The Horizon Energy Motu Challenge is
regarded as the North
Island
The race has four stages: a 65km Mountain Bike; a 17km Run; a 52km Road Cycle;
and a final multisport stage involving a 27km Kayak, 8km Road Cycle, and a 3km
Run. For this years event I teamed up with ‘Crazy’ Craig Jones again as Team
Lysaght Consultants Racing. ‘Crazy’ would be doing the MTB and Multisport
stage, and I would be doing the Run and Road Cycle. 
We arrived at the legendary Ranui Motel in
Opotiki on the Friday night, before Saturday’s race. After settling in to our
cosy room, we headed off to the race briefing which was in the local theatre
just down the road. The race briefing was in typical multisport fashion –
relaxed and casual. After the briefing I had some of Mums amazing smoked salmon
frittata for dinner and got into bed for an early night. At about 2am we were
woken by a massive storm that had come over… ‘Arghhh I had to road ride in this
tomorrow!?’ I soon realised there was nothing I could do about this at 2am and
I managed to get back to sleep.
Luckily, the storm came and went pretty
fast, and when I woke at 5am it was much more settled. We headed down town to
the start of the race; the Mountain Bike stage. After seeing ‘Crazy’ off, Mum
and I headed through the gorge to the MTB/Run/Road Cycle transition. The drive
took a couple of hours and by the time we arrived the wind had picked up
massively! We weren’t going to escape the notorious Motu winds after all.
After setting up my road bike in transition
I had a bit of time to wait and watch as the mountain bikers began coming in, as
well as getting ready to run. While waiting in my running gear for ‘Crazy’ to
come in and hand over the transponder, a lady came up to me in a bit of a panic
and asked if I was riding the ‘black and yellow Scott bike’. “Yes?” I replied hesitantly.
She went on to inform me that my front tyre had just blown… Rats! Luckily I had
plenty of help around me, and my wheel was taken away to get a new tube while I
completed the run leg (A big thanks to Craig and Jim). Poor ‘Crazy’ had been
suffering with the flu for the entire week before the race; he had a bit of a
tough time on the Mountain Bike leg. When he came in I could see he his lungs
were giving him trouble, and we had a bit of time to make up. So off I went...
17km of bush running. I was in my element!
Actually, I got a bit too excited and ended up reaching the 4km mark in just
under 15mins. I quickly reminded myself I still had a long way to go (including
a 52km road bike) so I pulled my pace back a wee bit. The run was just awesome.
I managed to pull back 11 places over the 17km, finishing in 1 hr and 16mins. Time
went by reasonably quickly on the run, and once I got back to transition I realised
I had forgotten to eat anything! Oops. I shoved a chomp or two in my gob as Uncle
Bruce, ‘Crazy’ and Mum all helped me put on my bike shoes, helmet, glasses and
gloves. During transition ‘Crazy’ told me that Heather Logie (Crazy’s friend –
and soon to be my friend) was only a couple of minutes ahead. Heather was part
of the Cycle Obsession Team – who are good friends of ours (and who also
sponsor me) so we had a bit of friendly rivalry going. It was all on! :)
I had about 4 cars of supporters
(consisting of the family and the Lysaghts Consultants employees) tracking me
during the ride. They were stopping every so often to cheer as I rode by. Every
time I went past I couldn’t help but give them a big smile. Good work team –
you guys were awesome! I caught up to Heather not long before the notorious Trafford’s
Hill. She was struggling a bit with cramp after the run and was riding with two
other guys in a bunch. The guys ended up dropping off, leaving Heather and I to
tough it out together. I managed to create a slight gap on the way up Trafford’s
Hill (with my strength being climbing). However, she soon came whizzing past me
on the downhill. I managed to jump on the back of her as she flew past, and I
wasn’t letting go…
When we got to the bottom of the steep part
of the hill, I began to try and pick up the power through the legs again; only
to find they were now hurting. Not eating earlier had come back to bite me in
the butt – quite literally. My hamstring and gluts had well and truly cramped
up. I told heather that my legs were in a bad state and that I didn’t think I
would be able to lead. She admitted that she wasn’t feeling 100% either, so our
trudge back to transition together began. There was plenty of chat on the long
windy road to transition. Heather was fantastic company, and thanks to her I
made it back to transition without losing too much time. We got off our bikes
and gave each other a big hug. She really pulled me through the last part of
the ride, as I was really quite sore by the end. I admire her for her awesome
personality and gutsy attitude. I was also pretty stoked to be able to finally
meet Heather as I had previously heard a lot about her. She is the ex-World
Single Speed MTB Champion and her mountain biking skills are unbelievable. If
only some could rub off onto me! :)
After completing the 52km road ride section
in 1hour 44 minutes, it was Crazy’s turn to try and smash the paddle. As usual,
he did just that. Despite Crazy’s hydration system on the kayak not working the
entire kayak, he was able to bring us home strong. He crossed the line at 8 hours
and 14 minutes; making us the first Mixed Team home. Awesome! To top things
off, I was able to have a good chat with Richard Ussher after the race; he gave
me some great tips for Xterra (AHHH star struck!!). Not only did Richard and
Elina both race amazingly, but I was also blown away by how nice and down-to-earth
they both were. There really are some awesome people in this sport! :)
‘Crazy’ and I were a little disappointed to
not break the 8 hour mark as that was our aim (as well as placing first in the
mixed teams); but given that the race wasn’t perfect and that ‘Crazy’ had been
ill the entire week leading up to the race, I think we did pretty well! I was
also stoked that I was able to achieve the fastest female time for the 17km Run
(beating second fastest, Elina Ussher, by 8 minutes).
All in all, it was a very successful and
enjoyable day for Team Lysaght Consultants Racing. We had a lot of fun and I
was stoked with all the support we had at the race. Congratulations to the
other Lysaght Consultants teams (Team Alcohooligans, and Team Fire Breathing
Ducklings). It was great to see everyone out there enjoying the day! And a big congrats
to Dad and his team mate Jim, who rode as a team in the Motu 160 for Seeka
Kiwifruit Industries. Woohoo! Go Dad! For me personally, I think I can learn a lot
from this race; particularly when it comes to eating and drinking! I really
felt the effects of not eating or drinking well in this race. It has made me
realise how important it is going to be for me to monitor nutrition and
hydration more carefully when racing Xterra. Not only will I be out racing for
over three hours, it is going to be in some pretty intense heat!
Well people, that’s it for the races here
in NZ in the lead up to Xterra; wow time has flown by! Again I want to give a
massive thanks to those who have made this Xterra campaign possible, including
friends, family, and of course my sponsors: Lysaght Consultants Ltd, Ocean Blue
Papamoa, Smith’s Sport Shoes Tauranga, and Cycle Obsession Mt Maunganui. I am
very excited (and nervous) to give it all I have got. The next few weeks are
going to be a massive learning experience for me (being so new to the sport and
having never raced overseas before). But I plan on taking in as much as I can
and doing my best. I cannot wait to get the chance to race against the World’s
best! Yeeeoooow!!!
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