It wasnt that bad!

Crusties 2 race report.
What a bunch of nutters. 170 riders turned out for the 1st round of the PNP MTB series today in Makara, despite the pounding rain. I went for the singlespeed because I figgered it would be less expensive in the wear and tear department. It was a mild uphill start geared perfectly for my 32-18 Wellington gear, but Rob Kilvington's last minute warm-up technique had him executing a u-turn on the start line that Russell Coutts would have been proud of, except he did it right in front of me! I regained my momentum but my shot at stardom (winning the hole-shot) was gone as Angry Clive and a couple of sqids shot up the road. I knew Jonny Waghorn was still behind me as I approached the start of the Rimu track and was just about to look behind and let him through, when he shot past like a rocket!

That was pretty much the last I saw of Jonny. At the very bottom of the hill I must have grabbed a handful of brakes, as I nearly missed the first right turn. I remember noticing that it seemed quite hard pedaling as I made my way through the senior womens class. I got balked by a group and stopped to push the bike. WHAT! The wheels were reluctant to turn. My new uber weight weener brakes I had just borrowed off Marco had locked them selves on....

I ignored it for a while until I could pull over and have a look, sure enuff, the system had come undone, and the left pad was jammed onto the rim. I was pretty gutted. All the chickies passed me back again... Oh crap. Theres just no  passing lanes out there when the blow-torch is on the y-fronts. I stopped again and then decided not to bother with it after that, eventually the pads would wear down and it would get easier. There was a new clunking coming from the front tho, that was a bit worrying, after another 10 mins and the leaping lizard descent I recognised it as a loose front QR!

Jonny back in the day when he was a cool kid
on a Yeti with Manitou bumper forks.

That was the last stop I did until the end. I was glad to have two long sleeve tops on, and a jacket in my back pack. If you had to stop to fix a flat you could easily have ended up with hypothermia. When I finished I noticed my seat post had slid down 5 cms, which probably accounted for me feeling pretty good on the final descent!

Apparently Jonny Waghorn won the crusties class, (on his singlespeed) after Angry Clive added on a bit extra and included the t3 track into his race! What a legend ride by Jonny.

Al and Ash did a great job as MCs and watching Hiskeys little boy try to negotiate the choice of spot-prizes to include lollies was a laugh. The little guy also did an awesome job of hawking his chocolate bars on the door.

Bring on round 2.