Makara Peak Grand Loop Time Trial

Bushlove Racing proudly hosted the 2010 Makara Peak Grand Loop Challenge on the evening of Thursday 6pm 1st April with the slogan “It may be April Fools Day, but the only fool will be you if you miss this race!”. Entry was $5 with all entry fees donated to the Makara Peak Supporters – a total of $180 was raised.

So on Thursday evening Jony and I rode down to the Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park carpark to register. Most of the famous faces of the Wellington MTB world were there, though Dave “Hugh” Sharpe was missing from the Bushlove line-up. It was good to see quite a few women ventured out to have a go – but where were they all last Sunday in Wainui? As usual everyone was super friendly, the event was really fun, with a very merry atmosphere.


The course followed the traditional “Grand Loop”: up Koru, Sally Alley, Missing Link, Aratihi then down Ridgeline, Ridgeline Extension, Big Tom, Swigg and Starfish to the finish - just over 12km by my speedo. The first rider back (Gavin McCarthy) did the loop in an amazing 40:01.


Being one of the slower riders there, I was one of the later starts and spent most of the ride with the ever friendly Tom Lynskey/tail-end-Charlie (who was immaculately dressed for the occasion with a really cool helmet to match his shirt). My time of 1:07 wasn’t too bad, but wasn’t helped by the fact that I’ve been fighting off a bug since I got back from Track Nationals.


The tracks all had lots of loose gravel on them, making them a bit harder than usual. I know some people didn’t manage to keep the rubber side down for the whole race, but I was riding slowly so I managed to escape crashing. I was glad I had my headlights as I needed them going down Swigg and Starfish at the end.

I came in just before they started the festive prize giving, where Easter eggs were given out and bigger eggs given to the winners. Big thanks to the Bushlove guys who ran this, it was a great race - I’m glad I wasn’t a “fool for not being there”!







For a fuller review and a link to the complete photo album, see http://www.bushloveracing.com/2010/04/makara-peak-grand-loop-challenge-post.html