Auckland Grammar Winter Series Final: Woodhill

I have a sweet tooth. I admit it. Before a race, I will consume a large quantity of ice-cream, but for this race I do believe to have outdone myself. I took with me to the race 2 cookies the size of Dinner Plates. That's right, Dinner Plates.

So, loaded with 2 cups worth of sugar, 50g of butter, 2 eggs and 2 cups of flour in the back seat, my Dad and I headed out to Woodhill Bike park so that I could race in the final of the Auckland Grammar Winter Series. After a few weeks of rainy day after rainy day, it was nice to have a race where it wasn't letting loose with all the liquid the sky had to give. The course was impressive; enough snap climbing and grave road sprints to keep the lungs burning of even the fittest competitors, with the course a kilometre or two longer per lap than usual, just pushing the endurance of some riders that bit more.

The race started a little later than expected, with the start a sprint up the road of Woodhill's bottom car park. It is one of those roads that is always that little bit steeper and harder than you remember it, and this showed as we ground full burn up. Up Power Ball trail the field immeadiately separated out into 4 mini battles. Up in first and second were Cosmo and Tom, smashing it all out for the overall series title. Next up was Aaron and yours truly, fighting to break into that third podium spot, and in my case for third in the overall placings. Not too far behind were Kim and Isaac, Kim having begun to fall ill and Isaac not long out of a cast from a broken wrist. Behind them was the rest of the field, hot on everyone's wheels.

Also up Power Ball, we were unfortunately greeted with the sound of a man swearing his head off at every rider that went past. He had clearly paid his money to enter the park and was now going to exercise every right he believed he had to the detriment of other riders. He was also more than happy to give his opinion on having a race in the newer end in the park.  It restored my faith in humanity to see every rider that went past him give him a piece of his own right back, including riders who weren't in the race. Angry man on Specialized full sus, shame on you.

The rest of the race followed as normal, attacking on your area of strength then being taken back on your weak spots, and holding on for the next opportunity to pass. Unfortunately, I was cursed halfway through the second and final lap with yet another dropped chain. The number of races I have lost from dropped chains could be turned into a dubstep remix: D-D-D-D-DROP THE CHAIN!!! (wub wub wub). Sadly this meant that I lost too much time to catch Aaron, and so returned The Curse of Four (Insert ominous sounding laughter here).

Overall Cosmo took the series win for Intermediate after a dominant performance, with Tom in second and Kim slipping into third having had some great results early on. Fellow JAFAKID and R&R team mate Kalen Weir tied for first in Juniors with guest rider Jake Craggs, both having strong races throughout the series. Jemma and Jessica Manchester won the intermediate and Junior categories respectively, even though Jess was riding as a guest, not being in a secondary school yet.

So, at the conclusion of the Auckland Grammar Series, with Auckland Champs looming up ahead, ad exams to deal with, we've got a busy few months ahead of us. I think I may need to hire a witch doctor or a spirit medium of some sort to kill this curse though... Congratulations to all the winners, thanks to all the Marshals and volunteers who helped make the event run, and to John Hassler from Auckland Grammar School for organizing the series.