Naked Bun 23rd May

A cold overcast day saw the start of the Naked Bun.  Normally the race has managed to get very good weather but at least it wasn't raining.  There were a few attacks along the way to the Neudorf hill.  I managed to keep near the front on the climb although a few riders were dropped.  As we got to the Baton bridge I managed to slip away with Chris Sharland.  We rode well together with Chris just coming round at the end to win the stage.  The others were way back.
Stage 2 saw some team work from the AvantiPlus boys.  I tried to breakaway several times but was either chased down by Avanti riders or joined by them only to find that they wouldnt work at all.  The run in to the finish was the usual hectic fiasco with cars etc.  Tom N won the sprint and I finished with Chris to place 2nd overall.

TW Heslington 17th April

With a large number of riders away at Benchmark and a strong wind there was a very small A grade which was combined with B to make one race.  On the way out to Heslington Cameron and Tom N broke away.  I kept the pace up on the first circuit of Heslington in order to keep them in range but along River Tce Rob bridged across which meant I had to as well.  A number of the B grade riders caught up again in the head wind but another strong pull up the valley saw them drop off for good.  Quite how Rob and I managed to lose the race remains to be seen but I guess we aren't the most aggressive riders.  It came down to a sprint which was always going to be our week point.  I thought I was in a good position but a sudden gust of wind left me far too over geared.  Anyway I ended up 3rd.

Tasman 100 April 10th

This was my first race after the Old Farts Tour.  Certainly a week of steady riding didn't really put me in great shape for full on racing.
The A grade group was very small with about 8 or 9 of us.  The pace was full on at the start with us reaching up to 50kph on the flat along Appleby.  The speed didn't really seem to drop much on our way up the hill.  Partway up Robin and Caleb took off - it would be the last that we would see them as they stayed away for the entire time.  Rob S pulled out at Upper Moutere with a problem with his wheel.  Felix sat on the back saying that he was unwell as the rest of us  lapped out.  Chris, David and Chris S pulled away on Stanley Brook.  I was boxed in on the left so missed catching on although I probably wouldn't have made it anyway.  Felix, Dean and I lapped out with one of the young Fords and Joel sitting on.  Dean and Joel dropped off on the way to Spooners and I dropped off at the base of the climb.
Cramp was starting to become a problem but I managed to make it up the hill and caught up with Jono who had started in B grade.  We rode in together.  It was certainly a wakeup call and a hard welcome back to racing.

26th March - Old Farts Tour Stage 6

This was the last stage for me and Grant who had to get back to work. Gary had arranged a ride for us with Gail who was visitng relatives and who would pick us up on Blenheim.  We were also joined in the leg by Rudie who had come to do the last 2 days.  The forecast was for fine weather but with the prospect of head winds.  We lapped out with a small number of us doing the work until we got to Kekerengu store.  After some refreshments we carried on.  It was now a pretty strong head wind and so Grant and I spent time riding on the front to provide some shelter.  When others had a turn I created a 2nd group for shelter - it was hard work but as it was our last day it was a good opportunity for one last push.  We stopped briefly at the Seddon store for lunch and then continued on to Blenheim in much the same format.  A small fire had started on hills coming in to Blenehim and a number of cars had stopped to render assistance.  The fire truck was on its way and as we biked along the road we could feel the heat from the flames.  Ritchie suggested that we stop and help but exactly what 11 lycra clad loons in slippery bike shoes was going to achieve was beyond me.  As we got to Blenheim Gail appeared in the car.  It was our time to leave the tour - it had been an interesting ride and a great opportunity to see some of the country that I hadn't ridden in before but more pressing matters were looming.

March 25th - Old Farts Tour Stage 5

Stage 5 took us to from Christchurch to Kaikoura.  After a better than expected sleep on the couch we started out on what promised to be a sunny day.  Unfortunately it was also windy so for the first leg through to Culverden required an amount of grovelling with a number of us feeling the effects of yesterdays time trial efforts.  After a short stop at Culverden for supplies we turned off at Mouse Point and started our climb towards Mt Lyford.  At this point we had a bit of a tail wind to help us along but it was along this section that the first hint of decension permeated through the crew.  Basically some of the better climbers were tired of waiting for the vertically challenged who took every opportunity to display their dominance when the road pointed downwards.  We stopped briefly at Mt Lyford to allow most of the guys to load up on icecream sundaes.  As things became more heated in the next section I took advantage of the terrain to break away on my own.  It wasnt an attack as such - more of a sustained increase in speed.  Anyway it meant that I had pretty much the best part of the ride to myself and got a good run at the downhill sections.  After a while I could see Gary in the distance so I waited for him to catch up.  Together we carried on and eventually stopped when the valley flattened out.  We stopped for Gary to use his cell phone and saw some of the others coming across.  When they joined we lapped out until Ritchie did a big surge.  I counted with another surge and strung the rest out until we got to our ficticous finish line.  We joined back up and rode along the main road into Kaikoura.  The Hotel was very nice and it wasnt too long before the rest of the crew appeared.

Hannah phoned to say that her Grandfather had died.  I toyed with biking back home that evening but didn't have any lights and so opted to cut the ride short the next day and to abandon the tour in Blenheim.