July 4, 2012

Round 2 CX national series Queenstown

This was the first race of the national series for me. I was really looking forward to it and hoping for a good result after a 1st and 2nd place in our CHCH CX series. I couldn't get the day off work on Saturday so I had to fly down on Sunday morning before the race. It worked out well because Dave Molloy was able to take my bike and gear down then pick me up from the airport. Thanks Dave! The race was run well and it was a fun, windy and technical course. It was very cold and frosty. So to start off with the ground was rock hard and slippy. And with the sun coming out and riders out on the course it was giving us even less traction. Also there were two icy stream crossings which created some good mud bogs. We all did a timed hot lap to get a seeding for the start of the actual race. My plan was too go hard but save energy. All I wanted was to get a front row start. I got the 3rd fastest time which I was happy with. Especially seeing I lost the front wheel once and slipped on some ice which rolled my ankle abit. The race came up fairly quickly after that. I had an ok start, holding my seeded third position for the hole shot. From here I found myself switching places with 4th while only being a couple of wheel lengths off 1st and 2nd place. Pro rider and husband of Katie Compton, Mark Leg Compton had set the pace and pulled off the front on his own. Soon he was hunted down by Wellington rider, Alex Reval. Who caught and past Mark then stayed there to finish first. At about the halfway point I was riding with our national champ, Dan Warren. We weren't too far of Mark who was currently in 2nd place. Through one of the more technical parts of the course, the "Specialised spiral" I managed to get a cap on Dan. In this section there were two boards. I was hopping these while the others I was riding with were running them so I could carry a lot more speed through the section. This helped me throughout the race. After getting past Dan I kept the power on and bridged the cap to Mark. I stayed with him for a half a lap. Then knowing I only had one more lap to go I pushed past Mark and again opened a cap through the " Specialised spiral". So now I was 2nd and I held it to the finish. I am very happy with that result and it gives me confidence going into National Championships this weekend in Napier. So far this week the pre and training was gone well. Really looking forward to racing my first cyclocross national champs!

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