The Taupo Day nighter is a big well respected event that is fun for everyone offering 12hr 6hr and 3hr race options and it was pretty cool to see kids out there who didn't even look 10 yet, I have been coming to these events for years but usually to laugh at my parents for riding through the day and play in the mud or on the mint skate park there haha.
This year the event was run at the perfect time for me and I thought doing the 12hr solo would be a good idea as I would not get a another chance like this for a while being over seas and stuff. The course was good for a solo rider being mostly flat with a lot of easy passing and nothing too demanding on the body I didn't have to change out of the big ring the entire race, its a shame that all of the trees are gone at the moment though.
I had been quite sick leading into the race with a bad lung infection and still wasn't over it by race day so I had to keep the pace as relaxed as possible to make sure things didn't turn to custard again
It was a relaxing start just chilling out and setting a good pace that I would be able to keep for the whole race, I moved into the lead by the 3rd lap and stayed about 5min in front for the first 5hrs then by the 7 or 8hr mark I lapped 2nd and knew it was time to lower the pace, It had started raining a bit by this stage which sucked!.. But the night was young and the race went on when it got dark the riding got a bit more interesting without a bit of heat to dry the tracks most of the corners started to get a bit slippery which made things funner.. At the 10hr mark the rain had gotten pretty bad and there were no trees for shelter and all I could think about was how much wear the bike was getting from all this mud but the Yeti is tough and all the running gear on the bike ran smoothly throughout the race which could be a first for me haha, the night went fast and I came around to lap 2nd place again so I slowed right down and just chilled out until the end of the race to finnish in 1st place riding 37laps and 242km, it felt amazing to sit down and not move for a while after that. I achieved my main goal of not getting any chaffing which would have been a nightmare haha.
Big thanks to my girlfriend Aroha for doing a really good job at feeding me and making sure everything was alright. Couldn't have done it without your help.
If your interested in doing a solo 12hr race make sure to get a good feeder and have lots of pineapple lumps.. yum
This year the event was run at the perfect time for me and I thought doing the 12hr solo would be a good idea as I would not get a another chance like this for a while being over seas and stuff. The course was good for a solo rider being mostly flat with a lot of easy passing and nothing too demanding on the body I didn't have to change out of the big ring the entire race, its a shame that all of the trees are gone at the moment though.
I had been quite sick leading into the race with a bad lung infection and still wasn't over it by race day so I had to keep the pace as relaxed as possible to make sure things didn't turn to custard again
It was a relaxing start just chilling out and setting a good pace that I would be able to keep for the whole race, I moved into the lead by the 3rd lap and stayed about 5min in front for the first 5hrs then by the 7 or 8hr mark I lapped 2nd and knew it was time to lower the pace, It had started raining a bit by this stage which sucked!.. But the night was young and the race went on when it got dark the riding got a bit more interesting without a bit of heat to dry the tracks most of the corners started to get a bit slippery which made things funner.. At the 10hr mark the rain had gotten pretty bad and there were no trees for shelter and all I could think about was how much wear the bike was getting from all this mud but the Yeti is tough and all the running gear on the bike ran smoothly throughout the race which could be a first for me haha, the night went fast and I came around to lap 2nd place again so I slowed right down and just chilled out until the end of the race to finnish in 1st place riding 37laps and 242km, it felt amazing to sit down and not move for a while after that. I achieved my main goal of not getting any chaffing which would have been a nightmare haha.
Aroha is just as lost as i am haha
