Dick Brunton a popular 3rd place in Longest day
Posted on February 10, 2008
Complete Performance athlete Dick Brunton had a very good day yesterday in the Longest day Coast to coast. As part of Dick’s preparation we talked extensively about tactics for the first bike ride of what to do if there was a break away and of what size. It so happened that 6 six riders ran away from the start line to form a breakaway group that put 7 minutes on the chasing pack. Dick’s plan was to conserve on at this stage and run strongly over the pass which he did knocking it out in 3.09, in doing so having one of the fastest run times of the event. Dick has traditionally been a very strong paddler and showed this again moving into third place and holding it to the line. Crossing the line brought one of the biggest cheers of the day as the Christchurch public welcomed in their top competitor for 2008. Dick has been sponsored by DARE and will be using footage, photos and stories taken from his race to assist teaching school children about setting goals and making the right choices.
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The elusive “Complete Performance”
Posted on February 10, 2008
The Coast to coast rolled into Sumner and as usual there where many war stories to share of great performances, disappointments and broken equipment. The thing that keeps drawing people back to this race year after year is the search for that elusive perfect race or “Complete Performance” and the true test of an athlete is how they cope when things don’t go to plan. Our athletes showed that they were well prepared to cope with any situation that arose. It started early for Lisa Morrison puncturing 3 times on the first cycle however others such as Leighton Greer and Grant Page had to wait for the river before the roll of the dice didn’t go their way, both holing their boats in the low flow and Leighton snapping his rudder for good measure. Hillary Cave had an extremely good couple of days finishing 7th in her section after a very good run and a solid paddle, not bad for her debut and Andreas was going so fast that at every transition that I tried to catch up with him he had just left… All athletes finished strongly on the final cycle no matter what what happened earlier in the race all making it to Sumner in one piece. So well done team and enjoy well earned rest.
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Not long now until 2008 Coast to coast
Posted on February 6, 2008
Excitement builds as the 2008 edition of the Coast to coast is set to get under way with the 2 day this Friday and the Longest day starting on Saturday. Our athletes have done the hard yards completing long days in the hills as well as shorter lead up races, all things that have given them confidence for the big day. Now it is time to get the mountain of gear organised and rest up for the event with the knowledge that they have prepared the best that they possibly can.
We have 7 athletes taking part this year all with different expectations of results but first and foremost all are looking exucute their race plan to get across the finish line in the best possible shape and the results will take care of themselves. They are Dick Brunton, Jono Cliene competing in the Longest day and Leighton Greer, Hillary Cave, Grant Page, Lisa Morrison and Andreas Kacofegitiss tackling the 2 day individual. Go hard guys and have fun!!
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Solid final day for Ed
Posted on February 6, 2008
Ed completed the final day of the tour of Wellington strongly. Time trialling is not Ed’s strength therefore he did not organise himself with the necessary TT bike and aero helmet etc subsequently he finished mid pack as the best of the rest. The criterium was a different story however, Ed’s usual tactic of sitting on the back of the peloton and jumping past all those that get dropped worked as he didn’t have to any more work than he needed to. He ended up jumping past 3/4 of the field as the pace was on at the front. However 7 riders had gone off the front and lapped the field meaning that there was little to gain from a dash to the line therefore Ed was happy to finish in the main bunch in final stage.
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Ed’s having a crack
Posted on February 2, 2008
So far during the Tour of Wellington Ed has not got the result he has been after but has certainly given it a good crack so far. He finished in the peloton on the first stage which was a criterium around the streets of Lower Hutt. During the second stage Ed repeatedly attacked the peloton before the 8km climb which was 30km from the finish. Unfortunately this didn’t work and he ended up in the third group across the line. The third stage was the hardest of the tour, 185km with 11 hill climbs, Ed’s plan was to attack early which he did at the 10km mark. His breakaway group worked well together before being caught at the 100km. In the heat Ed rode hard but got dropped with 40km to the finish and lost a lot of time on the stage winner and current tour leader Travis Meyer from Australia. This effort did however put Ed on the KOM leader board. With two days of racing and 3 stages to go Ed has recovered well and is feeling good despite the big efforts that he has put in so far.
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