Gibbs Hill Challenge 2011

14th August

With the country being hit by one of the worst polar blasts in years we were unsure what sort of day Takaka would deliver us. Not  wanting to ignore the warnings we left home equipped with loads of warm gear. I even packed the chains just in case takaka hill was in trouble.

What eventuated however was a cracker day in Golden Bay. The snow clouds swept were aside by the hills and a huge window of blue sky and winter sunshine greeted us as we entered Takaka, Golden Bay's big smoke. The Gibbs hill challenge involves a 23km road ride from Takaka to Wainui Bay (including 2km on gravel), a 20 odd km run over Gibbs hill, down to Totaranui then back along the coastal track to Wainui Bay where you get back on the bike for a return trip to Takaka primary school.

The start was typical of the Bay's amazing organisation with a lead car controlling the pace for the first 2km before the real racing began. We had a swift first ride with a few attempted break aways but nothing to worry about. Entering the final 2km on gravel our bunch had narrowed to a few strong contenders including mens team rider Cliff Bowman and my main competition Matt Ellery.

Onto the run I quickly lost sight of Cliffs pedigree teammate Phil Costley as he seemed to fly up the hill ahead. My thoughts then quickly went to the fatigue in my legs. I had 6 hours training on Saturday with 4 of those being on the bike. This was not going to be an easy day. After an hour of running we were back at sea level and I was very surprised to see Matt hot on my heels. He was having a great race. I For the remaining 50 minutes of what seemed like continual up hill running I dug deep, determined to keep the pace strong despite dreaming of the couch!

After 1:50 of running I entered transition with Costley running a blistering 16 minutes faster over the challenging course. The bike became a matter of keeping things moving as the Southerly was in full swing and unfortunately for us we were biking straight into it...

So after 3:21 of racing I was very pleased to roll over the finish line only 4 minutes ahead of a legendary performance by Matt Ellery who is showing some real form this year.

Fleur Lattimore had a textbook strong performance to win the ladies section ahead of Suzie Wood. Rach, despite 4 hours on her legs on Saturday had a strong race to finish 6th. Not bad for bugger all training!

Nelson Tri Club Mid-Winter Tri 2011

31st July 2011

Well I had another good weekend training for Wulong topping it off with our annual Mid-winter tri. The race starts at a crisp hour of 9am with an 8km paddle around Bell island before transitioning onto Mountain bikes for a 2 lap 18km circuit on the North end of Rabbit island. The run then took us on a mainly single track 2km loop (2 laps) taking in the Rabbit island pine forrest and the estuary. Although it was a frosty start the day quickly warmed up and made for pleasant racing. I was challenged off the blocks by Ed Steenbergen, Daniel Bremner and Dayne McKnight for a few minutes but after about a kilometre I managed to break some open water behind me. The others never dropped far back but it allowed me to get into a good rhythm.

Into transition I was quickly onto the bike and made hard work of the first 9km lap. Its mainly flat but the sand, pine needles and branches make it seem like progress is very slow. The second lap was far better and I introduced my legs to the big chain ring (or they asked for it!)....and before long I was through transition and onto the 4km run in beautiful sunshine.

All up the race was short, taking me around 1hr 45mins to complete but it was great to get some speed work in after doing the miles. A big thanks to Nelson tri club for putting the day on and to Daniel Bremner for falling out of his ski to give himself very cold legs and me an extra advantage on the bike.