NDuro Winter series race 1

A bit of pre-race rain set the scene for some good winter riding in Rotorua this weekend. I was pretty keen to get back on the mountain bike after the the Red Centre Enduro about a month ago. It's been a while since I have raced in NZ, and it was great to catch up with a few old friends.

The 40km course set off at 10am and we were in for a treat. The rain over the last week or so had made the trails a pretty slippery affair and it was great fun!!! We started at the Long Mile entrance and headed straight up the hill. I could feel that my legs were strong after the month of speed work I've just done. Up the hill and then down into Waipa Mill to head along creek track and "mad if you don't" and then along yellow brick road and up to the top of "no brains". This is where it got interesting. No brains can be a sketchy trail at the best of times, but in the mud, is even more fun. My wheels turned to mud-clogged rings of recklessness and I somehow managed to dismount my bike over the handlebars, legs first and land on my feet... I had to walk back up the track to pick my bike up and rode the rest of no brains a little more carefully. It was great to be able to ride Split Enz and Pondy again after the recent logging, but Pondy Downhill had been turned into a mudfest of epic proportions. The mud was deep enough that my rear derallier was dragging in it... I think this was where my front derallier stopped working, which I discovered as I climbed back up Old Chevy. My drive train was so clogged with mud that I couldn't ride in the small chain ring without suffering from chain suck. I had the option of being in my easiest gear only, or staying in my big chain ring... I chose the big chainring...

The great thing about riding in mud is that it's so unpredictable, and to be truthful, I don't claim to be all that great at it, so I can't say I was surprised at my dismount on no brains, or when I came down the last section of Old Chevy and elegantly laid my bike down into a gorse bush at speed.

Yup, it was a fun day out, and whilst it was tough work and the times were slow, it was a good skills day. I came 5th in the open female category and right now, the bike is hanging up drying after a good blast with the hose.

Roll on winter!!!!