May 27th, Ohakuri (Atiamuri)
I went up with Mark Gray on Sunday morning as mum and dad didn’t have room in the car on Saturday evening. We had Taihape McDonalds for breakfast which, as everyone knows, is great race food. I fell asleep shortly afterwards and didn’t wake up until the event.
I rode in the senior womens race. There were nine women entered in the womens class, including me. I came sixth overall, beating April mainland, Julia Williams, and Jane Bennett.
There were 69 riders in Intermediate and it took a few kms for everyone to spread out. The track was quite similar to the Vinduro track the other weekend. There was one bit in particular that I liked. It went down a small hill, then up another small hill. At the top of the uphill it was a bit bumpy with a slight decline. On the first lap I got about an inch of air coming over the top and it was just enough to carry me over the bumps and, because of the decline, I stayed in the air for a metre or two. Annoyingly I couldn’t do it again on any of the next three laps.
The second lap was alright. I fell off once but managed to get back on the bike before anyone saw me. On the third lap I was starting to fade and should have been wearing my camelbak. It would have saved me the time it took me to get a drink at the pits and I would have probably gone up another placing or two.
The last lap was really the difference between the junior race and the senior race. I had to keep telling myself that it was the last lap and only a little bit further to get back. I was very glad to see the finish.
I had quite a good day. The last lap was exhausting but it was still good.