Result:
2nd Overall
Racing
and traveling had been a bit hectic before the Wild Ride so Sean and I decided
that we again would not do a dry run of the 4 days and rather rely on our
previous GPS routes and following other teams when we weren't sure. This was
however a major mistake as just the week before the race we were informed that
GPS devices were being banned for the event which left us fairly clueless as to
where we were going. This lead to many hours of attempting to memorize Google
Earth images.
Day 1:
Low tide was very early in the morning this year which lead to some extremely
early starts and plenty of shivering. After dropping the bags off it was a
short cycle in the dark over to the ferry crossing over the Kei River for the
start.
This year had the same rule as last year which stated we had to go to
the top of Sunrise Surprise climb and then straight to the beach. The inland
route was no longer allowed. Sean and I decided to go out hard up the climb and
try separate the field a bit before we reached the first beach and then from
there decide who we were going to follow. However the one thing we didn't
expect was to arrive at the first beach with tracks ahead. To our surprise
Warren and Craig had gone backwards from the start and gone straight to the
beach which were really hard compared to years past. This was exactly what we
were hoping to avoid by being out front early. We tried to chase but as we got
off the first beach section they were out of sight and we were left guessing
where to go. That one sneak had changed our entire race.
We tried chasing on our own but with every mistake we would just lose more time. Eventually Nick
and Iain had caught us and to make our day that little bit worse a pin had
pulled loose on my rear shifter which left me with just the front 2 gears
available and with the insanely powerful Sean as a team mate this meant I had to do some
extreme cadence work on the fast beaches.
 |
| Swimming across a river and watching an opposing team wade across just meters away is the WORST feeling EVER!!! |
Sean pushed the pace hard on one of
the beaches and we broke clear of Nick and Iain. This left us to focus on
looking for tracks so as not to get lost and lose time. We managed to pull back
some time towards the end of the stage and finished around 3m30 down on the
stage winners. Definitely not what we had hoped for on Day 1. The awesome thing about
the Imana Wild Ride that sets it apart from other stage races is that instead
of spending every night in a tent you spend every evening in brilliant
accommodation over the looking the sea. You just can't ask for more.
Day 2: As
with previous years the top 10 teams are started in condensed elapsed time of
2min. We went out hard on day 2 trying to get within sight of the leaders. We
did a good job and only a few km's into the stage we had pulled back 45sec.
Sadly that was pretty much as good as stage 2 was going to get for us as the
leaders took a new route we were not familiar with and we ended up losing heaps
of time and Nick and Iain had caught up time on us. We kept riding on our own
trying to hold off the chasers. We held on well despite our numerous small
navigational errors. Day 2 brings with it the first of the "Mothers"
which is basically an extremely steep mountain which you have to walk up while
carrying your bike. This tends to bring on an extreme burn in your calves and
achilles which makes jumping back on the bike and riding pretty difficult. At
the top of the Mother Sean and I made a crucial error by going past the
entrance to "Rhino Valley" which is one of the few compulsory
sections. We quickly tried to back track and get onto the wheels of Nick and
Iain.
It actually worked out well as we were left chasing Nick and Iain who
were just in sight but pushing hard to stay ahead of us, this meant we would
both be making up time on the leaders which we needed. We caught Nick and Iain
just before the finish which meant we had lost 2mins to them and lost a further
1m30 to the leaders.
Day 3: we
were now starting Day 3 only 20sec ahead of Nick and Iain so after discussing
it and looking at how hard we worked for no gain on day 2 due to navigational errors
we decided to sit up and rather ride with Nick and Iain and see if we could
rather work with them to make up time. Nick took off like a man possessed and
we were taking large chunks out of their lead. We had caught up to just 45sec
behind Warren and Craig when Nick made a crucial decision to take a different
sneak and try jump around the leaders. Luck was not on our side however when we
got smashed by a wave trying to sneak round the front of a rocky outcrop. 3 of
us were left washed up against the rocks and Sean made sure we could hear his
laughing as he managed to walk around the rocks safely on a sand bank.
After
eventually getting back on track we took a time check and the leaders were back
out to 3mins. Nicks earlier efforts were starting to show now but we stayed
with them through to the finish. It was quite a sight riding past The Hole In
The Wall and it sucked not being able to spend some time enjoying the sights of
the day. Would love to go back next year and do a dry run to be able to fully appreciate
the beauty of the wild coast.
Another
brilliant aspect of the Imana Wild Ride is that the focus of the race is on
raising money to build classrooms for the underprivileged schools along the
race route. This year enough money was raised to build 4 classrooms which is an
amazing feat from a race of just 80 teams. The good that is being done for the
communities is evident everyday as you are welcomed with open arms by
everyone along each stage as you
literally ride past their front doors.
Day 4: We
were starting day four 7mins down on the leaders and tied for 2nd place with
Nick and Iain. We had nothing to lose so Sean and I went out extremely hard
from the start. I knew the first 8-10km pretty well so we were hoping to make
the catch before we got into areas I wasn't sure about. This worked extremely
well and by the first river crossing we had caught the leaders.
It was pretty
fun riding with the leaders as for once we weren't chasing and getting
frustrated with taking wrong turns. Sean and I even started having
competitions to see who could ride up various climbs such as the Camel Humps
and a few others. Once we reached Stimela climb we made our move to try and get
a gap. Sean was an absolute animal and it took everything I had to try hold his
wheel. We got to the last ferry crossing of the race still having loads of fun.
I was absolutely amazed at the talent of the TV crew chopper pilot as he flew
so close while we were on the boat that I reached out and touched the skid.
Insane skills.
Sean and I crossed the line breaking the stage record for day 4
by some 20mins. Unfortunately we only managed to pull back 4mins and still
ended up 2nd overall. Never the less it was still a brilliant experience.
Racing with Sean is always great. He is such a strong athlete and no matter
what we going through we always having a good time and enjoying the experience.
To me that's what the Imana Wild Ride has always been about.
