Heslington Circuit 29 November

I knew that something was amiss when I attacked on the first lap and no one came with me.  I kind of expected someone like Dean or Chris to come with me so the fact that they didn't was a little suprising.  

It quickly became apparant that they were both working for Tom and Karen as whenever anyone got too far away they just chased them down.  I attacked several times in order to try and put them both under pressure and to try and get others to come with me but it was no use partly because very few others were happy to take the risk.  Even when I explained what was happening they just didn't seem to get it.

So as expected it came down to a group sprint and as Karen is not the best climber it meant that really everyone was left.  Still it was a good training ride.

Source to Sea - 8th Nov

Well our team (Chris C, Rob Searle and myself) did quite well.  Here's the offical report:

Perfect conditions for Source to Sea 
CYCLING
Nelson | Tuesday, 11 November 2008
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The second Source to Sea Cycle Challenge was held in perfect conditions on Saturday.


On Thursday the start area at Nelson Lakes National Park - the source of the Buller River - was a picture of winter with 5cm of fresh snow at lake level. By Friday, hail and rain was still thrashing the region but the forecast held true to a calm, cloudless day on Saturday as the 760 participants were greeted to a superb day for riding.

The Source to Sea course is held over 100 miles (160km) on the riverbanks of the Buller River. The course drops 620 metres in elevation from the start at Lake Rotoiti to the Carters Beach finish at Westport, offering individual and relay sections.

This year also included the pro elite class for A grade and licensed riders, which was made up of 3-rider teams, with the fastest women's and men's team each racing for $750 cash.

In the pro race, Stoke Cycles fielded two teams, Asterix and Obelisk. While these teams included New Zealand cycling legends, Chris Nicholson and Nathan Dahlberg, they were expected to have some competitive racing from Nelson Alarms and Village Cycles.

Despite some aggressive riding from Dean Fulton of team Village Cycles and a strong performance from Nelson Alarms, the Stoke Cycles teams controlled the event and rode well as a combine to take first and third positions, Nelson Alarms claiming second.

In the women's pro teams, Village Cycles was also expected to be a contender but 2007 female winner Karen Fulton was leading the Toxic Coffee Femme team and on paper looked the favourite. By the end, the three Toxic Coffee women built up a collective 20-minute buffer to take the title.

On an individual level, Chris Nicholson (Stoke Cycles) won the race in a sprint from Nick Batt (Nelson Alarms). Dean Fulton (Village Cycles) attacked from the start and was soon joined by Caleb Hill (Stoke Cycles). The pair rode a hard pace down through the upper Buller Gorge but started to slow down after Inangahua, over 100km into the race.

With 30km to go the main bunch gathered speed and Nicholson and Batt punched off the front to catch and pass Fulton and Hill. The Stoke Cycles team then worked together to get pre-race favourite Nicholson clear and although Batt managed to stay in contact, the experience and power of Nicholson proved the winning edge taking 4hr 7min 14sec for the trip. Batt took second with Fulton in third.

In the women's race, Jeannie Kuhajek and Karen Fulton maintained contact with the main bunch and covered each other for the entire journey. Fulton positioned herself well for the sprint and pipped Kuhajek on the line to win the race for the second year in a row. Cathy Hamer of Greymouth took third place.

A major bunch of 50 riders arrived for the mass bunch sprint in the open men's race, with Cantabrians taking the top three spots. Craig Loveridge won from Aaron Hooper with Michael Ferigo third.

Christchurch-based Elizabeth Roberts won the women's event from Amanda Minty, also of Christchurch, with Eileen Searle of Nelson third.

In the Corporate Team section, the mixed teams section was won by NZ Police from SBS Banking with Pizzacarto Prima third.

The Men's Corporate Team was won by Pattle Delmore, AW Interiors Racers second and Works4U in third.

The 2009 event will be held in November with the date still to be set. For full results visit: www.sourcetosea.co.nz

Rotoiti to Renwick - 2nd November

A quick call to Pete saw me transported to the start of the Rotoiti - Renwick.  It had been some time since I had done this race and my first challenge happened even before the race started.   As I went to sign in one of the legs of my glasses broke.  The thought of racing with limited visibility didn't really appeal.  Thankfully with the assistance of Paul D and an endless supply of insulation tape we managed to create something that while not initially taking the fashion world by storm was hopefully going to hold together until the end.

There had been a rumour that we might be hitting it hard from the start which proved to be completely true.  Very quickly the field that had been pretty small to begin with (maybe 20?) was reduced to about 11.  I was feeling a bit tired from my escapade the day before so found it all a bit hard until we got to the 60km mark where I started to feel quite good.

The group worked together haphazardly with no real purpose but ended up catching up with the Intermediate group at around the 80km mark.  We tried to blow through them but the tandem in the group brought them all back to us.  Normally I don't get involved in the sprint and given that I was now shoulder to shoulder with riders from a different race that were eager to mix it up with us just reinforced my intention on keeping out of trouble.  As we got towards the end I saw a gap appear in the middle of the pack and said to Grant Jones that I was going to go straight through the middle and did he want a lead out.  Just as I was about to go it closed up but I found a space on the right hand side and went for it.  Grant was ready for it and we managed to get a good gap on the rest of the group.  Grant launched as I faded and managed to make it to the line.  He was pretty pleased and there was an element of satisfaction in pulling it off.

The meal back at the pub with Pete, Ritchie and Karl etc was great.  They had all had good rides so it was a good day out for all of us.

