Diary of a hairy legged multisport racer

Tuesday 5 May 2015

Hutt City Crazyman, May 3rd 2015

For a couple of reasons I'd been looking forward to this race for a while. The combination of catching up with some good mates in Wellington and several traveling from Nelson made for an attractive draw card. Couple this with a course I hadn't raced before and I was excited about the race.



We woke on Sunday to a cracker day. Stuff all wind, mild temperature and clear skies. With the boys in the van along with Rach and my good mate Simon we headed to the start.

The Race....



The Le Mans start involved a brief 300m run to our boats and comprehensive feedback as to why I haven't pursued sprinting as a sport. Once at the boats though the combination of Simon holding my boat and having a surfski saw me 2nd off the beach. My start couldn't have gone any better. Soon into my rhythm and heading around the bays to the Hutt river mouth I had two kayaks on my wash, one of whom was Glen Muirhead. Slightly ahead was up & coming k1 racer Kurtis Imrie. After a couple of k's Kurtis seemed to be waiting for us so I took the opportunity to get onto his wash. By this time I was a little confused as to where Dan Busch was but chose not to dwell on it for too long. As it happened Dan had rudder trouble on the start and paddled out of his skin (just a normal day for Dan) to catch up about 5km into the paddle. From here the course did an out and back to the Petone wharf before heading up the Hutt river to Sladden park. Kurtis put a decent burst in close to the river mouth separating the group leaving me on my own in 3rd. Shortly after I entered TA 40 seconds back on Dan and a minute behind Kurtis.



I was quickly through TA and onto my bike.....or was I. I'd been having trouble with my gears for the last few days and thought I had them sorted but after 2-3 pedal strokes my chain snapped under not much load. Damn. Running back into TA Rich Ussher had seen my predicament and offered to help. Yes please. With me being too pumped on adrenaline Rich calmly threaded the chain through the rear derailer while I found my quick link. What I found wasn't pretty and a tad embarrassing. In all my multisport days I've never broken a chain and had never been diligent enough to replace the link. It was so rusted that I had to pry the 2 pieces apart. Anyway, we managed to rejoin the chain and carefully then hastily I set off only to arrive at obstacle number 2 for the day. Michael had just released onto the Hutt river trail 100+ duathlon entrants setting the scene for what was to be a 5km overtaking maneuver. I have never shouted "on your right" so many times ever.
By the time I reached the climb up Boulder Hill I was more tired than I wanted to be but with no sign of Busch there was plenty of work to do. The climb went well until shortly before the top when my rusty link gave way. Now I really was up against it. I started running uphill thinking I'd glide the downhills, run the uphills and all would be well. Fuzzy thinking. There was too much undulation and flat riding to get any speed without a chain so I began asking duathletes if they had a link I could have. No one did. After a few of these I stopped asking and settled into a run but was shortly caught bSy a friendly chap (who I've since forgotten his name) who offered me a link. What a legend. So with link in hand I slowly and carefully threaded the chain and connected it. A quick check of the gears without load and I shot off on my way. Luke Osbourne had passed me recently so my new objective was to catch him before the end of the race. The chance of catching Buschy I thought was long gone....until that is at the base of the last climb I looked up and could make out both Buschy and Luke close together. Game on.



With the last km of the mountain bike sharing the same track as the first of the run I got a decent idea of how far behind I was. Simon and Rach confirmed in TA that I was about a minute behind. Onto the run I controlled my pace so I didn't burn out too quickly coming off the bike. The first climb came up quick and looking up I could see the boys up ahead. I figured if I was to catch them at all it would be going up as they are both decent flat/ downhill runners. With a couple of hard bursts I caught them at the top and headed off in the lead. Immediately I felt better and got into a good rhythm for the remaining 45minutes to Petone Wharf for the finish. It had been an eventful day for all and a more than honest course. I was stoked to have turned my mechanical disadvantages around and finish in the right spot.

A big thanks to my mate Simon and wife Rach for awesome work as support crew. Thanks to Rich Ussher for his mechanical help in transition and my unnamed chainlink donor. Without them the day would have been much different.

Thanks also to my loyal sponsors: Thermatech, Torpedo7, Rasdex and Legend Paddles who make my racing possible. 

Monday 4 May 2015

Coast to Coast 2015

Well....it was only a few months ago! Time has flown and I've been particularly slack on my Blogs due to plenty going on. Given that several people have asked why I haven't written about the race I'll put a quick retrospective report in here. Its brief and to the point.

