may as well publicize it...

Nothing like a good ass-kicking to get the season started. haha wow. So I entered the NZ series cup race in Nelson last Sunday. The course was great: 5 laps with just over 5k per lap, almost all singletrack, no real techy sections and about a million switchbacks.

It started off with a long climb up a dirt road to spread the racers out and let me tell ya, the start was FAST. The whistle blew, and I was immediately at the back of the pack desperately trying to hang on to anybody in front me. Once we got into the singletrack at the top, a few girls went down and I was able to slip past them without getting dangled up in the crash. The next 2 laps were uneventful, I didn't really pass or get passed. I was really just trying to make my way up to a racer who I would catch glimpses of every now and again.

80, good number

And then on the 3rd lap: BIGGEST CRASH OF MY LIFE.

It happened so fast, but I remember it in slow motion. I hit a bump in the trail and instead of absorbing it I got some air, landed on the edge of the track which was super soft and flew off the front of my bike into a thorny bush. I sat there, winded but intact, with my bike tangled somewhere below me. It happened to be a high density spectator area, so several people came down to help me.

They were all asking, "Are you ok?!"
All I remember saying is, "I think I'm in a rosebush."
Them, "They're blackberries."
"I see."

A woman asked me to hang on to her dog while her and another man helped untangle my bike from the thicket. Illegal yes, but they were so eager to help, I was so full of little thorns, and I love dogs... I didn't decline their help. At this point I had been passed by everyone and knew that I would be pulled before the end of the race anyway..hmm does that make it ok to accept help from others? Now I'm not so sure...

Everybody kept asking me if I was going to keep racing. My prickly hands told me absolutely not, but the fact the announcers called out, "ERICA BOTA FROM CANADA!" every time I started a new lap, and the fact that it was just a crash and it happens all the time, meant that I had no choice but to continue.

In the end after continuing on to complete a 4th lap, I was pulled off the course. Embarrassing. They directed me to a little path of shame off to the right of the course. I felt bad for myself for a few minutes, found Caitlin who had been my faithful feeder each lap and who was still watching the course eagerly, waiting for my arrival, and her and I had a good laugh at what had just happened.

I'm not too disappointed. I have a lot of training and racing ahead of me and will look back at this event and laugh, as I already do. Oh good times...

sad, crash site

"we're just tired"

One of my besties from back home is in NZ right now as well. Caitlin is working as a sea kayak guide in a town called Motueka, a 2 hr bike ride from Nelson. We're living close enough that we can go on mountain bike and apple stealing adventures on her days off, and far enough to be independently figuring things out in a new land. 

Recently, we went explorin' through the Kaiteriteri hills, a region just outside of Motueka. We faced some seriously extensive climbs, as well as some "high-risk" descents (but we showed em who's boss, mostly).

For most of the ride, we had a ton of energy. Towards the end of the ride however, we were both feeling tuckered, and agreed that hitchhiking the remaining 10km (downhill) back home was the most sensible option. (why....why?!)

About 5 minutes later, a truck with ample storage space stops to pick us up! I run towards it and start hoisting my bike into the back, then notice he's trying to get my attention through the rear window.

I walk up to the passenger window and he says, seeming worried, "What's happened?! Is everything ok here??"
"Oh yeah, we're just tired." I respond. Wrong answer.
"Oh, you'll be alright." He drives away.
I turn to Caitlin, "We need a better excuse."
"I've got a sprained ankle!" She peels off her sock and starts towards the road with a limp.

Owe, that looks sore. Who cares if she's facing the wrong direction,  PICK HER UP

A few cars pass and we start to feel lazy and embarrassed. Caitlin puts her shoe back on and we bike the remaining distance. We spent the rest of the ride uncontrollably laughing.  How we would have composed ourselves if somebody had actually picked us up and confirmed that Caitlin's ankle was indeed sprained and looked pretty swollen? We hadn't prepared enough to answer any questions about the injury and would have burst into laugher if anyone had been concerned for her.

Remember the eels? They exist.

Shrubbery

This morning on my ride I saw a baby hedgehog chilling by the side of the highway, munch, munch,  munchin’ away at some roadside shrubbery. As I rode passed him, he indicated to me that he wanted to cross the busy road. At first I disregarded him, and continued on down the road. But I could not ignore my conscience and I quickly biked back to the shrubbery where he still sat, munch, munch, munchin’ away. I swear though, he did want to make the cross. If you have never seen or touched a hedgehog before, they look a lot like a porcupine, and feel as prickly as they look. I scooped him up (and a bit of his shrubbery), yelled, “OWE BABY HEDGEHOG!” (he really was prickly),  and ran him across the road and farther into a big farmers field. SAFE. I continued on, guilt free J.

Later on down the road, I stopped to observe some llamas with twitchy ears.  Llamas are weird, so I pressed on.

The trails behind where I live

A tree for sale! I want it...

I had taped my camera to my handlebars in the hopes of capturing some sweet trail riding, but my camera ran out of battery. I'll try that again some other time.