Caned

The Rice Mountain Classic is one of the ‘big’ races for the PNP Cycling Club and I was keen to give it a go.   I nervously entered B grade - 140km (C grade’s race was much shorter) as my cracked ribs were still giving me issues.

Surprisingly the pace early on was easy going, in fact too easy as C grade which started 3 minutes behind caught us like we were standing still.  The pace picked up with some of the young C Grade kids taking off and having their 5 minutes of glory.

On the first major hill the real contenders went to the front and set to work.  Hill climbing has never been my strong point so it was a matter of survival.  I hoped I would be able to catch them on the down hill – wrong!  As soon as I crested the top the skies opened up and it poured down.  This neutralised my plan and actually slowed me down as I hadn’t spent much time on my road bike and wasn’t prepared to take any risks.

After a few agonising kms along the flat, a few of us formed a group and managed to rejoin the lead group.  We stuck together through the turn around point and were making our way back, when I experienced a low patch around the same time the bunch started a long steady climb into a head wind.  Slowly, ever so slowly, I drifted off the back.

Once I lost the bunch I eased up to wait for the next bunch.  Unfortunately an experienced triathlete named Peter Kane caught me before the bunch did.  He asked me if I wanted to do a 2 up TT with him for the rest of the race – 60km.  I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to keep up with him but the idea of riding alone into a strong head wind wasn’t appealing, so I decided I would give it a try.

I took my turns when I could and we slowly ticked off the Kms.  The rain eased up but the headwind remained relentless. Peter and I stayed together until the finish line even though he towed me near the end. I ran out of fluids with about 20km to go.  What surprised me the most was I consumed 4 bottles of fluid and needed 1 more, Peter did the entire race on 2 and finished with a few sips left.

Once I crossed the finish line I gingerly made my way into town, bought a nice cold bottle of Coke, sat in the shade and cherished every single drop!

Note:  In New Zealand, caned means to be beaten by a large amount, in this recount, I was caned by Peter kane.

There’s Adventure Then There’s ADVENTURE!!!

Mike from the Bike Hutt organised a 200km ‘fun ride’ in the Wairarapa.  It all seemed easy on paper; turn up with a bike that can handle gravel roads and be fit enough to ride for 6-8 hours.  Most of us turned up on cyclocross bikes with slick tyres, a few people rode road bikes with 25c or 28c tyres.

We started off together but soon split into small bunches.  I found myself at the front with two guys (Andy and Thomas).   All was going well, we arrived at the first check point (the support van was there with all our gear).  After a quick bite to eat and putting on some warmer clothes as it had started raining, we set off in high spirits.  The gravel roads were fantastic and the heavy rain just added to the excitement.

Everything was going to plan until the map lead us on to a farm.  The road forked, the right went to a heavily locked gate and the track on the other side didn’t seem used.  The three of us discussed our options and as the first gate seemed to go nowhere, we took the track to the left.  We all were unsure of where to go, unfortunately for me, I spotted road makers beside the gates heading into the hills and thought that was the public access route.  Biking through sheep and cow paddocks on road bikes was a little strange. 



Thomas just after he went flying over the handle bars

 

Lost while making our waythrough the farm..



We persisted with pushing our bikes and at the very top, Thomas decided that we were LOST and it was time to turn around to find some of the other riders.  By this stage we had lost Andy.  I started off being very cautious on the downhills but to no avail.  Near the bottom my front wheel locked up due to too much mud causing me to crash, rip my derailleur off and crack three ribs.



This is where the adventure really began, lost, injured and with a broken bike, the priority was to get back to Martinborough.  Thankfully I had a chainbreaker and was able to make my bike a single speed.  Thomas and I agreed the best plan was to get me back to the first check point and wait there.



While waiting we decided to clean our bikes



Waiting

After an hour of waiting, we agreed Thomas would bike up the road the rest of the riders would be coming down while I made my way back to Martinborough.

After biking and walking for about an hour or two I made it back to the main road and I decided to wait there for help.

About an hour passed when a car pulled up with cyclocross bikes and a bunch of riders clambered out.  Turns out everyone had their own adventure and no-one was able to complete the full ride. 

Once we all gathered back in Martinborough, war stories were shared.

I am looking forward to next year!



Art Imitating Life

I have always been impressed with all the life like scarecrows scattered around the Wairarapa (Google Wairarapa scarecrows) and thought it would be neat to build one. Fortunately, our major focus for this term was art with an art show at the end of it. I suggested to my class (9 and 10 year olds) that they have a go at building their own life like scarecrows.  They jumped at to opportunity and did a magnificent job!
Can you spot my one?


Old Gran Minnie



Tibeerious The Old Photographer

  

Sam The Soccer Star

 


Kelly The Shopper



Bruce The Biker



Bruce The Biker



Scaremower Joe



Ali The Artist



Matt The Student

Catherine The Masterchef