Wakefield & Coastals - 1st November

It was wet - very wet... In fact I'm not sure that I have raced in quite as much rain before.  It was also very windy.  While it hadn't been raining during my ride to the start I had been alarmed to see my HR on 88% while the speed I was doing was only 30kph.  Just as I got to Richmond the rain started and for once in my life I opted to wear a vest (although given the sail like nature of my vest I chose to wear it under my shirt).

We did a quick pace out towards Brightwater.  Not wanting to be dropped going up Heslington I figured that the best defence was to drive the pace up the valley.  I could see someone just behind me so I figured that we couldn't be going that hard but at the steepest part of the climb I saw that it was only Mike Anderson, Rob S and myself with the others further down the road.  We worked together and established a reasonable gap however in the strong headwind it was unlikely that we would succeed.  

Tom H caught us up Maiseys and then as we turned into the old Stringer Strait we were joined by the others.  Chris N attacked on the  Appleby bridge and I managed to get across but was exhausted when I got there and could see that the whole thing was going to end a sprint outside the A&P Show Grounds and so I eased off the back and rode in with a couple of C grade riders which we had caught - I was too exhausted to do anything else anyway!

Te Rauparaha's Revenge 19th October

A fine day with almost no wind provided a nice change from previous years (it's often fine but almost always with a breeze in some direction).  There was quite a good number in the race class as the organisers decided to combine all racers into one group.

At the start there were a few attacks but it wasn't until the start of the hill where the action really began.   George attacked early on.  I decided that there was better to get over the hill with a small group as there was a long way to go.  Rob set the initial pace with me taking over through the middle section.  Kieran completed the top part.  At the top we had a handy group of about 8 so we soon caught George through the valley.  The Rai caused no problems - I think we lost one rider on the way down the hill but the group was mainly intact.  

I sheltered myself after the hills.  It's an uphill finish for TRR so I figured that if I conserved my energy that I may have a good chance at the end.  In Havelock as we approached the turnoff to take us to the hill I got a puncture which had to be the worst possible timing.  George won the climb with a total time of 2:07:14.  I quickly changed my tube and finished in 2:13:58.

Maybe I'll have better luck next time.

Takaka Hill Time Trial (Oct 12th)

Well after the previous days marathon effort I was really wondering if I would make it up the hill at all.  Numbers seemed down with very few racers turning up.  I started 2nd to last with George the last rider off.  Along the flat before the hill I felt terrible.  George caught me just at the start of the climb and flew past.  I could see Jeannie and Pete M just ahead and caught them through the steepest section.  I was starting to feel ok now and just kept pushing ahead to catch whoever I could see next.  I caught Bruce just past the Limeworks.  The finish had been slightly extended which made for some initial confusion however I finished in 46:55 which is my fastest time yet and placed 2nd.  George did an amazing time of 38:56 and bet the record.  While I would have hoped to have done a better time if I hadn't been so tired from the day before I certainly would never get close to his time.  I think that perhaps I could do a 45 - maybe next year.

S&G Race 11th Oct (Richmond, Dominion, Motueka, Ngatimoti, Waiwhero, Central, Moutere, Redwoods)

It was windy - not Seddon windy but windy enough to average 40kph from home to the start line so it was a bit of a dejavu experience from the week before.  

During the week I had gone for a small run which had proved to be a mistake as my legs had really ached since then so when I found myself under pressure in the cross wind at the 3km mark I found myself unable to respond and I was dropped.  With only 85km left to race this was going to be a long ride.

Determination (or stupidity) saw me press on.  At the top of the coastals road I saw Henry who had also been dropped.  I thought he might have jumped on behind me but a short time later when I saw Roger at the top of Dominion Road I realised that he hadn't so I was on my own.  The ride down to Motueka went ok as there was a tailwind but the turn at the Airport and the ride up to Ngatimoti was horrible as there was a head wind all of the way.  I consoled myself with the thought that no one in the group ahead would be interested in working so if I continued on I might actually catch them.

It wasn't until the top of Central road that I saw anyone at all.  By this stage I was dertermined to just get the ride over so I wasn't slowing down for anyone.  At Upper Moutere I saw Chris C who had stopped with some riders at the shop and was just starting out again.  I rode past and he jumped on and rode with me to the end.

I finished not far behind Ritchie V and averaged 32.48kph - not bad for a solo effort!  The ride home was a real struggle and in the end I phoned Hannah to pick me up.  I was pretty tired all evening.

Center Club Champs TT 5th October

The TT was held on the Waihopi course.  Thankfully this year the winds were not as strong as before.  We had a tail wind out to the turn around and I made good time however due to my efforts from the day before I paid for it on the return trip.  There was quite a strong breeze coming up the valley and I suffered.  In the end I placed 2nd with a time of 0:37:38  just under my target of 37 minutes.  Conway Taylor won with a ride of 36 something - I can't remember and the Cycling Marlborough website is never up to date!

Centre Club Champs Road Race - Seddon Oct 4th

This year the Centre Club Champs were held on the Seaview Circuit at Seddon.  The course started near the pub then quickly climbed up to a ridge and headed out to the coast.  Oddly enough this year the race was run as a graded race instead of in age categories like normal.  Apparantly this was to make the race harder - although the course took care making the race hard it was probably a good idea given that there would have only been about 3 riders in M1.

The weather was windy and with forecasts of gusts of up to 120kph and almost the entire course running at right angles to the wind it became quickly obvious that this was going to be a very hard race.  'A' grade had 80km of this undulating 20km out and back circuit.

