The Imbuko race starts near Wellington and covers 5 passes in one race. I entered and arrived thinking that I would enjoy the best MTB trails in the Wellington area on a chilled day out. Not to be! 5 passes with 3179m of climbing in 79 km taking 7 hours! there must have been at least 400 switchbacks either climbing technically or fast technical decent. A beautiful part of the world but a hectic day out.
- Thoughts of the day
- After about 20km I was trying to pass a slower rider on a technical stretch but he just didn’t get out of the way properly. In getting off and manoeuvring past, my pedal hit the back of my leg around my knee. Not sure if this has happened to you but the pain is excruciating. But adrenalin kicks in and you ride through this for another 50km. I am always amazed at the strength of the mind and body.
- The one climb actually numbered the switchbacks and they started at 32. Enough to put anyone off. But amazingly, by tap-tap (my favourite expression to just keep a steady rhythm going), suddenly I found myself counting 5..4..3..2..1
- I had a similar experience after my back injury. Locked in my new brace, which I had to keep on for 3 months, I took out a calendar and started ticking off the days. They went slowly in the beginning but soon gained momentum that I didn’t even mark the days – a lot of it mentally dealing with it day by day and having a plan. Again amazing the strength of the mind.
- I remember looking at my climbing and it was over 3000m, the advertised amount of climbing. My thoughts were for a lovely decent to the finish now. Not to be! Not only more climbing but going back over part of the fist art of the route to get home. Like Epic, they love scrambling your mind!
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