18-1-07 TT 27.42. Splits 6.48, ?. Steady but not strong NWer. This was with a group of people on Simon Kennett’s weekly Thursday 6 pm Tip Track climb for all-comers. Meet at the bottom gate at 6pm. Going up with others certainly makes you push yourself a bit harder. Also, I left my backpack at the bottom. It’s probably only about the fourth time I’ve climbed the TT without a backpack. I wasn’t aiming for much, but I wanted to keep ahead of Paul Kennett if I could, and apart from that go under 30. Got stuck on the top gate (again!), which cost 10 seconds. Paul started about 10 seconds behind me and got up in 28.50 (he’d already ridden in Belmont before work), so I imagine we’re fairly even.

The big excitement was John Randal, who’d just spent $800 lightening his bike (now a feathery 29lbs). He got up in 22.37 – 8 seconds faster than his PB of 22.45 set a couple of weeks back. That’s $100 a second – money well spent!

The big mover was Simon Kennett – 22.01! His halfway split was 10.38, so he stopped to smell the flowers a bit on the second half. Some talk about Tim Wilding’s possible TT time in the Owhiro Bay car park to the Golfball climb. I think his time was 24.37? Simon reckons he could do the road bits in about 4 minutes, and Tim Wilding was probably quicker, so did he go up the TT in under 20 or not?

Have to do something about my front forks (Dukes). The stanchions are very worn and I can now wiggle one of them laterally. Was so worried they might snap that, just as I was about to set out for a big ride, I decided not to go. Went back down the TT carefully, but even so it still would’ve been painful if the forks snapped.

12-1-07 TT 29.17. Splits 6.50, 14.20. Stinking hot. I got home early from work and waited for the southerly change to come in before setting out. It did, but it was too mild and I went a bit soon to get any cooling advantage. I was tired after a week of commuting, so didn't hammer it, which just goes to show that the TT is running really fast at the moment. No recurrance of the lower-back pain that I had on the last ascent. Went up to the Golfball and felt weak so just went back down the TT. Timed myself from the top barrier to the 2nd-to-bottom barrier - 8.41. I'm a tentative downhiller. My best time down the TT is 8.20 - which I don't think is bad for a hardtail with skinny 2.1 tyres (what I had then), though I'm sure people go much faster. Now I've got 2.3s, which are great for going down, but big and heavy for climbing. The TT grading has made the descent harder, I think, because of the new water-bars and the number of crucial cambers that have been lost - especially on the top half. There are, however, a couple of good new cambers on the second half - especially on the quarter-way bend - which make the last quarter faster. Got home and my blood-sugar was 1.7 (it's supposed to be between 4 and 7 - below 4 and you're heading for a coma), which explains my lethargy at the top. Going down the TT with low b/s doesn't help.

7-1-07 TT 29.59. Splits 6.48, 14.26. Mild southerly but sunny – I find heat more debilitating than cold. I chased some guy up – he had about a minute start – but blew out and he pulled away. My head wasn’t focused and I was relying on my body, which wasn’t up to much. My lower-back hurt. In the end I eased off and was lucky to make the road under 30. Ran into James Graham at the top – he of an unforgettable midwinter ride round the Karapoti when we just about froze and I nearly hit a motorbike in the gorge (I was so cold I just shut my eyes and somehow he avoided me). We headed to the Sanctuary, the Windmill, down Car Parts and Planet, then I went up through Brooklyn and down Happy Valley Rd home.

3-1-07 TT 28.41. Splits 6.48, 14.08. Steady southerly. With Ben Wilde – this time he gave me a minute’s start, but blew up. (I usually push harder if my splits are OK, otherwise I ease off.) Down Red Rocks – all climbs cleaned first pop plus descent – round coast and home. Ben tells me that John Randal went up last Sunday (31^st, strong southerly) in 22.45, and then went down and did it again in 23 something-or-other! That’s impressive. We debate whether John might be able to break Simon Kennett’s record of 20 min flat set in 1997. No backpack could gain him a minute or more, and a light bike – like Simon’s Schwinn - could also gain him a minute – so maybe? However, the law of diminishing returns says that once you’re going as flat out, it takes a whole heap more effort to go even a teensy bit faster. He would still need to lose 2.45. Depends how blown out he was after 22.45. The second time of 23 soemthing would suggest hardly at all!

