lisa morgan

In an effort to participate in some form of regular riding, now that I know my body won't break down on me after nearly a year of recovery, my plan for the winter is to do the Bike Hutt CX series.  It would be a bit rude not to as half of the races are 2 blocks from my back door, and the rest not much further.  Don't be fooled - I'm not training or following any form of structure!  I just think it's a fantastic and fun way to be on a bike, particularly through a time of year when there is not much else going on.  It's been around for years in Europe and North America, but the first race locally was just 2 years ago, thanks to the crazy Texan who is healthily obsessed by the discipline. 

So my plan is to head along for the 30 minute race and cheer on the 45 minute race that follows (since it looks like there won't be a separate womens race due to low numbers - but that could change!!!).

CX is typically raced in brutal conditions - wind, rain, snow, hail, freezing cold...  Upper Hutt turned on it's usual sun and blue sky this morning but in the spirit of Cyclocross dumped a significant amount of rain on the park over the last couple of days.  With a running race held in the park yesterday we were at least treated to a good amount of mud.

With slick use of the soccer fields, Bartons Bush, a bunch of barriers, a set of stairs and the river bank the course was perfect.

I'd hoped there would be enough women to warrant a womens race but with all of 4 or 5 across both races it wasn't worth it, which meant I arrived almost in time for the first race and joined it a few minutes after the start (woops!).  There was a good number in the race and a great mix of riders - young and old, all types of bikes, just not enough women unfortunately.

As planned and with favourable weather I stuck around for the long race and snapped a few pics while cheering the riders on.

Many thanks to Mike and all the crew for making it happen and growing this awesome sport.

That's Mike, the instigator, leaping the barrier coming back the other way like a gazelle (I do not do such a good imitation of a gazelle myself over the taller barriers as the leg length to barrier ratio does not suit).