Xterra Race Number 1: A Race Report!!!

Wow, how awesome is it that I'm writing race reports again? Yes, it's true that I haven't been posting much here, but I am training again, and it's going reasonably well. For example, last Saturday I ran for an hour, on Sunday I spun for an hour, I ran Monday and Wednesday, did RPM on Tuesday and Thursday, did a weights workout and had a Duck session in Frank Kitts. Yesterday I ran for ninety minutes, which is the longest I've run in I don't know how long!

All of this has been done in the midst of some of the worst weather. There have been floods all over New Zealand. Wellington has had day on day of rain, freezing temperatures and bone chilling Southerlies. Somehow, however, I've lucked out and stayed fairly dry throughout my runs. I keep waiting for my luck to run out.

Yesterday the rain held off till we were minutes away from the end. The heavens opened up while we were having post-run teas and coffees and I fully expected that today we would get drenched. It continued to pour down all day and, after my run, I spent most of it on the sofa in tracksuit pants with a book. I did not believe I could possibly stay dry today. Against all probability, however, today was indeed rain-free. In fact there were even some blue skies. The wind, however, was strong and arctic.

I was signed up for the short course Xterra run today. The start of the race is only a couple of kilometres from our house. Given the conditions we were very grateful that a local school had agreed to allow us to use their premises for registration. As it was double the anticipated numbers signed up for the race, and we were all packed into a hall like sardines waiting for the start. The start was half an hour late.

The long, medium and short course races started about thirty seconds apart from each other, on Happy Valley Rd across from the school. Within minutes of going outside I was cold to the point of my teeth chattering. I was wearing a polyprop, t-shirt and windbreaker with a merino beanie. With my car directly across the road from the start I made a last second decision to ditch the windbreaker and put on my merino jacket. It was a decision I did not regret one bit, and the only time I got a little warm was as we ran back down the hill again.

The race starts with a roughly one kilometre run up a very gentle incline along the road to the base of the Tip Track. At the race briefing we were told most people walk the Tip Track, and this indeed proved to be the case. I have a new respect for my friend Jo who runs the thing! I ran the first 100 metres but then surrendered to the might of the crowd and slowed to a walk.

It took around 20 minutes to walk to the turnoff for the short course. The track was quite rocky and therefore not muddy, which was a small mercy. We were also sheltered from the Southerly. The track is very steep and my hip was hurting so I took it reasonably slowly. As the track snaked up the hill it was possible to see other runners (and walkers) far ahead, so it was best not to look, or instead to look down at the landfill below.

As we got to the turnoff we were hit by the full force of the wind. This part of the track wound its way along the ridgeline, with views out to the Cook Strait. The Southerly was whipping in fiercely and it was all we could do to stop ourselves from being blown off the side of the track. It was extremely exhilarating but the wind made my eyes water terribly so that it was also a little difficult to see!

The track turned into a mix of long grass and clay, deeply rutted and with young gorse growths that attacked and bloodied my ankles. I wanted to take the downhills faster but it was just too slippery and, after nearly going over, I resigned myself to a conservative pace. To add to that my vestibular disorder was manifesting visually by making everything jump up and down in front of me. This was disconcerting enough to slow me!

After a while we hit a gravel four wheel drive track and I was able to speed up a little. We wound up at some kind of signal shed, where we turned around and ran back up the track. The woman in front of me stopped about 20 metres of the turn around so I made it my mission to overtake her. I did so and never saw her again.

After the brief out and back the track turned sharply down the hill back towards Bata Street. This would have been a great section to have really opened up the pace but the gravel surface was more than a little treacherous. I zig zagged and chose my path carefully and kept my footing the whole way. It didn't take too long to get to Bata Street at all, given how long it took to get up to the ridgeline.

From Bata Street we turned right onto Happy Valley Rd again and ran down to Owhiro Bay. Here I decided to overtake a woman in front of me so put on a burst of speed. The last kilometre was flat, into the headwind along the coast to the Red Rocks car park. It seemed to take forever and I was ready for it to be over.

Finishing was rather anticlimactic. I ran over the timing mat and had my chip removed. We finishers were all huddled in the new display area in the car park, sipping on sports drink, sharing war stories and sheltering from the wind.

After I finished I found myself in an extremely good mood. I'd had an absolute blast. I had gone into the event not worried about whether I walked or where I placed. I'd enjoyed myself, I hadn't fallen over. I'd gotten out of bed on a cold winter Sunday and explored a rugged, exposed part of the city. This was an excellent race!

One of the Squad girls, Karen, gave me a lift back to my car and I drove happily off home. After a hot shower I'm on the sofa in my tracksuit pants again. The central heating is going. Hamish is cooking pancakes and bacon. There is cider in the fridge. Life is pretty good really!

Pip Rides Round the Mountain

Well, I made it round the Yarrows Cycle Challenge today - riding over 150km round Taranaki. Just a quick post now as I'm off to New Plymouth soon for prize giving. In summary though, it was hot and it hurt. I made it round in under six hours, which was what I wanted, but I should have been a lot faster than I was. I knew right away that I wasn't quite right. My legs were missing something. I forced myself to eat and drink constantly to keep myself going. The climb from Opunake through to Kaponga was particularly nasty and I lost time here as I slowed right down. Stopping at Kaponga helped and I should have done so earlier. I got a bit of a surge after that and found someone to ride with. Mike from Lower Hutt and I rode the rest of the way together and I think he saved me (though he reckons I saved him).

It was hot, there was very little wind, and despite drinking a truckload I'm dehydrated and I'm sunburned as well. It was a gorgeous day and I did enjoy most of it. It definitely felt harder than Taupo and that seems to be a common opinion. At least with Taupo you get some nice downhills. Around Taranaki you seem to be constantly on a gradual climb!

First event of 2009 done and dusted. Next up the Grape Ride.

What rest week?

Yes, I know, this was supposed to be a rest week. For months I'd been saying that I'd take a week off after Taupo. Well, it didn't happen.

I was on such a high on Monday and so pleased to be able to run again that I dashed out after work and ran an easy 5km.

I was up again on Tuesday mo rning for Dee's RPM class and I followed that up with a Balance class at lunch time.

On Wednesday my legs were questioning my sanity so I rested.

On Thursday I ran through some extreme Wellington wind. I ran out to Balaena, enjoying the tail wind past Pt Jerningham, then jogged slowly up Maida Vale. The head wind was so intense coming down the other side that I was stopped in my tracks. For some reason I found this exhilerating. 7km under my belt I felt better about my running fitness.

I rested Friday, unless you call a couple of hours of dancing at the Department's Prom themed Christmas party exercise. I was up early (feeling a little seedy) on Saturday morning to meet some of the Gearshifters for a ride. The boys blitzed Makara. The girls cruised easily around the Bays on a beautiful summer morning then climbed up to Brooklyn and back down through the city to Freyberg again.

Finally I was up early this morning to collect Sarah, who was doing the Korokoro half marathon. I was planning on running the 10km. Sarah was off at 8am and I loitered until 9. The day dawned warm and windless and the views running down the hill from Maungaraki were stunning. I tried to focus on the outlook and not on the fact that 4km of downhill on tarmac at the start of a 10km run could only lead to shredded quads and tears before lunchtime.

We ran for a very warm kilometre along SH2 and then it was back into Belmont again for the run along the river to the Korokoro Dam. I had gone into this run adament I was doing it for the fun and that I was not racing. I'd always wondered how people could approach events in this way, stopping to talk to people enroute. Well, that was my run today. At the halfway drink stop I came across a former Jog Squadder who I hadn't seen in about a year. I stopped and chatted for several minutes before it occured to me that I should continue.

The heat along the river portion of the run was, unfortunately, oppressive. I found myself walking short stretches, overwhelmed by the sun and the still air. It was a relief to be in the bush again and I started to feel a little better. I passed three young guys who had stopped off to jump in the river, and who then thundered past me.

After having spent so many hours on my bike over the last few months it was strange to be watching my Garmin and watching the kilometres count down so quickly, knowing that my race would be over in a small fraction of the time it took me to complete Taupo.

