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.
The morning's weather was surprisingly good, but after lunch the temperature dropped and a few spits of rain blew through. I had decided to race, regardless of the weather. Oh, what was that?! Did I just type "race". Oh yes, I had no illusions that I was going to be riding hard, and not out for a cruise like I have at other events. Cough, cold, and poor physical condition be damned, I'm going to blow my guts out and enjoy it!

I managed to do a half-lap as a warm up, which confirmed that I was too cold, needed to warm up some more, and that my legs were already tired. Next thing I know, I'm lining up at the back of the start grid looking at the fast looking riders all around me. GO! We are off. S-l-o-w-l-y... too much traffic, some of it quite wobbly, and not altogether that fast. I picked my way through the crowd, spinning furiously and successfully passing a number of people. Into the Gurney trail and I found myself slowed by riders in front.

Through the new section of trail (nice!), and first traffic jam on the slippery climb. Hop off, and run! Pass one person, jump back on the bike - oofff! My seat is in my guts. Okay, so I need to work on my cyclocross style remounts. :blush: A laugh and a giggle, clamber back on the bike, and get pedalling. I caught a couple of riders up and found myself following another woman. The race is ON!

A traffic jam on the sand chute provided another opportunity to dismount and run. I picked up my bike, and clunk! The rear wheel had fallen out! What?!! I never get mechanicals - but I guess there is always a first time. Run to the top of the chute, re-install rear wheel, jump back on. Pedal! I passed the woman I had caught just prior to my mechanical and tried to settle back into a rhythm and calm myself down. Lap one complete. I thought I would have to do four laps, so I decided to try to ride consistently, but pace myself for the next two laps. I had found the 'hot line' out in the grass area during my warm up... basically going wide on the corner avoided the really wet mushy ground and I could comfortably pass people. Heh heh.

I found myself catching and passing the odd person over the next two laps... another woman too. I wondered how many more women were in front of me, two or three? The people I was catching were all having trouble with their gears - the cassette was chock full of mud and the chain did not want to run through the derailleur smoothly. Cue smug grin at the advantage of having just one gear. Near the end of the third lap I caught up to a guy that I didn't have the legs to pass. He was only a smidgen slower than me, so I needed to accelerate a lot to get around him... my legs didn't have it. As we rode through the last bit of singletrack, he commented that he was "over it" and hoping that this would be his last lap. I checked my watch, and yep, it looked like 45 minutes was up. I finished in 46:50, feeling just a little bit too fresh and slightly relieved I didn't have to go out again. Second woman, first (and only) 29er.

It was a great race, and I'm really looking forward to the next race in a fortnight's time. Things to try for next time... warm up properly, start near the front (those buggers can ride around ME instead!), check my quick release skewers are tight (or buy new skewers!), practice my cyclocross dismounts/mounts, and go 1 minute 50 seconds faster and squeeze in a fourth lap!

Results are here: http://www.hamiltonmtb.org.nz/pagefiles/results/winter09/14june09race1.pdf
Report is here: http://www.hamiltonmtb.org.nz/pagefiles/newswntr09.html

The photo above is was not taken at Pukete. That's me riding at the New Zealand Singlespeed Champs 2008 in Rotorua. Unfortunately I've lost the photo credit, so if you know who took it let me know. :)

I missed the second race of the Winter Fun Series due to a heavy head cold combined with fairly steady rain... not ideal conditions! I'm looking forward to the third race next Sunday... fingers crossed the planets align for me!