Biting off more than I can Chew ??

After the last N-duro I ended up not riding till the following weekend, I took my Jamis XAM for a jaunt around Makara Peak, even braving the high winds on Ridgeline, I had to as the trails were running mint. Then on the Monday I ended braving the rain on my Roadie (it wasn't raining when I left work). only to find out just how much I had killed my legs the previous weekend. Wednesday I took my Dragon out for my Tawa - Makara peak - return ride, about 2:45 of riding...and although I felt little better, I was beginning to wonder how long recovery was going to take and was I going to be to get some descent rides in before the next N-duro ?

Friday was back on the roadie for 2hrs including some rolling hills I again I felt sluggish but not as bad as Monday so maybe thing where looking up. Sunday with Jude doing 5 hrs on the road, I decided that I need at least 3 hrs on the Mountie.......Wainui sounded like a plan some good longish hills. I had also decided to ride up from the Hutt side to start, (from Eastbourne as that is where Jude was to finish her ride),

Dilemma time even if my legs where fresh could actually ride 32-24 up Wainui hill......I had only even ridden up there twice before, both times using a lot lower gears. Anyway I set off from Eastbourne with a 15min ride to the bottom of the hill or was that 15mins of fretting...how hard can it be........ this what you have, you will have to do it now........will anyone see me pushing.......do I stand, do I sit.........then the little voice kicks in "HTFU there are guys who ride SS's up there, quite your worrying and get on with it"....but I don't ride SS go away.......stinkin' friggin' whippets......

Have you have had the feeling you are about to bite a lot more than you can chew?

well that was how I felt ...some of you might say its a small hill and it probably is...but not to me, challenges come in different form for different people....back to the story

somewhere between 10-15 min latter I sitting at the top but the funny thing was I didn't even stop to reflect on it......maybe I was fretting over nothing? crossing the road I headed into Labyrinth for the first of three times.

My plan was to ride down the Rollercoaster twice and either 491 or beeline once. About half way down roller coaster there is this pinch climb the Jude had put up the challenge to ride The first time I hit it I only got about 1/2 way, so I rolled back down did a couple of loops on the flat and hit it on the opposite side and made it. The next time around it hit it on the same side but still only made it half way so back down and the same as last time.

Down the bottom I figured out I hadn't been riding for long enough and I hadn't yet cleaned that pinch climb first time so another loop was in order.....third time lucky I cleaned it 1st time just...woot

So after heading back up Jungles, It was back down the Wainui hill and as I round the first corner on Gracefeild Road I could see Jude and Charlotte up a head about 350m, so the hammer went down as much as my trashed legs could for the next 2.5 kms I hauled them into within about 80meters but couldn't shout loud enough and being into the wind by that stage, I gave up the chase and cruised. Just under 3 hrs all up

pictures are borrowed from google earth

The map is up for the next N-duro, Here,

to be honest, it looks like it may not suit me with so much up hill fire road before the first single track but guess we will see

it might be old but is it the way forward ?

I was surfing the web yesterday, as you do. when I happened to come across some interesting stuff that was at the Sea Otter Classic. what caught my eye was this



or here is the link to the video on youtube


yep 650b which is fairly close to 27.5.......another tyre size to deal with?

well on further surfing it would appear as if 650b has been around for a while just not on modern MTB's.

So why 650B over the existing 26 & 29'r sizes? will that I can't tell you from first hand experience but they way it is being tauted is that is has the best of both worlds, ie less rolling resistance than the 26 but with less weight / forces of the 29's

The other problem like 29r's had when it was new on the modern MTB scene was tyres? I have found a few manufactures are making 650b MTB tyres, like Kenda are making the nevergal, WTB are making the wolverine and there a couple of others like "Pacenti"



the below is borrowed from http://www.blogger.com/www.bikeradar.com

*650B wheel bikes can be designed for a wide variety of uses from XC racing to 4X and DH racing.
* 650B wheel bikes can accommodate riders 5' 3" to 6' 4" tall or more.* 650B wheels offer great obstacle roll-over capabilities for a smoother ride.
* Consumers are already demanding 650B bikes and bike designers are producing the bikes.
*"What I believe 650B wheeled mountain bikes will allow builders to do, is to utilize proven 26-inch wheeled geometries, coupled with the largest wheel possible in a bike with little or no geometry compromises," Pacenti said. "As 140mm travel bikes become the norm (even for XC bikes) the 650B wheel size is going to make even more sense."

Jamis are not the only manufactures doing the 650b thing

I have only been able to find info a few- 650b fully's but quite a few HT's

Edit: it would seem as I do more searching on 650B, the more I find people have done the 650b Conversion so I may from time to time add to the list below, although it will mainly be on fully's

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

650b Reference sites

http://650bpalace.blogspot.com/2009/04/teasing-from-jamis.htmlce.blogspot.com/

http://bikemag.com/gallery/sea-otter-2009-product-gallery/

http://www.dirtragmag.com/blogarific/another-650b-update/

http://wheelworks.co.nz/blog/stans-650b-wheel//

http://u2metoo.blogspot.com/2009/01/cannondale-prophet-650b-conversion.html

http://bikebizbabe.blogspot.com/2007/09/650b-experiment.html

http://www.mbaction.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=6C606132AD374521BC58D4CBDB82F733&nm=Main+All+Modules&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=8E6FEBCD8AB149FB99A02AE0E851E575


650b products

Panceti etc

Makin' it hard for Myself

After Friday's ride I choose to rest on Saturday & just give my Jamis XCR expert a bit more TLC

Saturday started the day off with rain then fined up with some sunshine then about when we decided to go and register the heavens opened up with some thunder and lightening and more torrential rain. This was probably not a bad thing as would wash the trail clean again from the days riding and help keep the mud soft, the only bad thing was it refilled the puddles.

Sunday dawned with blue Skies and Sunshine...team N-duro had done it again.

Up early to try something new(for me) for race breakfast , I tried it on Friday with no ill effects, then down to the venue, unloaded the van....set up theezi up just before riders briefing I went for spin up the road to warm up, finished getting ready while listening to briefing then due to reasons that where out of my control was a bit late getting to the start so end up lining up a fair way back, so after the start I had to push as hard as I could while avoiding Muppets swerving all over the place to avoid the puddles.When I got to the bridge I came to an almost stand still; this was they way it continued for the first 3km...at 1 point I took to riding through the undergrowth for about 30 metres passing a about 10 riders that were at a stand still.

At the end of Soakhole I caught up to Rae Rae and passed her up the fire road to A-trail, I passed Lee somewhere in there apparently.