Before I knew it I was at the dam and it was time for the steep climb back up to the Oakleigh entrance to the park. Pretty much everyone walked sections of this part. I walked the steeper bits, ran the easier bits at a very slow pace. Halfway up my Garmin ticked over the 10km mark and the entire race came out slightly long at nearly 10.4.

It was wonderful to crest the final rise and lope through the finish arch, where I was presented with a medal, sculled a few glasses of water, downed a banana and an apple and waited for Sarah, who arrived 10 minutes or so later. The girl looked all together too fresh for someone who'd just run to the top of the Trig in this heatwave!

All in all no damage done. I was cautious of my knees so took the downhill slower than usual and ran at a very relaxed pace overall. I did have a nana nap on the sofa when I got home, but I think it was more an after effect of the heat more than the distance itself. It seems I can still run 10km, even if I did have the occasional walk wimpout.

As Promised - Taupo Race Report!

Taupo - race morning 29 December 2008

Here it is - the race report! I am still on a cycling high. I still can not believe how well Saturday went when all the portents were against me ...

First, there was the cold. On Friday morning I was feeling better, but not 100% by any means. I was determined to start, but I was a bit concerned about my hydration levels. On Thursday I was drinking water like there was no tomorrow and for the amount going in there was very little coming out. Thankfully I finally hit optimum levels on Friday morning.

Second, there was the trip up the country. Julia was an hour late arriving to pick me up. I filled in the time by cleaning the house and then carted my gear up to the road and sat in the sun at the top of our property admiring the view until she arrived. We had a very slow trip up to Taupo, stopping frequently (once for lunch and a few times for bathroom stops for me and smoke/stretch breaks for Julia) and being held up by all the traffic and roadworks. I kept myself in a good frame of mind by taking note of all the other cars with bikes on the back heading the same way. I was part of a massive convoy all heading for the same destination. I felt like I was part of something good. I reminded myself about how, for many years, one of my motivations for doing Taupo was to be part of that crowd. I reminded myself that I was finally there, doing it.

Finally we were at Taupo. We had a pretty sweet room at the YHA. There were two bunk beds and one double bed, a small bathroom (unexpected) and a balcony with a view of the lake about 500 metres away. As the youngest of the four women staying together I got the top bunk.

After sorting out the room Julia and I walked down to registration and picked up our SWAG bags. I never cope well with large crowds at these things and by the time we'd wound our way through the Expo I was fighting the grumpiness. Things seemed a little disorganised. First, they ran out of gear bags at the registration desk where they give out race numbers. The women who gave us our numbers neglected to tell us that we would be given our gear bags at the end of the Expo and we had to go back to them to clarify. Second, there were two desks set up for collecting merchandise - one for race shirts and one for ordinary shirts and other gear. There weren't any signs highlighting the difference. Finally we got to the end of the Expo and were given our gear bags but when we got to the point where we were supposed to check that our transponders were working we were waved through without any check being done. Thankfully mine worked but I know of at least one other person whose transponder didn't. There were also more than a few grumbles about the SWAG bags. They contained one banana, a couple of magazines, a water bottle with some Leppin sachets and some flyers. That was it. Everyone expected a lot more goodies for the size of the event. We got more from some of the small events in the Wairarapa. I wasn't too worried, but it would have been nice to at least have had some chocolate.

Julia and I stopped off at Pac N Save for supplies for the following night's barbeque, then it was back to the YHA. We racked our bikes on the YHA rack, then pumped up our tires and, having driven through a couple of intense rainfalls on the Desert Rd, regreased our bike chains. Bikes ready and clothing and nutrition organised we prepared a shared pasta dinner then retreated back to our room.

I was feeling way too hyped up. Left to my own devices I would have been in bed by 10, but noone made a move before 10.30. As it turned out, I was staying with two snorers and a woman with a cold who kept coughing and blowing her nose. One of the snorers decided to stay up reading until after 11 and in my aggrivated state I felt she was flipping the pages of her magazine excessively loudly, then berated myself for my pettiness. The light that she had going was only one and a half metres or so from my face (I was in the top bunk) and it was too hot to put the duvet over my head so I couldn't sleep until after she'd gone to bed. Then after she'd finally called it a night the family in the next room came home. The children were running around screaming and banging things and then the whole family had around a gazillion showers each. By the time they finished the snorers were competing with each other and I was so strung out that sleep was an impossibility.

I was finally able to doze and woke before 6am feeling distinctly not fresh! I honestly don't I had more than 3 hours of sleep. Leonie - if you remember a certain Guy Fawkes night when I suffered similar insomnia you will have an idea of the irritation I was feeling with myself as I lay there awake. As a result I got up at 5.45am feeling really stressed and upset that I had possibly blown my chances of a good race by not being able to contain my anxiety and insomnia.

Thankfully I had only to open the curtains to find my inspiration. The hostel was about half a km back from the lake but on a slight rise so I could see that we were being treated to the most beautiful morning ever. The lake was completely still and the mountains behind it were covered in pure white snow. I decided that I owed it to myself to buck up. I could not spoil such a perfect race day with emotions that were not worthy of me. I forced down some cereal (I really didn't feel like eating) and decided I was going to triple my usual morning dose of Hydrocortisone. I got ready then picked up the black marker pen I'd brought with me and wrote this on my arm:

I wanted to remind myself that I was supposed to be enjoying myself!

Thankfully the writing in black seemed to work and I started to feel a little more awake after eating and as the medication started kicking in. We rode down to the start line and assembled in our various starting pens. Julia was with me at first but decided to join everyone else further up. I decided to stay where I was, which was probably a good thing as it meant I got to collect my thoughts and relax a bit. We waited nearly an hour for our wave to start. In the meantime I got chatting to a few of the people around me including a guy from Melbourne who was an absolute scream and rode with me for the first 10km or so.

Finally, with lots of cheering, we were off. Within the first few minutes we were climbing our first hill out of Taupo and I was being overtaken by a unicyclist. Fantastic! From there it was a gradual (and in some places not so gradual) climb to the high point of the course, about 30km in. I managed to clock around 64kmph coming down off that hill! I was riding low, crouched down over my handlebars and screaming "on your right" to all the cyclists I was passing. I found a great bunch of girls to ride with and after an hour or so it occurred to me that I was feeling great! Unfortunately the women I was chatting to decided to stop at the 40km mark to fill up their water bottles. I contemplated stopping to stay with them but only briefly. I was feeling too good to stop.

Most of the hills are in the first 80km and I was constantly climbing then roaring down the other side. I felt strong the whole way. I never had to tell myself to HTFU! I made sure I ate all the time (if I never see another Power Bar again it will be too soon) and I drank constantly. It was HOT! Apparently on parts of the course it was up around 34 degrees, including the last big hill climb into Taupo.

Before I knew it I was climbing Waihaha, one of the steepest hills on the circuit. I'd forgotten about the bagpipe player who stands halfway up each year, but I could hear him in the distance as I approached. By the time I got to him I was crying from happiness at actually being there doing this thing and laughing and grinning, all at the same time. I gave him a big wave and yelled out thanks and continued grinding my way to the top.

I stopped once to switch my water bottles around in their cages and once to put Cleo's chain back on (darn it) and then once at the 80km mark at the Kuratau support station. I was a bit worried about how dehydrated I was feeling. I drank three cups of water and refilled both of my drink bottles and dumped a heap of Leppin electrolyte gel into one of the bottles. Then I had a quick Portaloo stop (just in case) and was about to get going again when one of my Gearshifters friends called out to me. She wanted us to ride together but wasn't ready to leave yet and she's slightly slower than me and she must have seen from the look on my face that I was feeling a bit conflicted. Thankfully she told me not to worry and that I should just head off, so I did just that!

I was pushing off when a workmate pulled up next to me. He'd left in the group before me and was predicting a sub-six hour time so I was really surprised to see him. Apparently one of his tires had majorly blown out, leaving a one centimetre hole and he'd had to wait for the Avanti van to turn up so he could buy a new one. Although philosophical, he was obviously not having a good day. He got ahead of me but I caught him on another big downhill. I came flying up behind him yelling "Come on, what speed do you call this? Get a move on!" He's a big guy so normally he would have left me for dead! I lost him at some point and I think I got ahead of him, but it was nice to see him. He ended up doing 6.52, so I'm guessing he's probably really disappointed.

