Hawkes Bay Adventures

It was a pretty exciting times in the Hawkes Bay this past weekend for us. So much so that it's taken me 4 days to posting anything. The most exciting bit?

Well it wasn't 'good' exciting, but certainly dramatic. On the drive home on Monday morning, the strut bolts fell out of the front right of Nic's car whilst driving at about 80km/hr. Very scary for a few moments. At least it didn't happen on downhill/flat and fast, or fast windy road?! Turns out a mechanic who'd done some work two days prior had neglected to tighten them up. Ended up with a long wait and a tow truck ride to Taupo. Guess it saved on gas?!

Anyway.... The real reason we were in the Bay. Racing. Two races in two days. First up

The annual Triplepeaks Challenge. A pretty gruelling 47km MTB race. Unique in that it has 3 big climbs (as the name might suggest), and for the most part follows farmland. In the past, the course marking has been sketchy at best. This year, am happy to report no dramas. Awesome course, well marked, great weather, and great track conditions.

Resulting in wins for both of us respectively. A new course record for me, and a PB time on the course for Nic by 20mins

And race two? The final of the Shed 2 Hawkes Bay Sprint Triathlon Champs. You should have seen our trick TT bikes. They looked just like, um, our MTB's. Yip, we hadn't brought any Tri gear with us, but did bring wetsuits. So raced on our MTB's, used our cycling clothes etc...

The swim was average for both of us. I lined up behing Super fish types Guy Crawford and Steve Nicholls. All was well for 50m until someone kicked me, I swallowed some salt water, got grumpy and swam on my own. Meanwhile Nic just swam steadily trying to find a rythym. After a pretty average (ie Slow) transition we set about chasing.

Hard work on MTB's. we made inroads, sort of. I only lost 4 further minutes to the leaders on the 21km bike. And the run? Well aside from the super slow transitions as we tightened, and double knotted our laces.... It was pretty good. If you took that transition out I easily had the fastest run. And Nic was smooth and strong trying to find her XTERRA pace.

I ended up 6th open men. And Nic 4th in the Womens. So not all bad considering. Great XTERRA prep, especially using the bikes (and thus set-up) we'll us in April. All good then.

Next up?

The Ay-Up 24hr in Rotorua. Team "Xterra". Consisting of Nic, Cabin, along with T-Rex Wilding, and Cam Durno. Should be good.