A bit of a run down on how the day went below this video and amongst the pics...
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| Pre Race 6.30am fresh legs and ready to roll! |
The Lake Hawea Epic is a race I had never done before. It had great appeal to me as the surrounds of Lake Hawea are simply stunning, but at the same time is a piece of country that can throw up any weather conditions on any given day. The event is a 125km loop around the lake. When I arrived to register I was informed of the rain that they had on the Thursday prior to the race and this had seen the Hunter River at the head of the lake flowing way to high to cross safely on our loop around the lake - so there was an alternative course in place which was to head up the Northern side of the lake to pretty much the Hunter River and return which was to be a slightly shorter course. With a couple of shorter course options called the classic and traverse there were around 700 riders in this event. On the start line for a 7am start there were 400 riders in the Epic, our first few Km were on a couple of sealed roads before making our way up the lake side. Almost every event that involves a mass start and bunch riding there is always someone (or more than1) person taken down in the bunch with a crash, This years Epic was no exception, about 2km into it I heard the sound of body and bike scrubbing across the ground to then see 3 riders nailed into the ground amongst the bunch - unfortunately their day was over already.
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| photo www.Studio5.co.nz |
I managed to stay safe and settled into what was to be a bit of a slow pace for the day, having still been battling with a lower back strain and relying on prescribed Muscle Relaxant drugs to and extensive physio to settle spinal muscle spasms (of which I had to stop taking prior to this event as they do give you a bit of a 'spaced out relaxed feel') Anyway the day was a stunned with clear skies and spectacular views, one of which was a perfect glimpse of Mt Aspiring across the lake and behind the ranges in front of us. It was a long slog out to the turn around with lots of rocky patches amongst many little pinches of up and down. The turn around point provided a good opportunity to fuel up and before making my way back.
On the return I came across a man who was worried his day was over as he had a broken rear derailleur and didn't have any ideas what to do to fix it. Myself being a little bit of a problem solver I managed to get him rolling again with a limited selection of gears but he was fine with that and very appreciative, so my good deed for the day.
Around the 90km mark at the Dingle Burn Station there was a welcomed aid station serving Scones wiht Jam and Cream along with Coffee - I made my donation to them and loaded up on scones and a mege coffee which had me rolling along happily again after this - I had perhaps been a little under fed during the race and was suffering a bit by now as a result. anyway a last slog of hills and it was into Lake Hawea to the finish. It was a tough 7hrs24min in the saddle for me but satisfying knowing that my back had held together and didn't give too much trouble and that my body had bounced back form the Naseby 12 hour 3 weeks earlier.
All up a great
day with some stunning scenery.! Bike
rolling smooth and faultless thanks to the team at R&R Sport. The Trek Superfly FS 29er was awesome on the terrain of this event and smoothed out many of the bumps nicely. I'll have to head back next year to do the whole loop of the lake!
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| All done!! |
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