Tickler was the start of what turned out to me be a funny story I followed a guy into there who caught a female rider and start getting grumpy at her for holding him up he then proceded to crash but bounce back up in front of me and carried on. We got few corners later and he had another go at crashing.from there it climbed and, as he was a whippet, he did that a little better (but not much) than me so he pulled a gap.

Direct road - well it wasn't as good as Friday, probably something to do with not stopping at the bottom and starting it almost in oxygen debt. About 3/4 of the way up it goes down for a bit and I stopped pedaling to try and recover for the last bit, then I got this familiar voice that should not have been behind me saying “stop freewheeling”...it was GavWTF! He should be up BT by now, he had punctured, bugger.

I had also forgotten to reset my computer on the start so I had no idea on how I was going....I asked the marshal at the beging of BT of the time 11:37 I was happy with that..although I was not happy with the way BT went, I don’t think I lost that much time on it but by the same token didn't gain any either

Going up Moeirangi Rd I came across Ricky riding back down (he was being Lisa’s support for the day. aka Bottle Bitch) I gave him my vest and he gave me some words of encouragement which helped a lot thanks Ricky. The next 2 trails I was struggling with the front end being very unpredictable.....first time I had run that tyre combo and maybe it was not suited to me in those conditions????

Pondy New, the second switch back 30 meters in I came to a complete stop with chain suck...this was the way it was continue till the end ofBRN2 so I ended up running a lot of the pinch climbs. I tried to wash my chain with my drink bottle, I think it helped a bit.

Talkin' about drink bottles, there was another issue I caused myself, I forgot to drink until it was to late....

Back to the funny story at the end of Pondy I caught said rude rider and in a Rollercoaster he spun up on root and came to a complete stop in the middle of the track and made no effort to get out of the way so i had to dismount and run up the bank to get past. He then followed me into Chinese menu where I, due to my chain suck, had to get off and run. As he was right behind me I did this quickly and got out of the road he said nothing as he went past so I said out loud "thank-you" "that's alright no worries" then a few meters further up the track he spun again on a root and then said grumpily "It didn't help anyway". I follow through the next section of single track and at the end we where to turn right, he turned left so I just waved good-bye and good riddance.
Probably not nice but I feel he deserved it.

But then by the end of BRN2 the trails where getting drier and my chain suck seem to getting less thankfully, I manged to ride all of Pig although in granny (most reliable gear I had left).
In Dipper I was still feeling ok to stand and punch up all the pinch climbs. I caught up to anther rider, we swapped places a couple of times.

Then in Tahi my legs start really started dying so I had to let him go again and on the first climb in Rosebank my legs showed the signs of my lack of drink and cramped so it was back to walking the pinches ......

Normally in the long course N-duro's I'm happy in I finish somewhere in the front half of the my category but as I feel I made such a hash of this race I not 100% happy with 9th out of 39 finishers

bad numbers for the day was 9:34, 45 PSI & 400mls


I would like to mention well done to Lisa Morgan and thanks for the inspiration...maybe not yesterday, but....... you can read her story here

Gav had a shocker with his tyre issues and finished well down. Lee had a good ride on his ridged SS, Rae Rae went well after her epic spill up Direct road

click here for results

Direct Road

Arriving in Rotorua today(friday) to heavy rain.

On Sunday is the 1st round of the N-duro Winter Series, we had arrange to meet up with Gav and Lee to a pre-ride, Rae Rae and Cathy joined us as well, while Jude only planned on doing the first 10ks with us the rest of us had planned to do the whole 40ks

with wet weather gear on we set off up the first 4wd track or should I say river........into the first single track to find it also sodden wet pine needles and very heavy going. The next single track was much the same, including a very deep water hole if you cut on of the corners or so Gav informed us. After that it was a trail which due to the fact is a lot more used it ran a lot faster but also had a lot more mud........

Prior to this ride I had set myself some goals, Bare in mind on this ride I was using my 1x7 (32t on the front, 11 -24 on the back) The main goal was to ride the whole of Direct Road the next was goal was Frontal Lobotomy, although the goal was not to ride the whole thing I had a rough idea on how much I wanted to ride, the third Goal was to do the whole 40kms on this bike......

the big climb in this event starts in Tickler and finishes at Billy T including Direct Road and Frontal Lobotomy, it's about 5.5 km long.

Direct Rd the last time I rode up it I would done it in prolly 22/28 or 24 so I was not 100% sure how I was going to get on but somewhere I must have some believe I could do it? Cause even as lee who had taken off ahead on his SS I had call encouragement to him as passed him doubled over his bike about 3 corners from first intersection once it flattened out I was about to shift up a couple of gear as my legs were still feeling ok and back off and recover my lungs before the last bit at the top gasping for I had made it.......Tenzing I knocked that bastard off

From there is was Frontal Lobotomy and I had decided if only push 3-4 times I would be happy and when I did get off I didn't stop I followed lee in and he had gotten off about 4 times before the first switch back and I passed him out of this. (no I'm not comparing myself against him, I had my own goals) across then next section I got off 3 times, once due to almost bouncing of the trail due to having my forks locked out and then the seco nd to last switch back was a bit water rutted I got of for that. I also had to get of for a tree down over the trail a bit further up. I had also thought that I was probably going to have to push some or all of that but no I rode it, WOOT

Billy - T, I followed Cathy down here it ran nice with not to much mud.....maybe the torrential down pour we got had washed it away??? up the road an into loop road and I lost my front brake with a quick stop to adjust them I was on my way into Split Endz and was reminded why I love that trail so much. My Jamis Dragon is just magic on that trail

At the end Cathy had totally worn out here front p ads and her back weren't much better so she fire roaded it out, we continued on Pondy's & Roller Coaster were Gav also ran out of front pads.

At this point we all decided to call it quites and fire road it out back at the van I checked my front pad which were brand new before the ride and found I had almost no pad left also

Although we only did 26kms of the 40km course all the big climbs where done so I feel I can almost claim that on too???

Goals Set and almost done, now for Sunday..........

Aint snow better

After yesterdays ride in the hail, I got a txt sugesting a ride up Mt Climbie to the snow after a few txt along the lines of "how far and steep"......"40mins granny" back and forth" I end up going

One thing everyone should do at least once in there life is ride in the snow

I arrived at Gav's at just before 9, as did Craig and we set of from there. In some ways I was sorter dreading the ride up knowing that I would be the slowest climber by a long shot...but fortunaltly for me Craig had no small chain ring and Gavs bike only had a 28 as the biggest on the back, a po-go stick for a rear shock, and seat post far to short I was actually able to ride a lot more than them.

Lucky cos when I had to walk my calfs said "NO".

Anyway here is few pics



No they are not my foot prints.......




