24th August - Cambridge Winter Fun Ride - 70km
Wahoooooooooo! Absolutely stoked with today's effort, only barely dropped by the pro's and that was only because of my own mistake where I mangled a gear change on the main hill so popped out the back with not enough time to sprint back on.... But hung with them fairly easily until then (last 15km) and even led out a few times. Average 41.2km/hr my best by a long shot and a time of 1:43:30 for the 71.2km's. Was bit twitchy in the bunch today but I think that was mainly nerves as I snatched the brakes a couple of times and did one dicey move. Still I came in 56th of 243 and 5th in my Age Group...... might've been higher but worked too hard at the end and got out sprinted. Everything is slowly coming together, just need to get some real hill focus to my next training set and really watch the nutrition so I can drop another 5 to 7kg and I suspect I'll be pretty competitive by the time my target races arrive!
17th August - Hamilton Winter Fun Ride - 75km
Awesome ride today, had a great blast even though I was close to my limit the whole way.... Came in 50th out of 197 riders in the 75km and 6th in my Age Group :). More importantly managed an under 2hr time and took 24 minutes out of last years time with an average speed of just over 39km/hr. Very happy!!!! Could've finished about 10-15 places further up had I bothered to contest the final sprint but didn't feel like risking a crash so just let them come by me.......
10th August - Matamata Winter Fun Ride - 80km
A better result today, finished 65th in the 80km and 7th in Age Group..... still finding the cold fast starts hard, by the time I'm warmed up I've missed the chance to stick with the front bunch but worked hard in the second bunch today and nailed a 38.4km/hr average so very happy with that for this time of year. Will be a bit more aggressive next weekend at Hamilton and see if I can hang on. Can't knock thrashing last years time by 22 minutes and 74 places :D.........
27th July - Okoroire Fun Ride - 70km
Hard knacker first race, finished 68th overall and 64th Male..... neat course but struggled with the warm up and red lined for the first 10km or so trying to hang onto the leaders, didn't work so dropped into the second bunch and finished strongly with them. Still all things considered a good nudge since last years efforts at this time were kinda miserable!
