Cycling Report

Double the fun in the king country was the order of the weekend for the rock n road cycling club.

Saturday the Taumarunui Multisport Club hosted the Dave logue Classic cycle race. The ride started in Taumarunui and went toward 8 mile junction then turned off the Ohura, this was leg one and was longer but easier than the return leg which took the riders from Ohura via the forgotten Highway back to Town, a shorter but harder ride.

There was a good turnout and wide cross section of cyclist from elite through to casual and the race started with a police escort through Tuamarunui with a neutralized race until out safely on the Highway. The ride soon broke into groups and the ride was , for me at least, fantastic and my first experience of a true race.

Once off the main road it was truly cycling bliss with great company, a good surface and interesting new scenery around every bend. My leg ended at Ohura so I only saw the pain on the faces of the riders as they climbed Tunnel hill. There were some great efforts put in and it was great to the equality of the sexes displayed explicitly with the just minutes between the overall winner Rachel Cashin female cyclist Vet (over 40) female rider Linda Tarrant. Local (Turangi) hero, Roger Bates, put in a blistering ride to secure his teams win in the vet mens division.

The rock n road entrants all picked up a division win with Wim and Roger getting first in Vet Men and myself winning the vet men first stage (by 42 mintues). We are pictured here with the overall winner (and local vet). Graeme Barret gave support in Rogers van and it was a great 10 hours of fun with the prize giving at the historic Taumaranui Club,

The organisers showed that a few people can run a great day and we look forward to joining them again and perhaps doing a joint event.

Sunday saw a group of 6 travel from Turangi to the Pureora Forest near Waimiha in the Heart of the King Country to ride a new section of the national cycle way and at the time of writing I hadn’t had feedback but I cant see anything but a fun day being had, that is the cyclist attitude, locally at least, if you are putting lots of effort into something then one makes sure one enjoys oneself. That pretty much encapsulates the philosophy of the sport I am lucky enough to have found.

The Weekend was fun and safe with no injuries , except maybe some sore legs, reported.

Safe Cycling
Wally