As we got to the top of the ridge on the first lap (probably 1km into the race) there was a sudden gust that blew us from one side of the road to the other.  It was very scary and I almost decided to call it quits then and there.  Trying to find shelter in this cross wind was tricky and it would have to be one of my weak points.  At about the 7km mark the race turned into the wind and we were down to our small chaing ring and 19kph.  Grant was on the front and I moved up and did a long pull at the end of which the course turned back into a cross wind.  We were spread out right across the road and having just taken a turn I was struggling to get a sheltered position.  I was also concerned that another gust would just collapse the group and we would all hit the deck so I was probably a little more hesitant than normal.  At about the 8km mark I was dropped.  After the turn around I managed to get myself back to the group but still struggled to find shelter and really had no additional power to force myself into a better position.  I dangled in and out of the group about 3 times before we got to the downhill section to the start/finish turnaround.  This was a really blustery section and my cautiousness caused me to lose contact with the group.  At the turn around I thought about catching up again going up the hill but realised that each time we came back down I would be doing the same thing.  In the end I decided to keep safe and ride my own pace.  I held the distance to the group for the first 3 or 4 laps but eventually finished about 5 minutes behind which wasn't too bad for 80km.  I would have finished in the top 10 as well (there were not many people in the race!).

SG Opening Race 27 Sept

Well the first race for the summer series and my first race since donating blood - so I was a bit unsure what was going to happen.  Conditions were good.  The race was out to Mapua and then back to the A&P Showgrounds.  The group pretty much stayed together until the climb before Seaton valley.  Wanting to get in a better position I rode from the back of the group to the front where Chris N was setting the pace.  At the top of the climb Chris and I took a couple of turns.  I didn't realise that we had actually broken free.  Dean attacked and was followed by George but I thought that the rest of the group was with us and so when Chris bridged I was suprised to discover that I was by myself with the rest of the group some way back.  By then it was too late and given that Chris, George and Dean were not that far ahead and the group behind was quite large I sat up.  

This proved to be a mistake (and in fact it almost always seems to be a mistake) as the group was either unable or unwilling to chase them down.  In the end I opted for a last minute attack along the finishing straight and had I attempted it 50m later or had taken someone with me I might have finished it off but sadly it didn't work.  Still I was happy with the outcome as I had felt good and had managed to keep up on the climb so things were looking promising.

Takaka Lunch Run 20th September

Well it was a brilliant day for the Takaka Lunch Run with fine weather and only a gentle breeze to contend with.  Numbers were down this year with only Paul D, Chris C and myself starting at Richmond.  We picked up Rob S at Mapua and the 4 of us made good time to Motueka.  The climb up the Takaka hill split us up slightly with Rob riding ahead.  We all grouped back up at the top and then raced down the other side - Paul demonstrated his superior  downhill skills.  Back on the flat we timetrialed to Takaka - the pace was pretty fast and we got there at 11am - way ahead of our scheduled time.  

Thankfully Pete was already there.  He had driven to Riwaka and had biked from there and had made good time.  We all bustled into the Wholemeal Cafe for lunch.  The Wholemeal cafe would have to be one of my favourites in the region.  It has a good range of food at good prices and the staff have always been very helpful.  Hopefully refuled enough for our journey back we left the cafe and started back to Richmond.  Hamish appeared on his motorbike.  He had expected us to be much longer and was somewhat suprised to see us heading back as he arrived.  Pete rode with us a little way before heading off to see a friend.  The return climb up the Takaka hill was hard work.  Hamish had met us at the bottom of the hill and we had offloaded any surplus gear with was welcome.   Rob again took the KOM points with Chris covering any rearguard attacks.  We sped back down the hill to Motueka with Paul demonstrating yet again his downhill prowess (with Rob also demonstrating that his strengths lie in an uphill direction).  Back in Mot we stopped for water.  Chris was feeling the pressure now and was starting to struggle.  There is always a crosswind riding towards Tasman and it was hard for Chris and Paul to get shelter.  Rob parted us at Seaton Valley and rode home.  The three of us continued onto Richmond relieved to have finally finished.  

It had been a brilliant day with great weather and good company.  Our final average speed was 30kph which is certainly the fastest we have done.  Chris and I cycled back to my place which bought the total distance up to 208km.

The Final Countdown - Race 10

Unbelievebly race the start of Race 10 saw me in the leaders jersey.  Quite how this happened I'm not entirely sure and to be honest I still think that it was a setup.  Nevertheless I was resplendant in the Yellow Jersey - an event that was so unlikely that almost everyone asked me what had happened!

Being only 1 point ahead of George and with the race finishing at the top of the  Anniseed hill I didn't really entertain any thoughts of keeping the jersey at all.  Chris N was pretty upfront and said that he was going all out to finish ahead of me in the series which was nice of him.  Technically this was possible but I hoped it was to prove unlikely.

Dean launched the first attack almost immediately after the neutral zone.  Dean was probably the only person who was likely to take what looked to be a 2nd place overall finish from me.  Chris C immediately came to the front and started the chase.  We had quite a way to go so I didn't want Chris to burn himself out too soon.  I took some turns with George and Chris N doing a couple but the bulk of the work was done by Chris C.  

