I have heard many stories surrounding the Naseby 12hr, it has been on my "to do list" almost since I start riding a little over 4 years ago, I got asked if I would like to fill a team spot and had no hesitation with saying yes!
Phil Patterson (team captain) has a bit of history at this event competing against Ryan Cull and the Invercargill team CSI (Cycle Surgery Invercargill), losing to them last year by around 9mins he was keen to dominate this year and knock the CSI team off the number 1 spot for the last 3 years.
What could have been perceived as a "Cycleways team", the team Christchurch World Racing emerged... this included Phil Patterson, Nick Clack, Brad Hudson (All Cycleways Riders), Jeremy Inglis (Scotty Browns) and myself (John Bull Cycles).
Phil had it all sussed and the order was set.. Brad, Me, Nick, Jerry, Phil...
It was an awesome day weather wise... Brad lined up for the le mans start and we fast learnt that he runs like a girl! Never the less we all had confidence in his ability on the bike and he did us all proud coming in 2nd place right on Ryans wheel... I got the arm band and set off, following Ryan through the pits until he pealed off to his site to send the next team member out... I went out of the pits about 10 seconds in front of them, and about 15 seconds in front of the Canterbury Juniors Team consisting of Craig and Ben Oliver, Mitch Cambell, David Coventry and Cam Fitzgerald.
With a clear track in front of me I wanted to stamp some authority on the race and make our intentions known.... coming into the pits to tag Nick in I had put around 1:20 into the chasing teams.
Nick, Jerry and Phil kept the pressure on and we nudged ahead by a good margin. Traffic was pretty good (Everyone would have had the same hold ups), but overall everyone was considerate and with warning and some following through the tighter stuff until it was safe to pass it flowed pretty well.
About halfway through the day we thought we had a chance to really rub salt into the wound and lap the CSI team, we all set about knocking out some fast laps and on lap 16, Brad rode the wheels off his bike to record the fastest lap of the day (25:06mins). The Canterbury Juniors Team stand out rider from our point of view was David Coventry... This young lad from Timaru (Rides for The Cyclery) was setting some blistering times! He will definitely be one to watch for in the future of NZ mountain biking.
Jeremy was leaving at 6pm to make it to the coast for the 2nd Benchmark Series Road Race, so we sent him out for a double lap to give us some time to recover before dropping to a 4 man team. As it was, statistic man Phil decided that we will all do doubles to finish as it was getting dark and cold. It made sense, get warm on the bike, get your night riding dialed, knock out 2 laps then rug up for the night, Job done....
Phil went out next and managed to stack it on his final lap (making it crash on the 1st and the last for him), Brad was next and set some good times for his night laps and had the joy of applying some pressure to the CSI rider before it got a little too hot for him and he missed a corner and hit a tree allowing Brad to slip by and take the lapping honors, Nick wasn't going to get out for any laps if I knocked out a double as planned, so his light went on my bars (also mine on my helmet) this was an awesome combo and I could see everything! I knocked out the 1st lap and went out for the glory lap to bring it home... My bike seemed to be making funny noises and I even stopped to check to see if the tyres were flat. It's funny how the mind plays tricks on you when your leading and don't want to blow it... I eased up to make sure I didn't do anything stupid and brought it home for the lads.
A lap and 5mins up on the CSI team and around 15mins up on the 2nd overall team the Canterbury Juniors.
Taking the overall was a sweet feeling...
It was such a great day, with short sharp laps to punish yourself, great team atmosphere with some even better banter between some great mates.
I would like to thank Phil for the call up into the team and organizing the weekend, Brad, Nick, Jerry and Phil for the solid effort they put in. Destroying the competition aside, it was the best weekend of riding my bike with friends I have had in a long time and hope the Christchurch World Racing Team will reunite to stamp our authority on Naseby again next year.....
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