1) Insanely fit.
2) Insanely well prepared.
3) Insanely ignorant of what you've entered in to.
4) Insane.
At this years NDuro, I as a rider witnessed every possible combination of the above. Lining up in Whakarewarewa forest at 10am for the start of the 42km event, with the absolutely lovely 2 degree weather, I wasn't sure which category to pigeon hole myself into. Prepared? Definitely. Like everyone else, I was wrapped up like a mummy in warm clothes breathing out clouds of vapour waiting to start (thanks R&R for helping me prevent death by cold induced cramp! Arm and leg warmers are a must in these conditions...) Along with my fellow riders, I was soon to find out which category I fitted into...
Courtesy of Megan Page
The race didn't start too badly; A lap of Genesis and then some open fire road to pile on the speed. But then it began to climb. And climb. And climb. This was broken by a narrow, brake burner of a descent that took out fellow JAFAKID Tom Coombes leaving him with a mechanical and a lot of ground to make up. NDuro owner "Ra" was ever so kind to place in some cyclocross at the end of this descent with riders shouldering their bikes and marching across terrain that was every bit as technical on foot as the rest of the course was on a bike, a nod to our fellow adventurers at the cyclocross nationals.
Courtesy of the Manchester family
At this point, riders were sent up the ever delightful Direct Road to further gain elevation. The 42km riders were directed down Sidewinder trail for a fast, fun descent to the bottom of Lentil Link, so they could have the chance to ride Hill Road before joining everyone else up Frontal Lobotomy. By now the field had separated like a cheap milkshake left out overnight, with distinct categories of riders emerging; the aforementioned Insanely fit, Insanely ignorant and the just plain Insane! Many a rider breathed a sigh of relief as they hammered down Billy T trail and G-rock; a welcome break in the continuous climbing of "NDuro: the hills edition." But it was not to last forever as us 42km riders were then sent up Chestnut Link 1, then Moerangi Road, topped off with Loop Road... About now Tom made his comeback cranking past me towards Split Enz trail in a herculean effort to make up for lost time.
Courtesy of Helen Brumby
The following section was my favourite part of the race. Railing through Split Enz, flying down Pondy Downhill then cranking through Pondy New, all grudges towards the races layout were temporarily forgotten in the singletrack. But in typical NDuro fashion we were quickly flung into Chinese menu, and not the one you can eat, unless you like dirt with your Chop Suey.
The following section was my favourite part of the race. Railing through Split Enz, flying down Pondy Downhill then cranking through Pondy New, all grudges towards the races layout were temporarily forgotten in the singletrack. But in typical NDuro fashion we were quickly flung into Chinese menu, and not the one you can eat, unless you like dirt with your Chop Suey.
Not content with 4 large sets of climbs, there was clearly room for 1 or 2 more as we ground our way up towards the start of corners, a hill usually reserved for a shuttle... then my rear cassette decided to try and eat my chain, somehow still hungry after the Chinese takeaways leaving me on the side of a gravel road desperately trying to unjam a chain from the gap between cassette and wheel. This was fixed with some help from JAFA dad Bruce Weir, to whom I owe a big thank you for ensuring I was actually able to finish the race. In hindsight I feel bad about quickly pulling away from him up the hill after the repair, but I will make it up some day Bruce!
Corners was my chance to redeem myself. Hitting berms at full speed had me dropping and overtaking riders left, right and centre, as I bore down on all the riders who had overtaken me during my mechanical, with legs that had a chance to rest for 4 minutes during repairs. Dragons tail soon followed keeping the pace going before we hit Frontal Lobotomy's kid brother Lion trail. 39/40km into the race riders were beginning feel the burn. My legs cramped up entirely forcing a stop for a minute or so to rub them down, where I also witnessed another rider almost passed out sitting on the side of the trail having "bonked" from lack of carbohydrate. However we all eventually found it in us to push on towards the finish with only grinder and exit trail standing between us and solid food.
Some formidable results were posted by JAFAKIDS in the 42km event, with Tom taking out 2nd in the Sprockets category, with me following up in 4th. Kalen Weir put in a solid 6th holding off endurance queen Megan Dimozantos all the way to the finish.
Although I believe the 42km riders had it hardest out there battles of similarly epic proportions were being held throughout the 15km and 30km courses too. JAFAKID Kim Wright had a case of his water bottle abandoning ship early on after realising it had a long race ahead, and Kim had to look at the possibility of riding down 30km with no water. Seeing his plight, competitor Cosmo Bloor actually stopped next to Kim and lent him his bottle, despite knowing it could effect his result later on. This is just on example of true sportsmanship out on the course, with the two going on to have a great race finishing second in their respective categories, with Kim an incredible 5th and Cosmo 7th overall.
Courtesy of the Manchester family
Great sportsmanship was also presented by ex JAFAKID Elliot Pearce cheering on younger JAFAKIDS out on the course despite being in the middle of a race himself. In the Girls category Jemma Manchester Won the sprockets category and came in second female storming the 30km course with a time putting many adults to shame. JAFA dads Bruce Weir and Gerard Krishnan battled out to the very end with Bruce winning by less than a second. In the 15 km category the younger riders waged war on the Adults with Jessica Manchester emulating her sister and going on to win Sprockets(bearing in mind sprockets is under 17's...) with a 5th overall. First time racers Jeevan Gossage Krishnan and William Page both squeezed into top 10 in 9th and 10th respectively. Paige Weir and her mother Cindy Weir both finished second in their respective categories, with Paige finishing 18 seconds ahead of her Mom.
Great sportsmanship was also presented by ex JAFAKID Elliot Pearce cheering on younger JAFAKIDS out on the course despite being in the middle of a race himself. In the Girls category Jemma Manchester Won the sprockets category and came in second female storming the 30km course with a time putting many adults to shame. JAFA dads Bruce Weir and Gerard Krishnan battled out to the very end with Bruce winning by less than a second. In the 15 km category the younger riders waged war on the Adults with Jessica Manchester emulating her sister and going on to win Sprockets(bearing in mind sprockets is under 17's...) with a 5th overall. First time racers Jeevan Gossage Krishnan and William Page both squeezed into top 10 in 9th and 10th respectively. Paige Weir and her mother Cindy Weir both finished second in their respective categories, with Paige finishing 18 seconds ahead of her Mom.
Courtesy of the Manchester family
Courtesy of Megan Page
What I got out of this race was the following: We mountain bikers are a strange lot. We put ourselves to hell and back, whether it be for podiums, glory or just a sense of self achievement, but when a comrade falls we are always there to pick them back up again. The older riders cheer on the younglings as they pass by, and in general everyone is there for each other. That's what makes events like this special to me. Not the epic length. Not the pain we go through just to finish. It's about getting out there with people as crazy as you are and being there for each other no matter what the result.
Thanks to everyone who helped put on this event; NDuro events, all the volunteers who came and marshalled, manned the timing booth or served out hot soup at the finish. Thanks to personal sponsor R&R for helping me out with warm clothing for this race, and for food to stop me passing out. A big thanks also to all the JAFAKIDS who came out and raced: you made for an awesome event. BTW if anyone would like to know who to "thank" for the extra hills, look for one Carl Jones... Bring on round 2!
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