This week the series moved from the Peka Peka course up to the ominous hills of the Akatarawa Ranges. Following the successfull Individual Time Trials recently run, this race also represented a TT, but with a 6km hill involved. Not only a 6km hill, but an additional 2kms of rolling road with a nasty little kick at the Rekiorangi Church to boot. Care would be needed not to go out too hot, and burn out before the climb actually starts...
The weather held firm with warm, humid conditions. There were dark thunder clouds just over the peak of the hill, and the rumble of thunder was heard over the Hutt before the race commenced. The rain held off until the race finished, thankfully.
33 riders started at 30 second intervals. A hill climb over this distance can really make a meal of the starting order, so Adrian and I headed up to the peak to make sure we could recognise everyone, and sure enough, the starting list was next to useless....but that was entirely expected.
This race suits the light, lean, mountain goats, and with Sam King-Turner occupied with the upcoming Tour of Wellington, and Finlay not riding, Miles was the clear favourite; but the clock still requires beating, so how fast did he go?
Miles was to start in last place, but late comers slotted in behind. Miles commenced in 26th place with a deficit of 13 minutes on the Tandem of Julian and Rachael Carr. Miles was 6th at the top of the hill, (in relatiion to starting order, meaning he passed 20 riders on his way up..) with a nett time of 21:15.42, with the next best finisher being David Brazier in 24:20.57 and then Mike Jeppesen with 24:42.36 (just edging out Adam John from the podium).
There were some very very hot looking riders at the top ....
Two riders who derserve special mention are: Dale Lopez who had a flat tyre near his house..so went back and jumped on his mountain bike!; and Tony Britton, who also suffered a puncture (front tyre)and rode the hill, unable to get out of the seat or else he'd put too much pressure on the rim....
Greg McCardle was a DNF due to a torn tyre; Mike George suffered mechanical failure; while Dylan Hughes-Ward looked to have gone out a bit hard at the start and retired.
Great effort to you all.
A big thank you to Ernst and Dietrich for marshalling; Hope for registration; Ross Leger for cones and signs; Dave for managing the race, and also to Adrian for time keeping at the top of the hill.
The times have been updated as some of those who started on a half minute interval had incorrect nett times. You may see some changes in the order.
Comment by GUEST on 2010-01-26 22:24:16 looks like the riders who started on the xx:30 slots times are generally incorrect - excel can't handle it I guess!
Comment by GUEST on 2010-01-26 23:15:22 Bryce Lorcet net time should be 24:58.87, not 26:58.87 as shown in results. Thanks for all the organising, great afternoon's racing.
Comment by GUEST on 2010-01-27 08:19:21 Thanks to the organisers and marshalls. A good Tuesday night ride all round. Cheers Clive B
Comment by GUEST on 2010-01-27 08:55:23 Can people please stop leaving anonymous messages. Chris
Comment by anthonyb on 2010-01-27 11:28:12 Excel and its time maths is hopeless. I've emailed Chris a version that converts the start and finish to seconds, and then gives a results time in minutes/hundreds of a minute, sorry no time to go to perfection.
The comparative times look a lot different, we can't have fights in the Garton household through Neil beating Dwight, sorry Neil heh heh.
Comment by GUEST on 2010-01-27 14:04:17 Tony, can you email it to me at work?
and I'll update it this afternoon? Thanks CB
Comment by GUEST on 2010-01-28 11:26:13 I have update the result file, with the quick fix that Tony has suggested. Chris
