My rapaki ride has turned into a bottle lake mish...

shinymunkey wrote: Next year you'll all be drafting me as i go sub 2:30
Hur.. yea rite.
Time for a ride now anyway

I want to go riding...but I just got back to uni after going for a wee walk up the hills Gotta get lots done so i can go home and watch desperate housewives, it looks exciting this week!!!

If ya went sub 2.30 you'd win Tim. Race times were pretty slow this year.


I hear that the front bunch pretty much held together, with a few people getting dropped before the first hill.... picked up some of the stragglers but we never caught the bunch again, although we had it in sight for a very brief moment (damn crash, i'm pretty sure i'd have stayd with them otherwise).

The winning move was made on the last hill, when a largish portion of the bunch broke away from the main bunch. this is all hearsay so i don't know if it is accurate. this group won and was about 2-3 minutes in front of the first 2.30 bunch.

I also understand that the first group that left was the fastest, which was the one i was in originally. but i think the first man over the finish line actually didn't get first, lost by a few seconds.


there were lots of minor crashes and a few major ones. The first one was mine in the first 20km; my bunch was VERY dodgy, and one of the girls panicked and slammed on the brakes hard. Guy in front of me went sideways trying not to slam into her, didn't make it, fell off. i went over on top of him, i think one or two other people might have got caught up, but i was the only one who rode off straight away that i know of. My bunch was away and i got passed by a smaller bunch as i was starting again, but I didn't manage to catch them (the early pace was pretty high). Not far from my crash i saw there was a bigger crash involving at least three riders, one of whom who looked quite hurt.

LOTS of people had punctures too, which was weird- there was no glass at all.

There was a major crash near the finish when two guys collided at 50km/hr and then pulverised a young boy who was spectatoring. I hope everyone was OK, it was all cleared up when i went passed.



Next year I'll probably do it again, with the intention of getting in the front bunch again but not crashing. The slowest who stayed in the bunch did about 2.42. Realistically i'd never do well in such a ride anyway, but I think all who could stay with the front group after the hill could go under 40 minutes. My speedo said i avaraged 36 km/hr with a fair chunk solo or in small groups.

I'd be interested to hear what happened in your groups Tim and Lis, it looks like you finished pretty much in the same bunch.

Tandem race report, haha:
Start organisation was a shambles. Last year we started as 10+ tandems, and we lapped out as a tandem bunch until the hills, insanity!

This year there was to be two groups, slow tandems and fast tandems, but in reality there was a scattering of tandems throughout various groups. I think we managed to ride with 3 other tandems at the start.

My Dad+Dave McManus decided to go all out at the front, and we mowed through a couple of single bike bunches ahead. My cousin+myself did a little work, but hung back a bit because we though it was a bit foolhardy to go so nuts at the start!

My tandem and my Dad's tandem eventually ended up in a big bunch, with my Dad near the front yelling at people lots, and us cruising in the middle, trying to disassociate ourselves with the angry guys up front in the same kit...

As we hit some little bumps before Picton, I went past Tim and Lis with a little ribbing and a short "brrrap"! Dad+Mcmanus were out the arse on the last bump into Picton, me and Nick went near the front, and were on the brakes hard not to run up the back of squirrelly single bikes on the descent! Mowed through pretty much the lot coming up to the wedge. At this point I believe we were first tandem, pretty stoked on our riding at this stage. Started the wedge, got passed by a whole lot of single bikers, Tim and Lis and two tandems by the end of the lumps. No worries I though, we'd soon mow them down on more tandem friendly flats and downhills ahead.

Then I started to feel a lack of back up from the stoker, but though I just might be fading myself around 60km mark. Started to get really slow. Cruised with a couple of bunches, got passed by a few people, then got to the little rise out of Havelock at the 70km mark, where we were barely moving. My suspicions were confirmed at this stage, when my stoker then announced he was fucked! From then on, we were barely moving, people streamed by, including my Dad+McManus at around the 85km mark, fully ripped, first time I haven't totally wasted my Dad in a race for 5 years! Got passed by lots of bunches and even big-fat-rich-Pinarello-riding-Wellingtonian-types by themselves.

Very depressing ride, despite pushing quite hard, I couldn't compensate for my stuffed stoker! Limped to the finish, worst memory of a race I can recall! To further add salt to the wounds, my Dad+McManus got a medal! Time = 3hrs+, or in other words, total write off!

Got fair lashed in town afterwards, but the night was brought into disrepute once Lis cunningly lured us non-Malburians into a strip club with MALE strippers. Damn you! (Though the pancakes you cooked for everyone the next day were mint! A+++++)

Despite all the above whinging, it was an enjoyable weekend and great event, I'll be back next year, though on a tandem again will possibly be unlikely!

Yeah, Lis' pancakes made up for a very average ride!


Eating fresh pancakes under a tree at a vinyard in the blenheim sunshine will be a nice memory to bring back. That and the leov's fantastic hospitality, Blenheim seems to be full of good folk.

Yeah, Lis' pancakes made up for a very average ride!


