Mum had been worrying about her fitness and had decided that she really wanted to do well in the race so for the weeks ahead she'd made Paige and I her trainers. We set up a training regime of long and hard rides and runs, which of course helped yus as well. Quite a lot of fun actually.
Race day, becuase we were catching the ferry, a 5:30am wake up - aagh! Arriving in the city to meet the ferry we ran into our neighbours that live down the road from us and we also caught up with fellow R&R rider Robin page who was planning on doing the race as a fun event with his mate. in fact it was quite a big crowd in downtown Auckland at 6.30am.
The ferry ride to Mototapu (which is an island linked to Rangitoto - famous old volcano in the Hauraki Gulf) took about about 40min. Arriving into Home Bay we could see quite a large set up (over 200 competitors across 8 events) with the international off road triathlon competitors already warming up to go. Even by 8am it was starting to warm up and I could tell it was going to be hot ride.
As we headed over to the Fletchers tent site (this is the team that we got to go with thanks to my Grandpa who we all call Pop) the triathlon started, and a few minutes later the 50km mtb racers were called up for briefing. It was all go.
At this point I admit I was starting to have my doubts about the race - nervous that if I got cramp and I wouldn't finish the race. After briefing was done they got all of the 50km racers (about 300) to get ready for the start on the long gravel road that extends the length of Home Bay. Given the crowd size I decided that it the smartest option would be to start in the front instead of being crushed and slowed by all the slower hill climbers. An incredibly short count down before the horn went off, before a mad flurry of MTB riders all trying to clip in against cheering from the crowd of spectators and other competitors.
After a frantic sprint I managed to be the first person up the long tiring first hill. I was able to keep the lead up for about 100-200meters before all the pro endurance racers started to pass me. Luckily only around 7 people passed me while the rest of the 50km pack were slowly falling back.
The race is largely gravel roads or farm tracks and quite high speed for mountain biking. About 3km into the race as we started to go down a steep gravel road section, I was practically all by myself and could only just see a couple of the elite men ahead of me. My coach from Jafas had kept up a fierce pace and was out of sight.
We crossed over the bridge which separates Mototapu and Rangitoto and as we started up the hill trail of Rangitoto the 1st place triathlete runner went past with heaps of speed - amazing! A couple of minutes later the rest of the top 10 went past.
Up and over Rangitoto with seriously high-speed gravel down-hill (with ambulance waiting at the bottom!) had taken 1hour and I was feeling good. As we started to head back to Mototapu around the base of Rangitoto, I started to worry if dad was getting closer. I was determined not to lose to him (because I find that he is way better then me at long endurance races) so I upped the pace a little - still on my own.
As I started to head back down towards the bridge again on a 2-way stretch, all the 30km riders started to go up the hill. As i passed them going the opposite way I kept an eye out for mum and Paige. Sure enough, there they were, ripping up the hill not to far from each other followed closely by Robin and his friend (who was struggling on his down-hill stead).
The round continued around Motutapu and back through Home Bay on gravel roads for about another 10km before we hit farm land. Everyone had been going on about how hard it was and they weren't wrong - it was one of the hardest 20km on grass I have ever done! Not technical - just tough.
As I approached the the last hill of the race, we combined the 30km racers and I suddenly saw Paige and mum racing together ahead of me. As I passed I tried saying encouraging things to keep them going for the last 5km of the race, but it was getting pretty hard to breathe (heat and exhuastion) let alone speak.
I few minutes later I could hear the music in the event camp, and felt relief knowing that I was soon to be successfully finishing 50km. The last section to the finish line was one large, bumpy down hill on which you could hardy see straight and that sucked all the breath out of you. Going down the hill my hands started to hurt and I want toasted - It was tragic - I was just hanging out for all the food and refreshments at the finish line.
Less than 5min after I finished, mum and Paige crossed the line having the exact same time of 2:05 hours (not bad for 30km) then around 12min later dad comes back with doing a 2:58 hour race which was also great.
Placings and time:
Paige: 30km overall 4th + 1st in under 20's (amazing for an 10 year old!) time 2:05hours
Mum: 30km 32nd overall and 14th in masters (40-49 years) - time was 2:05hours
Dad: overall 28th and 15th in masters -time 2:51min
Me: 7th overall (3 places behind my coach from JAFAKIDS, Jesse Voza) + 1st under20's - time 2:29hours.
The event didn't finish until about 3pm and we were all shattered. I was very pleased with my family's results and especially my Grandpa pop who is 70 and successfully finished the 10km walk and with a 5th in the legends.
Once we got home, we all crashed on to the couches completely exhausted but happy - great day, great results, great event.
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