I'd spoken to a friend a while back about a forthcoming two-man race & how I was tempted to ask someone to be my partner for it - meaning I wouldn't just trailride it for a change. The person I asked was non-committal about it (which I understand) and when the friend phoned on Wednesday night asking if I'd partner her in the race, I was stoked. I told the other person that as I hadn't had an answer from him, I'd agreed to partner J.
J & I worked out the strategy between us - she told me she was good at starts (well, she hadn't finished her sentence) - so I told her she was doing the start. Well, the hooter went off, someone got the holeshot, someone else crashed, I dunno, I was running for my life as they decided I could be pitboard bitch.
The race was coming through the pits the first lap so we all walked down to watch. Everyone came through & along came J, miles behind. (I'd told her after she got the holeshot she had to pull over somewhere safe so that the guys could get past her safely hehehe). After the first part of the track, the racers were going past the pits so we could see what was going on.
The track ended up longer than we'd thought (first race Henk & some others had put on), but a fun ride. Eventually the lead rider came through, then gradually some of the others. I knew J would be last, which was fine by me. When she came through, we were worried she was about to be lapped by the lead rider, but thankfully she got in just before him. Okay - I'm being hassled by the guys about getting ready to ride. They ended up in stitches watching us do our bike/person change, as we were sharing body armour as well as switching the tag over. Yeah, so we had the longest pits - we'd also discuss the previous lap briefly before the next one headed out - serious, definitely - we wanted to have fun.
I looked over to see what the lead rider was doing, decided I might as well go & be passed by him rather than wait for him to get outta there. I didn't get passed by many people (there weren't many lol) and there were huge gaps between some of the riders, but I knew there was a battle for 3rd, 4th & 5th. The third rider came through at a point I hated, so I promptly dropped the bike (with enough room for him to get past lol), then the 4th came through & I pretty much did the same thing, the 5th rider came through & I managed to not drop the bike (actually, I think that one might have been 6th, they were close, but can't quite remember what exactly was going on.
Eventually I got back to where we went past the pits & there was no one standing there to laugh at me (whew), so I thought I'd be able to creep in when I finally got around to the point I had to go through the pits. There was still time for one more lap, so off my partner went (she was worried I wouldn't make it back in time & really wanted to go out). I waited for the lead rider to turn up, had a few minutes' rest & then grabbed a bag to help with the de-arrowing.
Yeah, we came last by a mile (actually quite a few miles), but our aim had been to have fun - we definitely won big time there. The turn-out was pathetic, but honestly, I preferred that. The funny thing was, my partner had tried to phone me in the morning to say she wasn't going to turn up, but as she couldn't, she felt obligated to. I wasn't sure if she'd come or not, as we had torrential rain, the roads were flooding, it looked like the crap weather had sent in for the day. About half an hour before people started turning up, the sun came out, the blue skies showed themselves - awesome, slightly overcast, but not wet :) (on the Saturday I'd commented I hoped it'd be overcast as it was really hot that day - too hot).
The course was tricky and long - 4 laps in 4 hours, 3 for some of us. It didn't work out as it was hoped (the guys had hoped both loops would be about the same length, but one was 3/4 & the other 1/4 distance). Everyone seemed to have a smile at the end of the day. My partner had the hugest grin & she was so hoping I wouldn't be lapped so she could go out for her second lap, I wasn't disappointed I couldn't do a 2nd lap as I'd promised I'd help with de-arrowing, so knew I'd get more riding in & had ridden the course Saturday. Next year I know I'll be able to ask J if she's keen (I had hoped when I mentioned I was almost-interested in racing it, that she might pipe up & say she was also keen). Hmm, actually she told me next year I have to do the start.
She'd been told before the last harescramble I did that she was too slow to race (so I asked her husband why I was allowed out there as I thought we were about the same pace) & he had to quickly try to cover that up ;)
No, I'm not hooked on racing, but that was fun and I'll definitely be doing it next year.
I managed to drop my bike (just for a change) at the end of the day on a gravel road after talking to someone - broke the brake lever hehehe
All in all a fun weekend, but I'm sore today. (heck, work even seemed half-way tolerable, must have been fun lol). There's another round in a few weeks, so I'm not sure what to do there but guess I'll decide on the day - I'm thinking either to trailride it or race in iron-person class but then think maybe I should just do the ride as a trailride the next day (J won't be in the country). We'll see I guess.