Eating fresh pancakes under a tree at a vinyard in the blenheim sunshine will be a nice memory to bring back. That and the leov's fantastic hospitality, Blenheim seems to be full of good folk.

why did this post repeat itself several times?

wtf???

Nice report Vaughan!

This made me laugh:

My tandem and my Dad's tandem eventually ended up in a big bunch, with my Dad near the front yelling at people lots, and us cruising in the middle, trying to disassociate ourselves with the angry guys up front in the same kit...

I'll always remember this from starting out in Wheelers D grade. Your Dad seemed to have a strange knack of yelling at everyone, especially the newbies! Was quite disconcerting at the time, but well meaning I'm sure.

Pity that Nick couldn't summon the awesome SNR power.

Sounds like Andrew had a spot of bad luck. Road crashes are completely lame but good to hear you didn't get serious road rash.

nibbler wrote:This made me laugh:

My tandem and my Dad's tandem eventually ended up in a big bunch, with my Dad near the front yelling at people lots, and us cruising in the middle, trying to disassociate ourselves with the angry guys up front in the same kit...

I'll always remember this from starting out in Wheelers D grade. Your Dad seemed to have a strange knack of yelling at everyone, especially the newbies! Was quite disconcerting at the time, but well meaning I'm sure.

I thought he'd mellow with age, but if anything he only gets worse

nibbler wrote:
Pity that Nick couldn't summon the awesome SNR power.

Yea, he felt pretty bad, but he hasn't done a race or even ride that long for quite some time I think! All good, now he's got unfinished business with that race for next year

ditzonwheels wrote: what, coma'd out on my car?

...on what bike, Robyn?!!

Coma'd out on your car!?

Spose I shuld add my 2c..
Well for a first race was kinda interesting, learnt a lot. Cruised along in the bigass bunch with liz and mr tandem till a bit after picton. Prettymuch did my own thing from there. Ended up riding most of that winding bit by myself but could see a few people infront and behind at times and kept hearing someone consistantly a few corners back with REALLY LOUD FUCKING HOWLING BRAKES OF DOOM ON CARBON RIMS!. (it sounded like raj doing trials at 40kph on freshly tar'd rims)
Apparently according to the 6 or so ppl i caught up with on the last hill b4 havelock (very flat longish one) we were past 'the wedge'... (i got a funny look when i asked how far away it was) so then put some power on seeing as my saved energy for 'the wedge' was in vain and 2 ov us took off the front. Never got passed by anyone after that (good feeling) just kept picking people up all the way back. Had a group of about 20-30 mooching off the 4 ov us in the front who were the only ones working by the time we got to the 10k out sign. Was really easy to keep top gear and high speed tho with the tail wind and so just kept charging till home. Only a couple of the moochers bothered to sprint at the end which surprised me.
All in all a great event. People were awesome. Next time i do sumthing like that i think i'll learn the course first, try and stick in a bunch, get a damn odo so i know how far and fast i'm going, leppin is good... peakfuel i'm not so sure about.. too sweet, get a new BB (it's really damn loose again! grrr).

And yea.. Liz those pancakes rockd!.. not so sure bout the male strippers tho (i'm sure robyn would have enjoyed them )
Cousin reconed they didnt have to scrape too many people off the road this year. just a couple broken clavicals something else broken and the usual 'asphalt exfoliant' cases.

Ride last nite went nowhere fast. Punctured my front tyre on dyers coming out of a fast corner (bit dodgy). Had a big slice on the rimside of the tube. I'm assuming it was the sharpass rim plastic thingy cos it looked just like how it blew after the race on sat. Time for sum electrical tape methinks. Really need to find a new BB too cos that one is just pissing me off now. Time for another bike shop mish i think.

porchenut wrote:Blenheim seems to be full of good folk.

porschenut wrote: Yeah, Lis' pancakes made up for a very average ride!


Eating fresh pancakes under a tree at a vinyard in the blenheim sunshine will be a nice memory to bring back. That and the leov's fantastic hospitality, Blenheim seems to be full of good folk.

porschenut wrote: Yeah, Lis' pancakes made up for a very average ride!


Eating fresh pancakes under a tree at a vinyard in the blenheim sunshine will be a nice memory to bring back. That and the leov's fantastic hospitality, Blenheim seems to be full of good folk.

porschenut wrote: Yeah, Lis' pancakes made up for a very average ride!


Eating fresh pancakes under a tree at a vinyard in the blenheim sunshine will be a nice memory to bring back. That and the leov's fantastic hospitality, Blenheim seems to be full of good folk.

porschenut wrote: Yeah, Lis' pancakes made up for a very average ride!


Eating fresh pancakes under a tree at a vinyard in the blenheim sunshine will be a nice memory to bring back. That and the leov's fantastic hospitality, Blenheim seems to be full of good folk.

Okay Andrew, we get the point! Good 'ole vorb!

Hmmm...seems like I'll have to jump on the wagon and put MY race report in too...but it will have to wait till my study break...hmmm, I didn't realise that phrase was in my vocabulary!

Vorb was fucking up last nught.