Le Race - How not to.

On the Saturday just been Christchurch held the annual bike race from Christchurch City to the very quaint French settlement of Akaroa. As is the norm in Christchurch at this time of the year it was a crisp morning that greeted the riders at the start line of the race. Luckily the course takes us straight into the ascent of Dyers Pass Road to the Sign of the Kiwi. Always a testing obstacle to tackle so early in the race!

The team was in high spirits before the race as we knew we had some good fire power. The line up was Daniel Barry, Anthony Chapman, Hamish Schruers, George Tutton, Ben Robertson and me. With a hill like Dyers Pass straight out of the blocks in a race this short, the pace is always going to be on from the start. With this in mind we were positioned well leading into the hill and made sure we were ready for the inevitable pace that was to be set up the hill. Both us and Subway were very active as soon as we touched to lower slopes of Dyers but it was clear nothing was getting away this early. The race was whittled down hugely up the hill but was still, in essence, together.

Sam Horgan and I reaching the Sign of the Kiwi

Along the Summit Road Hamish Schruers managed to slip off the front which took the pressure off us. Leading into the technical descent off the Summit Road into Gebbies Valley, Daniel Barry positioned himself on the front in an attempt to take advantage of his devastating descending prowess. And boy did it work! He managed to break clear and a small group formed at the bottom of the descent followed closely by a second group of about 5 which contained Anthony and me. The gap was quickly evaporated however and the race was back on. The responsibility largely fell into our hands as Dylan Kennett of Subway had just slipped up the road and begun to build a healthy lead. The usual flurry of attacks and counter attacks ensued until something stuck just before we reached Little River. This turned out to be the winning move...I was not in it. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I didn't follow the move as I saw Hamish and Daniel were both there but failed to register that Subway had 3 riders there as well as one rider up the road. So we were seriously out numbered. Even though Dan and Hamish are riding super strong at the moment, it is very hard to win a bike race when you are out numbered 2 to 4, especially with 4 very 'on-form' riders. 

All was not lost however as Hamish Schruers managed to sneak onto the podium with 3rd place. Unfortunately he had a mechanical incident down Long Bay Road descending into Akaroa which may have cost him a higher placing. But that is cycling for you! 

I managed to ride into the finish in 6th place as the first rider not from the lead group. I felt that I had good legs in the last 40km and was very disappointed to not be in the lead group to put them to better use! However the sensations were encouraging as I have a lot of racing coming up and I am still very much on an upward trend after an injury stricken 2011. 

Rolling over the finish

So, as a team, we learnt a lot from the race and have taken away a couple very good points to work and improve on in the future. Next up is Tour de Lakes in Queenstown this weekend. I have been told it is a pretty solid weekend of racing! I am looking forward to it.

Thanks for reading.

W