As I drifted back through the group I heard Chris N talking to Murray about how he was going to attack on the 2nd to last lap of the Hope Circuit.  As there were other grades racing on the same circuit we would often come across small groups of riders which we had to pass.  A larger group brought the opportunity for some entertainment.  Riding on the front I could see that there was a large group ahead and that we were coming into one of the corners which has a concrete island in the middle of the lane.  It looked like we would probably get to the corner at nearly the same time.  I wondered if I could time the contact just right so that a small group of us squeezed around before the other riders.  I increased the pace and strung out our group in a long line, sneaking around the corner just as the other group came to it and then carried on down the hill.  Chris C had made it round and came up to me saying that he hadn't seen a group split that way before.

On the 2nd to last lap coming into the Aniseed corner Chris N took off with George and Murray in tow.  I pulled out to chase and collided with Richie H.  We both grappled for control and for a moment it looked like we might hit the deck but fortunately we managed to separate and regain our composure and chase onto the back of Chris's attack.  We caught Dean on the 2nd to last lap so now we were all together.  Chris came and asked for any full water bottles I had and then gapped me, Henry and Richie H off the front.  The 3 of us worked together and had a small lead coming up to the start of the climb.  

The first part of the climb is pretty steep so I decided to not go all out.  I had also done a lot of work beforehand and that coupled with a chest cold that I had developed in the preceeding week meant I really didn't have any options.  I was soon joined and then passed by George, Chris N, Thomas & Kieran.  Thomas almost immediately stopped - he had gone too hard and needed to recover.  Kieran was just ahead but I had no chance of catching George and Chris N.  As the road leveled out a little I increased my speed but just finished behind Kieran.  Chris N had just won the race on the line from George.  Dean finished next behind me and Chris C got to the top of the hill before realising that he had another gear that he could have used.

In the end I finished the series 2nd overall.  Chris C finished 10th so together we did quite well.  It was certainly an educational experience.

When Plans Go Astray

Race 9 of the winter series should have been fairly straightforward.  With the big boys away the the BenchMark Race there was an opportunity to pick up some extra points.  The course was up 88 Valley and return so there wasn't going to be many places where you could get away and without the big guns splitting up the field you would have to be lucky to make a break that worked.

My initial plan was to try and get away up the 88 Valley climb.  I hoped that if Chris C and a couple of others could get away with me then we would have a chance.  Plan B was to try my luck with the sprint (hopefully with a handy lead-out from Chris).

Henry made a couple of half hearted attacks at the start of the race but was soon brought back.  I rode on the front going up the climb and just increased the pace.  I was soon by myself with only Thomas for company.  We rode past Henry and picked up his escape partner.  I tried to keep the pressure on down the hill and up to the end of the road where the turnaround was.  There was a small group slowly coming across and Thomas gave up.  By the time we had got around the turnaround the group was pretty much all back together.  We lapped out on the return trip and while I contemplated making a run for it I didn't want to risk any potential points if it didn't succeed.

Chris and I had tried to talk about a leadout at the end but in the general race confusion part of our conversation was never completed.  I had planned to move to the front in the last 2 km so we could control the runin to the Ranzau corner.  Chris had taken my movement to the front to mean that we had to get going and so he came up and started leading out.  I was trying to tell him to ease up but its almost impossible to hear anything being said at 46kph.  We came round the corner and he continued.  I had originally planned my launch point but as I came to it I saw that Henry, Gary and Murray had already started.  I struggled to get up to speed and in the end I placed 4th - pretty much where I normally get.  So the opportunity slipped away - mainly because I left my sprint too late.

So the lessons to be learnt are - communicate the plan and don't sprint too late (for me that is).  Chris did a great job, I'm not sure that I could have led out for so long.

I'm now placing 2nd in the series.  The final race finishes at the top of the Aniseed Valley hill so that will be a gut buster.  If I can finish in the top 5 I'll be pretty happy.

Hell of the Top of the South - Race 8

While it was heralded as the Hell of the Top of the South, Race 8 of the winter series gave only a glancing nod to this famous european race.  

The course consisted of multiple laps of the Wakefield, Bridge Valley circuit (about 9.5 km long and scheduled for sealing later in the year).  A grade stayed together until the climb over St Johns hill where I stretched the group out a bit and bought back an early attack by Richie and Gary.  Chris N and George attacked coming into the gravel section and we were all strung out in a long line.  An oncoming car and a gap opened up by a rider in front meant that I was dropped from the front group.  The gravel was quite thick in places and there were numerous punctures which I somehow had managed to avoid.   Chris C had made it into the front group and I tried to close in on them when we got back on the seal but it was too hard.  I picked up by a group containing Henry, Richie, Garry, Grant and a few others.  I had hoped that they might work together to try and chase but they showed little interest.  I rode hard on the front hoping that we might catch them but it was no use.  We passed Chris C twice fixing punctures.  As we came up to him the second time he waved and I threw him a tube.  On the last lap I rested as it was going to come down to a sprint.  Coming along Bird Lane I was at the front but needed to get into a better position.  No one was coming through so as we went around the Bird Lane corner at a good pace I pulled hard to the left and applied the brakes.  The others shot past on the right and I was able to hop onto the back of the group.  The pace now really slowed as everyone started to watch everyone else.  I dropped off the back a little to give myself a run up.  The finish line was in Pictfure Road which was at the end of a short climb.  It was getting closer and as a car came past the group I launched my sprint.  I managed to hold them off and finished first in our group although Henry was very very close.  

I placed 5th overall which wasn't too bad an outcome.

