Chubby Dave's Vegas Report

I’m always keen for a trip to Vegas, so when I heard about the Mid North Island Cup race being held there I was all over it like a fat man on a small chair.

After heading up after work on Friday, catching some zzz’s and scoffing breakfast at Zippy’s I headed out on Saturday afternoon for a look at the course. Apparently the course to be used in the North Island Cup will be similar to this one, making this useful recce time. After a couple of laps it was time for me to head back to Cameron Manor for dinner, but I knew where the course went and was fairly comfortable with everything.

On the morning of race day I rolled into the forest to register and pick up my race number. Upon doing so I was informed the start time had changed from 1pm to 11:30am (No worries – less heat) and that I’d be doing 3 laps rather than the 4 I had expected. I trundle off, drink coffee, sit around, etc…

I arrived back at the forest for a decent warm up and a bit of a sift around. Somehow (Probably through my own inattention) I missed the start of race briefing, and in doing so wasn’t aware that I was indeed meant to be racing the planned 4 laps rather than the 3 I was told earlier. So anyway, after briefing was over we were given 1 minute until the start. Fuck. I had a near empty bottle and my full one was in the car…. Cue hurried bottle swap. Unfortunately this meant I started D F L, right at the back of the pack. Eating dust. Not to worry.

I made decent progress on the first bit of 4wd track to be in the first half-dozen or so into the singletrack. Phew. The pace was quick, and I took a few m0ng lines through “Sweet & Sour” leaving me with the feeling that I was struggling. Popping out onto the 4wd climb to the highest point on the track I had someone slip past me – my legs were just not there for some reason. Into “Hot X Buns”, back out into the open 4wd and quickly into “Dragon’s Tail” – this trail is awesome fun, heaps of pumpy berms and small jumps. It was a nice surprise to see my wife and a couple of good friends cheering for me (Well, I assume they were cheering for me…) at the exit of this trail. Down the 4wd and into “Mad if you don’t”, then back out onto the road to complete the lap. Near the end of the first lap my legs seemed to wake up, and I managed to find a bit of speed (Well at least it felt like it anyway). I caught one rider and we rode the majority of the second lap pretty much together (Not in a gay way or anything). At the start of the third lap I managed to pull a wee bit of a gap on him, but had another rider on my tail. All through Sweet & Sour and Bunny Jugs he was close, but I decided it was hammer time on the climb up Direct Road and put enough real estate between him and I to feel comfortable. At this stage my legs were feeling great, I had no cramping at all (despite sweating like a rapist) and I still had half a bottle left.

Choice - easy ride to the finish. I head back down HXB, along the 4wd and into Dragon’s for the third time. This time I was starting to get the hang of the track, and had great fun popping off little lips here and there. Out of Dragon’s, down the 4wd, into the last trail on the lap and along the road back to 8 Mile Gate. As it was my third lap I pulled up to the timekeeper people (Who were most friendly and very cheerful – awesome stuff). They asked how many laps I’d done, to which I replied “3”. “OK” says them, and I bugger off for a wee spin along a road somewhere to warm down a bit.

Unfortunately for me it wasn’t until about 15 minutes later I realized the error I had made… there were still riders going out for their final lap while I was standing there looking like a twat. So, a big DNF for me in that one – bike was FANTASTIC, body was good overall (Crap at the start but great for the rest) and the course is simply excellent – a bit of everything – but a few moments inattention from me had cost me a result.

Never to mind, I learned another very valuable lesson today, and in the process had a hell of a good training session. Roll on the North Island Cup on the 3rd of January.