It's been awhile since I had raced the Day/Night Thriller in Taupo, so competing against veteran teams on this course was always going to be a challenge. Add into the mix rain warnings throughout the entire week before and this was set to be an interesting 12 hours...
Lining up at the start, once again I found myself shoulder to shoulder with some of the best NZ has to offer. I suppose that's one of the advantages of a small country like New Zealand; plenty of talent nearby to gauge yourself against. Staying warm on the start line was important; the rain was holding off but the cold morning air wasn't, and riders had to be careful not to chill their muscles down too much before the race began. I was dressed in my obligatory leg warmers, which to this day still earn me a few odd looks, but do the job well.
The countdown to the start began... 10. 9. 8... Unfortunately at about 4 a small group of about 8 riders jumped the gun, and I was disheartened to recognise some of them. You know who you are... It makes me sad to see things like this happen as it takes some of the fair play away from a race, and gives riders the wrong idea. You might be able to get away with a stunt like that at a race like this, but what about nationals, or even worlds should you get that far? Imagine being disqualified because you jumped the gun, no matter how much hard work you put in to get there. I think that would suck personally. But on to the race...
The starting lap involved a lap of the transition area to spread out the riders before doing a full lap of the course. I personally don't like riding through the transition area despite the whole atmosphere because grass always feels like a slow terrain to ride. Your wheels roll slower and it's hard to hold speed. Once into the trail system things heated up quickly, literally and figuratively. The sun came out from behind the clouds and bathed the track in warm yellow light. The geothermal pools along side the track were billowing out steam and riders were sprinting their guts out along the singletrack. The first section was a series of small climbs and descents before chucking riders up a fire road climb to the second part of the track. Overtaking opportunities were aplenty if you knew where to look, with slower riders always ready to move aside for faster riders with the call of "on yer right!"
The course had more winding trail that oscillated with the terrain slowly developing the climbs from small ups and downs to bigger climbs and descents as you progressed through the trail. My favourite part was railing through a gully near the end of the course. By the end of the day I had learnt it inside out and could rail through with just the lightest feathering of the brake levers. The lap finished up with a series of steep climbs before dropping down into the transition zone.
And so began a long day of racing. As a team we were punching out 15-16 minutes laps and within the hour we had built a lead as first place of the U17 category, within striking distance of the top teams over all. We were not without drama's though. Cosmo managed to break his Specialized AGAIN (he has been through 3 bottom brackets on warranty), so had to borrow another bike for the duration of the race. Kim was keen to try out different bikes to help him decide what to by, riding various 29'rs and even a 650B trail bike, which he still put out a 16.15 minute lap. I think he still likes 29'rs on the fire roads though... Aaron and Isaac on the other hand were saying clear of this and were pumping out consistent laps on their own.
As the afternoon progressed we were holding a solid lead of around a lap, when the weather took a turn for the worse. The promised rain that had been looming all week chose now to rain on our parade and try and ruin the track. Luckily for us, the track drained very well and there was minimal mud build up to add some dirt to otherwise clean shirts and faces. The combined effort of JAFAKIDS, Department of Cycling and Team Specialized Endura meant we had a small tent city to huddle under, with a huge gas heater thanks to Department of Cycling that could probably evaporate Lake Taupo in a day... At this point another JAFAKIDS team featuring R&R sponsored rider Kalen Weir had made it up into third place and had no intentions of letting it slip away. The race was truly on with 6 hours to go.
Around now the 6 hour category race had drawn to a close and prize giving had begun. In the women's 6 hour category Team JAFAKIDS Babes in Blue came in first overall having done the whole race in a myriad of blue related costumes; congrats girls! In the mixed division JAFAKIDS parents Team High Horse finished third in their category, with less than 10 minutes between them and first place. Come spot prize time the bike was once again won by an AGS rider, this time Kerran Tetley. There's something about those AGS boys and winning bikes...
The night wore on and we began to break out the lights as we lapped under the cover of darkness. Our lap times were slowing down slightly but we had pulled a 2 lap lead on second place and we were confident that we could pull first place even in the event of a mechanical out on the track. Luckily this didn't happen but we were ever on our guard. The barbecue was fired up with sausages cooking to help fight the cold, along with a cloud forming in the main tent from al the water evaporating off wet riders coming in after their laps. One could come in soaking wet and be perfectly dry 5 minutes later thanks to our over powered gas heater, with hot food in their stomachs to boot.
Fast forward to the last 20 minutes or so of the race. We had sent Cosmo out on a lap and we now had 5 minutes to spare before they wouldn't allow riders to start another lap. Cosmo had been out for about 10-12 minutes now. It was going to be close. A few minutes later, without warning Cosmo comes streaking up the straight towards our tent having pulled out a 15.30 lap AT NIGHT. We had about 2 minutes to spare before cut off and managed to get Kim out on the course before they blocked off the finish line. And so we waited for Kim to finish our race for us.
Near the start of the transition zone is one of the hardest climbs of the course. It's steep and slippery, and is sprung on you when you're most tired. So I waited at the top. And waited. With 3 minutes to spare the panic was starting to build. The transition area would take about 2 minutes to negotiate, we were cutting it close. Then, in the distance emerged a lone figure from the singletrack. A figure on a green Scott Hard Tail wearing a JAFAKIDS jersey... I have never shouted and sprinted at the same time so fast/loud. Like a well oiled 2 man Peloton we raced to finish with 30 seconds to spare.
Needless to say we were all pretty pleased that we'd got our rider home, and with it guaranteed the win of the U17 category for Team JAFAKIDS Gangnam style. Now a bigger challenged loomed ahead; convincing my team to dance "Gangnam Style" with me on the podium.
See the original version of the dance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0
So wearily we returned to our motels for a good nights rest after a long 12 hours of racing. Cheers to everyone who helped set up/take down the small village of tents we had, the parents who bring us down to these races to do what we do, and everyone at event promotions who made this race possible! Oh, and to all those hard men and women that did 12 hours solo. Not sure if insane or just plain tough. Good on ya!
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