Whirinaki Quest and the Scott Scale Elite 29er

I have ridden 29ers before, but I have never raced an unfamiliar trail on a 29er hard tail. So it was with some trepidation that my friend and I set out on Friday afternoon for Rotorua with our bikes, mine a Scott 29er Elite hard tail that I had collected that morning. I hadn’t had a chance to go for a ride, so I was hoping to get there in time to get a short test ride in the forest before dark that evening.
This bike is described on the Scott Website as a “reasonably priced bike’ and at 11.6 kg is quite light. Selling through Avantiplus stores at just over $3,000 it certainly represents very good value for money.
I managed to get a ride on Friday evening, and had time to make some basic adjustments, but not enough to test and thoroughly check them.
On race morning, we went to the site of last year’s event village, and although there were a few people milling around, we were the only ones with bikes! We were a bit early, so we carried on, but someone came along and pointed and told us that we were actually at a pool tournament and pointed us in the right direction and we got to the race village. We eventually got registered, set up to the start line, and ready to go. The usual weekend warriors were there, including ‘G’, who I have been chasing around the forests all winter (and getting closer), and ‘A’, who has been chasing me around all winter (also closing in). I expected a good race. It became my goal to beat ‘G’, and therefore ‘A’, not necessarily get any other placing, although that would be nice. There was, of course the usual trash talk!
My plan was to take a measured approach to the start, climbing to the 8 km mark (all uphill) just short of the hurt level, then ride to my strengths, namely the fast single track and the descents, hopefully out manoeuvring my opponents and managing to stay ahead during the climbs.
The bike performed well, and I was impressed with the climbing (I am accustomed to riding a full suspension bike), and, unusually, managed stay competitive. The race went according to plan and I was happy with my effort. The bike was a revelation, particularly in areas where there were deep and difficult ruts – it just cruised straight through them. Very easy to control, although I thought that the forks were a bit unresponsive (it turns out that I had misread the pressure chart, and had pumped them up to 160 psi, when the recommended pressure for my weight is 120psi!)
At the 32 km mark, there is what is known as “mongrel hill”, and energy sapping bastard of a climb which even the best rider on the day had to carry his bike. I struggled up here and it was near the top of this hill that three of us (‘G’, ‘A’ and I) came together. This was going to be a race to the finish line. I came out of this climb last of the three of us, and tried to ignore the pain. There was about a kilometre of tricky downhill, which if I nailed, I would hopefully have enough of a lead to win the road sprint to the finish line. I led out of the descent and got well ahead as I had hoped, but, but I looked back and I could see that ‘A’ was chasing hard, and gaining rapidly. With about 1500 metres to go, he caught me, so I backed off, let him past, and tucked in behind so that I could borrow some energy for the final sprint across the paddock to the finish line. I got ahead going through the gate, did a bit of blocking and rode my butt off to finish about 20 metres ahead. ‘G’ finished shortly after, (having had a motivational breakdown due to a bit of cramp). Goal achieved.
Not enough to win my category (I got category 2nd and seventh overall) but a very satisfying day indeed. The race was won by 16 year old Nigel, McDowell, who I think embodies all of the values we seek in our young – modest, successful, and a generally very pleasant person.
The bike a very definitely a keeper. And I will be back for another Whirinaki quest!