Moonride 2009

So I have had two countdowns going on my blog; The Coast to Coast 2010 (the main reason for this blog) and the Moonride..which has now counted all the way down to ZERO!

I was nervously excited by the prospect of competing in the 24 hour moonride. Doing events for 24 hours is not new to me, having run from Dunedin to Oamaru and back, and cycled from Dunedin to Bluff and back. It was really the idea of mountain biking and in the dark that was a little daunting. I don't actually own one of my own but my friend Jaz was kind enough to lend me her bike. So I managed to get in a night ride and a day ride at a local track here in Hamilton. I loved it! In fact I began to see that this could be the best way to relieve stress and clear my head on a regular basis.

Arriving in Rotorua the team met each other for the first time. In the guy's open team were Mark, Bruce, Simon, Alastair & Wayne. Our team were entered in the mixed grade; Sue, Kath, Nick, Mat and myself.

Kath and I had to do some negotiating soon after meeting - Sue was going to do the first ride and both Kath and I were keen to follow. Kath graciously made way for me to go 2nd (I was so nervous there was no way I would have slept before my ride so if I was on from 2am-4am it would not bode well for the rest of the race)

My first lap was exhilarating and intense as I made my way through the track that was totally unfamiliar relying only on my trusty lights to guide my way. It felt like I had been out for 1 1/2 hours but when I got back to the tent I was stoked to discover it was only 40 mins. The next couple of lap times got a bit messed up as no one was recording my start times of each lap (i was stopping in between each lap to change my light batteries).

I got to go to bed at about 2:30am and by 6:30am was up heading towards the portaloos (after dreaming about them I took that as a sign I should get up and face the day).

My next two laps were great - I got to see the track for the first time in the daylight. It was great to be able to work out what was the best path to take, when to go left or right on the track and what traps to avoid. I was totally stoked to see that my laptime got down to 35 mins. On the second lap I was 15 mins into it when the 12 hour and 6 hour competitors were starting. I had only one goal that lap - to make it out before any of them caught up to me - so I had 300 or so riders hotly pursuing me - I did it!

My next ride was later as it was starting to get dark so lights were back on. It was awful! So many pushy and rude riders on the track and the volume of riders was really noticeable. You have to understand that previously when people needed to pass they asked and said thanks, or "just when you're ready". It was great for a novice like me to feel ok on the track with the elite riders. But I really did not enjoy that 6th lap at all - I obviously just wanted it over and done with as it ended up being my best time 34mins.

My final lap was slightly better, I stood my ground and didn't put myself in danger of falling just because someone yelled "passing on your right" and assumed I would move straight away. It was a slightly slower lap 36mins but I was pretty tired by then.

Now to put my lap time in perspective - the fastest lap times on the boys team was 19mins, ours was 22mins - but they are all experienced riders and have done lots of training and stuff like that. So I was totally wrapped with my performance.

The great thing is that Sue, Kath and I are all committed to the Day/Night Thriller in Taupo in Sept - so the training will continue so that next time I'm in the race I will be able to compete and offer more to my team than what I could for this race.