Mission: Aucks

It happened again. The planets aligned and I got a day off to ride my bike! But this time around things were going to be different. I had a BMX. Auckland has a cool pump track at ABD in Waipuna - you can see it in the satellite photo here.

So it was that two mums took two little bikes on the back of the family wagon while the kids were in school (and daycare) and the dads were at work, and drove to Auckland for a play.

Progress

My last couple of months have been pretty full - with a good amount of work on the go, learning to play ukulele, and riding my BMX. It has been a fun distraction from life in general to have a couple of new toys to play with.

I bought my BMX off a friend in Dunedin who had decided to upgrade to a race bike and do the national series. I got a good bike in great condition for a pretty sharp price. Since then I have learned to bunnyhop properly - no clipless pedals. Okay, so I can only get 3-4 inches off the ground, but it is progress.

Work for me has pretty much dried up for 2009 and I'm not likely to have any more on until about mid January. I'll do my best to make the most of the time off. ;)

New Zealand Cyclocross Champs 2009

The second ever NZ Cyclocross (CX) Champs was held at Pukete MTB Park on Saturday 29 August. Contrary to CX tradition, the weather was near perfect with clear skies and plenty of sun.

The benefit of the beautiful weather was that the kids could come and watch me race, without fear of hypothermia and misery. We rolled into the carpark, unloaded the contents of our car, and somehow managed to carry it all through to the event village a short walk away.

Pukete Winter Fun Series Race 6

The final race of the Winter Fun Series was held on Sunday. The day had started out a bit cold with regular drizzle, but it slowly warmed up and dried out to deliver another cracker winter day. I turned up a little later than usual, spent too long chatting, and only managed a few laps of the paddock as a token warm up effort.

Mission: Vegas

My mission, that I chose to accept (it was my mission afterall), was to take a 'day off' and go for a ride in Vegas. And, bugger the consequences! What were the consequences? Who knew? Anything could happen on a solo mission - not to mention I was taking our only car over 100kms away, so if the kids needed to come home from daycare things were going to be awkward.

Pukete Winter Fun Series Race 5

Two in a row! I actually got to two races in a row! The 5th race of the series was held yesterday at Pukete MTB Park. The weather was amazing, lovely sunny day with a bit of cloud and a cool wind. The inner track was dry and grippy - perfect for racing. Luckily we haven't been using the outer track in the park area for the races, as I hear it is really boggy out there - perfect for the upcoming New Zealand Cyclocross Champs (NZCX Champs).

Pukete Winter Fun Series Race 4

Yeah, I made it! I actually got to ride my bike again. So... what happened to races 2 and 3? Well, that was the six weeks or so we had of various coughs and colds and inclement weather. But race 4 was a beauty.

The sun was out, the rain had stopped, and the track was fairly dry - quite tacky in places (if that description can be applied to sand) with the odd soft wet muddy spot. I hadn't been riding in ages (apart from a couple of brief 'urban' rides), so I was out for a good time - not a fast time. Although, I had a few goals to achieve - start fast, get a good position into the singletrack, do four laps, and have fun.

Pukete Winter Fun Series Race 1

I finally got to ride my bike again last Sunday (now three weeks ago because it's taken me a while to post this!). Unfortunately, it wasn't at the N-Duro. After a couple of terrible weeks with a sick family to look after, I was not mentally or physically prepared for an entire day of road tripping and racing. So, I turned my attention to the local R&R Sport Winter Fun Series at Pukete.

Rest of the World Singlespeed Champs 2009

Otherwise known as the New Zealand Singlespeed Champs, the "Rest of the World" SS Champs was held in Rotorua over ANZAC weekend. I wasn't sure that I would make it, because of a busy few weeks with minor illness, other events, and family commitments. But, lucky for me I got to go over on Saturday for the race (I missed the movie night (and booze-up) on Friday and the big breakfast (and booze-up) on Sunday). I failed in the costume department - time, motivation, and inspiration were all against me.

Mt Te Aroha Goat Challenge

This event popped up on my ride radar at quite late notice (the Tuesday before!), but luckily for me I didn't have to try too hard to convince Andrew we should give it a go. We decided to go as a family, and Andrew and I would take turns doing laps as a team of two, looking after the kids between laps.

Black Stump Ride photos

Here's a couple of photos from the Black Stump Adventure Ride.

Black Stump Adventure Ride 2009

I found out on Saturday that all those times I thought "I really should go ride some hills", that I really should have gone and ridden some hills.

I had entered the 30km Black Stump Ride, but ended up taking the "pike" option and switched to the 18km ride at about the 14.5km mark. I'm a bit disappointed with the way things went, but there are lots of reasons it didn't go as awesomely as I had envisaged.

Preparations

I've been riding my bike a little bit in preparation for the Black Stump Adventure Ride on 14 Feb. I'm doing the 30km ride (not quite silly enough to enter the 40km ride), but haven't yet ridden more than 20kms at Pukete. And Pukete is pretty flat.