Hope you all had a great weekend, too.
M
J & I worked out the strategy between us - she told me she was good at starts (well, she hadn't finished her sentence) - so I told her she was doing the start. Well, the hooter went off, someone got the holeshot, someone else crashed, I dunno, I was running for my life as they decided I could be pitboard bitch.
The race was coming through the pits the first lap so we all walked down to watch. Everyone came through & along came J, miles behind. (I'd told her after she got the holeshot she had to pull over somewhere safe so that the guys could get past her safely hehehe). After the first part of the track, the racers were going past the pits so we could see what was going on.
The track ended up longer than we'd thought (first race Henk & some others had put on), but a fun ride. Eventually the lead rider came through, then gradually some of the others. I knew J would be last, which was fine by me. When she came through, we were worried she was about to be lapped by the lead rider, but thankfully she got in just before him. Okay - I'm being hassled by the guys about getting ready to ride. They ended up in stitches watching us do our bike/person change, as we were sharing body armour as well as switching the tag over. Yeah, so we had the longest pits - we'd also discuss the previous lap briefly before the next one headed out - serious, definitely - we wanted to have fun.
I looked over to see what the lead rider was doing, decided I might as well go & be passed by him rather than wait for him to get outta there. I didn't get passed by many people (there weren't many lol) and there were huge gaps between some of the riders, but I knew there was a battle for 3rd, 4th & 5th. The third rider came through at a point I hated, so I promptly dropped the bike (with enough room for him to get past lol), then the 4th came through & I pretty much did the same thing, the 5th rider came through & I managed to not drop the bike (actually, I think that one might have been 6th, they were close, but can't quite remember what exactly was going on.
Eventually I got back to where we went past the pits & there was no one standing there to laugh at me (whew), so I thought I'd be able to creep in when I finally got around to the point I had to go through the pits. There was still time for one more lap, so off my partner went (she was worried I wouldn't make it back in time & really wanted to go out). I waited for the lead rider to turn up, had a few minutes' rest & then grabbed a bag to help with the de-arrowing.
Yeah, we came last by a mile (actually quite a few miles), but our aim had been to have fun - we definitely won big time there. The turn-out was pathetic, but honestly, I preferred that. The funny thing was, my partner had tried to phone me in the morning to say she wasn't going to turn up, but as she couldn't, she felt obligated to. I wasn't sure if she'd come or not, as we had torrential rain, the roads were flooding, it looked like the crap weather had sent in for the day. About half an hour before people started turning up, the sun came out, the blue skies showed themselves - awesome, slightly overcast, but not wet :) (on the Saturday I'd commented I hoped it'd be overcast as it was really hot that day - too hot).
The course was tricky and long - 4 laps in 4 hours, 3 for some of us. It didn't work out as it was hoped (the guys had hoped both loops would be about the same length, but one was 3/4 & the other 1/4 distance). Everyone seemed to have a smile at the end of the day. My partner had the hugest grin & she was so hoping I wouldn't be lapped so she could go out for her second lap, I wasn't disappointed I couldn't do a 2nd lap as I'd promised I'd help with de-arrowing, so knew I'd get more riding in & had ridden the course Saturday. Next year I know I'll be able to ask J if she's keen (I had hoped when I mentioned I was almost-interested in racing it, that she might pipe up & say she was also keen). Hmm, actually she told me next year I have to do the start.
She'd been told before the last harescramble I did that she was too slow to race (so I asked her husband why I was allowed out there as I thought we were about the same pace) & he had to quickly try to cover that up ;)
No, I'm not hooked on racing, but that was fun and I'll definitely be doing it next year.
I managed to drop my bike (just for a change) at the end of the day on a gravel road after talking to someone - broke the brake lever hehehe
All in all a fun weekend, but I'm sore today. (heck, work even seemed half-way tolerable, must have been fun lol). There's another round in a few weeks, so I'm not sure what to do there but guess I'll decide on the day - I'm thinking either to trailride it or race in iron-person class but then think maybe I should just do the ride as a trailride the next day (J won't be in the country). We'll see I guess.
Hope you all had a great weekend, too.
M
