Kev and Steve take on Cyclocross Champs
The 2010 NZ Cyclocross championship was held on Sunday the 29th of August at Pukete Farm Park just north of Hamilton
..... and like true cyclocross weather it rained then poured and then rained some more just to make sure that the ground was under a foot of mud and water. Steve and myself had been looking forward to this event for a few months, however after our practice laps all enthusiasm and motivation went out the window .The idea of slogging around a bog for an hour may appeal to some but when you get to our age it hurts .The course took you just under 10 minutes to trudge thru and suited a single speed bike better as shifting mechs and gears were just items on a bike for mud to cling to.
About 34 starters turned up, far less than the 100 expected but I am sure the weather had a hand in that. The NZ single speed champ was there to defend his crown and as for girls, 2 turned up .As the race got underway and the long train of riders slid, crashed, bumped its way around the course. Garth Weinberg the SS champ from last year got a puncture and had to stop and repair this, so his chances of defending the crown were dashed however he did manage to fight his way back up to 2nd but that was as far as he got. I managed to get into a small group of 3 and we exchanged positions each lap .On the bell lap I made my break on a steep bank that we had to run up because I had noticed that the other two had difficulty running. I managed to pull about 25 meters and thought if I can hold this I should do ok….but that was before we got to the infamous rhino pit !!!! Which is a mud hole 2 feet deep in which you hit at speed and hope that momentum gets you thru and that no tree branches or rocks send you of course . Unfortunately something did send me of course and ended up in the tape which I thought I could carry on riding and break it , but no , I had to stop and reverse to get going and in the mean time my fellow competitor had caught and passed me ,the chase ensued but I just could not get any traction to chase, so I had to follow him across the finish line 12 seconds back. I ended up finishing in 7th place overall and 1st veteran (old gits class ) .Steve spent most of his race slogging it out with a couple of riders and managed to stay upright for the whole race and came home in 23rd place . Steve got the best spot prize so his daughter will be happy .
Thanks to Paul and Tracey for there support and all the cross races we did leading up to this paid off , especially Fiona’s cross in the rain !!…..our courses are much faster and fun.
Kev
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