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.
I decided to race sans water this time - as a test run for the following weekends NZ Cyclocross Champs - and left my camelbak in the car. So I rolled up to the start line feeling a bit lighter than usual.

Go! And off we went. I got a good start, then chickened out a bit and let some people pass me before we got into the Gurney Trail. Things were going fine until I got a bit loose on a little step drop through a dip in the trail. I had a bit of an "oh sh*t!" moment and thought I was going to have a big crash and get run over by the people following me. Luckily I kept things going forwards (with a slight sideways inclination) and thanked my lucky stars I didn't come to grief.

I recovered from my little mishap and continued on my way, albeit with a bit more caution. The lack of a proper warm up lap was showing. I felt really wobbly on the bike and totally out of tune with the way it rides. Every slight weight shift, or small turn of the handlebars and the bike would be moving in that direction.

And move it did. I may have felt slow, uncoordinated, and wobbly, but I was going at least as fast as in Race 5 (slightly faster, accorrding to the results here and here). I bumbled my way through and knocked out 3 laps in about 43 minutes... copping some flack for stopping before the 45 minute cut off! I decided not to thrash myself for a fourth lap because my lower back was starting to ache. I wanted to be fit to ride next weekend. Here's a photo of me as captured by Michelle Philburn (thanks!).

After we all waited around for Jack to finish his 5th lap (mad man!), we got into the spot prizes. I got one, pulled out some bar ends that I have no use for and put them back in the goodie bag for someone else to grab.

I headed home to my after-race routine of unpack, shower, beer, play with the kids, dinner, baths, stories, and bed (for the kids). Then after all that I got to read my messages to find that someone had found my wallet at the race. I didn't even know I had lost it! Thanks Greg.

I'm now feeling quite e sense of loss, and not for my wallter either - I got that back. I feel a loss for the winter series. I don't really have anything beyond the NZ Cyclocross Champs to look forward to. I think it's time to scope out some races and post off some entry forms. I need to make some commitments!

A huge thank you to R&R Sport for sponsoring the series, Matt Keen for giving up his Sunday afternoons to run the races, and the other members of the Hamilton Mountain Bike Club for their awesome support.