Well what a time we had. I have not had so much fun in such a long time. We flew out of Melbourne early last Wednesday for what was to be a week of racing, trails, a few beers and lots of fun. I was pumped cause I was going to have a catch up with long time friend Trent who was flying in from Brisvegas to be a party animal at the SSWC10 events.
After getting totally short changed at the check in and having to hand over cash for excess baggage (mind you I am big so I should instantly get extra kgs) and then handing over some banned stuff at the security check point we were on our way.
Once in NZ we picked up our gear and did the customs bike check. My nervous nelly ways paid off and I sailed through. Neil was not so lucky and had his bike pulled and he went off to a room (I think he might have paid with natures check book!) to wash his bike down further. Mind you he was gagging around and left his bag behind at the baggage claim and had to get the customs lady to escort him back to get it.
We had organised a 4wd to pack every thing into. With a bit of creative packing we got 4 bikes and our gear into it. Needless to say Neil and I had the better spot up front, Gav and Trent were getting reunited like two lovers in the back surrounded by gear. We pushed on to Rotorua and made our way out to find the house we had rented.
The hosue was sweet looking over a extinct volcano called Mt Tarawera hence the lake of the same name. It was a awesome spot, million dollar view, I could wake up to that view every day. We cruised back into town to register for the race and pick up the swag, race plate and have dinner and a few beers. We ended up chilling out with the Flathill crew and planned the coming days events.
We awoke the next day and had a breakfast, put bikes together and made our way to the trail head at the Redwoods. Amazing forest with these massive giant trees guarding the forest. We grabbed a map worked out a few trails to hit up and let the fun begin. We rode the course and decided it was a climbing mans game (counted me out - 450 metres of climbing each lap) but what you climbed on the up hills was replaced with the sweetest descents, twisty single track that just begged to be railed. I was riding stuff that I would usually be aprehensive about rolling here, but when in Rotovagas ride it! The smiles and hoots from the guys was a true indication of the fun being had. I was begging for a lighter gear as the climbs were killing me.
After a couple of hours smashing the trails we rolled back into town for a spot of lunch and a catch up with a few guys. We then headed back for a little more riding and got caught short in a rain storm and pulled the pin on the day.
That night we caught up with the Flathill guys again and decided to meet for Day 2 out at the Mill trail head for a long ride to do some of the epic trails from the high points... Split endz is a must if you are there.
stolen from Cam Wells
We climbed for what seemed like ages (well for me at 120kgs it was a nasty wake up call) and the whippets in the group were driving that pace. Once we made it to the top we entered the Split endz trail and it was all tight flowing single track in a downwards direction that gave you arm pump beyond belief. We entered the next trail called Pondy New and I was in heaven ripping it at the rear of the group taking my time and savoring the trails.
After a 2.5hr ride we had covered some 40 plus kms and 1000m of climbing and I was cooked beyond belief. It was going to be a tough race day as I had little in reserve after a couple days of climbing. We headed home and stood in some rather cool lake water to get the legs to recover... I was enjoying the beer whilst up to my nuts in a fresh cool lake.
We had a big cook up of Neils pasta.... lots of pepper in that baby after a slight measurement mix up and then attended the race briefing. All sounded sweet for the next day.
More to come!
No comments:
Post a Comment