Motu Challenge 2009
With China and my instant weight loss program thanks to food poisoning over a week behind us the next assignment in a busy month was the Motu Challenge in Opotiki
The night before hand it was looking doubtful the river section would be happening with torrential rain and freezing conditions making up for Elina and my lack of a NZ winter this year as we traipsed around in down jackets and wet weather gear packing our gear for the race.
Thankfully the day dawned reasonably clear all be it chilly and the river had risen to within 5cm of the cut off, but not over so it was all on and a fast trip down the river was virtual certainty.
As we all took off from Opotiki on the opening MTB leg there was a definite chill in the wind and as we turned off the main road up towards Motu the full force of the bitter southerly hit the field head on. There was a large bunch of riders at the front including individuals and teams in the full Motu challenge and also riders in the Scott 160 bike ride which was a new addition to the program this year.
As we finally hit the first of the climbs the pace predictably went up and before long everyone was struggling to hold wheels. I was a bit far back and just missed the first bunch but slowly managed to drag myself back up to the lead group, only to gradually slip back off as the surging continued.
As I slowly drifted back with another rider we were joined by a small group and we lapped it out between the first couple of hills. As we hit the second hill team rider Ash Hough went to the front and blew all but 2 of us off the back and was getting close to doing the same to me as well.
Luckily I made it to the top of the second major climb and by the final climb the legs were starting to feel better and Ash and I took turns pushing the pace towards the finish. Nearing the top we passed a couple of the riders who’d been ahead of us as they’d hit the wall within sight of the Motu township. Heading down the final descent we were getting blasted by the icy southerly and by the time I reached transition and had to change into my running shoes I couldn’t feel my hands or feet resulting in a rather long struggle to swap shoes.
Finally underway on the run and it felt like I had pieces of wood for feet and it wasn’t until I was over 5km into the run that I finally felt some warmth returning to them. It was turning into one of those days where whichever direction we went it seemed to be into the freezing wind and most of the time uphill too!
The mid section of the run is through a great little track for about 6km but it certainly wasn’t going to be a day for run records with the track totally saturated and soft muddy conditions underfoot making staying upright a major priority.
Back to the transition and it was onto the Time trial bike and if I’d been thinking it was windy prior to this section I had been sadly mistaken. The first 11 km were straight into the teeth of the wind and at 300 Watts I was doing a miserable 23kph. When I finally made the turn north on the main road and the wind swung around behind it was almost the opposite effect and I was just trying to keep the bike upright as everyone was buffeted by the gale force winds and propelled along at breakneck speeds.
I had been picking teams off steadily and caught up with team 421 who Ash had been riding for and whose runner I’d been chasing throughout the run after I’d fallen behind thanks to my slow transition. The ride was Courtney Lowe who promptly jumped on my wheel and I found myself with a shadow, just like in training when Elina does the same.
Once over Trafford’s Hill the course heads seriously downhill and self preservation got the better of my competitive spirit on this occasion as I was getting blown all over the road on my 808 deep dish wheels, not the ideal choice on this particular day! More than one support crew noted that all the riders were looking pretty sketchy on the way down the valley.
The issue was when you’d go round a corner and the wind would swirl making it impossible to know at which angle you were going to get slammed from. When it did hit it felt as though it was going to flip the front wheel right out from underneath you. So thanks to the self preservation measures it ended up being a somewhat leisurely trip down the valley with my only thoughts now on getting my lower half out of the elements and into the kayak to keep warm.
The first glimpse of the river showed that it was definitely going to be a different beast that any other time I’ve seen it with a swirling brown angry current in place of the normally clear meandering flow typically associated with the river.
Into the boat and it was great to give the legs a rest and get a little food on board. The river was so high it’d virtually washed out all of the rapids leaving just a super fast flow and that ever present gale force wind to deal with.
The river was definitely taking us on a quick ride towards the finish and at one point the wind was blowing so strongly I was able to just sit in the boat with my paddle out either side using it like a sail and still go as fast as paddling.
The only grovel on the river was a stretch of a couple of Kilometres where we turned hard into the wind and it felt like trying to paddle back up towards the start. Huge walls of spray were getting hurled towards us by the wind and at times you just had to cower down in the boat until they’d passed.
The final section includes an 8km bike and a 3 km run, and with the help of the wind these were over in no time.
In any race lasting 7 hours the major feeling at the finish is of obvious relief at being able to stop and in this case to be able to put on some warmer clothes. I didn’t have any idea at the carnage that was occurring out on course behind me with a huge amount of DNF’s due to hypothermia and it seems from many people just getting spanking by the gale force winds and cold.
In the women’s race Elina had a blinder after complaining bitterly all night she didn’t want to race – I know from experience that for some reason the less she feels like racing the better she goes and this was no exception with 17 minutes coming off her own race record in very difficult conditions. A good majority of this can be attributed to her kayak where she was 26 minutes faster than her previous best time.
It’s now a short intense week or so to try and fire up the fast twitch muscles for Xterra Worlds in Maui on the 25th before our schedule starts to back off a bit and we’ll be able to enjoy some R&R and have time for some proper training instead of race and recover as has the past 2 months been.
Thanks as always to our sponsors and a big welcome to Planet X and On-One bikes who will be supporting us as we move forward from here and a welcome back to Leppin Sport who are once again our nutrition supplier.
SUBWAY
PLANET X - ON ONE
R&R Sport, Kia Motors, Leppin Sport, Nike, Tineli, Vittoria & Geax tyres, Em’s Power Cookies, Speedplay pedals, Blue Seventy wetsuits,
Pearl Izumi cycling shoes, Osprey packs, Andrew Martin Kayaks, Legend Paddles, Wildside Travel
