The Huka challenge marked the Launch of the “Avantiplus MTB Team”, of which I am privileged to be a member. I had since the team was launched been looking forward to meeting the members who I had not yet met, and was pretty excited with the prospect of the team getting together to compete in this event.
We arrived at registration on Friday afternoon, and all was well. This event is very well organised and registration was a breeze. It was also a place we were able to catch up with friends and fellow mountain bikers from all over the country. I had a arranged to meet Scott Mac, who suggested that we ride together. Ambitious, I know, because for MTB we all have different strengths and weaknesses. Worth a try, though.
Any fear of not being accepted by the team was soon put to rest when we arrived at our accommodation on after registration. After all, here were eight of us with a shared passion for mountain biking joining to participate in a sport that we love. The other riders all showed the humility and friendliness that makes our sport special. Having introduced ourselves, we set about discussing the objectives of the team and getting to know each other’s backgrounds and ambitions for the future. They are all people with whom I would like to spend more time.
The accommodation we had was a lakefront house and on race day morning we awoke and 5 o’clock to a perfect Taupo morning, a clear sky with a perfectly flat crystal clear lake. We all got into our race day routine, and all went smoothly. Some of us went in cars to the start line, others rode. As my goal was to enjoy the ride rather than compete for a place, I chose to warm up with stretches on the start line, and take it fairly easy for the first part of the ride.
I met with Scott and we managed to get to the front of the start line. We started together, but he got away from me on the first major climb, and from there it was pretty much catch-up for some time.
This event must be the purest MTB event in which I have participated; there it comprises mostly forest track for the first 60 km. There is no let-up, every metre was hard fought and won. There were excruciating climbs, wicked downhills which required total concentration. The tracks were such that lapses in concentration were not forgiven; indeed most of the people that I know made mistakes that cost them time. Most of the tracks were unfamiliar, and I had no idea where I was at any given time. What I could see, though, is that this is a part of Taupo that until this event, I have very much missed out on.
Just before the transition/feed zone I saw Scott coming the other way, just a few minutes ahead. This spurred me on to try and catch him, and I did so during a very tight and difficult section of track soon after. The relief at coming out of the forest at the 55 km mark was short lived, as we went down to the river and onto more tracks, sharp switchbacks and even more short but difficult climbs. The sudden onset of a minor cramp required a quick stop to fuel up on peak fuel and away again, quickly overtaking those who went past while I was stopped. There was a fast metal road (the first easy part of the ride) section to Aratiatia Dam, then a dismount to walk over the bridge across the Waikato River. A quick glance down and I could see some fish in the pool! The ride along the eastern side of the river back to the finish line was mostly fun, with a mixture of metal road and shared walking/bike tracks which climbed up to reveal some amazing views and the going back down to the river for a closer look. We went past Spa Park and more tricky tracks – this was not going to be an easy finish. We climbed up and rode alongside the road (is this it?), but there was no relief! Back down a switchback to and then alongside the river to the control gates bridge. A small climb took us to a temporary bridge over the main road, and then we had a short seal road ride to the finish. We joined the roadies for the sprint along Tongariro Street to the finish - I was determined that I was not going to let anyone past me along here. I used what little energy I had left to sprint across the line, finishing in just under five hours, followed very closely by Scott and a couple of other friends. The pineapple chunks at the finish line were delicious and tempting though it was to stay and feast, we had to keep moving to let others finish.
The finish is always the best part of an event, we get to socialise with other participants and tell stories about what we liked and didn’t, but of course, after this event, as a part of a team we had a base. Here we were able to meet friends and enjoy their company, introduce our team-mates, show off our bikes and enjoy a very pleasant afternoon with good company.
I managed to catch up with a number of people, after which I rode back to our accommodation and was able enjoy the perfect weather and location by having a swim in the lake with my team-mates and their families.
During the ride back to Five Mile Bay, I watched some of the late finishers and saw the beauty of this event, not just the outstanding location, but the fact that there were people of all shapes sizes and ages out enjoying their bikes. This is a great event, and it is no surprise that the number of mountain bike entries was double that of last year.
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