Finally we were climbing Kuratau, the longest hill. I had been very nervous about doing it but ended up really enjoying myself. It was long, but it was no Houghton Bay Rd and the views were beautiful. Now that I was over halfway and had a bit of extra water in me I was feeling fantastic. I had a big grin on my face again climbing that hill and passed a heap of people. Everyone had their names and where they came from on their bibs so I was making a point of calling to them by name as I passed them and, if they were from Wellington, cheering them on. There was one girl from West Auckland, so we did a bit of a "Westies Unite" thing as I went past. At this stage I wasn't really riding with a group because the course was so undulating we were all getting separated all the time. However I had a number of riders who I could identify as I passed them and they caught up with me time and time again and we all chatted when we could. There was another woman who was riding Cleo's identical twin, right down to the frame size!

From the top of Kuratau the views were mind blowing and it was a shame not to be able to stop and take photos. From then on I knew the worst was over. I tried to stick with a pack as we rode towards Turangi. Once we turned left onto SH1 we were into a headwind. That was a bit of a bummer - it was supposed to have been a tailwind! We still had 60km to go and I knew that I would blow out if I didn't ride smart. By this point we were riding with a large number of relay riders who were, of course, much fresher. There was a real mix of abilities and with such a large number of cyclists on the road it was easy to sit behind a group for a bit to rest, then bunny hop ahead to the next group for a bit.

Eventually I found a guy who was sitting on around 28kmph, which was about the speed I wanted to ride at, so I tucked in behind him. Another couple of guys jumped on my wheel and we all stuck together for around 10km before the guy in front of me pulled over. At that point I commented to the guy behind me that now I was going to have to do some work! He was an 80km relay rider so he told me that, seeing as I'd been riding a lot longer than him, he would take the lead. From that point on he and his friend alternated riding at the front while I sat behind them! The guy who'd offered himself up had a stuffed Big Bird toy attached to his helmet so he was easy to spot and he was really lovely. We had a great time chatting away before I finally lost track of them on the winding stretch of the highway around the edge of the lake.

There is one last big hill at the 140km mark, Hatepe. It's steep and long but I wouldn't normally have found it that much of a challenge. Unfortunately the heat added an unexpected factor! I sweated my way up the incline passing swathes of cyclists walking their bikes. I was determined not to give in and in truth, although it was an effort, I never really felt like I needed to stop. It was hard, but it wasn't exactly Old Porirua Rd!

Unfortunately at the top the heat finally got to my body and my big toe on my right foot cramped up. It felt like something had stung me. I tried to ignore it but the pain quickly became excruciating. Finally I gave in (reluctantly, because who wants to stop at the top of Hatepe?) and stopped for a couple of minutes to take my shoe off and massage it out. I lost some valuable time there and was really annoyed. As a result I got a bit Mad Dog and really flew down the other side of the hill, keeping my hands away from the brakes and screaming at other cyclists to warn them I was coming through!

At the bottom I latched onto another guy and the two of us alternated the lead the rest of the way back to Taupo. With about 10km to go I looked at my cycle computer and it dawned on me that I was going to make it within my target time. The two of us decided to pick the pace up. I couldn't believe how strong my legs were feeling! One of the instructors was staying at a hotel on the side of the lake and saw me go past while he was standing in the carpark. I just heard "Go Pip" and thought it was him but had no time to do anything more than yell out thanks and wave an arm in that direction. He told me later that I was really flying and looking very strong.

Together my cyclist friend and I decided to sprint the last 2km. I got a little teary again as I approached the finishline and then I was off my bike and I'd done it! Thankfully one of the other instructors was there and she gave me a big hug. I was grinning so badly I was in danger of splitting my face. After that I wandered around the Domain for a while in a daze, found somewhere to sit down, called Hamish and sent a few txts, found a few of the other Shifters, sat with them for a while, then got back on my bike and cycled slowly back to the YHA for a shower. After that I wandered back down to the finishline to watch a couple more Shifters come in then we all sat around for prizegiving. None of us won anything.

We had a barbeque that night at the house Dee was renting and at about 10.30 after quite a bit of cider my body just went "okay, sleep now". I was in bed by 11 and was lying there waiting for Julia to fire up her laptop to see if the results were up yet. The next thing I remember it was the next morning! It was like someone turned off a switch. Apparently I did open my eyes and start talking to her at some point but I must have done that in my sleep as well.

In the aftermath I have a nice red strip of sunburn on one leg where my shorts rode up. When I went for a massage this morning my neck and shoulders were really tight, as were my glutes and my left shin. My quads were a bit tight as well but that's more to be expected. I treated myself to a 5km run after work today and although I told myself to keep it slow I managed to hold quite a good pace. I'm confident I haven't lost too much running fitness.

I think what really made Taupo for me was deciding at the start that I was there to enjoy myself and I owed it to myself to have a good race. That really set me up and I know that I've come an incredibly long way from the days when I used to psyche myself out before my running races and bomb out as a result. I just feel so mentally and physically strong now and like I could take on anything. It really helps that I have my next year of events planned out and that I have more goals to aim for. If I hadn't already set that up then I'd be feeling really bereft right now.

I have a 10km running race on Sunday and my next cycle race will be the Yarrows 150km event at the end of January. I still have a sense that I haven't hit my limits yet and I'm definitely aiming to go sub-6 round Taupo next year. If it weren't for the cold and if I'd been more certain of the course and started in an earlier group I think I could have done that this year. I definitely know now that a hilly course suits my riding abilities.

And Kate, avert your eyes now - the hills weren't that hard! In fact they were fun. In fact, I recommend them!

Woot!

Or, 160km of awesomeness.

Or, Pip does Taupo!

Official time 6.32 hours. Ride time as per my cycle computer (not including stops) 6.20.

Woot, woot, woot, woot, woot!

I'll write a proper race report later, but for now I'll just say that it was a beautiful day, if a little too hot (32 degrees on Hatepe apparently) and I enjoyed every second of it.

Yaayyyyyyyyyy!

Um .....

So, back in April I rode the Grape Ride, my first big cycle race. I did the 101km in 4.12 and was reasonably pleased with that.

Today I rode 115km round the Martinborough Charity Fun Ride in 4.09. I totally kicked my Grape Ride time in the butt by 14km and three minutes. And yes, I am pretty stoked with that, especially given that I was riding with fatigued legs and only went out today to do the distance. I found a pack and stuck with it, even when I had to spend a lot of time rolling. I could have probably made it in under four hours if I'd pushed it just a teeny bit more, and I lost a few minutes early on when I dropped my chain (sorry Cleo, that was totally my fault).

A few more stats, just because these things are way more important to me than they should be:

• 347 of 425 finishers (finished ahead of 18.59%)
• 65 out of 104 female finishers (ahead of 38.46%)

Today's race was my best placing ever. I might be slow, but I'm a slightly faster kind of slow!

Let's back-track a bit to put this week in context. When I last posted I'd had a light weekend and wimped out of riding home on Monday. From what some of the squad have told me, not riding on Monday was a good decision. It was extremely, unpleasantly windy out there.

Even if I was frustrated by my lack of quality rides, it seems my knee liked me for it. I got through 100 minutes of spinning on Tuesday with only the slightest achiness afterwards. I started off cautiously, realised fairly quickly that the pain was minimal, and was really going hard out by the end of the Gearshifters class.

Bouyed on by this apparent indicator that my knee was actually healing, I decided that I would ride Cleo (waiting patiently for me in the bike locker at work) after work on Wednesday. I was going to do a few hills around the Bays then ride back into town to pick up the car. Hamish was finally taking his scooter home!

I left work not long after 5.00pm and rode through rush hour traffic from the Terrace down to the waterfront. The traffic was insane and the wind wasn't much better. The gales that had been predicted to ease as the day went on hadn't really eased that much. By the time I got past Oriental Bay, knowing it was only going to get worse as I got further out, I decided I was just a little bit terrified. There were cars going everywhere and I was fighting to keep Cleo going forward in a straight line. I called it quits, turned around, cycled back through rush hour traffic and up Victoria Street to the scooter shop, where the roadie sales guy reassured me I was doing the right thing!

