Nationals Hit Out in the Bay - Day 4 finale

The last lap of six, 24km to go... how would this unfold? Had I left enough in the tank? Was I cunning enough to out-fox Gordy?

Through the crosswind section for the last time we were taking turn for turn. There couldn't be any easing up as we had to make sure no one came up from behind. Received my last bidon through the feed zone from Backy and he raced back to the finish in his car.

Through the rollers and a few attacks from Gordy, never getting too far away I managed to keep covering his moves. And then I did the unthinkable... never take a faster finisher to the line with you!



Put all my effort in the spint and came up short, 2nd. That's bike racing, mistakes yes, but lesson learned. Happy walking away with another 2nd after a lean start to 2010 season, can only get better from here.

Thanks for following the story, stay tuned for a wrap up of the next Benchmark race (round 3), before winter well and truly sets in and the build up for China starts in earnest.

JC

Nationals Hit Out in the Bay - Day 4

6am rolls round rather fast, beep beep beeeeep beep beep beeeep cell phone is telling me it's time to get up, still feeling slightly groggy from my deep sleep, I clamber out of bed towards the kitchen (5 steps away). Load up the stovetop with my magic coffee bean mix crafted by the Immigrant's Son, pack some bread into the toaster.

A few minutes later I'm sitting down with the pre race meal of 4 bits of crunchy toast... jam, honey, peanut butter for toppings and a nice ripe banana to add into the mix. A few hits of caffeine and I start packing up all my stuff and loading the car. Leave out 4 bottles for Backy to bring along to the race and hand out at the feed zone. Great help, as without a good feeder you can miss bottles and really suffer later in the race.

We (Subway lads) have a team talk to work out a pre-race strategy. Everyone looked to have come along with good racing form so expectations were high. Thanks to Ryan Wills for lending me his super light climbing wheels, these where brilliant. Gave the feeling that you were just floating along adding that extra motivation to get into the breaks. Up for grabs on the finish line was a certificate from Special K too. I wanted it!

First lap started with a hiss and a roar, the temperature was high right from the get go. As I hadn't seen the course before I planned on staying in the bunch and learning the lay of the road for the first lap. Ryan and Nick made an early move with two other riders, sweet for me as I could sit in. Course was deceptively hard, it was going to be a wearing down process with a section of short climbs and false flat windy sections. As the first lap finished Ryan hit the deck ending his race. Damn.

This doomed the break as the bunch swept up the remaining 3 riders near the start finish line. Then... BOOM... the race split to pieces. Cross wind coming from the right, everyone strung out in the left hand gutter fighting, trying to hold the wheel in front of them. This is where the race winning move of eight riders formed and I was in it. Amazing how in the space of a few minutes a race can change.

The next 4 laps we gradually built up the time gap, hovering around the 2min 30sec mark. Nothing really out of the normal went down during this time, everyone was taking their turns. It was great to have team mate Nick (Grover) in the break though.

Kept topping up the fuel in the tank with Balance gels, the time was ticking ticking away so slowly... most exciting part about each lap was getting a fresh drink bottle from Backy.

Photo courtesy RoadCycling

The action really started at the beginning of the 5th lap, through the cross wind section again the hammer dropped, strung out like washing left on the line to dry. This broke apart the break, but I fought my way to the front of the race. Once through the cross wind section it settled down a bit, looked behind and no one was on my wheel, just two in front. 100 meters back Nick was coming back up so this gave me a chance to sit on and wait for him.

Once Nick was on Gordy put in a attack up a rise, dislodging Nick again in the process, but he never gave up trying to get back on. Last lap it was down to three. Gordy, Shem (under 23) and myself. The final lap report, coming soon...

Nationals Hit Out in the Bay - Day 3

Bang Bang and the door flings open, 7:15am... early start. Jono is standing there in shock that we had slept in and hadn't prepared the promised stovetop coffee for him as planned the night before. Epic fail for us, his words were, "oh you jizzlopers, I can't belive this, unbelivable." I jump out of bed quickly, prepping the stove top as fast as I can, but it's all too late... Jono was off and on his way to a cafe down the road before heading out to the Masters 3 race, his first ever nationals. 87km, 3 laps, starting at 9am, a fitting way to end his first year as a racing roadie.