Draggin the foot Styles





Railing the snow bank "Moto" styles


the rest of the pics can be found at my photo site.....click here



.

Hail it cold ??

Today I got roped into going for a ride cos someones coach said 2hr on the MTB

It started off the same as it finished with a hail storm! As I came down the last two trails they were completely white in place's. Unfortunately by the time I got back up the trial with the camera a lot of it had melted



and outside the mall before going into get some lunch

1 X 9 or 1 X 7

After testing a few things and some help from Gav, I got 1 x 9 set up on the Dragon running really good, I even found a short cage Deore DX rear derailleur that was in good nic at work.















So on Wednesday I set my self a ride that would test me. I only really had 3 hrs but as I suspected the whole ride I had set would prolly take a bit longer

I skived of work early and set out, unfortunately I had almost an hour each way on the road to the dirt...but this bike is all about getting stronger, so that's ok. It had not rain all day at work so I was expecting damp but fast flowing trail but by when I got to K-town the roads were damp and turning onto the single track I quickly figured it has rained not to long ago......

Heading up Aratahi there was lots of water, even a stream at one point. At the top the visibility was down to about 10metres at is was clouded in with hardly a breath of wind, I then headed down via Zacs , Varly's and Wahine then back in the side via Amp connector.

With the 32-25 as my lowest gear I didn't quite make the switchbacks, messed the first one totally and broke traction on the second one. by the time I got to the car park I figured the my legs and time would not allow me to go up salvation so it was back on the road to Tawa.



















The 25 comes courtesy of a 11 - 25 road block, but what I didn't notice is riding in the wet an the fact that had to use the 25 a lot on the climbs I could hear the chain as the chain line is not the best so I have now modified and fitted a 11-32 9 speed MTB block into a 7speed 11-24, which will give me a better chain line in first gear



















You prolly ask why not just SS it ? will because I'm to soft I guess....Hell it took me 2 days to get over Wednesday's ride

Pondering in the dark and cold

After not racing at the Moonride it got me to thinking, well prolly what got me more to thinking was last night out in the less than tropical temperatures in the dark riding my roadie for the 3RD night in a row............

Why

I'm thinking about the N-duro winter series but then I'm not sure what length, the 20k seems a bit short, I know the summers series short course races were only 23-26km's and I really enjoy those race's, maybe it was riding at the pointy end of the field ? but I think also I was able to ride a lot of my own race not being held up on the downs and getting left behind on the ups.

Back when I did the long course, I used to enjoy the 70Km race the most because after the first hour or so it would settle down and the problems of the shorter races seem to go away, as I seem to get into position in the field were I was riding with similar speed riders. the winter series long courses are now all only going be 40-50 kms

The other problem that worries me a tad with the short coarse is the Duathlon? when are they going to start? are they going to be ahead of the short course MTB's so we have to pass the slower ones or will the fast Duo have make there way through the MTB field ?

What to do ?????

Other than I would like to do the summer series short course again and try and win it outright, Last year I was about 6mins to slow. but as for the winter? the PNP series doesn't suit me for much the same reason as the shorter long course N-Duro races - to slow up, to fast down for the people riding around me & with the Welly trails being narrow it stops being fun.

So I guess I will Just have to keep riding and see what happens

Not racing at the Moonride

It seems to be they way these days, I seem to not race at the 12/24hr events even though it was the N-duro 24hr that started my MTB Racing............

At this event Jude was to be racing for the Jamis Rec One team, as her coach had advised her it was to soon after the 24hr Solo champs to another solo. As Lisa, Jude's #1 Support person, was doing the 6hr solo and friend Charlotte was doing, 12hr, along with Pete and Chris who were doing 24hr solo, we took the Mobile race base up for them operate out of.

We had booked a space next to the Jamis site but unfortunately we got the wrong end of the straight. The wind funnelled off the main event tent straight into our tent which at times made it pretty cold during the day

We set up Friday night,fortunately for me Pete and Chris had brought their own support crew so after the start of the event and attempting a few night photos I headed off to a nice warm motel leaving them to it.

Next morning the 12hr & 6hr event started 10am. I supported Lisa for her 6hr event, Lisa was under strict instruction from coach to take it easy and as she didn't recognise any of the names on the entry list was quietly confident of a good result.

Charlotte's mother had come along to support her so it was going to be fairly cruisey day for me leaving Jude to do her 12hr team race and Lisa was in cruise mode so supporting her was easy.
The other thing that made it easy for me was that Lisa's lap times were very consistent I could estimate her ETA to within a minute just about every lap

Now where this event became interesting for me because it was so cruisey I was able to watch how the other support crews worked. It seem to me that Pete and Chris's crew were in at the deep end a bit (or maybe a lot) as it takes someone special to look after someone who has been riding the bike for 6 to 24hrs who is sleep deprived and not really thinking rationally and I think they did really good job under the circumstances, and best you tell them that guys. You two would have to be very happy with your results at your first attempt at a 24hr, although not where you end up after the event Pete.

Charlotte's mother also did another really good job, nothing ever fazed her even when you were a little stressed, I hope the words of advice and encouragement helped and congrats on your win, it was really good to see a race in that category as the lead swapped a few times in the first 6-7 hrs. http://charlotteireland.blogspot.com

Lisa, as suspected, took the lead of her race from the get go and won it by over a lap, but as Lisa never asked and I believe an endurance race is best controlled by yourself and not your competition, I never told how she was going other than say "just keep doing what you are doing", If the result was ever going to be different I guess I would have had to TXT coach to see what to do....LOL, anyway you can read Lisa's blog http://www.lisamorganmtb.com/ ..were she has posted the real story......

The other race that was interesting to watch was the 12hr mens' solo, between Thomas Lindup, Bushlove's Clive "Angry" Bennett and Hamish Lane, although Thomas took the early lead, it ended up with Clive chasing Hamish all the way till the end

Another noticeable ride was the womens 24hr winner who kept riding when she really didn't need to and ended up doing about twice as many laps as second place this gave her 4th solo overall.

The disappointing think for me was the fact that Pete, Chris and Charlotte twice got knocked off their bikes..... and Lisa also commented the standard of riding from a lot of the teams was pretty substandard.

