Sunday 3 March 2013

Naseby 12hr 2013 Track


Spent a great weekend in Naseby, getting some riding in amongst the trees. A little bit of 'secret training' for the upcoming Naseby 12hr race in April.

Thanks go to Adair for letting myself the family and friends use her wonderful holiday home on Strode Ave. It made a great base for riding and for between ride activities.

I have decided to ride solo this year. The last time I went solo was when I had just purchased my Epic 26er. It was it's first big outing and part way around the first lap the front chainring shifter failed necessitating 11hrs+ to be undertaken in the middle chainring. Not ideal but not the end of the world. That was my first outing at Naseby and it went OK. A timing miscalculation on my part saw me fail to head out for a final lap and miss a podium spot.. Perhaps brought about by the voice in my head screaming at me to stop for 6 of the 12 hrs! I have enjoyed team riding but I prefer slogging it out rather than going for the fastest possible laps - I'm just not that good a technical rider! Always good to no your limitations...

It was challenging to ride fully rigid. I am still getting used to the weight distribution on the bike. The rohloff adds weight to the back. A little air time here and there resulted in the occasional clunk as I got it all wrong! On the whole I improved with each run. The Ventana felt at home in the twists and turns however and by the time the weekend was over I had a sense of what I will need to do to get the most out of the both of us on the day. I am continuing to enjoy the positivity of the rohloff and the smooth consistency of the gates drive. The dusty conditions would have been murder on a standard setup! Not that it is that big a deal to attend to a chain - it's just easier not to have to.

31/32 minutes or so was the order of the day for me. I will aim for 20 laps of the 11k course. Accounting for fatigue, time under lights, other riders etc I would expect 35 minutes per lap to be the average. May do a little better or a little worse. Time will tell. A wet day and who knows!