The sweet smell of coffee was now drifting around the room, so with out wanting the brew to be wasted I started my day. Still had one more recovery day before the senior event on Sunday morning. Another drawn out breakfast, and Backy saying, "I could get used to this lifestyle." His Masters 1 race was starting at noon so he had the morning to mill around, filling up drink bottles, cleaning his bike one last time and geting into race mode. Backy's been on fire at the last couple of Wellington club races and was fired up for a ride, my pick for the day. Another round of good lucks, rip their legs off and I was out the door to meet up with team mate Nick (Grover) for a pleasant 2 hour spin down to Havelock North and back.

Once back I received news that Jono had finished in 14th place, happy with his first nationals under the belt. Pre race day so some stretching and then a quick afternoon nap. Was woken by a txt that Backy and another PNP club member (Dave Rowlands) had 1 lap to go with a 2min 30sec buffer. Looked unlikely that they would be caught and was looking to be a 2up sprint finish. A bit more time reading mags and drifting back off to sleep, news came through that Backy was just pipped on the line to take a well earned 2nd, not bad and no doubt he'll be hungry to go one step further next year.

Topped off the day with a trip down to Havelock North for dinner at a Tapa's restaurant with another member of the Meo GP, Glenno and his wife Rebbeca. A great night, heaps of tasty and different food to be sampled... duck, pork belly, squid, breads, blue cheese, prawns and great company. Back to Napier and in dream land by 11pm to get a good 7 hours in before my race. Stay tuned for the ups and downs of the senior road race. 174km, 6 laps, its going to be extreme!

Nationals Hit Out in the Bay - Day 2

Day two rolled around and by the time we had the stovetop coffee machine on the go the sun was pouring in to the room... this was the weather I had been hoping for.

On the cards for the day was a heap of relaxing mixed in with a cruise on the bike to ensure the race legs were ready. After a long stretched out breaky Backy and I headed out for a 2 hour spin around the back roads of Napier, over in to the wine valleys and down to Fernhill. Even managed to get a bit of a tan glow going.

Ironman 2 was on the cards for the afternoon, but only after a few more coffees. What a movie, didn't let the original Ironman movie down and a must see for Ironman fans. By the time we rolled out of the movies the third member of the party, Jono had arrived up from a wet and wild Wellington day.

To top off the day we headed down to the Napier Port for dinner. What a dinner, fresh fish on a potato mash was so good that I didn't know how full I was until later on. By the time we left the restaurant I felt like I had eaten two huge meals. So worth it though.

Backy and Jono's vet races were the next day so they shut it down early to get a good nights sleep in before heading out to do battle the next day.

Nationals Hit Out in the Bay - Day 1

Rolling out of Wellington on Thursday morning I was thinking how nice it was to get away from the wind and cloud that has been hanging round for the past few weeks. Escaping back into the summer weather for a final fling before winter well and truly sets in was mighty appealing.

After a quick trip to the dentist for a root canal, then off to the Immigrant's Son coffee roastery to pick up some fresh beans for the trip, I was on my way. Quickly headed for the main road and set my sights on getting up to the Bay in time to watch the end of the time trial events.

Arrived just in the nick of time to see Brent Backhouse fly in to the finish, a member of the Meo GP team. A good ride for 5th, well done, something to work with for next years event.

Packed up and set off into the heart of Napier to the Quest apartments, where we based ourselves for the 4 days. A great base as it was close to everything we needed, cafes and restaurants that did some ok coffee. As I hadn't raced or been for a ride I decided to cook up a storm for Backy and myself.

What a meal, venison mince, pasta, mushrooms, mmm... have to say I came up with the goods on this meal, which could have gone either way... good or bad!

Day two story up tomorrow. JC.