Thanks to Dean and Helan for the help packing up

the moonride 09

After a few day rain leading up to the event, it would seem the we have been lucky on it has stopped raining. after a wet ride to suss out were the course was going Jude and I headed down to set up the tent

it has dawn fine this morning althought the southerly wind is cold now 2 laps done

Clive is 2nd male 12hr solo and leading the bush boys

lisa is leading the 6hr solo woman

Charlotte is in second in the 12hr womans Solo cat

Lisa is almost a lap in front
Charlotte is just leading her class
the team Jude is riding for is 6th in cat, 12hr mixed
Clive is second behind Hamish Lane with Thomas in 3rd
ken Fiest was upto 3rd in 6hr solo but a his back is crying enough

ok Lisa won the 6hr solo womans by over a lap

Charlotte is still leading the 12hr solo womans but is doing it tough

As for the boys & teams I'm not sure as they have stopped posting results, I guess due to the timing issue they have been having during the afternoon. will go fo a walk and see if Bushlove know how Clive is getting on (apparently they are not sure neither)

Jude has one more stint for her team

I went out on my Dragon for a lap but got little lost and did Mad if You Don't, Pondy, RollerCoaster, Dragons tail, Lyon, Turquish Delight,(well maybe lost on purpose)

New flash : They hope to have an update on the results at 7:30pm

As of 2 laps ago

Charlotte is leading by about 20mins

Clive is seconded By about 10mins

Pete is 5th 24hr male solo out of 13

Jude's team is still in 8th

It finished pretty much as above

The rest of my few photo's I took can be found click here

one by nine

A few years back....well about 2 yrs ago I acquired a 2001 Jamis Dragon Frame

the only problem was it need some drive train etc . I at the time had a Bauer Outlaw which was Deore(pre xt)/truvativ spec so I stripped that but it had 120mm forks and the Dragon came with 80mm standard hmmmmmm

Then I had a lucky score and acquired 2 pr of Skarabs 1 pr 80mm and 1pr at 1 00mm. the 80's I put onto a frame for my sister and fitted the 100's to the dragon. I know the dragon should be XTR spec or XT at very least but the Deore would do my purpose as it was not being built as my race bike........

I rode in this spec for about 6mths until the forks failed, not long after it started to sit around waiting for me to fix it, I brought a Jamis Xam so I had no urgency to fix it so it stayed in a state of dis-repair for about 18 mths

It wasn't till we came up to the SS champs and also getting invited on a SS ride a week later as the sending of on his OE the hardest man in MTB in NZ, the NZ solo SS champion Whacko Jacko I decided that I had better get it going again but I am not yet ready to go SS

So I opted for a 9 x 1 set up, using only the middle chain ring on the front and to make it little more interesting I am using a 11-25 road block on the back, when I first set this up I had no guards or guides on the front but unfortunately it dropped the chain twice (once off each side) so I have now fitted a 44t chain ring which I have removed all the teeth on the outside and on the inside I am using a seat post reflector mount for a guide...and so far so good

race pics

For my Photo's from the 2009 SS champs click here

and you can find Helen's Pic's here and some on Pete's site here

even with 27 working gears I still managed to get my photo taken...thanks helen

the race was due to get under way at 2. Jude and I arrived at 12.45 I jumped on my still ridgid forked bike and set out to find a good spot to take pics I head up for Pondy new thinking this would be ideal just as i found a spot the lead ridders came through...what the..its only 10 to 2.

The race had started early. after trying a few pics up there I wasn't having much luck so I headed down to Yellow Brick Road. I manged to get a few not to bad pics which I will try and post tommorrow. Anyway it turned out to be a 4 lap race, after the top twenty or so had gone past me for the last time I headed back to the finsh, after the prolly about 1/2 the feild had finished the heavens open up and it poured for prolly 5mins, this pending rain was the reason for the early start

The winners were T-Rex and Annika

2009 SS champs

Not much to report so far incident free drive up here

Then of for a ride while the others for some reason just wanted to sit around and waste daylight, Jude and and I headed off but after about 20mins riding my forks decided that being ridgid was a good idea. so after the Dwn parade tomorrow, my mission will be to see if I can fix them?

the others eventaully got going

The dawn parade

After a bit more sleep an some playing on RaeRae's BMX

it was to the BMX track

I have manged to get a bit of riding in lately.....after my last post on Easter Friday Jude and I did a shortened loop of that ride, making it loop by starting & finishing at Wiltons Bush and missing out Makara peak.

On the Sunday I went for a ride with Big Gav, Mikey and Mirko, Jude dropped me off at the Caltex in Upper Hutt, riding via Mirko parents place (where he was staying for the weekend) we headed up & over Moonshine Road and into Bulls Run Road. Where it turns to gravel we turned left and headed in to the Aka's. After a couple of rideable climbs I was of the bike pushing along with Gav but I guess he had an excuse he only had one gear, at the top we climbed up to a clearing to see the view but the tress were now too tall to see anything.

Then is was of down to Dopers Stream........this meant only one thing, we had the Dopers climb ahead of us, hmmm well it wasn't the best effort I have had there but I blame the slick conditions and the wrong tyres. Over the top and down the other side pppsssshh flapper flapper and had a rear flat. I got off the bike and looked down to see a gaping hole in my side wall. Well the was the end of my ride or maybe not, I had a canvas tool kit with me a new tube and the tool kit over the hole had enough pressure in the tyre I could ride it.

I choose to walk the rest of pram for fear of ripping a valve out with the low pressure but from there I rode most of the rest of the way out to the Akatarawa Rd, Gav and the other two had gone on ahead, as the plan was to go back out via Cannon Point and the Zig Zag so when Gav got to cell coverage he txted the wambalance for me. Jude arrived just as I was about to pull my phone out start TXting her.

Then last Tuesday Night Jude and I joined Pete for a Red Rocks mission. Jude and I parked in Thordon and rode up to Denton Park where we meet up with Pete, from there we headed up Rollercoaster then along the road to the top of Tip Track where the fog had rolled in thick making the first part of the descent a tad tricky but the silhouettes in the mist from someones lights following behind were quite cool, I have only riden Red Rocks once before about 4yrs ago so didn't really remember how steep some of the descents were, so my advice to Jude was sometimes a little incorrect, but she did well, chasing possums at times was also fun, almost running 2 over.

Back along the South Coast to Owhiro Rd where for some reason Pete was off after a fire and set a storming pace back up the Hill at the 2/3rds mark I decided to let Pete and Jude battle it out between them. Just quietly I think Jude had it under control.

At the bottom on the other side Pete headed off home and Jude and I headed into town for Burgers and Chocolate Milkshakes Yum, then back to Thordon.

Saturday night I night I got a TXT from Gav...him and Mikey are going riding at Makara for 3 hrs did I want to join them......hmmmm more hurt.....yer.....nah.....yer...... ok....well on arrival at the carpark I found out there was 3 extra....R&R's race team ? oh shit.. last time I went riding riding with a bunch of NZ's pro-elite it took me a week to recover, ok a least this time I had the right bike, but by about 1/2 way up the first trail (koru) I got dropped off the back big time. I puffed my way to the end where they had stopped, in a shaking wreck of a state I suggested that they carry on and I will ride by myself, as I figured that was probably going to happen anyway and they would just be waiting for me at the end of every trail...

