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date: 26/08/09
Kaimai Classic
Last weekend Elina and I headed away from Sunny Nelson and
up towards the raging gales that seem to start as soon as you cross the
Whangamoas on the way to Picton. The weather on the way up was probably the
worst I’d ever had to travel in with kayaks strapped to the roof and with the
maximum gusts recorded apparently around 190km/h we were lucky to have our
kayaks in one piece when we finally arrived in Tauranga.
We managed to have a quick look around most of the course
via car and a quick run around the first 5km loop which allayed any thoughts of
a quick time as it was either straight up or straight down for 95% of the
course.
Race day and I immediately started getting s**t from
Elina, and plenty of others as in my warm up I’d inadvertently managed to flick
a rather large cow pat over my legs and I was a right sight – how professional!
At the start I became a victim of my wife’s sharp elbows
at the start and had to slot in a few back until the pack spread out enough for
me to get past and head off in search of Dwarne Farley who had led out at a pace
not far short of a full sprint.
There was a good group of us as we headed out on the short
run and it gradually thinned down as we entered the bus tracks and with about a
km to go I finally managed to get a small gap and headed into transition with a
small 20sec gap.
Onto the MTB and it was pretty slippery for much of the
course. I had a bit of a scare not long after the start when I got slightly off
line and as I headed onto the road went straight over a drop about a metre high,
luckily my speed carried me far enough over the ditch below that I avoided an
embarrassing trip over the handlebars and I made a metal note to be a little
more cautious.
The MTB quickly links onto a fun section of track around a
small lake and then onto a mix of farmland and gravel roads. It wasn’t long
before I joined onto the farm track beside the river and soon the Kayak
transition came into view.
Into the kayak I knew this would be the hardest portion of
the race for me with not a huge amount of kayaking lately. I felt great for the
first 20 minutes before hitting the incoming tide and my progress slowed
dramatically. Not having paddled the course before I was quite unsure as to my
progress and I was happy when the transition came into view without being passed
by any of the chasers.
Onto the Time Trial and it was a good chance to put a
solid ride in. The course has several out and back legs which give you a great
chance to access where the competition is and I Dwarne and I passed a few
minutes apart of the first of these and again 10 minutes later at the bottom
turn around. On the way back towards the transition and it was good to be going
with the rising breeze for a change and I also passed Elina on her way out.
The last run is quite tough with 8km of uphill and then a
final 3km back down to the finish. Every 2km it was marked and when the first
2km sign came up it was a bit demoralising as I felt for sure I was more like
3km into the climb. I tried to keep up a reasonable tempo and at the final drink
station I had a quick stop to take in the view and have a drink before winding
it up for the final few kilometres.
A good day done for me and very shortly Dwarne came into
view in second and in 3rd Pete O’Sullivan. Elina had a good day to take the win
from Sonia Thompson and Hanna Lowe in 3rd.
It was great to head to a different race and it with over
600 competitors it was a great turnout. A huge thanks to Jamis bikes who
arranged for us to go up for the race and to our main sponsor Subway. It is all
ways funny when we are racing as the kids always yell out go Subway!
We are off for some racing and training in Europe next
week with the next race up the Are Extreme Challenge in Sweden followed by the
Quelle Challenge Roth in July.
Sponsors:
SUBWAY
Jamis Bikes, R&R Sport, Kia Motors, Nike, Tineli, Vittoria &
Geax tyres, High 5, Em’s Power Cookies, Speedplay pedals, Blue Seventy wetsuits
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