This weekend was the final round of the North Island cup and National Series, We competed in the final of the south island and the 3 North island cups so were eligible for both. For Bergamont it was a great day on the podium. Carl won the North island cup, and placed 2nd in the National Series too Brendon Sharratt fellow Bergamont team mate winning the NZ series. Katie placed 3rd in the North Island Cup and also took out the National Series.
race reports
Carl
Race started well, I stayed on the front from the start. Mikey and I had a small lead at the top of the 1st hill, we kept the pace the same for 2 laps. On the 3rd lap Dirk and Stu were back up with us and I started to go backwards until around lap 5 due to stomach cramps which were really unexpected and painful. I didn’t know what was happening but I just kept going as hard as my gut would let me. In the middle of the 5th lap I was able to open back up and by this time I had slipped back to 5th behind Brendon and Stu. I passed Stu early on, then Brendon at the start of the 6th lap then took off and put a decent gap on Brendon which I was stoked that I could do. But back came the cramps on the last few mins of the lap so I backed it off a tad. I finished in 3rd behind Mikey and Dirk with cramps going on a long time after the finish. Turns out I think I know what the cramps were from so I’m not going to get it at nationals J it was from un-rinsed drink bottles which had been soaking in dishwashing liquid haha mint what an idiot.
Katie
I went out feeling strong and wanting a win, I loved the track and knew it well. In the first lap everything seamed to be going to plan until my second lap. I couldn’t work out what was going wrong, it was only my second lap and my knees were smashed, climbing was the last thing they wanted to do. I kept trying to push through, although on each hill I was loosing time on Eloise Fry, the leader, and Monique and Michelle were reeling me back in. I managed to hold them off down the decent back to the start/finish but my legs and knees wouldn’t climb any longer so away they went.
I finished up in 5th place and was left feeling a bit lost. I wasn’t sure what I had got wrong, I had put in the training and I was feeling strong and confident. Later on in the night a friend, Clark Smith, came over and said he would have a look at my setup and double check it. JACK POT as Carl would say, when my seat was changed over it ended up changing things completely, just through the fact the seat was a different size/shape and that the Ellsworth I used to ride had a steeper down tube angle than the Bergamont bike. Everything was wrong, I was pedalling from behind the pedals, my knees were not lining up where they should. Lesson learnt, as soon as something feels wrong check the set up.
National Championships will be on this coming weekend. Bring on the racing!
No comments:
Post a Comment