Winter Series Race 7

Well we are into the home straight now for the Winter series with 3 more races to go.  Race 8 took us along the Coastals, through Ruby Bay, over Harleys, into Edwards Road, along Central Road and then back over the Moutere Hill, Waimea West before finally finishing in Ranzau road.  

I'm not really sure what happened for the first third of the race.  Right at the start a small group of us just difted off the front (Rob, Murray, Richie V and myself).  We were soon joined by Aaron and together we made it to the start of Harleys when we were joined by Chris N, Robin, George, Thomas and Dean.  The pace over Harleys was not too bad so the group pretty much stayed together (Richie dropped off).  Down to Edwards Road and along Central Chris, George and Robin played their "let a gap open to force someone else to close it and then attack and complain routine".  At the start of the main climb up Central Chris attacked and was quickly joined by George and Robin.  Looking at the combination and realising what the outcome would be if I joined them I decided to maintain my own pace and soon found myself with only Thomas for company (Thomas climbs really well).  On the downhill run to the Moutere Highway he dropped off so I waited and was joined by Rob and Murray.  The 4 of us rode together with myself doing the bulk of the work.  We could see that we were not going to catch the others but were pretty keen to keep away from the rest of the group.  We all stayed together over the Moutere and took turns into the head wind along Waimea West.  Murray was definitely suffering now.  Rob was looking quite good and it was hard to tell how Thomas felt.

We lost Murray over Burkes Bank.  Rob and I wound it out to try and limit the time losses between us and the front group.  As I had done the bulk of the work Rob had told Thomas to not sprint.  Rob led us out along Ranzau but partway along Thomas took off.  Thankfully he went too early and I was able to get on his wheel and then accelerate past.  I placed 4th which put me into 3rd place overall.  

Chris C was not far back - he had got boxed in at the critical moment and hadn't made it across to the group that caught us.  Henry told me that Chris had ridden on the front for most of the race before riding away at Brightwater - Henry was most impressed.

Benchmark Blunder

I was pretty keen to see how I did at the Nelson Benchmark round.  Things didn't go exactly as planned.  Mike Gane emailed me to ask what happened and my reply below really explains the whole sorry saga - need I say more?

Hi Mike,
Well we had the job of looking after the girls (Bronwyn & Karen). On
the first climb up Old Coach on the first lap Bronwyn dropped her
chain. She got on again and I waited at the top to pull her back to
the group except that even tucked up she couldn't keep up so I had to ease up a couple of times. Finally I realised that she wasn't going to make it back so I carried on to get back on myself.

Just as I was within striking distance of making contact the cars in
the caravan moved over to the left which blocked me off (the
commissionaires were pretty tough on going over the white line so I
couldn't go that way. By the time we got through cemetery corner is
was all over for me. I kept on riding and then on lap 3 got a
puncture. So in the end I placed last but averaged just over 33kph
for the 130km which wasn't too bad.

Karen of course got relegated at the last minutefor being pushed up the hill by David Ayre.

Cycling Nelson 40km Club Champs

As last years holder of this title I decided that I had better turn up and try to defend it.  The weather was overcast but not too cold which was a bonus.  The field was fairly small but there were some good riders there like George and Cameron.   

The initial pace was fairly relaxed although Danial charged off up the first climb but was soon bought back.  I attacked on the climb before Seaton Valley to see if we would thin out the group a bit.  Chris C and Aaron attacked up Seaton and as I wasn't going to chase Chris I just rode tempo and let the gap open.   Murray bought Chris back to the group but Aaron was still out ahead.  The rest of the remaining group didn't seem too interested in chasing him and as he was contesting for a different grade I wasn't going to expend too much energy in chasing.  After the 2nd lap at the top of the Dominion road intersection I increased the pace a little and soon found that I was out on my own.  Chris and Ritchie joined me and we rode together over the Moutere Hill.  We were caught on the run in to the Redwood Road turn off.  George and Cameron attacked and Chris got on their wheel.  I expected that someone would close the gap so I hesitated a bit.  I soon realised that no one was going to react so I bridged across.  

Chris had originally planned to lead me out but as we started in to the sprint George bumped me off his wheel (not really a suprise for anyone who rides with George) .  I was still recovering from the effort in bridging and so I found myself fading.  So Chris crossed the line just ahead of me and became the masters champion.

I was pretty pleased for Chris as he really was the stronger rider and deserved to win plus it sort of kept it in the family.  He is certainly riding well at the moment.

Return to Mt Heslington (Race 6)

The Mt Heslington circuit is always a hard course.  When I left home the temperature was 9 degrees which at the time made my clothing selection fairly straight forward.  Unfortunately by the time I got to Richmond it had dropped to 6 degrees.  Thankfully my handy supermarket bag provided some protection from the elements.

As the race progressed I realised that I was having a hard time with my breathing - often when it gets cold I start to feel really tight in my chest - its ok when the pace is not on but if things get too hard it really starts to cause a problem.

As usual I got in the break but with the increased intensity and my difficulty breathing there was no chance of me staying with it and I drifted back to the main group.

Just like the previous race the main guys doing the work were Chris, Paul, Rob, Murray and myself and we pretty much rode tempo for the rest of the race.  On the last lap I attacked at the fertiliser works and Chris bridged across but the group was not happy to let us go.  We sat in for the remainder of the lap.  In the final sprint there was a huge gap on the left hand side.  I got behind Chris and he led me out to the last 200m.  I managed to hold off Murray who was coming up on the right hand side and placed 5th overall (which seems to be where I'm always finishing).