On Thursday the weather forecast was horrific so I let Cleo stay home, only for it to turn into the best day for riding all week. Sulking I sat on a spin bike up at Extreme to complete a time trial, managing to spin my heartrate up to a decent level but achieving little more than a nasty bit of chaffing from the demon spin bike saddle. I was so frustrated that I signed up for Dee's Friday morning spin class, despite knowing we had our time trial and a hill ride the next day. As if that wasn't enough I then did lunchtime Balance and took all the hard options, which involved rather more lunges than was perhaps wise.

Let's just say I paid for it on Saturday. I met the Gearshifters squad at 8.30 as planned and it was a rather frozen pack of cyclists who rode around to the old army base to do our time trial. There was a frigid Southerly blowing and by the time we got there my toes were numb.

Last time Veronica and I tied and I badly wanted to beat her. I am, of course, completely aware of how terrible that sounds! Dee decided to get me to start ahead of her, giving me a thirty second lead. I wanted her ahead of me so I could chase her, but it wasn't to be. As I set off I could really feel the previous day's exertions. My quads were complaining. I think we may have had more of a head wind than I realised because I was flooring it and swearing at my cycle computer as it refused to budge.

At one point I looked behind me and saw someone drafting off me. I decided Veronica had caught me, but a few minutes later Angela blew past at a fearful pace. So, not the rider I was dreading. I tried to pick the pace up a bit more and pushed it hard all the way around to Lyall Bay, managing to pass a couple of other riders.

It was an anxious wait for the results. Veronica arrived not far behind me and I was convinced she'd managed to pull me in, but in the end I made it home a paltry but satisfying four seconds ahead. Not so satisfying was my tiny 19 second improvement over the last test, nor being thoroughly wiped off the board by Kathryn's one minute-plus improvement.

After we caught our breath our front pack rode through Kilbirnie and up Mt Crawford then back around the Bays. I got dropped somewhere along the way and missed everyone else turning right up Sutherland Rd. As a result I climbed up Houghton Bay Rd wondering where everyone was and got to the top on my own feeling thoroughly confused. A few minutes later I was joined by a few other riders and then eventually the pack that had dropped me reappeared. I may have been a little annoyed at that point and expressed some dissatisfaction with the lack of anyone pulling back to wait for me. I may have gotten over that now!

We debated riding round to Owhiro Bay and up to Brooklyn but nearly all of us were doing the race today so we called it quits, riding back down to Kilbirnie via Hungerford Rd. Holy heck that road is steep! I was down on my drops full scale on my brakes feeling like I was looking straight down. I can't believe anyone actually rides UP that demon strip of tarmac ...

So, back to today. The weather forecast was perfect - mild Easterly breezes and warm temperatures. Dee picked me up at 6.15 and we collected Veronica and her partner enroute. We arrived at Martinborough in good time and race pack pick-up took only a few seconds. Before long we were doing lazy circuits of the square waiting for the start. It was obvious it was going to be warm, so for the first time this spring I left the armwarmers in the car.

There was a slightly insane mass start. Dee says that she got caught in a mad bunch mashing it at about 50kmph, but back where I was everyone seemed to crawl along. When I finally got clear I found a good group of riders, with a couple of other Gearshifters riders around me. I knew my legs were fatigued and I was planning on hitching onto a relaxed pack and just rolling around the course.

My plan was going well until I dropped my chain about 15km in. Everyone flew past me at that point but I got the chain back on again quickly (I'm an expert now), took a quick drink and got back out there. I was surprised by how little time it took me to catch my fellow riders. A new squad member, Ailese, ended up riding most of the way with me, though we lost other-Pip fairly early on.

This race was almost completely a delight. I had to keep reminding myself to admire the scenary, and there was much to admire. This is a wonderfully undulating course - a rural double loop. My favourite section was a rolling few kilometres under tall shady trees. At times we were riding deceptive false flats. At other times we were doing 40kmph seemingly without effort. As the race went on the wind picked up a bit more than some of us would have liked, but the tail wind always kicked in at the right point.

This was the perfect course for me and it gave me real confidence for getting around Taupo. This was definitely not a flat course and there were a few larger climbs than I'd expected. The rolling hills enabled me to keep pace with my pack and when the guys (and there were mostly guys in our pack) slowed on the climbs I was able to ease back a bit and grab a bit of a rest before having to work harder to keep up with them on the flats. I finally worked out how to change onto my small chain ring on a hill without wildly spinning out, and I got the hang of dropping low behind my handlebars to minimise wind drag on the downhill stretches. 60kmph? Yeah baby!

I had two water bottles on me filled with Peak Fuel, two Power Bars and a tube of Peak Fuel gel. I set my timer and made sure I ate and drank every twenty to thirty minutes. I put a Pump bottle on my front cage and when that was empty I threw it in the direction of a water stop and moved my other water bottle to the front. I still find it too awkward to get my bottle out of the seat post cage. A few times I felt myself losing it a little mentally and each time I ate and drank a bit and bounced back again.

I have to admit that when I reached the three hour mark it was hard to imagine being on the bike for at least another three. That was a bit of a hard moment. The guy next to me helpfully pointed out that the hills on the Taupo course would nearly be out of the way and I felt a bit better.

I hated the guy ahead of me when he called out that we were halfway, but I liked him when he said it was only another 30km to the finish. It was about that time that some of the girls around me started losing the plot a bit, and about that time that I finally got fed up with feeling held back and, rationalising that we were mostly riding with a tail wind, made a break. Only a couple of riders came with me, but they were exactly the riders I was hoping for. Thanks to the guy from Wanganui whose name I can't remember. Thanks to the woman who was blowing up but still found it in her to take her turn and let me draft off her for a few minutes (Kaitlyn?). Thanks to Rere, who was silent but strong on the flats and who broke with me and gave me someone to ride with. Thanks to the women in their fifties who were truly inspirational. Sorry everyone for the fact that I got a bit chatty at about the 13km mark and probably drove you all a little insane. Yes, I know that you really didn't need me yacking at you as you were breathlessly climbing those last hills. Really .... sorry!

My cycle computer said 4.10 as we turned the last corner and saw the finish line in the distance. I wanted to do 4.12 - the Grape Ride time. I called out to Kaitlyn that we were going to sprint for the finish and the two of us floored it together. My cycle computer read 4.12 as we crossed the finishline. I was pleased enough with that time, and even more pleased with my 4.09 official time!

After a leisurely ride back to the hall at the start I jumped quickly into the line for the post-ride feed then lay around in the sun with Dee and the others for prizegiving. Several of our group won spot prizes. Yay! Unfortunately, despite liberal application of sun block I am well and truly toasted. I'm not sure what to do about that for next time.

Afterwards we went back to the finishline to wait for the arrival of the last three of our riders, including new-rider Liz. The finishline volunteers weren't that clued up and didn't know how many people were still out there or whether anyone had pulled out. No one was answering their mobile, so we had to assume our girls were still riding. We waited, and we waited, and we waited. Finally we were told there were two women and a guy still on the course. We waited, and we waited. We rode a few kilometres down the road and came across the first of our two strays. We turned around and went back to the startline, but then only one woman arrived. Where did the other woman get to? Poor Raeleen was feeling very guilty about sprinting for the finish and losing her partner, then someone else rode past and said that Helen had a flat tire and was walking back. Sure enough, she got a flat with no more than 400 metres left to ride.

We jumped in the car and took off, meeting her with about 200 metres to go, then everyone jumped out and grabbed tubes and Co2 and Helen's tire was changed in record time. After that we jumped back in our car and Helen jumped on her bike and soon the second of our missing riders was over the finishline and looking very pleased.

That left Liz to find, and just as we were about to call a search party she called to say that she had four and a half kilometres to go and was thinking about stopping and getting her father to pick her up. We weren't keen on that idea, so it was back in the car and off to find her. Helen and Raeleen jumped back on their bikes to ride her home. When we finally found her in the car we turned on our hazards and pretended we were the SAG wagon that wasn't doing its job. We sat behind her the rest of the way back in and Raeleen and Helen joined in and rode the last couple of kilometres. Finally it was a very sweaty and bug-covered Liz who crossed the line.

