As the inaugural NZ The Pioneer stage race draws to a close our reporter Matt Page is relishing a rest. With another 2000m of climbing and some injuries to contend with the final stage was never going to be easy! Matt raced on behalf of our sister magazine, Mountain Biking UK – you can check out the full story of this epic race and see some more beautiful photos in issue 328 (out 5 April 2016).
Stage 7: A walk in the park?
The final stage profile made the day look like a walk in the park: a mere 62km with it looking like a 20km downhill, then 40km on flatter terrain. Looking at the details though there appeared to be 2000m of climbing. Surely a mistake?
As had become the norm for the last few days the start was fast with Teams Kona A and B rocketing off the start, keen to push ahead and use the downhill to their advantage. I pushed hard and clung on for the first few km, but a mixture of taking a few too many risks on the fast, loose downhill and a long term leg injury that flared up meant I had to knock it back a touch and watch the top three teams disappear ahead.
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The track turned into a rough, barely visible singletrack with big holes hiding in the long grass just waiting to swallow a wheel. It was after Bevan Spratt of Team Flint Cycling passed me and then almost immediately lost his front wheel and went over the bars that I decided to really ease up – the chance of a broken collar bone along here was rather high.
We ending up riding with the top mixed riders, who were going well but in a steady manner as the track continued to get even more vague, with several sections where we either lost the track or had to stop and check ahead through the tussocky terrain. The trail undulated quite a bit, heading downhill to the first and only feed station of the day at 23km.
No let-up
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