My build up for this years race was solid. My training weeks were concise but I felt there was enough quality in there for a good race. I'd had some great company on the course with Dan Busch and Nathan Fa'avae recently and hadn't overcooked myself on any given week. Mentally I was pretty relaxed.

Race Day: The start line was more of a comedy festival than the start of a serious race. In the short space of 2 minutes Nath had taken the micky out of several contenders and we were all enjoying a bit of a laugh. Rich Ussher announced "2 minutes to go". Nath quickly corrected "No, there's actually more like 12 hours to go" and more laughter erupted.

Before long Juddy sounded the hooter and we were off. A slightly shorter run than usual saw us at the bikes in a lung bursting 7 minutes and enjoying the bliss of a transition under lights. Onto the bikes a 1st bunch quickly formed including Braden Currie, Sam Clark, Dan Busch, Hamish Flemming, Pete Smallfield and a few others making 11 altogether. No Nathan Fa'avae.......must still be cracking jokes I thought to myself. The ride went well for me but there was always the question of how much sting a cold headwind will take out of you.

Aitkens transition was again much improved and well organised. I was fast through TA and into my stride. I've never felt great on these first few kilometers with today being no exception. Ahead of me were Braden,  Sam Clark and Sam Manson. Close behind was Flavio. Finding my Rhythm I quickly passed Sam Manson and started looking ahead to Sam Clark who was about 30seconds ahead. At the time I thought Sam & I were running the same speed and that with some effort I'd catch him as I've done before on this course. What ensued was the opposite. Sam gradually pulled away and after 30minutes I couldn't see him. I wasn't feeling on form and the head wind was eating away at me. By Doreen Creek I knew I wasn't having my usual run and felt wobbly and off form. Flavio was on my tail with Sam not far back. I stopped worrying about speed and focused more on eating, drinking and keeping smooth. Unfortunately I couldn't manage the latter and stumbled my way to Goat Pass. I had a long run down with Sam and Flavio getting ahead after the pass. They were on a mission....my legs missed the memo! Into Klondyke however fortunes changed yet again. Flavio was limping into TA and Sam had broken his chain getting on the bike.

Onto the bike I had no interest whatsoever in going fast and invested my time in eating solid food and drinking. Hamish Flemming passed me on a mission.

The run down to Mt White bridge was the first time I'd felt hot all day and I made a decision that I believe changed the course of my day. I stripped off my arm warmers opting to paddle in a short sleeve top. We had a great transition onto the water and I set off in 3rd spot. Sam and Braden were 15-20mins ahead with Hamish just behind. Within 10 minutes the Southerly cut deep and I cursed myself about ditching the arm warmers. My arms were cold. Still I paddled well to Gooseberry Stream and felt strong.

After Gooseberry Stream however I started getting cold. Not just the arms but the legs. I knew that if my legs were getting cold that my body temp in general was cooling off. With no one near behind or close in front I drifted into a state of plod. I was paddling at tempo but I certainly wasn't paddling like someone who wanted to tear the river to pieces. The worst thing about this state is that you rarely realise that you are in it...you just are. Valuable seconds dripped by and I didn't realise the paddling potential that I know I have. At the time however though I thought I was doing well......that was until Nath caught me up 25minutes from the end---and passed me. Shit Trev, you're paddling like a f@#king muppet I said to myself. Harden the f#@k up and paddle like a man. So I kind of woke up and padded with conviction for the remaining 25 minutes. Nath was just in front and I used him like a yardstick until at one braid junction we took different chutes. I lost sight of him and figured his chute was faster. Damn. So I paddled faster.

Two corners from the end he caught me again cursing in the process something about gravel rash on his bum. So we entered the Gorge Bridge TA together and ran to the bikes. I knew if I was to have any chance here I'd need to hit the bike first, and that's what I did opening a small gap of 40 seconds.

The final ride was a bit of a blur but the equation was simple. Ride 70km as quickly as possible and you can have a beer. I knew Nath was back there somewhere and was confident of holding my position until the last 10km where the real hurt began. I didn't have the confidence to look back. Like Luke Skywalker I didn't need to look. I could feel his presence. Bastard.

Anyway, cutting to the end I held on and only lost a few seconds in the final 20km. The mind can do cruel things to a tired body. I was stoked to have made the podium. Braden and Sam were miles ahead in a league of their own but given my body's lack of fire that day it was a more than satisfying outcome.

A big thanks to my Support crew: Pete (Dad), Mark, Patrick & Ian. We had a great day. Big thanks also to my loyal sponsors: Torpedo7, Thermatech, Legend Paddles and Rasdex.