Just over 100 of us assembled in the early morning drizzle to compete in the trailfest on Saturday morning. The trails were wet and slippery and covered an interesting mix of road, single track and mud. The Course was slightly changed from that shown on shown on the map.
I was one of 73 who opted to do the 32 km race. We started with a chase up Barlow Road, then another short climb onto some single track. I was going well, until I lost traction on a rather steep descent and crashed heavily (I later discovered that my helmet was cracked, thank goodness it was my helmet and not my head!). I got up, gathered my thoughts and resigned myself to the fact that I would spend the rest of the race playing catch-up.
We went through that race village at the 20 km mark and after downing a tube of peak fuel, I was feeling strong. I could see a couple of riders just ahead, so I gave chase for what was a reasonably lengthy road section. I passed three or four, and the came to the wet, slippery single track uphill section, which I struggled with. I lost two places in this but managed to finish second in category, and ninth overall.
The more I ride the Scale 29er, the more I like it. It is kept in perfect condition by the team at Avantiplus Waitakere, and rarely misses a beat. It was disappointing that there was no prize giving at this event, so once our friends had finished, we kind of petered out of that race area and went into town for coffee.
No comments:
Post a Comment