There is plenty of debate over Simon’s TT record. There’s little doubt that people have gone faster – Tim Wilding, who won the race earlier this year from the Owhiro Bay car park up the TT to the Golfball – I think his time was around 24 something? – must have been under 20 for the TT portion. Also, Trevor Woodward’s 18.52 up to the top barrier – was it from the bottom gate or the second barrier? - would probably have put him close to, if not under, 20 mins as well, but for our purposes the distance is bottom gate to sealed road. The track conditions are good and getting better at the moment, thanks to the smoothing of the initially terrible grading done in Nov last year. A few more water bars have been added, which slow you down, but otherwise the record is just waiting to fall.

30-12-06 TT 29.41. Splits 7.05, 14.26. Mild southerly. Spurred on by two guys coming up behind. First, about 2 mins behind, catches me just before Red Rocks junction; the second is miles behind. Up to Golfball, south over Te Kopahou (484 m), down into Long Gully, down to coast and home.

27-12-06 TT 31.28 (but only to top gate, so probably nearer 31.50 to seal). With Ben Wilde. Gave him 2 mins start but never caught him. Gale NWer – blown off twice in first quarter – that’s never happened before! North to Sanctuary, down Car Parts and Planet – sweet. Up road to Brooklyn and down Happy Valley Rd home.

24-12-06 TT 30.45. Strong NWer. Down Red Rocks. Five attempts to get hard climb. One dab on final descent.

21-12-06 18 km road ride into town and back. Still sore from Karapoti!

18-12-06 Karapoti with Ben Wilde, Simon Kennett, John ? One dab on warm-up climb. Bashed knee on handle-bars. Struggled on 1^st climb. Rock Garden, rode first 2 drop-offs. Made 3^rd climb easily (bashed knee recovering). Perfect weather. Conditions good, except the 1^st climb was loose and slippery.

I'm not actually racing the Karapoti. I last raced it in 2005. I don't really like being nose-to-tail with hundreds of other people in cattle class for half the ride because riding the climbs is my (small) strength, and all the people pushing up the warm-up and 1st climb make them impossible to ride. People say go in Pro/Elite, but I'm not really an elite rider. My time in 2005 was 3 hours 42 mins. I reckon I could go under 3 hours 30 mins if the way was clear to ride the warm-up and 1st climbs, but I don't think I'd ever get near 3 hours - which is where the elite riders are supposed to be.

My favourite Karapoti ride was when I went round by myself on Jonty's fully ridgid bike. It was torrential rain (but warm) until the top of the first climb, then, amazingly, the sun came out. I didn't take a coat - there was no point the rain was so heavy. There was a group of young-guns being taken round by an older guy, and we kept leap-frogging each other - I waited for them at the foot of the 3rd climb to check I was going the right way. My time was 4 hours 15 minutes, and it was a thoroughly good ride.

14-12-06 TT 33.57. Steady NWer. Heavy new tyres. Up to Golfball. Down Red Rocks. Climbs cleaned. Final descent cleaned, but slip off on loose corner just before last climb (going too fast). Round coast over Hell’s Gate, up into Long Gully, up and over (407 m) into Sth Karori Rd. Stop and eat opposite where Leaping Lizard comes out. Up Sth Karori Rd, up Skyline to Wrights Hill, round Sanctuary fenceline, up road to Hawkins Hill. Down Tip Track and home. 1500 m climbing. 4 hrs 15 mins.

13-12-06 Makara Peak. Up Koru, Sally Alley, ML, Aratihi (40 min). Down Ridgeline, Swigg/Starfish. Fun ride.

9-12-06 Bike to Revolution Cycles, Northland. Test ride Jamis Dragon Pro 06 round Sanctuary fenceline. Bad ride. Bike’s geometry not set up for me so have trouble climbing out of entrance to Sanctuary. Good descending Scout Hall track. But blood-sugar drops away and have trouble on Bird St switchbacks – which I can’t do anyway. Back home through Brooklyn and Mornington. Sigh.

6-12-06 TT 28.39. Splits 6.50, 14.05. Perfect weather – sunny, mild southerly. Down Red Rocks. Two goes on steep climb. Small dab on final descent. Great ride.

3-12-06 Makara Peak Rally. Punctured 5 mins from end of Sport class. Took 20 mins to change tyre – not a strength. Cost me 1^st or 2^nd.