Mcleans Island 12 Hour

This year we had another strong Cycleways Team competing in the 2011 Mcleans Island Mountain Bike 12 Hour race consisting of Phil Patterson, Nick Clark, Dave Ives, Mark Richards and myself.
Phil was the man to get the race rolling for us and with a Le Mans start to the race that meant for a short run amongst a fair amount of caos as riders ducked and dived for their bikes. Phil came in second after the first lap making up huge ground after he struggled to find his bike in the crowd from the start. With myself heading out second in the team I pulled some good time into the leading team only a few seconds behind with a very quick lap and then Nick went and slotted us into the lead. With Dave and Mark holding their own the race, the day went really quickly and the weather could not have been much better!
Once the 6 hour riders were off the track that meant for even quicker lap times and less traffic to deal with. I had an excellent third to last lap which was the fastest lap of the day overall so I was buzzing once back at our team site! I followed that up with No2 fastest lap of the day.
The North Canterbury Cycling Club Junior Team had a strong ride, keeping us on their toes for a while and their fastest rider Anton doing double laps but our team was too strong and consistent and we took the overall win in the end!
Thoughts go out to the few riders and their families who had attained serious injuries including one fatal heart attack.
Big thanks to Rod and Jane from Bluedog Events for another very well run proffessional events and to Matt Bailey and the Team for all the support, not to mention Mum and Dad for all the usual bits and pieces that go about in these events!