Published by Tristan on 02 Nov 2010 at 10:30 am
K2 weekend report
I’ve talked about doing K2 – the 192km race around the Coromandel – for a couple of years and this year I was roped-in to make the trip.
The race was probably the mentally hardest things I’ve done on a bike. I’d had a really poor sleep the night before – a combo of being anxious and having a bed which was canted at a 45 degree angle and squeaked every time I so much as breathed. As a result I was tired and not in a great headspace. My legs felt good for the first 150km but the final three short and sharp climbs really took the sting out of me, and the final 3.4km climb was just brutal. Every time I got out of the saddle my legs would cramp, so I’d have to sit down and just grind it out and 50rpm. Yuck. It’s hard to bluff your way past 4h on the bike and I was found-out in that final hour.
I finished up just inside the top-twenty with a time of 5:38. I’ll be back next year with a bit more form, a few more long rides in the legs, and a better night-before bed :-)
Many thanks to those who said hello during the race – sorry if I wasn’t too chatty but I was going through a few layers of hurt :-)
In the Elite race the Wheelworks boys did really well and were riding for Andy. As per the plan Mike launched an attack from the gun and picked up a few KOM points on the first climb but the bunch wouldn’t let roam free and they chased him down. The fast pace on the early climbs put the pressure on Chis and Greg which wasn’t part of the plan. “Wellington surprise” Andy Hagan rode extremely well and stuck with eventual winner Jeremy Yates and Brad Carter when the three of them broke away at Whitianga and he rolled across the line after 5:09 in third place.
In the Elite woman’s K1 race Janine finished in an awesome 15th place against an amazingly strong field. Kirsten finished 5th overall and 1st woman in the Nicholas Browne Challenge but unfortunately because of course / timing Stu the photographer didn’t manage to snap any photos of the two gals.
As always I had a great weekend away with these guys and girls – the food was good, the banter was good, and despite the look on my face in some of the photos the bike racing was good.
I’m back in the workshop today. I’ll be spending the morning responding to emails and call-backs and I’m looking forward to cracking into the wheelbuilds this afternoon.
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