Mud Race GNCC

The last round of the NZ GNCC series at Maddix Park was another mudder again this year. I quite like a good mud race so was quite happy about it haha. I wasn’t too stoked about the random decision to start intermediates on the last row for a mud race though - especially when intermediates have never been on the last row before. It caused quite a few holdups during the first lap with traffic jams from riders in the rows in front. Luckily I got another good start and managed to pick my way through it all and stay steady for the race with only a few hiccups. Wrestling the bike around slippery track for 2 hours sure does test the fitness!

I was pretty stoked to finally get a win in the intermediate 2-stroke class which had me finishing up the series second in class which I was stoked with since I crashed out of the first round. It was also my best overall result getting 25th overall amongst the experts and other classes too.

Good fun on the bike.

https://youtu.be/eY1fxtpUBW0?si=rZkZwFG_lKciaEDZ

My cousin Luke (seen in the photo above) is a very good top 10 cross country racer here in New Zealand. I talked him into wearing a camera for the race last weekend too. Here is the footage:

https://youtu.be/kpwvSojiZPI?si=Q-OW2KhqaY1SD3CF

Quote:

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Originally Posted by elenagilbert

What strategies did you use to maintain your steady pace and avoid traffic jams during the first lap in the mud race?
Retro Bowl

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Getting a good start helped a lot with the traffic jams as it put me first in line to have a go getting around them or waiting for the track to clear up. After that I definitely learnt a bit from the same race last year about where I can be faster and where I need to just stay calm and not get too fustrated by wrestling the bike and slowing down when needed to pick good lines. Big lesson from last year was that it uses less energy to keep momentum and keep the throttle on rather then slowing down to be cautious and consequently slipping and sliding everywhere. I was better at that this year but as always I would love to do it again to make more improvements.

I enjoy watching the footage back because it always helps me identify areas that I could have done better or where I should have pushed a bit harder etc. Always learning, good fun.