Taupo

After worlds I had a few weeks recovering as the ‘cold’ decided to hang around for awhile. Then first race back was Taupo. Instead of doing the lap around the lake the elite women completed a shorter 80km course which started in Taupo, then toward Turangi (going the opposite direction to the normal Taupo course) and then turned around and came back. It was a relatively flat course except for the Hatepe hill on the way home and a couple other small rollers.

The start list was very good, with the likes of Rushlee Buchanan, Cath Cheatley, Sonia Waddell, Serina Sheridan (etc). Although the race itself was pretty slow as everyone was waiting for Hatepe hill do anything. I felt pretty good coming up to the hill. Cath attacked from the bottom bringing along Emma Crum and they got a pretty good gap on the field. Sonia went to the front and grinded it up with me on her wheel, we dropped the rest of the field and caught up Emma. With about 100 metres of the hill to go my legs decided they had had enough. I tried to ignore the pain but it just was not working, I had not ridden a hill like this since Worlds and I think they had forgotten how to do it. I slowly dropped off the two and went back to a now smaller group. At this stage it was Cath, Emma and Sonia off the front and then our group about 200 metres behind. We all worked hard to catch them up and at the bottom (thankfully) got back onto them. Coming upto the last 2km I felt really good. The pace was on and I was sitting in next to Sonia and Cath. Then next thing I was on the ground wondering what the hell happened. Some rider a couple in front decided to swerve in the middle of the bunch and take down the person next to her, then I went straight over the top.. Literally. I did a nice superman move over the top of my bars with arms out in front. Rushlee and Serina had also come down, as well as Sarah Morrison and Gayle Brownlee. As Rushlee pealed me off the road we eventually got back on and rolled over the finish line, well back from the winners. Luckily my bike was ok!! I just had some road rash and quit a sore knee which would have happened from the impact. Nothing broken or seriously injured so was very thankful, unlike Sarah who dislocated her shoulder and Gayle who broke a rib. However getting back I had found out a good friend of mine, Kate Chilcott had won the sprint over Sonia Waddell and Cath Cheatley. This was a massive win for Kate with such a strong field, she is definitely one to look at for the future.

Climbing up Hatepe. Sonia Waddell at the front, me 2nd wheel, Emma third.

Overall, the race was a disaster. Good fun though.. Crashes are just all part of bike riding!

Thanks for reading =)

Courteney