What a brilliant day. It's going to be hard to focus at work tomorrow. One more lead-up race (only 80km) and that's it until Taupo. Big, big gulp!

Pip Tours Waikanae

Groundhog Day! At 6.15 this morning I was once again standing on the side of the road with Cleo waiting for Dee to pick us up and take us off to Waikanae. Only this time it was a gorgeous clear and still morning, and the birds were redefining the concept of a dawn chorus. Good vibes.

A quick drive later and Dee, Veronica, Liz and I were offloading our bikes outside the Waikanae pony club and preparing to race. My goal s for this week were fairly simple - get around the 100km event (four loops of a 25km course), drink, eat and stay with a pack. The last of those goals was the most important. I also had some vague time goals, but wasn't really sure how fast I was capable of going and didn't really care so much about time anyway. I knew I could smoke the Graperide time, but that was a hillier course.

It was clearly going to be a warm day, but was still a little cool at 9 a.m.. I decided on my shortsleeve top, sleeveless windbreaker and armwarmers. Seconds before the race started I dropped the armwarmers down to my wrists, and there they stayed. As a result I now have the most ridiculous sunburn - four inches of white wrist, red arm then white skin again from halfway up my bicep to my shoulder.

The Waikanae race runs primarily through a succession of pretty suburban streets, with a longer out and back down a country road along the back of some sand dunes and one small hill climb (comparative to the Pass of Branda). As a result there are a large number of corners to be negotiated. On the first lap I was concentrating on not coming off my bike, particularly at the end of the out and back - a rather tricky u-turn on a narrow road. Some of the corners had a little more gravel on them than I would have liked, and one man did go down in front of me early on. Thankfully I was able to ride around him and didn't go down myself. By the fourth loop I had my turning down. I got into a rhythm of dropping a gear and sprinting out of the corner, and was no longer getting dropped after every intersection. I can highly recommend this as a course for developing technical riding skills!

Joy of joys, I found a pack almost immediately and rode with them the whole 100km. Osteopath Liz (not new rider Liz) joined me and we stuck together until she mysteriously disappeared at 75km. I had so much fun on this ride. Being in the middle of a pack made all the difference. We were all content to hold a pace that felt reasonably laid-back without being too slow. I could probably have gone a little faster, but I kept myself reined in, remembering my pack-riding goal. We lost a couple of people at the 50km mark, notably a young guy on a mountainbike with fats, wearing board shorts and a t-shirt. Someone get that dude a road bike!

One of the other lovely things about this race was the large number of children with small little road bikes, and the young boy riding stoker on his father's tandem. Given the options of 25, 50, 70 and 100km there was a wide range of ages and abilities out there, everyone having a go on a gorgeous day.

At 60km I knew I would be riding the whole 100. I was feeling too fresh to pull out at 75km. I kept eating, kept drinking. I'm able to drink without slowing down now, which is a huge breakthrough for me. By now I also knew the course well enough to know where the long flat parts were, where I would have time to mess around with bottles and bars and not have to worry about unexpected manouvers.

As we all settled in after the 75km mark those of us left started to relax and get a little more social. It was so nice to be cruising along over 30kmph chatting about riding. I wound up riding with two former Gearshifters who finished Taupo in my target time, so it was nice to know I was in their ballpark. There were only two dodgy incidents - a blonde woman in a small red car who felt obliged to honk and then pull into a left turn ahead of us, and a guy in a white van whose wing mirror came within inches of a woman riding a hybrid ahead of me. You can bet I was yelling at him! She wasn't too impressed either, as we later discussed over the last 10km.

I had thought that it would be difficult to continue riding around and around the same route. I thought that psychologically I would find it very hard to ride those last 25km. However I was feeling so good that it was more a case of realising at the 65km mark that "huh - only 35km to go". With 25km to go I was enjoying myself too much to feel tired, particularly when a couple of guys who'd finished earlier jumped in front to pull us home. Love you guys!!!

Up the speed bump one last time - sprinting it. Down again and round the corner with the gravel. Out along Peka Peka Rd, round the u-turn again. 12 kilometres, 10 kilometres. Finally the row of orange cones and this time we could go left. Cheers from the women behind us, cheers from the Gearshifters sitting on the grass by the finish. I got off my bike and my legs felt fine. When I got off my bike after the Graperide they seized so badly I had to hobble for a good ten minutes.

And yes, I know the Graperide is hillier, but I wiped nearly 40 minutes off that time. I HAVE to be happy with that! I don't have my official result yet, but I know roughly the time I finished in. I averaged around 28kmph, or over 17mph, which is quite fast for me, even if it's slow for others! I can only get faster. I also have to remember that we rode a very hilly 60km yesterday, so my legs were fatigued from the start.

So yes, I am doing my happy little Pip dance about my race today. Riding home with the girls I was sitting in the front seat scoffing my Burger King (oh yes, we did) and singing along to Purple Rain on Dee's iPod feeling pretty darn pleased with life. Spring has turned on a summer day today and I was happy to have been out racing in it and looking forward to getting out there again.

Yay for good racing!

Wairarapa Cycle Challenge Report

Well, it's been a few days since the Wairarapa race and I've had time to process it. I had three goals for this race. I had a time goal, I wanted to ride with a pack and I wanted to nail my hydration and nutrition in a racing environment. In fact I had four goals. Having not ridden more than around 55km since the Grape Ride in April, I also just wanted to finish. I was also looking forward to seeing just how fast I could go.

Dee picked me up at 6.15 on Sunday morning. Hamish still wasn't home from his VJing gig and getting up at 5.00am seemed like a mad endeavour to s ay the least. When we stopped at the BP in Upper Hutt it was blowing a gale and raining and we nearly turned back home. Thankfully we decided it would be foolish not to at least see what conditions were like on the other side of the hill. When we got to Featherston it was still drizzly but the wind was far less severe.

We arrived ridiculously early and I had a lot of time to get Cleo ready, to decide on an appropriate number of layers and to scoff down a banana. I got an attack of the pre-race nerves but tried to distract myself by riding a few laps up and down the road. It was still quite drizzly and the Southerly was keeping things quite cool so I went with a polyprop top, cycling top, arm warmers, leg warmers and a windbreaker. I was worried I might be overdoing it but I never came close to overheating.

Dee persuaded me to move up a wave and when we started off I found myself riding with a bunch of guys doing 40kmph. It was huge fun but I knew I couldn't keep it up and after ten minutes or so I got dropped. Unfortunately that was the first goal down the drain. From then on I rode most of the way on my own. Every now and then I would latch onto another pack, but it wouldn't last long.

For the first 20km or so I managed around 35kmph. I made a point of starting to drink and eat early on. I was feeling good and having fun, despite not being able to see too much as my glasses got covered with rain and started to fog. Then the tail wind kicked in and it all started to go pear shaped. I was riding along narrow country roads completely on my own with only dropped Peak Fuel tubes to reassure me I was still going the right way. My average speed dropped right back and I started to wonder whether I could meet my time goal after all.

Two brief pack rides kept my spirits up during this time, as did a flock of bellbirds as I was riding through a gathering of trees. One rider was stopped on the side of the road changing a flat tire, and he later blew past me at speed. The narrow little roads and the lake on my left would have been wonderfully scenic had it not been grey and overcast.

The headwind of course didn't last and soon a tailwind had me pushing over 35kmph again. From then on my feelings about the race alternated depending on whether I was able to hang off the back of a pack and whether I was riding into the wind. I kept hydrating, kept eating. I kept track of my speed and monitored the passing of the kilometres. I jumped onto a good pack that I was hopeful of holding onto but lost them at the top of one of the few hills as I fiddled with my gears. I cursed myself a bit at that! I pushed hard but coudn't catch them again and eventually gave up.

I started to give up again during an extended period of riding at a 45 degree angle against a crosswind as we approached Martinborough. I just stopped caring about time and just wanted to finish. Ironically, once out of the crosswind I found that, despite some sore sit bones and a bit of legwarmer chafing, I wasn't terribly fatigued and that I still had the power to push a good pace. I was even picking off the occasional cyclist. I enjoyed the sensation of my legs firing away like pistons, pumping rhythmically up and down.

