A 29er team was planned…
Tony broke his ankle; he was out.
Mrs Oliver ended up in hospital therefore Phil was doubtful.
So we ended up with 4 x 29ers and a 26er in our 4 person team.
I know – we may have flouted the “rules” but we weren’t here to race as you will soon see…so it really didn’t matter.
So. We’d entered, we had a team, we had a ring-in from Taupo (Matt as in door) – what could go wrong ?
I bailed from work on Friday at 3pm to drop the tent off at the campsite and have some time to kick back at our Palatial Digs in Ranfurly Holiday Park – Motel unit this time, as nobody had booked any accom up till 5 days beforehand….whoops.
I was abducted by locals in Becks who had run out of gas then wouldn’t let me leave until I’d been fed and watered well beyond what someone wearing a uniform would think of as reasonable.
Let's just say I rolled into the Motel unit quite late and then Matt and myself giggled in our bunks trying not to wake up Pixie who was doing 12 hrs solo the next day…..she had earplugs. Wise move.
Saturday: weather: chilly start but fine.
Camp site; same as usual but not so much sun as the damn trees keep on growing and blocking out the sun…A fellow competitor who didn’t get his 29er ready in time had to move to the South side of pit lane but laughed at us in the shade all day.
We may join him next year.
Matt did not put his hand up for the first lap run around the campground, but got the task anyways as Phil and I have both done previously. This would have been the year to take the challenge as it was only a short run, but he had more running in store – stay tuned.
Phil did one lap then went to pick up his wife, then Craig took over but had to pull double duty for his sons team as one of their grommets couldn’t make it or more than likely was in the Alexandra Police cells….
Pixie hammered out the solo laps with Erin Green hot on her tail.
Marc gave me instructions for the handover: bottle, food, change bikes and don’t touch the Garmin – only Pixie can touch it !
Roger that, off he went for his lap.
Pixie came and went, single handedly I did what I was told and pushed her off up the hill with my left hand never to be washed again after been on her butt.
If only the next changeover went as well….
Marc and I were both down the back of the pits area getting things ready when unbeknownst to us Pixie came in, saw no one, grabbed a bottle off Erin’s mum -next door and carried on…
I went out on my next lap which I only think is fair to mention involved the first of a few shoddy changeovers….
Matt made his eyes bleed and pulled a 31 minute lap. He arrived, I was still dressed for snow conditions sitting in the shade drinking ½ a can of Monster Energy…crap. Off I went and man did I pay for it.
Somehow got my riding top off while riding and donned the Rambo sleeveless look and busted out my fastest time all day…33 minutes something I believe.
Pixie evidently came in and shared a few choice words with her crew chief/mechanic/life partner Marc.
Is it too early to mention my observation of possibly the same ladies cleavage as last year ?
A low slung tee shirt, two globes with their own independent orbits and a tattoo as well….
” Great cleavage” I muttered in a low tone – the surrounding tents uttered a collective gasp to which the girl raised her hand in a thank you salute and carried on her way.
I’m not 100 % sure of the next sequence of events but it went something like Marc was up for a lap, but not ready so was fussing around getting sorted when Craig appeared out of nowhere and got the wristband instead so took off….
Marc may have also shared a few choice words and did most definitely drop his bike and left the area and “go to Hell” or thereabouts.
Meanwhile I’m sure the other teams where dining out on our lack of commitment and disorganization, but hey, we had Monster Energy, a crack team or a team on crack (whichever) and 3 x 29ers & a Matt.
A quick check showed us in 13th place in the open mens category. Later on we were 17th. On completion 15th. I’d like to say true grit and determination got us there, but it was really Craig and Matt with their fast lap times.
Hey, lets have a little round up on the technology side of things.
Last year I couldn’t believe how many single speeds there were – this year it’s bloody 29ers.
I can say that as I own 2 of them.
Nice Segue to my own bike of choice: the Intense Spider 29er (dualie) which was awesome.
The only thing I changed for Naseby was my pedals, new seat and a new brand of chain oil. Which for me is an all time record when you consider what I normally get up to.
-Hottest guy would have been the guy wearing fuller upper body armour and a full face.
-Coolest guy would have been Tom from The Surgery Dunedin sporting just a pair hot pants.
-Nicest girl: (well my wife obviously, but in lieu of her not been present) I say the blondie dressed as Mini Mouse – a very good rider; I had to go up 2 gears to hang behind her on the hills…
I’m sure that if someone wanted to make a reality TV show we could have starred in it, but as with most weekends away; you had to be there.
The laughs and laps just kept on coming, so did Pixie and the bloody bike changes.
You could have heard a pin drop as she saw the lights mounted on the Superlight meaning Pixie would have maybe another 4 hrs stuck on the one bike, the one bike she isn’t completely Zen with, then she forgot to swap the GPS over and bumped her lights off the bars while sliding GPS into the bracket, my consoling words were met with anything but thanks. Then to make it worse Matt was trying to ace my turn at giving Pixie’s butt the much needed starting push ! I think not young man, step aside – I am a trained professional and you a mere helicopter pilot. Once again the other teams nearby hid behind their baked potatoes and cuppa soups.
Dusk settles upon us, the laps kept coming thick and fast; the A team of myself and Matt kept the wheels on the solo bus – it was probably Marc in reality but we enjoyed ourselves anyways – Matt sprinted around the campground with another bike and food on a couple of occasions – if it was me I would have disqualified myself for a bike change outside my own pits.
Ce la Vie.
I was offered beer but said I had to do a night lap first, so with that out the way and a calculation of time versus riders I had a beer and a shower and endured the unfruitful prizegiving.
Just so we're clear this picture is not the prize giving but a wee snack that Jeff: our camp commander whipped up...
Matt got the last spot prize; a case of Monster and a 6 pack of Speights (Good on ya mate) for making the journey from Taupo.
Pixie licked all the other girls in the solo class.
Anja Mcdonald smashed all the boys in the solo singlespeed class and won it overall.
Corbett; (Matt to his mum) did not disintegrate on his first foray into the potentially dark world of 12 hrs solo as predicted.
And it transpires that a major motivation for Pixie going at it all day like a 70 old with 7 Viagras onboard was that the boys had a bet on that Corbett could knock out more laps than her…..who would have even thought it ?
We have a whole year to convince Pixie that she should be our support crew and we do it solo next year, but so far this idea has not been met warmly.
Maybe publishing the photos of both me and Matt spooning her as she lay in a
lactic-acid-induced-semi-conscious-state later that night may do the trick ? Who really knows.
PS the longer course this year added 2 minutes to Ryan Cull’s once again fastest lap of the day.