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.