Le Race Report
filed by Ian Paintin
1 April 2008
Four WLG tarbabies and one from CHC in OTB livery rode
Christchurch'
Le Race on Saturday 28th.
I'd picked up my new
wheels [Tune hubs, Niobium 30 deep dish rims,
Sapim blade spokes] and after
seeing the predicted weather settled on
Vittoria Evo Pave tires. These have
quite a dimpled centre tread and
plenty of side grip. A little slower than
say the Vittoria Evo CX but
a good damp condition tire. Decided on slightly
lower pressures to
improve grip on the coarse chip tarmac. Wheel set was
brilliant and
an improvement over my Ksyriums.
Benign conditions
after overnight rain resulted in fast times on the
day. Cloudy conditions
and a light tail wind over the flats from the
bottom of Geddes Pass to
Little River helped. Apparently, there can
be a nasty head wind down from
Little River and if the norwesters
pick up the last section around the ridge
line is taxing.
This event leaves from Cathedral Square in Christchurch,
rushes down
Columbo St and climbs up the Port Hills past the sign of the
Takahe
to the Sign of the Kiwi. I found out to my dismay that being at the
front is essential if you want to stay with the first bunch; it took
45
seconds to even get across the start pad and the front of the
bunch were
long gone.
Just after the sign of the kiwi is where you meet the first
cattle
stop and it is quite benign compared to what is ahead.
A
distinctly rural flavour is introduced by eight railway iron cattle
stops
over the course. A few are actually on sweeping corners
requiring you to
bleed lots of speed and approach them at right
angles. Being slightly damp
after the overnight rain, caution was the
order of the day. The Geddes Pass
section is supposedly closed to
other traffic but we managed to meet an
oncoming 4WD on a corner that
focused everyone's attention.
Poor
sight lines on many corners meant riders unfamiliar with the
course drop out
the back end of bunch descents. I got to the bottom
of Geddes Pass to find
the bunch I'd been at the front of was spread
out over quite a distance.
There is quite an extensive section of
flat travel as you head around to
Birdlings Flat and start gently
rising towards Little River. The riders I
picked up while chasing
settled into an excellent pace line of 7 workers and
we caught the
bunch and then proceeded to haul in what was the main
component of
the second bunch. Then by shear weight of numbers the pace
dropped
from the 45-47 km/hr we'd been working at to under 40.
Only
4-5 of us were working the front and there was a big tail happy
to draft.
This situation was rectified by three of us going off the
front and hitting
the climb to Hilltop hard. This drew out the hill
climbers who had been
lurking in the bunch so it was game on.
The road up to Hilltop is
excellent; think Makara loop, southern end
but make it 6 km long and twice
as high. Nice smooth tarmac. Very
good crowds up the hill cheering riders
on, with one of the local car
companies handing out water bottles. Factor in
some fetching mountain
wenches and a pleasant time was had.
Once at
Hilltop, there are three further hills to climb that get you
up to around
650 m. Apparently some riders use too much welly going
up Hilltop, reaching
350-400m elevation then struggle the remaining
35 km of undulating rollers
that max out at 650 m. The rollers are a
lot of fun if you can maintain
momentum through the dips and big ring
the climbs out as long as
possible.
The last descent is effectively a 600 m drop to sea level. The
smell
of brake pads is quite noticeable by the bottom and a few of the
carbon rims clearly had chosen the wrong pads for such sustained
braking.
I chickened out at a maximum speed of just under 80 km/hr
but was
passed by locals with either a death wish or a better understanding
of the corners than I had.
Even given the excellent conditions there
were some serious crashes
involving helicopter removals. The lack of road
side fences and steep
drop offs means failing to take a corner would give
you plenty of
time to study your impact point.
The 100 km event
offers around 1650 m ascent and is all over in
around 3 hours. The Akaroa
domain is an excellent venue for the prize
giving. Don't factor in a decent
race pack as it consists of
advertising brochures and, uniquely, a small
pack of fresh mushrooms;
apparently neither magic or BZP laden. One of the
sponsors was giving
away a hot mushroom sandwich and there was a small
french bread roll
and juice available free to riders at the
domain.
At $90 entry fee you'd struggle to see it as a good value fun
ride.
The prize pool is quite minimal but if you want a good ride that
offers plenty of hill climbing against some pretty handy local riders
then it is worth considering. Driving the course beforehand would be
recommended if you are intending to be serious on the day.
Plenty of
riders seemed to have booked accommodation around Akaroa
and taken their
families in tow.
ciao
Ian