To enter simply send an email to info@completeperformance.co.nz to go in the draw.  Draw to be made on Monday the 15th of March.

Debbie - where's your wig??

Here is a picture of me and my awesome support crew (Susan, Trudy and Megan). They made it such a fun weekend, always laughing and joking and of course looking after me really well. Now the soreness and tiredness have faded, I can look back and say it was a great experience, not just the race weekend itself but all the months of preparation beforehand. I found it very motivating to have the Coast to Coast as my training goal, and I had some awesome adventures and met lovely people along the way. Somehow I think me and the Coast to Coast aren’t finished yet ….. …..

 ”A real complete performance! Amelia Lily Jennifer Knight was born at 4.01am this morning, 6lb 9oz.”

I thought I would tell you a story.

Xmas 2008 my wife gave me a present, in my bid to become a better athlete she thought that 10 sessions with a personal trainer was the perfect gift. That trainer was none other than Jen Rice. So, with slight trepidation I met with Jen, arranged my first session, a ride with Jen to see how I go and to assess me more closely. The appointed morning arrived, approximately 1 year ago, I met Jen on her bike and off we went, we chatted as we cycled out towards Halswell Downs and Jen discovered that I had never ridden more than a couple of hours but thought that I was good for the ride. As we hit the Downs Jen suggested some high intensity intervals (whilst looking at my heart rate monitor to ensure I was truly working hard), several intervals later I knew I was in real trouble, sweating like a pig, puffing like a train, legs hurting, you get the idea, meanwhile Jen is just smiling and looking as relaxed as ever, right next to me, the indignity of it, she wasn’t even puffing, what the hell??!!!

Anyway, 53km later we finally make it back to my house and Jen says, now go run around the block (about 2.5km), I’m thinking you’re joking right, I can’t even stand!!! So I get my runners on and off I go, Jen cycles off home, shouting ‘have a good weekend’ (I’m thinking that it might be my last, were these sessions a good idea? Was my wife actually trying to kill me…?). First few mins, no problem, half a km down feeling a bit sore, I reach the University car park and cramp sets in, just a bit, in the calves. I slow down, cramp appears now in my quads, so I stop, cramp appears now in my hamstrings….. 30 seconds later I am lying in the car park, cramp covering my body from my toes to my eyelids, OH MY GOD, what has happened to me, how am I going to get home??? I get up (after about 10mins) walk about 10m then, WHAM cramp everywhere, so I lie down again. This goes on for about half an hour, up-CRAMP-down, up-CRAMP-down, people in the car park must have thought I was dying. I finally make it home, limping, sweating, cramping, almost crying, my wife is laughing her head off, funniest thing she has seen for ages……

Fast forward 1 year, Jen suggests we go for a ride, ‘Sure’ I say, ‘let’s do the Halswell Downs ride”. Now for those that don’t know, Jen had a baby about 3 months ago….. We meet at Zeros Sunday morning and within 5 minutes Jen is puffing, half an hour later Jen has a red face and looks like she is working REALLY hard. Casually I ask “Hey Jen, what’s your heart rate?’ About 165 or so puffs Jen, “Oh”, I say “mine’s about 125!” Finally, revenge…..!!! I don’t care how I got it, I don’t care that Jen hasn’t ridden her bike for a year, all I can remember is that car park and now, I have her at my mercy…….revenge is so sweet.

So, Richard, I have to thank you and the CP team. I know I put all those training hours in to do well in my events, but yesterday’s revenge, seeing Jen puffing away, well, it made all those hours of pain worthwhile, way better than any performance at an event!

In reality though, well done to Jen, it isn’t easy to get back on a bike after a year off to have a baby and only having it 3 months ago, Jen really is a trooper. Plus I know that this was the only time I’ll ever get the better of Jen, next time I suspect it will be back to normal…..

Ta
Neil

A follow up comment from Jen…

“He was supposed to keep that a secret! I am in full on training now…as soon as I’ve recovered from the ride ” 

Jen

Robyn - at the start

That’s right folks – I made it to the finish line of the 76km Girls on Bikes road race without a scratch – and was still able to walk, talk and smile afterward!
 
Conditions today could not have been any better out at Methven. Sun, no wind, loads of spectators and a finely tuned team of marshalls and volunteers who ran a spectacular event.
 
The local farmers probably didn’t know what to do when they saw over 800 women in lycra lining their streets! The rural road users were so awesome and friendly to us cyclists – very patient and no one gave us any grief. Gotta love the country hospitality.
 
There ended up being 398 riders finish the recreational class of the 76km road race and 31 graded riders (of which only 30 finished unfortunately due to a nasty crash).
 
I came home in a respectable 77th place in my age group and 197th overall (so just scrapped in as being in the fastest half of the riders!!) in 2hrs 34mins…..the aver time was 2hrs 36mins apparently. I am absolutely stoked with that effort and can’t wait to tackle the event next year with a year of training and weight loss under my belt – watch out Annaleise Farrell…..I’ll be gunning to beat her time of 2hr 3min!
 
I was not only riding this event for myself but also to raise awareness of the Postnatal Depression & Family-Whanau Trust NZ – they run the website www.mothersmatter.co.nz which is very dear to my heart.  Donations are much appreciated.

“Would I do it again.  Yep.  It was a nice outing.  And if I can manage it, then ANYONE can.

I was glad for Helena’s MTB lesson last Sunday, I reckon that mentally it helped me on some of the sections I’d have been anxious about.  I thought I handed those sections much better”

Hard luck to Lyndal who finished as the 2nd woman home.  She’d taken a wrong turn earlier in the race (the punishment for being in the lead).  Next time Lyndal…

Wednesday March 3rd meet at 5.30pm and leave at 5.45pm sharp.

So yea ended up 5th overall (included graded riders- though they all went off in smaller bunches and A grade were apparently playing some pretty funny team tactics and slowing people down).  3rd in the unregistered riders and 2nd in my age group!!