Chris is riding really strongly at the moment - he certainly improves quickly.

Woollastons Warmup

The Woollastons Warmup was an opportunity to race on the circuit that is going to be used for the Nelson round of the Benchmark series.  The plan had been to duplicate the course and distance however due to the crappy weather Malcolm reduced our planned 8 laps down to 6.  Realistically he could have just gone with 3 laps and ended up with a similar result.

Chris C was a little late arriving but amused the A graders by handing me a bread & butter knife that Hannah had left at their place on the start line.  I have no idea what exactly I was going to do with it at the start of the race and it was hardly going to be sharp enough to be any use if it came down to a sprint.  Thankfully Paul Dowell gave it to his partner for "safekeeping".   Numbers were down a little on previous races but there was still a fairly large field in A grade.

Things started off slowly with the first lap being at almost cyclo tourist pace.  Dean Fulton attacked on the 2nd lap on the rise into Upper Moutere.  I bridged across and we completed a lap by ourselves.  It was hard work on the undulating circuit and there was really no opportunity to recover.  There is also not that much shelter that can be obtained through drafting - except for a couple of straights when you are riding into the wind.  Along the flat just after the Cemetry corner we were joined by Robin, George and Brent Harris.  Robin wanted us to go hard out for another 2 km - personally this was hardly possible and I should have sat on with Brent instead of trying to lap out with Robin, George and Dean.  Anyway it became a bit too much on the climb into Upper Moutere so I slipped of the group and continued at my own pace.

Just before the Moutere Hill I was joined by Chris C, Paul Dowell, Garry, Henry, Murray and Tom H.  The rest of A grade was nowhere to be seen and I thought it was possible that we might actually be able to catch up so I kept the pressure on.  Paul tried to organise us into a coherent unit but there were too many people sitting on and so it pretty unfruitful.  For the rest of the race it was either Chris or myself on the front.  Chris N commented later that it looked like a Nelson Alarms pursuit team (our race numbers are 23 and 24 so that and the matching uniform added to the impression).  

It started to get really wet and windy which meant you had to be carefull.  On the 2nd to last lap we saw that Gethan had fallen on the Dominion Road intersection.  He was lying on the ground, wrapped in blanket.  Thankfully the ambulance was on the way but it was a reminder of how quickly your day can change.  2 laps later and the rain had ceased.

Chris was riding really well and so I was keen to get him into what would be at least 5th place.  He wasn't too worried but I was determined to have at least one of us get a place given we were doing all the work.  On the last lap things got more tatical I tried gapping Chris off the front but Paul was wise to it and closed the gap.  I made my way to the back of the group and sat in.  I thought that the climb up Old Coach Road wouldn't give me enough of a lead over anyone else who was capable of chasing - mainly Henry who had done virtually nothing and can climb quite well.  So I went early at the run-in to the Old Coach turnoff.  I guess the rest expected me to try later so the element of suprise seemed to work but it was hard work.  Henry was behind me for a bit but by halfway up the climb he had dropped off.  Garry was also chasing and it was still a long way to the line and he would have a good chance of catching me so I had to really pour on the gas along the top.

Thankfully I managed to hold them off and placed 5th.  Henry and Garry came 6th & 7th and Chris led the rest of the group in.

We discovered again that the rest of A grade (apart from Ritchie V) had pulled out.  I'm not sure what is happening with A grade but this is probably the 3rd race I've done (and certainly the 2nd on this circuit) where the group haven't all finished.  I'm a little suprised and I guess a bit disappointed.  

I've never felt comfortable pulling out of a race.  I've done it 3 times - twice due to punctures.  Once was in the rain and I punctured 10km from the finish and was picked up by a support car.  Once was on an attempt to do the Takaka Hill TT where I punctured 3 times and ran out of tubes and once where I was dropped early on in the Nelson Marlborough Club champs and had been planning to do the TT the next day.  I was in the wrong place and was caught out and decided to stop and conserve my energy for TT.  Its this last one that I feel most uneasy about and I'm still not convinced that it was the right thing to do.  In the TT I had some mechanincal issues and came 2nd (not hard out of 3 starters) but dropping out of the road race somehow felt like cheating.

Brass Nipple (SG Winter Series Race 4)

This year the Brass Nipple was on a slightly different course - starting and finishing on Pugh road with the prize giving at The Grape Escape.  Numbers were good with 75 riders turning up.

It was a beautiful sunny day with a slight SW wind.  The circuit took us out to Pea Viner corner and then through Waimea West, back through Hope and then out to Pomona and Marriages, over Harley's and then Moutere, Waimea West, Ranzau finishing in Pughs road again.  The pace was pretty moderate although on the first leg from Brightwater Paul Odlin picked up the speed and we found ourselves galloping along at over 50kph.  This caught out a few people and those that weren't awake at the time were soon trailing in the distance.

The climbs along the coastal road were pretty relaxed as was the climb over Pomona.   On Harleys we lost a few people - we started the climb at the bottom at 40kph - I had dropped into my small chain ring coming into the corner to be in the right gear for the climb but almost had to change back up to the big ring  to keep up.  My plan had been to ride to support Chris C as he was further ahead in the series points.  At the top of Harleys there was some road works and unfortunately Chris punctured.  I carried on - even if I stopped there would have been no chance of us getting back.

