and all flat.

The first race was good to watch: most of the people I recognized but couldn’t name, however Lee Evans seemed to do pretty well, a major player in the chase group (chasing the one-man break away), I could be wrong but I think he came second. Other familiar faces were Zoe Anderson, who shone at the Wellington Secondary Schools Road Champs in September, and Luke McDermott from PNP Track Juniors. They both held their own well against the more experienced A and B grade riders.





After their 40 minutes were up we had 15 minutes to warm-up. Just before our start it began spitting, though luckily it didn’t rain more heavily than that until after we had all finished. A group of stronger riders took off from the front and ended up lapping the rest of us several times, but I still felt I did well. I worked together with some different people over the duration of the race, eventually either getting dropped or dropping them. One of the people I rode with was Ari Evans (Lee’s younger brother) who I know from track cycling: he did pretty well for only his second road race.







It was difficult to tell when to stop, but when I saw that everyone else had and the organizers were starting to pack up I did another lap and stopped, so I think I did a bit extra. I averaged 31.5km/h (that’s quite good for me) so I felt pretty good, and it had been a good workout and a small, but fun event. Many thanks to the main organizers Steve Chapman and Chris Newman.

This was my first serious outing on the road bike since Alex and Owen from Bike Barn helped me do a major re-setup: thanks, guys, your help with that definitely improved the bike's handling compared to the Secondary School Champs.

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PNP MTB Spring Series: Round 3 - Mt Vic

After each winning one and coming second in one Caitlin Pilcher and I were even on points. After being in bed sick for a week I only had one week to get back up to speed. I went to the pre-ride and was surprised to see that about sixty people had turned up, compared to the usual pre-ride groups of about 20max. Obviously everyone was scared that they would get lost in the wild maze of tracks that run willy-nilly all over Mt Vic. The ride went quite well the course seemed much easier than last year (that’s a good thing by the way). I turbo trained on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and then I took Marti (my sister) out on Thursday. On Friday, despite the wind, hail, and mud Jony (my brother) and I set out and went along that Skyline Track and then did sprints up Varleys (aaaah!).



Race day came and the sun shone. We arrived and registered, got our gear sorted and all the other pre-race stuff. The start horn sounded and we were off, the tiny gate out of the velodrome was hectic and the trails were all slushy with mud. On my first lap I had a few crashes, because my wheels just slid over everything. When I got to the big dipper I charged and got to the top, only to slide all the way back down again! I completed my first lap and started my second lap. After much sliding, slipping and getting muddy I made my way to the finish line. Although Caitlin and I had been riding very closely for most of the race, passing each other then getting passed, Caitlin ended up with nearly a two minute win, so well done to her. So its race on at Belmont, if she wins this one she wins the series, and I’m not going down without a fight.

Thanks to Stephen Massey of Soul Focus for some awesome photography, and also to the other (unknown) sources.

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