After a bit of discussion they (mainly Gav) said not to worry and to carry on with them, Gav hung back and rode with me on the next trail then down Missing Link he dropped a chain allowing me to gap him a bit. As I rode out the end of the trail Gav had not caught me so I while the others waited for him, I carried on up Aratihi and manged to get to the Leaping Lizard junction without them catching me, breather time.

Leaping lizard and Nikau next back up ML and again while other stopped for a gas bag I carried on up Aratihi again making it to the top just as the rest did, down Zacs - I backed myself down here and jumped in second. About 1/2 way down Ed, who was leading, managed a nice 'N-do'going into one of the switchbacks, landing on his knees and drawing some blood from his chin, after Gav got out his camera we remounted and carried on. At the Vertigo junction I choose to carry on down Varleys and Wahine leaving them to do Vertigo. I had only done Vertigo twice before and both times on my big bike and still had quite bit to master on that trail although I can ride most of it.

Knowing I had the longer route I had pushed pretty hard but still stayed in control to avoid dogs not on leads etc, with a good run I managed to join back into the middle of the group just as they came out of the trail and turned right up to the park.

Amp Connector, BTW, Magic Carpet and Live Wires to the carpark to collect more water, a couple of the others wanted to do Vertigo again but I suggested the Cemetery Link, Skyline and down DH98 which is what we did. It was good to find DH 98 is all rideable (not by me yet but Gav rode it all) and every one seemed to enjoy it, good for a change

On the last couple of climbs my legs had starting to show signs of failing me and on the last pinch climb Mikey baulked me and I end up toppling over sideways still clipped to my bike and knowing there was still a couple behind me, as my body was off the trail but bike was still in the way I pulled the bike towards me, only to have my calf muscles cramp really badly...so here I am still clipped to my bike cramping with a couple of bastards laughing their heads off at my predicament. Fortunately I was able to unclip and get up before Gav arrived with the camera

Moving on to Tuesday I decide it was time to get out on the Roadie for the 2nd time this year I planned a approx 1:45hr ride the first 40 mins was ok but then I headed into the hills, on the 2nd hill my legs said you hurt me in the weekend and and I have had enough so it was grovel from there home. Hopefully my legs will be OK by Friday as we will be in Rotorua.

Stay tuned for Road trip up dates

Daylight Saving is over

Daylight savings is now over…time to start training…me training? Yeah right! If riding my bike is training, then maybe. Daylight savings end usually means work will quieten down and Jude’s 24hr solo champs are over, means I should be able to get out again do some long rides hopefully

After doing quite well at the short course at the Bikevegas N-duro Summer series, I am now wondering what length I should do for the winter series if we make it up there, which is looking quite likely. I have of late been really only doing rides of around 1- 1 ½ hours, with the occasional 2hr one.

On Wednesday I decided seeing it was going to be a fine evening it was time to start my long midweek rides. One of the Welly Vorb regulars had decided to restart the Wednesday Night rides but unfortunalty the ride was not going to fit in with my timing as Jude works Wednesday Nights 5 till 8 at a local gym, I wanted to be as close as possible to Tawa at 8 as I could be.

While the trails are still dry I opted to MTB, was this sensible idea probably not. Especially after recent events…. ask Big Gav how easy it is to end up with an ambo ride to A&E. Anyway after a bit of fluffing around I headed out at about 5:30 when, if I had gone directly by road, I could have meet up with the Vorb ride but for some reason I choose not to and did a ride I really shouldn’t have, I rode up the Skyline trail from Otari then headed south to Wahine. By the time I got half way along Skyline it was fully dark so I was riding under lights and started to think about Gav’s crash and how I was riding alone in a remote area, although Jude knew roughly where I was if I crashed hard how long would take to be found, bad idea as I then started to ride badly, tensed up etc, then front hit something and I had a moment but got away with it, I had work had to settle back down and ride ok,

No more incidents on Skyline or Wahine, at the bottom I then decided to head up and check out the work that had been done on the pump track, seeing the changes I thought I would try it out, not sure but the 2 humps between turns 1 and 2 seem bigger and not as good a shape (maybe it was just me in the dark) but I found if I went hard to the outside I would get better flow. Well that was until the third lap when I went a little too wide and the outside of the mound gave way under my wheel causing the ground to come up and meet me rapidly, although I did have enough time to turn my head to save my ugly mug, I did hit the ground hard. After my head bounced off the ground I picked myself up and thanked my lucky stars I got away with that, a quick dust off and back onto the bike, I decided that playing up there may not be to best idea.

So it was down to Karori Park where I just about collected someone’s stupid black mutt that its even more stupid owner called across in front of me, bloody thing should be on lead anyway. Up Amp Connector, across RE , down Swigg & Starfish, looked at my watch in the car park Yeah I’ve time to go over Wright Hill…… just?

About ¼ the way up salvation my legs cried enough, they weren’t just tired, they were screaming pain from just above my knees, which made me think maybe my seat had slipped down or something (yeah I have a quick release on my pie bike, it makes it easier to load it in the van) so I got off and checked to find it was actually about 3 mm higher than I normally have it D’oh, so I dropped it down, for the next 1/3^rd or so of the trail I felt I had a lot more power again but I think the damage was already done, ‘cos it didn’t last so the last part of the trail was back to groveling, as it was up to Scout Hall. At the end of Scout Hall I opted back to the road as it was getting to about 8pm oops.

Just after I got through Marsden village my phone informed me I had a TXT, it was Jude as she had finished work, so I arranged to meet her outside a dairy in Ngaio, by the time I got there Jude hadn’t arrived with the wambalance so I went in a got some Chocy Milk and something to eat. As I put it on the counter and the lady said $5:20, on opening my wallet I found I only had $5 cash not the $15 I though I had but it was ok cos Jude just pulled up….what timing eh.

In hindsight even though it was a very enjoyable ride a little over 35km’s(aside from the pain), I don’t think it was one of the more clever things I have done, I got away with it this time but what if I had crashed hard how long and how many people would it take to find me? . So next Wednesday unless I can find someone to ride with, I think I might just head out on the roadie.

this profile is from a shorten version of the ride

Today was the PNP club MTB champs held a Wainui MTB/trail park

I just sifted & took some more Blurry pics

Proof Roadworks Jersey's really can fly

Link to all the pics I took today is up on the right

My supporting role

My story supporting Jude at the N-duro New Zealand 24hr Solo MTB Champs

I guess for me it really started (apart from supporting Jude during some of her training rides) prolly about 2 weeks ago getting her bike sorted, ordering spares etc, then the weekend before it was sorting out the trailer and packing it. Monday night I packed the van as we were leaving Tuesday night after work as we had to be in Rotorua by noon Wednesday.