Once I reached Martinborough things picked up considerably. I was flying down State Highway 2 and motivated by the 14km sign to really start pushign the pace again. I was surprised that I was still feeling very strong. Of course I wasn't counting on the hill just before the lefthand turn to Featherston. Halfway up I was passed by a couple on a tandem. I had seen them stopped for a puncture earlier, then a second puncture not long after that. This time I called out to them to ask whether they'd made sure their tires were free of glass this time. The male of the pair grimaced and commented they were not having a good day. Their day must have really been going downhill, because I passed them only a couple of kilometres further down the road with their third puncture.

The last kilometre into Featherston seemed to take forever but I crossed the finishline with a big smile on my face. It took ten minutes or so to find my way back to the hall at the startline. I ended up circling around town with a German girl, totally lost. Back at the hall I very slowly changed into dry clothes then wolfed down a scone from Hamish's baking the day before. Soon after that I finished off one of my Sculpt bars, then a mandarin. Not long after that I was starving again! Other than the chafing at the top of my right leg (ouch), I was suffering a bit of a muscle strain where my left hamstring connected in the area of my glute. However my quads and calves felt ok and I wasn't as tired as I expected to be.

I had failed to take note of my time on the finishline so had no idea of how I'd done but thought it might have been around my goal. It took a couple of days for the results to go up online and I got a nasty surprise. The time recorded against my name was about 20 minutes slower than I'd thought. I was, to put it lightly, rather upset. It was only when I realised that some of the other results were a bit screwy to say the least that I started to have my doubts about the time listed against my name. One of my Gearshifters buddies was listed twice, with two different times. Another had come in last and was showing as having finished near the front of the field. The woman who had finished with her wasn't listed at all, and one of our other women was listed as not having started.

Thankfully Julia hit on the bright idea of searching on her bib number and found her true result recorded against someone else's name. I did the same and came up with a time that was far closer to my goal. I was still too slow, but not suicidally slow!

Over the period of the day the results came out a series of anguished emails and txts were swapped between me and some of my long-suffering friends. Forget that conditions hadn't been ideal. forget that I felt good for a lot of it and had more power than I thought. Forget that I was around 5kmph faster than I was around the Graperide. Forget even that I'd done well with the hydration and sustained a race pace the whole way. I hadn't achieved a self-imposed time goal. Even worse, people might think I was weak, unfit or slow!!

Ridiculous, obviously. Believe me when I say I eventually gave myself a good talking to and got over myself, again. Regardless of the time, there were so many positives to take from this race. It was great fun, except for when it was horrendous! Funnily enough, as the days go by I'm increasingly minimising the awfulness of the awful bits and my memories are focussed on the good bits. Race two for the year, race one of Taupo training over with. How can I not be pleased with myself?

Special mention must also be made of the wonderful volunteers with their little red flags signalling each turn. Thanks especially to the guy who tried to send me off down the 64km route and was terribly polite when I suggested I might want to turn right instead. Great fun! I'm glad I always make a point of smiling and thanking them all, even the guy at the end who was a bit vague on how to get back to the start line again!

Almost!

Well, I wanted two hours and I got two hours, three minutes. Still a personal best by four minutes. I'm happy. I honestly could not have given anything more today. I was on track and feeling strong for the first thirteen kilometres. The headwind on the return hit me as I knew it would and the last six kilometres hurt a bit. That's what you get when you've only been running a couple of times a week and your longest run has been 15km! With a bit more training and a few longer runs my pace wouldn't have dropped off so badly and I would have been able to make it under two hours easily. Shall we aim for 1.55? Yes, lets ...

Next year can we please not have young children stopping in the middle of the path or falling in front of me, women deciding they have to tie a shoelace RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE, and women who decide they need to use the toilet all of a sudden, totally cutting me off as they lurch from right to left. Although I wasn't as irate as the guy seen at the start shoving people aside, or the guy later heard telling people to get the f**k out of the way, I was a little vocal on the numerous occasions I found myself making physical contact with people who just weren't paying attention.

Enough of the negative stuff though. I had a blast today, despite the wind and rain. It was actually warm! It helped that I heard my name being cheered what seemed like every few minutes. Sorry if I didn't see you, but I was in my little head space and wasn't really noticing spectators. Sorry too to Sarah, who was an excellent pacer for the first half of the race. I felt a bit horrible about breathing down her neck. She didn't know I was there until Duck started cheering the both of us outside Freyberg, but then I got close enough that she could hear my slappy feet behind her.

I didn't win an iPod shuffle or a trip to London, but I did win a spot-prize of a pair of Adidas socks. That must be about $30 worth. I think it helps to smile at the people handing out the prize tickets! Last year I won a Runner's World subscription.

Right. I really should have a go at scrubbing off the pace times I wrote on my wrist this morning in permanent marker. It seemed like such a good idea at the time ...

Grape Ride: This Could Get Long

So let's just sum it up at the start by saying "Woohoooo"! That has to be one of the best events ever ...

But to start at the beginning, Friday morning saw me lying in bed while Hamish got ready for work. After he left I got everything on the bed that I knew I would need for the weekend. Helmet, gloves, sunglasses, shoes, Camelbak, water bottles, power biscuit, Replace powder, shorts, top, arm warmers, two jackets, toiletries, medication, clothes, Garmin ... Two packed bags later I was pretty sure I had everything. From there it was a quick trip on a bus into town, another quick trip to the supermarket for some fruit, and across the road to the Bluebridge ferry terminal to meet Kathryn and Lauren.

The Bluebridge was doing a special deal for Grape Riders, so pretty much everyone on board had a bike attached to their car. It made for a great atmosphere on the way over, although I had to grumble about being charged $12.50 for a mediocre chicken burger (I'd asked for it without the accompanying wedges). That small grumble aside we had a lovely crossing, getting into Picton by late afternoon. We stopped off at a supermarket for dinner supplies (hot chicken, pasta salad and green salad), then it was off to Renwick to register.

On the way out to the vineyard I could suddenly feel the long day taking its toll. I got very tired and a little grumpy and forced myself to go quiet. I'm not much of a group person, and embarking on this great adventure with two people I don't know that well was in itself a source of stress. Lauren had been caught in traffic on his way to the ferry terminal, leaving us scrambling to get Kathryn's bike onto his car in time, and all the messing around in general was wearing me out. I was excited by the registration process though. There were people everywhere and a great buzz as the stage was set up and stands were prepared for the morning.

It was a bit of a challenge to find our way back to our accommodation in the dark, but we managed it in the end. We realised it was more like 15km to the startline, not the 5km we'd been advised, so we decided we would drive there in the morning rather than treat it as a warm-up ride. The cottage we were staying in was itself very nice. It was located on a vineyard, with its own large grounds. The pantry was stocked with food and there was a bottle of wine in the fridge which, criminally, had to remain undrunk. We didn't even get to visit the adjacent cafe or cellar door.

We got the bikes off the back of the car and prepared for the morning. I lay out my clothes, put my power cookie next to my food bag, loaded up a couple of drink bottles with Replace, and filled my Camelbak. There was a bag of gummy snakes in my registration bag, so I put a few of them in my food bag as well. After all of that we sat around playing Scrabble and Connect 4 and playing our way through the cottage's dire CD collection (Freddy Mercury and Expresso Guitar). By 7.30 I was feeling very nervous and missing Hamish and the cats terribly. It didn't help that my back and leg were aching as well. I really had to give myself a good talking to, and I reminded myself that this was my 35th birthday present to myself.

Eventually it was off to bed, and a scrappy night's sleep. My mind was imagining every kind of dire race outcome possible. There was no alarm clock in the bedroom, so I had no idea what the time was, and I'd been so successful with the hydration that I had to get up three times during the night for bathroom stops. None of us was feeling terribly fresh when we finally woke, forced down our breakfasts, and put the bikes back on the back of the car.

The morning dawned overcast and a tiny bit spitty, but there wasn't any wind and it was reasonably warm. I decided to wear my arm warmers, but left the jackets behind. We had to park out the back of the vineyard then walk our bikes through the grapes to the start, so by the time we got there our wheels were covered in dead grass and general muck that we had to scrape from our tires.

