At the people's tri in Auckland. Tony got it again but this time by only 9 seconds!!! Maybe next time. I just have to get the run time down to 37 minutes...
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Hmmm.......
At the people's tri in Auckland. Tony got it again but this time by only 9 seconds!!! Maybe next time. I just have to get the run time down to 37 minutes...
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
K2 2008
Well another great race, but this year with not so good outcomes...
I do not understand the attitude, if it was me coming up on a cycle race I'd watch it not try to get past a group of 100 riders or more at any cost! I was on the front at the time and as the ute guy had to avoid the tanker he came back to the left causing the bunch to move with him, only slightly but this caused a chain reaction down the peloton and that's when I herd the crash and followed by the tanker locking up his breaks...
Anyway I had planned again to go for the KOM and decided right from the start. The start was pretty aggressive and I was a bit far back but got the the front for the start of the climb up Pumpkin hill. Steve Came set a fairly high pace and I just hung in there... Another guy was contesting for the top so I had to sprint for the win. Iz was cheering on the side with Harry so that was a nice boost...
Someone got away (the eventual winner I think) I did have to do a bit of chasing before Whitianga to bring it back...
... then the accident... we waited for quite a while...
The pace was steady up the next climb Kuaotuni. I got the KOM point place wrong so had to sprint twice Doh! We rode nice an easy until the next climb with most catching back up to the group.
Steve C took another flyer to the start of Mydermans hill; I sat on him and took it, but again had to fight for it!
Up Whangapoua, Jim M took off after a suggestion from Tony - be careful what you wish for! Then these two guys in KE cycling kit took the lead and dropped all just a little. I again had to work pretty hard to stay with them, Mark C came through to try to take the win but I just got it over one of the KE guys. Man that hurt.
At the bottom me and Michael L were in front, he descends really well! He talked about going hard but the rest of the group where closing so gave it a miss.
The next two climbs were a bit of fun too. I got the first of them, Mania with a hard sprint over the top, but the last one Kereta, I was running out of gas and only got 3rd. In hindsight I should have flagged that one...
We had a really nice tail cross wind down the coast and there were a couple of flourishes of action. I was in a break for a few minutes. Two guys got away before the start of Kopu Hikuai climb but I had given up worrying about them and was worrying about my chances of staying with the front group. I had a bit to eat before we got there but I do not think it was enough.
Sure enough as soon as we started going up I started going backwards. Bugger. Oh well, I rode at my own pace and did get a bit slower and slower towards the top.
The last few Km was really bad. On the plus side I did pass another elite rider who had well and truly blown!
Jim McM caught me up the small climb after the big descent - man that hurt! It was a lot harder than I remember. Jim was good though and stayed with me.
The last 20Km does have a couple more climbs that bite and I was not biting back any more! I was still able to do some good turns on the flat and downhills if that counts!
Over the last 5Km I got slower and slower and took smaller and smaller turns on the front. Jim stayed with me and got me across the line. Thanks man. Just under 5h41m not too bad but could have been a bit quicker if I had not smashed myself on the climbs. Oh and if that bloody crash did not happen... I might talk some more about that latter.
On the plus side I won the climbs up Pumpkin (20), Kuaotunu (15), Mydermanns (10), Whangapoua (40), and Manaia (20) and 3rd on Kereta (8) for a total of 113 points. KOM in the bag for the second year running :)
I do not understand the attitude, if it was me coming up on a cycle race I'd watch it not try to get past a group of 100 riders or more at any cost! I was on the front at the time and as the ute guy had to avoid the tanker he came back to the left causing the bunch to move with him, only slightly but this caused a chain reaction down the peloton and that's when I herd the crash and followed by the tanker locking up his breaks...
Anyway I had planned again to go for the KOM and decided right from the start. The start was pretty aggressive and I was a bit far back but got the the front for the start of the climb up Pumpkin hill. Steve Came set a fairly high pace and I just hung in there... Another guy was contesting for the top so I had to sprint for the win. Iz was cheering on the side with Harry so that was a nice boost...
Someone got away (the eventual winner I think) I did have to do a bit of chasing before Whitianga to bring it back...
... then the accident... we waited for quite a while...
The pace was steady up the next climb Kuaotuni. I got the KOM point place wrong so had to sprint twice Doh! We rode nice an easy until the next climb with most catching back up to the group.
Steve C took another flyer to the start of Mydermans hill; I sat on him and took it, but again had to fight for it!
Up Whangapoua, Jim M took off after a suggestion from Tony - be careful what you wish for! Then these two guys in KE cycling kit took the lead and dropped all just a little. I again had to work pretty hard to stay with them, Mark C came through to try to take the win but I just got it over one of the KE guys. Man that hurt.
Towards the top
At the top!
At the bottom me and Michael L were in front, he descends really well! He talked about going hard but the rest of the group where closing so gave it a miss.
The next two climbs were a bit of fun too. I got the first of them, Mania with a hard sprint over the top, but the last one Kereta, I was running out of gas and only got 3rd. In hindsight I should have flagged that one...
We had a really nice tail cross wind down the coast and there were a couple of flourishes of action. I was in a break for a few minutes. Two guys got away before the start of Kopu Hikuai climb but I had given up worrying about them and was worrying about my chances of staying with the front group. I had a bit to eat before we got there but I do not think it was enough.
Sure enough as soon as we started going up I started going backwards. Bugger. Oh well, I rode at my own pace and did get a bit slower and slower towards the top.
The last few Km was really bad. On the plus side I did pass another elite rider who had well and truly blown!
Jim McM caught me up the small climb after the big descent - man that hurt! It was a lot harder than I remember. Jim was good though and stayed with me.
The last 20Km does have a couple more climbs that bite and I was not biting back any more! I was still able to do some good turns on the flat and downhills if that counts!
Jim towing me in...
Over the last 5Km I got slower and slower and took smaller and smaller turns on the front. Jim stayed with me and got me across the line. Thanks man. Just under 5h41m not too bad but could have been a bit quicker if I had not smashed myself on the climbs. Oh and if that bloody crash did not happen... I might talk some more about that latter.
On the plus side I won the climbs up Pumpkin (20), Kuaotunu (15), Mydermanns (10), Whangapoua (40), and Manaia (20) and 3rd on Kereta (8) for a total of 113 points. KOM in the bag for the second year running :)
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