While Jude was spending time with her ride coach, I went to the courier depot to collect Jude's 09 bike which had finally arrived, then back to the forest to do a lap of the 24hr course, before meeting up with Jude to do another, But as it turned out some of the single track still hadn't been made so we didn't quite ride the correct course but close enough to get an idea

Thursday morning I built the new bike to within a fairly close set up of her 08 bike, but as the shock needs to go to Blueshark to be re-valved and the front forks need a few miles on them to run them in, it was never going to be ready to be Judes main race bike for this weekend. After doing a lap on her 08 bike she took the 09 bike for a quick squirt and came back saying although it's not set up correctly and the brakes were spongy it seemed faster & more nimble. Unfortunately there was no way I could it get race ready in time.

Friday after I mowed Dean & Helen's lawn, that is were we stayed for Wednesday and Thurday nights (thanks guys very much and sorry about leaving the box behind), we went and did a shortened version of course. Off the motel where we turned it into a bomb site sorting gear and food etc. after dinner I went for a night ride, I chose to do another lap and found out what we had been riding in 3 places was not where the track was to go on race day , we had been riding what the map showed, oh well apart from one short piece of track it didn't cause Jude too much issue.

Gav and Lisa arrived about 11pm.........onto 6:45 am and the alarm went off and I had had very little sleep. The heat and stressing over had I done/brought every thing I need to etc......
Jude said time to get up......I think I grumbled back something along the lines of "its still dark outside do I have to?" the reply was a very stern "yes" so up I got(I can't remember the last time I slept that badly before an event). Called out to Gav, who was awake I think and off down to the forest to set up the tents and trailer, then back to the motel for breakie & showers etc

10am back to the tents for the final set up and Gav gave Jude's bike it's last once over and test ride............

12 noon and they're off.....

Jude rocked the first lap in not too bad a pace I think she was in about 5th at the end of that lap anyway with Lisa doing Jude's drinks etc there was not much for me to do. During Jude's third lap I decided to go out and take a few photos when Jude passed me in "Mad If You Don't" she yelled she need to speak to me so I jumped on my bike and caught her just before "Ball and Chain" but decided it would be easier to speak to her on the next fire road

The gears were not 100% & she was not happy with tyres she had on as there were a few damp spots and loose sections appearing. Knowing that Gav was somewhere on the course ahead of Jude I took off to half way along Dragons tail where Gav arrived a few Min's later. After some discussion we decided how to fix these issues so Gav carried on back to the pits I waited for Jude to come through then head down to the beginning of "Lion".

While on the way there I realised our plan was flawed and devised another one because the tyres she wanted where on the spare bike. I told Jude she would have to take the spare bike out for a lap to which she reply "nah"..... hmmm ok I need another plan, I rode around to "Katore Road" via "Pig" while Jude road up "Lion" By this stage Jude had decided that maybe she could take the spare bike out...phew

After a quick mission back to pits to tell Gav the change of plans and take the wheels out the bike I was riding, cos they need to be in the spare bike for the plan to happen. new bike ready, Jude arrived out on the new bike, old bike in to stand we swapped tyres checked brakes Gav cleaned the drive train and adjusted the gears, while I cleaned the perpetuem off the frame and shock etc, then mounted the lights as it was getting to that time. Because of the change in plans it sort of messed Jude's stops a bit? if that had any effect on her later, I will let her tell you that

The next time I was needed was about midnight - her bar light had gone out, we were hoping for another lap from it, swapped batteries, all ok but what I should have done was also swapped her helmet light battery. Cos after Jude had gone again I did some quick sums and figured

Jude would not finish that lap with in 6hrs the supposed minimum life of the battery and last one had not lasted quite 6 hrs, so it was off up to Katore Rd with a new battery Jude arrived there at 6hr 20 on the battery so we swapped it there.

After the next stop Lisa decided that she would like to go for a ride so I was left in the tent alone (sob) although Lisa did make it back for Jude's next stop, she went out again and it was during this period I finally started feeling sleepy but with only 20 mins till Jude was due back I stayed awake.
After Jude's next stop the temp had dropped to 4 degrees yes it was bloody cold and Lisa was hogging the heater but I did mange about 1/2 hr sleep with that and one of Ed's hot Chocolates and bacon and eggs for breakie (thanks R&R for the use of your BBQ) I was feeling really good

Jude came in and it was lights off time and Gav had arrived back from his 5 &1/2 sleep at the motel to give the bike a quick once over and out Jude went again on her 14th lap. During her 15th lap Lisa and I discussed the plan for the last lap and it was along the lines of anything over 1:40 and she goes out again, anything between 1:20 &1:40 she gets to choose, anything less that that and we call it a day as it was going to make no difference to the results, the comment was "I'm done as she came in to the tent area" but as she pulled up there was just under 2hrs to go so I didn't let her off the bike and removed her vest while Lisa handed her some food...

With some moaning Jude head out on her 16th lap , I then went and asked Lisa if she could follow Jude around for safety reasons, as I knew Jude very little left and my concern was if she had crashed she prolly would not have been able untangle herself from the bike to pick herself up but fortunately that didn't happen and she finished with about 17 mins to spare

Next it was time to pack up, sorry Gav I was not able to utilise you more but I was on Auto pilot at that stage, but fortunately packing is no longer the job it used to be and had it pretty much done by prize giving (shame there was no actual podium)

Back at the motel in the shower I was that tired I fell asleep, only to wake up when I landed against the wall..

It was all very much worth it

I would like to thank :-
N-duro Events Team for the event
Lisa - You rock, without you it would have been a lot harder for everyone
Gav - for keeping the bikes running faultless
Dean & Helan for putting up with us for a couple of days and the pics
Marcello for entertainment
The guys from Bikevegas

Adventurebrands for the Jamis Bicycles
Worrall's for Sram, Continental Tyres & CrankBrothers
Porirua Cycle & Mower Centre

Oh and Jude cos you reached all your goals for this event

As this was Jude's second 24hr, we still made a few mistakes and we learned a lot

hopefully Judes report will on her blog by mid next week

The 2009 N-duro 12/24hr and NZ 24hr solo Champs are over for another year

Team Major Debt took the overall & mixed 24hr (Cabin, Nic, T-Rex & Cam Durno)
Team R&R Wellington chased them & sometimes lead them for all the race
R&R Welly did take out 24hr open men, including a couple of Bushlovers and Conner power and the fast Junior Jamis Dragon pilot Tom Bradshaw
Bush lover Wacko Jacko took out the "NZ SS 24hr Solo" tittle and i believe he was fast enough to be 2nd solo over all ?
Tony Hog won the Open men's NZ 24 hr Solo title
Erin Green won the Woman's NZ 24hr Solo tittle with Jude in third

Friends Tim and Charlotte won the mixed 12hr cat
Another Bushlover Nick kennedy finished 2nd solo 12hr

24 hr report 1

Over the last couple of days I have done 3 laps of the course. it measure out at about 16km. It is not as techy as the last few 24hr races Dean has run but I do think it going to be physically hard as there is very little descending.