I judged my last toilet stop well and we jumped into our place in the starting line. Kathryn and I were down for four to four and a half hours, Lauren for three and a half to four. Most of the Gearshifters squad were in his group or three to three and a half.

The first 800 metres of the race is down a narrow, windy driveway out of the vineyard and we were started in batches of around 100. It was my first mass start in my first race and I was battling down a sense of dread, helped by chatting to the women around me. There were a number of women feeling the same way I was, and I wasn't the only newbie by a long shot.

In the end the start was very smooth. We wheeled up to the line, the horn blew, we clipped in and we were off. Out onto the main road and the first 30km was fast. I kept slotting into packs, finding them too slow, advancing to the next pack, slowing again. I was easily maintaining a faster pace than usual, feeling elated, and really enjoying chatting to the other riders around me.

After the first hour or so though I inexplicably started to slow. The pack had spread out, I couldn't find a good bunch, and I was churning through the gears without knowing why. I started to wonder whether I was already burning out. I forced myself to drink and have some food. I slipped a gummy snake into my mouth and went into sugar heaven. Normally I wouldn't touch one of those things, but this just sat in my mouth and let out little rivulets of tart goodness that just tasted sooooo good. I instantly felt a lot better. I was also really pleased with the Camelbak, which was really easy to use, even if I did spray Replace down my leg the first time. Ugh!

Feeling the way I was I was worrying about the hill climb into Picton. I knew it was coming, and I was worried! I was frustrated by a climb that had me in my easiest gear, sure it was a bad sign that I wouldn't be able to get up the next. I was even more frustrated when we suddenly started descending. All I could think was "I'm going to have to climb again". It was about that point I saw the "Picton" sign. I'd actually climbed the hill I'd been dreading without even realising I was climbing it. Driving back that way this morning we all remarked on how long the ascent actually was, and how it explained a lot about how we were feeling at this point in our ride.

The descent into Picton is great. The road is straight and even. I lowered myself onto the drops, removed my fingers from any proximity to the brakes and went for it. I lined up a woman ahead of me and aimed to take her out. We were doing around 65 and I was loving it. As I reached her I slowed and we chatted for a bit before I took off again. Now that I knew I'd been climbing the whole time I'd been feeling bad I felt a lot better. Doesn't that sound stupid? How could I not have realised I was climbing?

Happy to be over the first big hill I was grinning all the way through Picton township, thanking the volunteers steering us in the direction of Queen Charlotte Drive. The next leg of the race was classed as 'undulating', with one largish climb. We were riding with bush on one side and the panorama of the Sounds to our right. Our soundtrack was the chorus of bellbirds. I had to keep reminding myself to look up at the view, which was of course stunning. I was still feeling great, the sun was coming out, and I had to keep reminding myself to drink. The arm warmers were shoved to my wrists and I was glad I'd left my jacket behind.

Queen Charlotte had one or two smallish hills then it was onto the main climb. It took me a while to realise this was it, as each corner went by and no end came into sight. Once it dawned this was the moment of truth I settled in and started picking people off one by one. Hills are my thing and this was my chance to make some ground. I slowly passed one rider after another, feeling sorry for the poor guy vomiting loudly and copiously on the side of the road about half-way up. A lot of people were using the Peak Fuel gel from their goodie bags and I was wondering whether he'd done the same thing and had an unfortunate gastrological reaction. Me, I was loving those gummy snakes, though the biscuit was starting to feel a little dry in my mouth. A gel would have been the last thing I felt like.

A long climb and two photographers later (calling out to both and grinning straight into the lens) we were at the top. A sign advised it was all downhill from there. That might not have quite been true, but the descents certainly were as steep as we had been warned, and the corners as tight. New seal meant a lot of gravel on the corners and the sight of a person under a blanket with medics in attendance slowed us all down. Unfortunately the person down turned out to be the youngest of the Gearshifters, a lovely young teenage girl. Jenna has a reputation for being fast but a little reckless. Until she came off she had been in line for a top-three finish. Now she was off to hospital for stitches. Thankfully the damage wasn't too serious, and she was back in time for prizegiving.

As I turned into the descent I went to change cogs and nothing happened. I'm not quite sure exactly what happened, but it appears I climbed that long hill on my large cog. I may even have climbed to Picton on my large cog. In fact, I may even have tried to climb Mt Crawford last Sunday on my large cog. Which may explain why the hills felt harder than they should have done. Like I said, I'm confused, but I don't really have any other explanation.

Despite us all slowing down slightly after passing Jenna the downhills were still fast and technical. For once I held my own and didn't get overtaken by all and sundry. For a while I was plagued by a girl who kept creeping up in my left side and crossing my rear wheel. The only reason I knew she was there was because of the clattering noise her bike made very time she stopped pedaling. I was getting so annoyed (and nervous) that I nearly turned around and gave her an earful. Finally she snuck up on my left side, pulled alongside me and started chatting away about how this was her first race and how she hadn't been cycling for long. I figured she hadn't ridden in a pack before and couldn't bring myself to give her a bit of a lesson in cycle etiquette, so I let her go. There were plenty of other incidents of passing without calling, passing on the left etc, and all the Gearshifters crew commented on it afterwards. Dee is always so insistent on us calling, so I guess I've been spoilt.

My Camelbak emptied just as I reached Linkwater, about 60km in and the site of the only drink stop. I still had a full bottle of Replace, but was enjoying using the Camelbak so much I decided to stop to refill it. I should have kept going. After filling up with Lime Peak Fuel my Camelbak decided to develop a leak. I tried to ignore the sticky liquid dropping down my back, but stopped when I realised it was dripping all over my phone. I couldn't stop the leak, so I drank as much as I could and emptied the rest. All up I figure I lost around ten minutes, a ten minutes I was to later regret.

From Linkwater it was only another couple of undulations to Havelock, then a sharp left-hand turn and short, steep climb to start heading back towards Renwick. A road sign said 29km to go. I had ridden 5km further than ever before. It was about this point that the ride went from being a lot of fun to only slightly fun and possibly not fun at all.

We turned onto what was supposed to be a fast, flat ride back to the start. Unfortunately the tailwind we'd been promised turned into a distinct headwind. It was also overcast again. Oh, and that shop-standard unisex saddle? Not so good! The last thirty kilometres were a test of fortitude. My legs hurt, my hip hurt, my knee hurt, my butt hurt. OMG did my butt hurt! My sit bones ached in the worst way. I had to keep standing up in the saddle for relief. And that wind kept blowing.

My speedometer, which had been sitting comfortably over 30 for most of the race (except obviously for the climbs) told the sad tale. I struggled to simply stick over 25. The snakes and biscuit and Replace just weren't doing it any more. There wasn't much more to give. I tried without success to find a pack to jump onto. A couple on a tandem kept flying past me then slowing, causing me to have to pull out around them to overtake again, only to have them flying past again a few minutes later.

Finally a lovely older guy appeared next to me and told me to grab his wheel and take a break. Thanks guy on a blue Avanti with cages and sneakers. I wanted to hug you! I stayed with Avanti guy for quite a while. We would sit in behind packs, then overtake them, then he would get a little ahead of me, then I would catch up again. Finally he got a little too far ahead of me, but by that point the 10km sign had appeared. I tried not to think about how much longer that 10km would take me at the pace I was riding. Every little incline made me want to weep. I could still get up them easy enough, but psychologically I just didn't want to have to!

At this point it's criminal not to mention the excellent crowd support. Thanks to all the people sitting on the side of the road clapping and cheering. It really meant a lot. You are all wonderful. You made me want to be a race volunteer.

We turned a corner and there it was - a vine. Vines meant vineyards, and vineyards meant we must be nearly there. Finally there was a 5km sign. Those of us still riding started pulling alongside each other, smiling and chatting. I thought by this point that I'd gone well over four and a half hours. I had stopped caring about my time. was just so pleased to be finishing, and so proud of myself for having made it around.

Then there was a 1km sign, then a marshall I wanted to kiss waving us into the vineyard. From there it was another windy 800m down the driveway, then over the finishline, unclipping, pulling up onto the grass, getting off my bike, actually being able to get my leg over, noticing immediately how cramped my quads were, having a wonderful woman bend down to take my transponder off, and was it really all over?

