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.

Galaxy Travel NDuro Race 2

This is probably a personal dilemma, but I have recently discovered it is surprisingly difficult to get small amounts of vanilla ice cream at cheap prices, to eat as part of breakfast before a race. That's right, I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M. I don't know why, but as part of a race day breakfast, against all odds, it seems to work. However the smallest amount I can find that won't be a complete rip off is a litre, so whoever gets a motel room  after us is usually in luck to find a mostly full tub of ice cream waiting in the fridge for them. So, premises vacated and offering of frozen desert left behind, my family and I drove the 5 minutes to the Redwoods to compete in Race 2 of the Galaxy Travel NDuro series.

As a racer I was looking forward to this race as I was hoping to break the superstitious aura that seemed to be hovering around me. For whatever reason, I keep seeming to come fourth, and my last race was my fourth race in a row that I'd come forth into fourth place. Even when it seemed certain I would finally break back into the podium, I would have something go awry at just the wrong moment, the most recent example being a dropped chain in the last 150m with the nearest rider a paltry 10m behind... fourth again. I may not be Chinese, but the number 4 has bad connotations for me too now.

Ra and the team at NDuro events had done well with their latest course offering: plenty of singletrack to race through at warp speed, but still with the killer climbs that have earned NDuro it's reputation. The weather had been kinder than we expected, although slightly tackier tyres were still in order (thanks R&R for shipping in a last minute order of Rocket Rons for me!).

So, there I was lining up at the start line ready to go. By this stage I have become used to the strange looks I get from other riders at my choice of wearing leg warmers, but I believe in the mud and wet they offer an advantage to your comfort and performance on the bike. They wick away sweat, help keep mud and water off your hard working legs, prevent you from freezing in the cold, stop sunburn in it's tracks, slice, dice and make sushi (not really). The starting siren went and those who question me on my attire didn't have time to flash me more odd looks as I burst through into the singletrack with the lead group of riders.

                                                Courtesy of the Manchester family
My first 8km or so were great. I was holding my speed, flying through corners and giving the other sprockets a fight for their positions. This lasted up until Lion trail. At this point fellow racer Aaron  got past and started cranking up the hill. Sprint work has overtaken my hill work at the moment, and this was clearly the wrong decision as I quickly lost sight of him through the trees. Going down through A-trail wasn't much better, with 2 other riders and I taking the wrong way and having to turn back to get on track again. Twice. Unfortunately I wouldn't have a chance to make up for lost time as the next section was the hills before lentil link and then Hill road up to Frontal Lobotomy, a trail which needs no introduction to anyone who has ridden it. My descending through Corners was up to standard, clawing back some time on the leaders but not enough to win.

Heading up through Moerangi I was alerted by my on track support crew (Mom) that Aaron had formed a group with 2 other riders and was rapidly clawing his way through the field with their assistance. On my own there was no way I was going to catch them, and I was too tired by this stage to hold a slipstream on another rider. So I ground my way through a mostly uneventful rest of a race in a slight haze of electrolyte, caffeine and exhaustion.

                                                    Courtesy of Helen Brumby

Whilst I was fighting my battle out on the 45KM course, other skirmishes were occurring in the 30KM course. Cosmo had a blindingly good race in first up until the point where he missed his turn off and started riding up a hill with the 45KM riders. His IPod was to blame for his lack of attention, not a mistake he will make again I think. Kim, having taken the lead, was battling out with local rider Nathan for first and emerged victorious, winning the Sprockets category.

 Courtesy of Helen Brumby and the Manchester Family

In the Girls 45KM race Jemma and Hatty were riding together, matching sponsors gear and facepaint, practising their no handers as they rode. They even invented 2 new sports, synchronised spinning and synchronised spinning out, with reports of a perfectly executed 2 person crash. They crossed the line hand in hand to finish their race, still managing to take podiums in their respective categories.

Photo courtesy of the Manchester family

In the end, I crossed the line in 3rd, finally breaking the curse of four, and the 3 hour mark. This is my fastest 45km race to date. Being my fifth race since the "curse" started, it made sense to break it after four races in fourth. I am back.

So, right now is where I should add a moral to this story, and for today I can offer this:
1) Hot soup is awesome after a long race. (thanks NDuro events for organizing that)
2) No matter what happens on the track, and who wins or loses, you can still all be happiness and laughter straight afterwards, assuming you have the energy... Cue big can of energy drink.
3) Long course has it's literal and metaphorical Ups and Downs, and that is what makes it so much fun.

Cheers to NDuro events for putting on another great race, and making this all possible. Thanks to my sponsor R&R for making my bike perform even better than I did; It made the race that little bit better. Thanks also to everyone who comes to these races to compete or help out, we can't do it without you. Two down, One more to go!