Not Much riding

The week before Karapoti I spent it either in bed or on the couch as on the Monday I had picked up some stupid virus with made me go from shivering to sweating like mad, I tried to go back to work on the Wednesday but that lasted about 2hrs before I was told to go home again. Fortunately I came right enough to take Jude out to the Mud feast that was "poti" but I was not well enough to tail end charlie.

the follow week I was able to go back to work but it was a struggle at times as i was still not felling 100%, for the early part of the week. I stayed of my bike till Saturday were I went for easy ride at Makara for about an 1hr. After the ride we(Jude & I) s'posed to meet up with Big Gav, his car was still in the carpark so after trying a couple of different phone numbers (yes Gav the techno-phobe has 2 phones) Ashley who he was riding with answered it, we then found out the where at A&E, Gav had had an Epic spill on the extreme trail Sally Alley, it's one of the easyish trails that has a habit of biting occasionally.

Back to Gav he chipped a tooth and need 9 stitches to his face and good dose of Concussion and over the next couple of days a few more aches and pain became apparent. the whole think is a pisser cos he flew out to OZ today for the Oceania champs this weekend in Thredbo Australia. Last night he was unsure if he will be up to racing but i guess he can make that call that in the week

On Sunday Jude had a 2 hrs of "just ride your MTB" programmed, so along with Lisa, we did a Grand loop with a couple of extra loops of Magic Carpet, Upper Koru, Sally Alley, RE which went OK but I was pretty shattered by the time I got to the peak, so enjoyed the very sifty pace down,

Monday was the Makara Grand loop Challenge TT, as I arrived just as it was about to start I drove up to Allington Rd entry and armed with my camera rode into SA from there I got a few pics then up to RE were I got a few more pics, but need to figure out to set the camera up for the fading light cos I blurred a lot (yer ok, I normally do but I had got better or so I had thought)
anyway a link my efforts there is posted up on the side bar. In the carpark tellin tall stories ???

Yesterday I went for another loop of the park but again by the time I got to the top I was really shattered, more so than Sunday so the ride down was not the best, I am having a rest today as we (Jude has in her proggramme) a night ride tommorrow night

Its now only about 10 days till NZ 24hr Solo champs in rotorua, which Jude is contesting and I'm going to be a (hopefully small) part of her support crew the map is finaly up here.

Its looking like it will be fairly fast course for the team racers, Im guessing around 40mins and bit longer for the solo's, Jude and I are heading mid week so we will get to suss it out wednesday arvo all going well

some fact's about Karapoti , M-Pro class

these fact have been blatently stolen of vorb, Thank-you Mr Wiggles

Best time last year: 2:18.59
Best time this year: 2:28.39

Median time in MPRO last year - 2:55.59
Median time in MPRO this year: 3.12.30

Number in MPRO finishing over 3:30 last year - 23
Number in MPRO finishing over 3:30 this year - 26

Number in MPRO finishing over 4 hrs last year - 11
Number in MPRO finishing over 4 hrs this year - 10

Number in MPRO finishing last year: 110
Number in MPRO finishing this year: 100

Txt's during the day ay karapoti

I take no responsibility for any info here, it is only based on what I saw and heard

Charlotte 3rd in cat

Posted by Shane at 5:00 PM

No records today. lots of stories of woe. bushlove boys tony and dave went sub 3. pb on his wife's bike for dave.

Posted by Shane at 3:56 PM

Cabin 1st stu 2nd

Posted by Shane at 12:08 PM

Ozzy Adrian Jackson leads by 11 min

Posted by Shane at 11:22 AM

Stu, Gav, Hisky, Cabin are chasing the lead down big ring

Posted by Shane at 11:08 AM

Guess i spoke to soon the wet and wind arrived for the womans start

Posted by Shane at 10:28 AM

The pro elite start got under way on time. at the moment it seems the rain might have stoped. the circators are out in force

Posted by Shane at 9:51 AM

Karapoti Today and it rained lots though the night and is still raining.

Posted by Shane at 6:45 AM


....

a new trail

Well, an old trail now legal for cycle use. Last december the Skyline to Karori Cemetry link trail was opened to cycles,
Last Thursday I finally got around to riding it, I had Jude drop me of at Wilton power / Chartwell station, I rode to top of the trail along part of Skyline from there, which is not to bad a ride, finding the top of the trail is not to bad. The new mini cattle stops next the gates certainly make life a lot easier, the new Skyline Cemetery link its self, while it some fun bits in it, its not a trail I came away from wanting to go ride down again asap, on a whole its relatively easy riding, little narrow in places with two very tight switchbacks and one intersection that is easy to go the wrong way. if you like me come to an almost un-rideable up Hill section you have gone the wrong way

for the rest of the ride that day I rode up Scout Hall and down Salvation, followed by a quick loop up Koru, Sally Alley, RE , Swigg Starfish in Makara Peak MTB Park,

On Sunday I thought maybe I was missing something when I rode the S-C link, so I thought I would try it in the upwards direction, I started at by going up Salvation first, then down Scout Hall and the top of Goldmine, then it was over to the cemetery to go up the link which in opinion is far better way to ride it, certainly more of a challenge. I then headed south along skyline and dropped down to Karori Park via DH 98 which is currently being re-instated, so should only get better,

Then into Makara Peak via the top of Rimu & Amp connector to drop down RE, Swigg, Starfish to finish of a good ride

Note: will be interesting to see how much longer access to the Allington Rd end of Rimu will be available as it looks like some building is going on at the end of it

A full set

After finishing 2nd at the first round and 3rd at the 2nd round, I jokingly said I will just have to win the last round to collect the full set, and like "Bevan" I have left the hard one till last

Looking at the course map I sorta figure that this one would be the hardest one for me with the amount of fire road climbing, but it did have all the good single tracks, so that sorta made up for it.

Tuesday and Wednesday I went out on my roady and thrashed my legs! Oops? And Thursday I groveled up Koru? Oh well hopefully 2 days of rest will be enough?

We headed to Taupo Friday night so Jude could do her 10hr training ride the next day, I followed/lead her around in the van - unfortunately I didn’t manage my food and drink very well.............you can see were this is going?.....how many more excuses can I find???

