The first year for this race saw the organisers a little frazzled as 230 people rocked up to register, many on the day. They had only bargained on around 100 entering, so were a bit over-whelmed but that didn’t slow things and the ride kicked off at 10am on time.
 |
| The boys before the start -"we're just cruising" |
The Pain Train Crew of Sasky, Guru, Cobra, Digi and TT Tui all showed up to kick the legs into action on the gravel roads around this scenic area of Rags, followed by cafe’s and shopping from wives and partners it’s an easy sell. Associate PT member King Dong (Raynesy) and a few other Cycology riders also turned up. Focker had just returned from his TDF viewing and was still a little jet lagged so was on Soignér duties for the day (bottles and EPO shots half way round TDF styles). Brycey was there....excuse card please??? Oh thats right the surf was up.....shrinkage factor included!
The ride kicked off with about a 10km climb up the flanks of the local Mount Karioi. A Toanga to local maori it is covered in thick native bush with many pristine streams around it’s perimeter. We were all glad the locals allowed us to skirt the bush with views of awesome surf and even down the coast to Ruapehu in one spot.
The course was pretty cool, very undulating with long climbs and fast descents (top speed 74km from Guru and Cobra - basterds thats my domain!) into valleys and round the back of the Mtn on the surf side (west) each descent had a nasty left hander (I'm talking about the road not the surf) followed by a climb out to another bluff. This area also goes past Ruapuke and Manu Bay so would be a great training spot in summer, with ride first, cafe fueling then a surf, so this could be on the cards once weather fines up.(ed's note focker and Brycey been doing this for years).
Back to the riding, Raynesy took off like a cut cat on his flash new Scott CX bike. He said it was perfect for the ride and I’d have to agree, Sheldon Gorter also rode one FTW so can’t be wrong. Certainly didn’t need shocks or MTB gearing. Behind Raynsey, Cobra was climbing well and rode away from Guru and Sasky who were about 2mins apart, then another 2mins back to Digi, not bad for an old fella. TT Tui had a mechanical and decided the friendly but weird local ride hm was the way to go. All in all the PT represented well with most in the top 50 - not bad for most of us being couch bound for the last few months (read come out of retirement for some). Results below.
A great ride, awesome day and loads of potential to become a staple in the Waikato MTB/Road riding calendar. Wide appeal to dirty roadies and MTBrs with road fetishes and a very widespread appeal to all, being able to bribe wives with shopping and cafes’ afterwards to refuel.
 |
| Once again Cobra is confused as to where the finish is.... |
Results:
Sheldon Gorter FTW 1:35:55 1st o/a
King Dong 1:44:42 11th o/a 2nd 40+
Cobra 1:53:02 31st o/a 7th 30-39
Guru 1:59:03 45th o/a 12th 40+
Sask 2:02:44 55th o/a 14th 30-39
Digi 2:05:45 67th o/a 2nd living fossil (60+)
TT Tui DNF
 |
| Digi had a good ride - coach happy. Red card fail though for no PT uniform |
No comments:
Post a Comment