Onslow Tarbabies Team Trial

My first team trial didn't get off to the best of starts when I, well failed to find the start. In the spirit of:

"I read on the internet it must be true"

I am going to blame Google Maps for this geographical embarassment. I previously had no care as to where Burnham Wharf was and apparently Google could say the same! I was a little confused in failing to find any of the fine Onslow Tarbabies as I looked around the various wharfs/jettys/studios around Shelley Bay. Which incidentally is nowhere near Burnham Wharf, nor the little flag where Google maps alleges Burnham Wharf is located. 

 

I was about to ride around the bays on my lonesome when Jo and Liz came riding past screaming out my name saying “your on our team”. From a standing start I set off in their pursuit as we worked to get our three team member paceline working appropriately. Jo took the role as team captain and gave out the instructions:

Keep rotating short rotations and YOU take longer at the front.

I presumed that "YOU" meant me. In the early stages I found it tricky keeping the pace right with instructions from behind me "too fast". We eventually got our pacing in sync by the time we reached the airport tunnel. We were around the Lyall Bay roundabout and returned through the airport tunnel before we saw the next team in pursuit. Could we hold them off all the way back to wherever that Burnham Wharf place is???

Ride Data:
Distance:	27.88km*	821 Calories
Time:	32m 25s	32.6 km/h 39.5 km/h MAX
Heart-rate:	Avg: 94% of MAX	Max: 98% of MAX
Cadence:	Avg: 96 rpm	Max: 111 rpm
Ride Data:	Garmin Connect / RideWithGPS
Location:	Wellington, NZ	21 August 2010
* This is shorter than the real distance because I missed the start due to geographical embarassment

In penance for missing the start, I spent a solid amount of time leading our team back. Jo was having to work hard to get back on as she lost ground looking over her shoulder for the other two teams chasing us down. They were in sight with a few kilometres to go. I did my best to help keep us ahead, but for the last kilometre or so with a new tune could be heard behind me: Faster, faster. I lifted my cadence as best I could. I had lead out for some way and was starting to feel my legs. Didn’t have too much left for a sprint at the line. Competiveness pulled me through and we made the finish without being chased down, making us the winners on handicap. The handicapping was very accurate with all three teams finishing within a minute of each other. I had a lot fun in this ride. Both riding as a team and levelling the field through well set handicaps made for a great ride.

 

Will be great if we can get a few more teams rolling next time?