On Moutere George attacked and rode clear with Paul.  I didn't even try to go with them (I probably couldn't have) and instead rode tempo leading the rest of the group up the hill which at the top had been reduced to Murray, Garry, Chris H, Rob S & myself.  We worked together through Waimea West to try and catch them but Paul was obiously keen to win and although for a while we were gaining on them, as soon as we turned into the tailwind they were away.  I'd actually found it hard going along Waimea West as was a bit concerned about what was obviously going to be a sprint for 3rd.  In the end Murray and Rob just bet me so finished in 5th place.  

The Grape Escape provided vegetarian soup or seafood chowder along with bread and cheese.  Its quite a good venue although in poorer conditions I think Seigfreids would be better as it has a larger indoor area.

6 Hours of Suffering (WWPD)

Actually the 6 Hour MTB Blast wasn't that bad.  The weather was good - sunny but still cold so numbers were good.  Each lap was about 9km long.  I started right at the back and just cruised around and was making fairly reasonable lap times (about 27minutes a lap).  I had a short stop to get something to eat and also lost a bit of time helping a guy mend his chain (he was stopped on the side of the track and I thought to myself What Would Pete Do (WWPD)? - it didn't take long to decide) but apart from that it was fairly consistent riding.

In the end I placed 9th (out of 17) with 11 laps (the winner did 14).  Not too bad considering the hard ride the day before and my natural inaptitude for MTB.

Winter Series Race 3 - An Arctic Adventure!

Race 3 of the winter series left Richmond, climbed dominion and then completed 3 laps of the Woollastons circuit.  There was quite a large field in A grade (it's been quite a large group for each race).  Chris N wasn't there and as it was a double points day it was inevitable that we would end up with a new race leader.

As expected the race broke up on the climb up Dominion.  I made it into the break along with Paul Odlin, Robin Reid, Dean Fulton, Brent Harris, Chris Charles, Murray Sheridan and George Bennett so we had a pretty good group.  Things went smoothly at first and then Robin attacked at the start of the first lap around Woollastons and was joined by Brent Harris.  I did a long pull to help chase but was dropped along with Murray on the first steep climb - my ability to get into the break but exit soon after is in danger of becoming a habit.

Murray and I chased for a while and for sometime it looked like we would get back on but Murray was definitely weakening and every time he came through our speed would drop by about 4kph.  I towed him for the next couple of laps and then carried on while he drifted off.  The rest of A grade was nowhere to be seen and I was quite keen to keep it that way.  It was getting pretty cold now and you could see that there was snow falling around the Takaka Hill & Mt Campbell.  I crossed the line in 7th place - almost 2.5 minutes behind the winning group.  Chris C managed to come 4th and is now in 4th place overall - he is riding really well.  I'm currently in 6th place.  Still we have another 7 races to go so a lot can happen.  Paul is currently 2nd and is apparently going overseas so he will not complete the series which will move us all up 1 position.

The next race is the Brass Nipple and we have time trials the day before so it could be interesting if everyone is tired from the trials.

In Praise of Persistence

Race 2 of the Winter Series was 85km of the Heslington circuit (7 laps for A grade).  The race started fairly easily with a good pace being held to the Mt Heslignton road turn off.  Although I was puzzeled as to where Chris C was - I couldn't see him in the group anywhere.  Post race I discovered that he had suffered a problem with his chain and ended up starting with D grade.  He rode is way through the grades and was about to catch A when we picked up the pace.  I think that in the end he just sat on the back of B grade.

Anyway I wasn't to know this - so back in the A grade race I had tried to stay in the first quarter of the group.  As we started up the first climb at the beginning of Mt Heslington road I was swamped by slower climbers so as soon as I had a chance I got to the front and rode tempo.  After a short amount of time I realised that I had no one behind me and that the group was a wee way back.  Not wanting to get dropped on the downhill I carried on - expecting the group to come back together down the other side.  As I started down the valley I heard a shout and was joined by Chris N, Paul Odlin and Robin Reid.  I managed to get on the back of them and we were joined by 5 others - Dean Fulton, Brendon Neylon, David Ayre, Grant Stirling & Kieron (actually Grant and Kieron may have been in a breakaway from the start - there was someone out there but I didn't see who it was).  The group worked togther with Chris and Paul doing the bigger turns - I was struggling again to match their speed on the flat.  We stayed together but on the next lap Grant dropped out.  At the start of the climb I went to the front and rode tempo again.  The sun made it hard to see if there was anyone behind me so it was only when Dean shot past just before the steepest part and was later followed by the rest that I realised that they had gapped me off the front.  I chased but was unable to catch them and they remained tantalisingly just out of reach for the remainder of the lap.

Riding by myself into the headwind wasn't a whole lot of fun but I couldn't see the remainder of our group behind me so I kept going.  I picked up a couple of juniors and towed them to the end of their race and then finally - halfway through lap 4 I saw Brendon.  He had looked to be struggling earlier but two of us had to be quicker than just riding by myself.  I did the pulls on the uphill legs and he did longer turns on the flats where he was pretty strong.  At the start of our 4th lap we say Dean and David standing at the finish line - they had pulled out.  We kept our pace going and still couldn't see the rest of the chasing group behind us - we also couldn't see the rest of the guys ahead.  At the top of the climb on lap 6 we caught Kieron - he had stopped and was chatting with Dean and David.  Going into our last lap we were pretty focused on not getting caught and put in everything that we had.  I started to get some twinges of cramp but thankfully they went away.  Brendon eased up at the end and let me cross first - he was really thankful for the help but really had been just as strong.