Did I mention the weather, the storm that had rolled through on the Friday had brought down trees etc,
Yes one of the trails (Genesis) was cut from the course and more of Dipper was added.

Anyway after the gray start to the morning by the time we got to the venue the sun was shining, so I set up the easy up unloaded the van. Jude, after much yakking, headed out on another 85ks of road riding while I went for quick warm up spin up the road then straight after briefing I lined up on the line I the second row leaving enough room for one of Catherine's Gay couple mates to jump in front of me . It’s alright the Bushlove jayboi (Tiger) was always going to beat me, something do with being a few years younger and even more kgs lighter,

With my much improved start position (from last round) I was in the top dozen heading in the forest, a few whippets passed me up the fire road, I passed a couple back in the first single track
then up the next fire road ( the climb to highest point on the track & the beginning of GunnaGotta) then swapped places back and forth with a couple of others

I began Gunna Gotta with a tentative start as it was quite slippery but I soon got into a rhythm and caught and was kindly let past 2 riders, A Trail and Tickler went without incident as did BRN2, I was feeling really strong through the mid section of BRN2 but this soon disappeared in that end section. As I entered Lyon trail I heard the 45k lead moto coming through BRN2 , so I made a hard effort up there not wanting the moto to catch me, which it still hadn't by the time I got the end of Turkish Delight, I suspect they pulled the pin soon after so I missed out on my intake of 2 stroke fumes to get me to the finish.

I had a reasonable idea that I was most likely in a podium position, but still not 100% sure. And with only Dipper and Rosebank left I dug in to see if I could finish without getting passed by the lead 45k riders which I managed. My time was about 8 Min's slower than round 2 so I had to wait till prize giving to see how I had got on......

25k master men 3rd "not my name", hey well I got second maybe??? 2nd "not my name" oh well hopefully I had done enough to keep my lead(I'm 95% sure I was leading that) in the series for the class.......1st Shane Wetzel WTF, yes I had done it won my first MTB(class) race and I now have the full set of plates 3rd 2nd and 1st.......

To top it off, I won my class by about 7 Min's ....and waiting for the results for the series which are due in the next couple of days... http://www.n-duro.co.nz/latest_news.php?id=27

Congrats to Catherine on her class win and to the other jayboi (Angry) for his 3rd in class

photos are on Helens photo site and at photoengineers links up on the right

today is the last round of the summer cup

yesterday Jude did a 10hr road ride and I have post some pics on her blog

I will post all the pics including the scenery pics on my photo sight, hopefully by tomorrow


It rained through the night sometimes quit hard so dust wont be a factor today.
It has dawned very grey with low dark cloud, so not sure what the weather is going to do?

the pic below is from the back balcony of the motel last night

Jamis on top again

Congrats to Mikey Northcott and Samara Shepard for winning the pro elite classes at the final round of the South Island XC cup

Karapoti pre ride

Yesterday I went with Jude on her only pre ride for this years Karapoti. We were also joined by Tim and Charlotte for this ride.This is a race that just does not appeal to me, last year I enjoyed it as a training ride, this year even I still enjoy the challenge that is "Doppers" and I bar 1 dap in a 'muppet light headed in a none technical part moment' rode all the way up non-stop for the first time. I enjoyed the ride less this year? maybe it is because the have graded both the "Warm up" and "Deadwood" climbs taking the technical aspect out of the climbs, I think for this reason it gave me no desire to ride much more of Deadwood than I did last year, its no longer a challenge to pick and ride your line, now its just a straight out grunt (that my opinion anyway)

The other think I noticed this time was we got a lot more grit in the drive train, were as last year it was just mud, that may have been something to do with the heavy rains we had last week? I got a bad case of chain suck going down the "Rock Garden" and had to stop to clean and lube my chain, last years 3 laps I did, I never stopped to oil my chain.




"Devils Stair Case" was much the same, although someone has done some spade work up there creating some dry lines around a couple of the mud bogs, wonder how long it will take for the moto's to destroy them ? hopefully they will last till after the race?

Heading down "Big Ring" and "Pram" is much the same, although there is a descent sized rut on the exit to the 180 right hander on the last steep bit just before river

I have again offered to be "Tail End Charlie" this year, so it will be interesting see if it improves any with a few hundred pre riders and a 1000 odd racers over it?


A side note looking forward to the last Rnd of the Summer Cup this weekend

The map for the N-duro Summer Cup Rnd 3 is now been posted....here

Results

have just been studying the results

Round 1 I finished 10th overall in the 25km
Round 2 I finished 11th overall in the 25km

so with a 2nd and 3rd in class it appears that I am 1st in class by about 14 mins

and about 5th overall in the 25km

the results for rnd 2 are here
the results for rnd 1 are here

n-duro Summer Cup 2

Man its hot up here. 3rd in masters for me 1hr 16, so was happy with that

Dirk Peters won the 45k ahead of Cabin who suffered from chain jamming problems .

Mono (Dave Sharpe) had crash early on and sprained his wrist (no the other one) so didn't have a good ride, quite few riders are wondering around with bloody trails, Hisky being one of them. The dryness made it super slippery. Seems to a quite few tales of woe including Stu Holtham who rear der cable came out from under the pinch bolt at about the 1/2 way point.

Anyway my story....after a quick blast through Rosebank (loving that trail at moment) to warm up I got yakking (silly me) and was to late to the start line and ended up near the back, so I had to work pretty hard on the grass to try and make up some places before the single track.

The first few trails went ok, but I seemed to be riding at red line and as soon as I hit the bigger climbs in Challenge I started gasping for air, I did manage ride the second climb where a lot in front of me got off and walked, from there things didn't really get much better as I swapped places with a group of 3 other riders on a regular basis.

It wasn't till Dragon's Tail that I started to get thing back together, maybe it was again following the 45k lead moto that helped, (not really as it was too dusty so it was more of a pain) I rode really backed off(Dirk Peters passed me in here, which we had a small discussion about at the end, all good now) but still managed to close the gap on the 3 in front and passed them down the gravel road only to drop my chain on the first pinch climb in Pig and have 2 of the 3 pass me back again. Cabin also passed me here while I was running(ok maybe walking) up the climb.

About a 1/3 the way though Dipper I re caught, passed & gapped the 2 riders never to have them get near me again, I also caught and passed a junior rider that I let past on Tickler.

Once again I was a about 2mins shy on the overall prizes, But hell for me to get a top 3 in cat is more than enough.

Pics thanks to Helen

ALL of Helen's pics from rnd 1 & 2 are here

.

It has dawned quite grey so hopefully it won't be to hot out on the trails, 10:30 start