Tineli Road Race

The Tineli Road Race is fantastic road event that follows the same course as what the Elite Women and Men compete on during the same weekend.  However the event is much shorter with two laps around the course without the climb and then the following two completing the full circuit (up Dyres, down Hackthorne) to finish the race.
Last year was my first year competing  in this event and I rode a strong race to finish in the number 1 spot with a very nice lead.  So once again being a local event (which goes past my house!) I was looking forward to having a good hit out and getting stuck into the two climbing laps and really get things going.

The race started off certainly a bit faster than last years but I kept within the bunch and made sure no real break aways were made.  Finally it was the moment of truth after the first two flat laps and as I turned up onto the Dyres Pass Road hill I gave it beans!  I knew the field was tougher than the previous year so I decided I really wanted to heat things up.  I quickly found myself in the lead however there was another tough young rider named Keegan right on my wheel - game on!
Once off the hill we worked together for a good fast lap then the final climb saw me pulling away slowly up the steeper sections of Dyres Pass.  I knew that we would still be best to work together on the flat (incase of the risk of being caught by the pelloton) so I got a bit of a breather at the top and as Keegan caught back up we were into another flying decent - glad I had a few sharp skills from the mountain bike!
On the final corner I heard a hissing sound, thought it was me but as I kept moving on I looked back and Keegan had stopped with a dreaded puncture.  Rather unfortunate for him as it would have made for a great sprint finish but in the end thats racing and I came over the line with the win very happy with myself!
Thanks to Brad at Halswell Butchery for the support and entry!