We finished 2 minutes behind Paul, Chris and Robin but still managed to keep over 3 minutes ahead of the rest of the group - not bad at all.

I guess the lesson to be learnt (apart from getting stronger for the flats) is that sometimes perserverance pays off.   I went from having a chance in the initial break of finishing in the top 10(at worse) to finishing in the top 5 - not bad for a little bit of suffering but still a long way off from riding with the big boys.

This coming weekend is going to be hard - 100km of the Woollastons circuit on Saturday and then we have the 6hr MTB on the Sunday.  I think I'll need a rest after that.

Winter Series Starts

Ok, so its nearly the end of the week and I'm only just writing this now - some of us are slow developers.

The Winter Series started last Saturday which for a change was nice and sunny.  The course was Coastals, Dominion, Cemetery Corner, Moutere, Waimea West and finished in Ranzau road.  

The A grade was actually pretty big - in fact the turn out for the event was quite impressive.  All the big boys were out to play including Robin Reid, Paul Odlin and Chris Nicholson along with David Ayre who is up for a couple of weeks.  Things started calmly enough although David went out for an early attack which stretched out the rest of the group.  I was feeling ok and just tried to keep near the front of the bunch.  It wasn't until the start of Dominion that things started to heat up.   Chris increased the pace and at the top of the climb there was only myself and Tom Hodgson.  Chris didn't let up and we soon had a small break.  Soon we were joined by David and fellow Nelson Alarms teammate Chris Charles.  Coming out of Cemetry Corner it looked like we had been caught (that corner can really slow a group up) however Chris N continued on and we were joined by Dean Fulton.  I was struggling to keep up on the flat and just didn't seem to be recovering so Tom and I dropped off just before the Moutere.  Between the township and the start of the hill we were caught by the chasing group led by Paul.  The group broke up on the climb.  Somehow I managed to stay with the leaders and ended up with Paul, Robin, Ollie and Tom H and Tom Nicholson.  Back on the flat I found myself in trouble again.  Paul and Robin were doing some hard pulls with Robin bringing the pace up to around 45kph.  Ollie gapped us off just as I had finished my pull and so I didn't have enough energy to get back on.  We were soon joined by the rest of the chasing group who had been dropped on the Moutere hill.  The rest of the race was just like normal.  I tried to get away early into the Ranzau road corner but didn't have enough gas to maintain the gap so it all finished in a sprint.

So a bit of a unsatisfactory result.  Certainly I don't have too many problems going uphill but at the moment on the flat I'm finding it difficult to keep the pace up.  On the brighter side Chris C managed to finish 4th and so the Nelson Alarms team is well represented in the placings.  I'll try and help him maintain his position on the challenging Heslington circuit this weekend.

Mystery & Intrigue

The Brian Harford Mini Tour is one of the 7th Wonders of the Cycling Nelson Club world (one of the other wonders is unsolved mystery about why the CN 40km Club Champs is a scratch race yet the CN 80km Club Champs is a handicap?).  This year as usual the end result was not entirely what anybody expected.

The race is run in 3 stages.  The first stage is a short scratch start race from the club rooms to Seaton Valley - the stage may appear to be a simple scratch race but in fact there is a sealed handicap which is applied to the results at the end of the race.  This almost always ensures some form of controversy.

So how did it go?

Knowing that Chris Nicholson was sure to apply some pressure at some point on the first stage I thought it would be a good idea to get near the front as we came into the hills.   There is a subtle difference between being at the front and being off the front which I haven't yet fully grasped - thankfully I was joined by Cameron Karwoski from Blenheim and together we built up a reasonable lead.  Turning into Seaton we were joined by Chris N who seemed to appear out of thin air.  So it all came down to a sprint - well at least I got third!

The second stage was a timetrial from the Mapua school to the top of Harleys road.  I managed to catch the guy in front of me just before the start of the Ruby Bay hill.  Chris N caught me just past the begininng of the climb up Harleys.  I pretty much matched him all the way and ended up finishing the stage in 2nd place.

The final stage was a handicap race back from the bottom of Harleys, over the Moutere Hill and finishing in Redwood Valley road.  We had a small group of 5 consisting of myself, Chris N, Henry Kersten, Gary Overend and Cameron.  Henry was in trouble from the beginning and so the chasing was down to Cameron, Chris and me.  We stayed together coming over the hill and reached 75kph chasing down the other side, picking up groups along the way.  As predicted it came down to a sprint with only one group ahead of us (by about 30m).  

So why the mystery?  Well given the good performance we expected Chris N to win the whole thing (something which I think he expected as well) however in the end the winner was declared to be fellow Nelson Alarms team mate - Chris Charles!  Chris was as suprised as the rest of us as his best placing had been 4th or 5th on the fisrt stage and the time trial.  Further investigation showed that  Chris C had benefited from a sealed handicap of 30sec, which along with his good TT and a reasonable placing in the final stage had put him in the lead.

This wouldn't be the first time that Chris C has managed to achieve something like this and I doubt that it will be the last.

Kickstart

Ok so its been a while but you have to forgive me.  Firstly I started this project and then was immediately laid off work.  Now that things are back to normal I'm going to try and keep things a little more up to date.

The website is actually in the process of getting sorted out, I've started a new training program which is proving pretty hard to do so hopefully I'll end up with some reasonable form a some good results.

Apart from the TDV which was a bit of a balls up (team racing at it's worse) I've had some reasonable success with the 200km Grape Ride and some other local races.  The winter series is about to start so it will be all action from now on.