It took a few minutes to find everyone in the heaving mass. I still had no idea what my time was. I was feeling a little lonely, then I came across a Gearshifters shirt. Kathryn told me I was a few minutes behind her, and that her watch had said 4.05. I figured I'd probably come in around 4.15. I'd wanted to do under 4 and a half, with 4 being my best case scenario. Given the ten minutes or so I'd lost to the Camelbak I was thrilled.

Do you know that feeling of accomplishment? That feeling that you get when you've worked really, really hard at something, and you've succeeded. You realise that you haven't just finished what you'd set out to do, but that you've finished it really well? That feeling hit me hard and fast and suddenly I was as chatty and ecstatic as I had been tired and grumpy the night before. No, I couldn't shut up. I was reliving every single happy little moment. I couldn't really walk, but I was happy!

I grabbed my free Subway ham six-inch from the stand, along with a chocolate cookie. I couldn't stomach the sandwich but that cookie was probably the best damn cookie I've ever tasted. We sat around and chatted for a while longer, then Lauren and Kathryn and I dashed home for a shower. I still wasn't hungry, but I realised after my shower that I was shaking, so I forced myself to eat half of my sandwich, then binned the rest. I also figured it would probably be a good idea to take a little more Hydrocortisone.

At the prizegiving none of us won any iPod docking stations or roof racks or overseas holidays or any of the other fabulous prizes. We admired the 70 year old guy who made it around the course in a faster time than us, and the guy who rode around the course twice in a single-geared bike that was over 50 years old and weighed 25kg. Afterwards we checked out our official times. Mine - 4.12. Kathryn's - 4.02. If only I hadn't stopped .... If only there hadn't been a headwind on the return ....

Of course, the time is really not that important. Compared to most I'm slow, but I was fast on the day for me, and for someone who's really only been riding a couple of months, and for someone who might well have been born brain-damaged, and for someone with three auto-immune disorders, and for someone who's only really just been active the last couple of years. I'm actually not trying to explain away my comparative slowness here. I'm actually trying to say "yay me". What a great 35th birthday present - to be so proud of myself.

Lauren, Kathryn and I gave two of the Gearshifters, Veejay and "Buzzer" a lift to Blenheim and we all decided to try our luck getting a table at the Cornerstore. The restaurant was empty but booked out, but they allowed us to order from the restaurant menu while sitting at a table in the bar. Conveniently we were right next to the large screen, broadcasting a Crusaders game (which they then won).

Kathryn ordered five huge chocolate bonbons for the table, so we started with dessert. I downed most of a bottle of cider before realising I was really dehydrated and switching to water. Lauren, Kathryn and I ordered the "Graperide" pasta: penne with chicken and basil pesto. I ordered the accompanying Chardonnay. The bowls when they arrived were massive, but they disappeared in short order. My stomach kind of went into shock at that point ... it still hasn't completely recovered.

We spent the rest of our time at the restaurant convincing Veejay and Buzzer to sign up for Taupo. I think we succeeded. After that we headed back to our little cottage in Renwick and it wasn't long before I was in bed. I read for a while then turned the light out. I was dead tired, but my mind was racing and still on the bike course. It took a little while, but I finally dropped into a heavy sleep. I woke at 5.45, then we were all racing to get packed and to get our bikes back on the car. We were at the ferry terminal by 7a.m. It was a freezing morning and we were glad it had been so much warmer the day before.

Kathryn and I sat with some of the other Gearshifters women, Karen, Karyn and Julia (and another woman whose name I've temporarily forgotten) in the lounge bar all of the way home. We pulled into Wellington on one of those sunny, still 'good' days. It's safe to say I was happy. Very happy.

So, I love cycling and I had a fantastic time. It's as simple as that. My glutes still ache a bit, my quads are a bit tight, and my hip's probably in worse condition than it seems right now. However I feel ok. I'm still in a little bubble of joy. Today was such a perfect day for a recovery ride, but I held back. My sitbones didn't want to be anywhere near that saddle. Maybe later this week.

Bring on Taupo! And I've booked the cottage again for Grape Ride next year. There are two single beds going if anyone's interested. Oh, and I've also come to the sad conclusion that Lola needs to go on a diet. I picked up Kathryn's full-carbon Giant and nearly died of shock. I hadn't realised how heavy Lola was. I'm now thinking Lola will get to pull me around Taupo, then it might be time to pass her on to another home. Sniff ... perhaps my mother will be ready to go road bike by then!

Burn Baby Burn

Well, it appears I chose the crash and burn option. In fact, I crashed and burnt in spectacular fashion, even for me! I'm not going to reveal my time, though you can always search for it if you're really that interested. Let's just say that it wasn't even close to what I should have been able to do.

I honestly don't know what went wrong, but I'm proud of myself that I decided to keep going and didn't quit. I was already feeling stomachy before the race, and I nearly chose to skip breakfast and settle on some fruit instead. I should have taken that option. I had a brief period of feeling ok at around 40 minutes, and my 10km time didn't reflect my final finishing time. However in the second half the wheels just fell off.

I had a couple of incidents of having to stop to spit out bile, and despite the drink stops I was very thirsty and had to stop at a couple of random taps. The final killer for me was hearing Ann chatting away behind me for around 10 minutes, knowing that she was about to overtake me. She duly did so, which was hugely demoralising.

Halfway through Hikoikoi Reserve the trail crossed a dead-end road. There was no martial to tell us which way to go, so I stood there for a few seconds, ran a little way further up the trail, still couldn't see anyone, ran back to the road, and spotted an official 100 metres or so down the road. I started off that way, got around 50 metres, then got called back by a guy who had finished and was running back to come in with the tail enders. I was furious, as was he. We ran along the trail a little way together and he was wonderful, encouraging me and keeping me going. Mention must also be made of a lovely older Scottish Harriers guy who ran with me for a way on the Hutt River trail, and encouraged me to not worry about my time. I passed him again on the Port Rd. He looked like he'd torn a hamstring or something fairly race-ending, and I would have loved to have been able to stop and walk with him. In the end I was at least able to send a passing ambulance off in his direction.

Let me just say that I think this is my least favourite course of those I have ever run. First the ugly industrial Hutt Rd, then some relief along the river trail, then a mix of more industrial and suburban streets. Lots of corner turning, lots of road crossing, lots of little humps to get up and over bridges. Just when you think you're nearly onto the Port Rd you realise that actually you still need to keep traveling off to your left for another kilometre or so. Around Port Rd, then onto the extremely narrow Hikoikoi trail, with more doubling back, more little undulations. Finally onto the Petone Foreshore with the finishline in the distance, seeming to take forever to reach. And whose stupid idea was it to put a sausage sizzle right next to the finishline? If I wasn't about to vomit beforehand the odour nearly put me over the edge.

Thanks to all the Jog Squad girls who cheered me as I ran in, even though they how badly I'd done. I got over the line and everything cramped up. I couldn't move without something else going into spasm. The guy handing out water made me drink three cups of strong Gatorade before he would let me get up from the post he'd ordered me to sit on. I missed out on a banana because they were all gone. That made me very grumpy. I had been followed around the course by guys who looked like they wanted to pick up the road cones, and by the ambulance driver, who looked like he wanted to pick me up, which had only served to rub in the fact that I was running at a snail's pace. I hated the event and was determined never to do it again. I didn't even win a spotprize.

Then something funny happened. I got home, ate, sat down and immediately wanted to go out and run it all over again to demonstrate that I was actually better than that. I even started toying with the idea of doing Wairarapa Country again. To my credit I finished today, even when everything seemed like purgatory. I didn't let my wipeout affect me too deeply. And I started to plan my triumphant return to the sport that is the half marathon.

I did astoundingly badly today, but this is not the end of the story. It's a fairly repetitive story. Girl trains. Girl runs a bad event. Girl trains again. However this story WILL have a happy ending. There is a sub two hour run in this girl.

Wouldn't life be so much easier if I wasn't so hung up on times?

Kate - I think playing the 'I'm sick' card was the good option! Get well soon...