NZ CUP round 1 (Dunedin)

Heading down to Dunedin Friday with the windscreen wipers going marked a sign of what was to come. We rolled down the hill into Dunedin around lunchtime and headed straight for the bike shop to get some mud tyres... maxxis beavers seemed to be the best we could get hold off so these got blown on.

After catching up with a mate for lunch it was up to the new venue Signal Hill to catch up with some guys and see what they had to say about the track. The climb was steep, wet, slippery and hard to clear.... the descent, well just hang on for the ride.... after 30mins I had heard enough and jumped in the car with out riding (rest day) and up to the Aunt's to unload the car and settle in for the night with the sound of rain on the roof.

Saturday we woke with the sun shining! After sifting around in the morning I headed to the track mid afternoon to knock out a couple of laps.... the climb was dry as it was in the open and had the sun beating down on it all day, but it was steep and relentless.... pinched hard at the bottom, eased a little then pinched then eased then pinched, there was no recovery to be had on the climb!

Starting the descent I didn't know what to expect, I cruised down the first rocky section, over some little kickers then onto a fast open section....hard left into the trees and HELLO MUD!  I slipped down to the first obstacle a wee drop that was roll-able but I thought it would be faster to hit dialed... so I walked back up and went for it.... Landed on a root, burped the front tyre and got up close and personal with a tree! No scratches on me or the bike!  I walked the remainder of the descent and checked out all the lines. Chucked a tube in the wheel and went for the next lap, this was a lot better. Cleared the descent and was happy. Off home to polish the bike and get some food and listen to the rain on the roof.

Sunday morning passed and soon I was on the windtrainer warming up in the sun!.... The start was a short 30m sprint to a 180degree corner, another 30m to a 90degree corner then up the climb.

Nerves were high being my first elite race and I wasn't aggressive off the start losing a few places, hit the climb (which was dry) and fell into a rhythm to sustain for the climb. Hit the descent (wet and wild) and a couple of riders went down in front of me. I managed to get around them and nail a gnarly shoot down some roots, before more congestion on a tight corner... eventually popped out the bottom in 11th (from15 elite riders).

Up the climb and the legs felt heavy, chased hard to catch the wheel in front but couldn't close the gap, Slipped and slid the descent with some really comical moments and some big cheers from the crowds from riding some techy mud drops and some from complete out of control passenger riding novice stuff... still managed to hold my spot.

The third lap the legs went well up the climb but the descent wasn't so good. After clearing the shoot I hit the next corner hard and had a lot of weight on the front to make it stick.... it didn't stick. Nothing big but time lost. Mud was all over the bike from the previous laps and it proved too much... On the forth lap at the start of the climb the legs felt their best but the mud caked derailleur caught a spoke and ended up in the rear wheel... end of race for me.

Disappointed that my first outing ending in a DNF. This was a brutal course on the bikes and team at John Bulls will find this out when the strip the Scott back to service it.

Time to take the valuable lesson learned and move on to round 2 at Living Springs on the 22nd and make it count!

Thanks for the support so far.....