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Written by Tim Lloyd

Created: 14 October 2019

ITT race 1

In what is a busy month there is plenty for all riders in all disciplines to enjoy.
Our event sponsors Hughes Joinery, McIntosh Engineering, Cash Converters, Ashhurst Engineering & Base Solutions.
The ITT series kicked off on Wednesday with 38 riders with some pretty quick times recorded for the opening stanza.
Carne Groube had a set back with a rear puncture on the ride out to the event so had the SOS call for a replacement.
Glenn Kirk kicked off the series with Fastest time of the day at 16.21 followed by Carne and the Captain debut the TT bike in 3^rd.
Some very quick times across the board and a great turn out by a broad spectrum of members. Great to see Megan, Deb, Jo etc out again.
Thanks to our helpers on the day. James Buchanan, Anthony McFarlane, Steph Foote, Karen Gunn, Kylie Mulcahy.
Click here for results.

Forest Hill Road Hill climb.

Bike Manawatu had a great turn out on a beautiful spring Sunday morning for the inaugural Forest Hill Road Hill climb.
With our event Sponsors McIntosh Engineering, The Tank Guy & Central Bicycle Studio.
Since the road was sealed all the way to the top, we have heard of many riders using the road as a training ground.
BM applied for Traffic Management Clearance and permit from PNCC and it was granted. A mail drop was done to all residents and we had the green light.
30 Riders took the Challenge on a road which I’m sure will become another iconic climb of our region. Hill climbs have a weird psych…you want to be there, but never really seem to look forward to it.
Top seeds were waiting in anticipation for Cliff Hughes to make the starting line and some seemed relieved when he was an apparent no show. He’s famous for the late entrances
The first riders were away well and truly when Cliff showed up. Glenn Kirk led the field up the hill followed by Winston Briggs and a bunch of junior hitters.
Small puffs of smoke could be seen in the trees as riders blew to bits and even though he said he cramped up…Cliff Hughes posted the FTD, followed by Ben Irvine and Winston Briggs.
This was an age group competition so there is success stories throughout the entire field.
Click Here For Results.

Other Happenings.

The Pongoroa Long ride was huge with great numbers out on an Awesome Spring day.
The track season is gaining momentum with “Bike fits” and “Have a go days” going well.
The track committee has transformed the Track Clubrooms, what a fantastic facility this has been reborn to.
With the ITT series on every Wednesday, The Sutton Cup Road Race at Halcombe on Sunday 27th – Register Here 
The Trust House teams are going well, We have Juniors hitting the Dynamo series hard and our club Racing is going from strength to strength …leading up to a just as busy November.

Safety and Hiccups.

With all our successes ... and there are plenty… we run into a few obstacles.
We all need to be aware of how we are seen by the public and fellow Road users. Please be courteous and keep left, go to single file on narrow roads and so on.
Forest Hill Road was an example on Sunday when we were approached by a resident who is a cyclist as well. He welcomed us onto the road that he lives, applauded our club and our visions but.. Had real concerns about riders descending at high speeds on the wrong side of the road.
There’s lots of scenarios that could happen here….and most are serious and detrimental ... The best way of avoiding these are to ride smart, and be aware of other riders and road users.
We have many groups of riders with many, many different focuses on their riding.
We as a club encourage them all, and from time to time there are double ups on some days.
BM do try to avoid any sort of date clashes and interrupting other clubs and groups by having a race calendar for our riders .
We are all here to improve our Mental and Physical well being by being on bikes…lets make the most of the fine weather and each others company.

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Written by Bike Manawatu

Created: 08 October 2019

Up & Coming Events for week ending 11th October 2019

Sat 12 Oct
Track – Have a go day

Sun 13th October
BM Race 5 – Hill Climb Champs – Pre Register Here
See the New Course Info HERE

BikeManawatu Sunday Recreational Ride
Wed 16 Oct
Wednesday Recreational Ride
BM Kairanga ITT Series 2 of 4

Sat 19 Oct
Track Orientation Day 1
Sun 20 Oct
Track Orientation Day 2
Trust House Race 3
BikeManawatu Sunday Recreational Ride
Wed 23 Oct
Wednesday Recreational Ride
BM Kairanga ITT Series 3 of 4

Sun 27 Oct
BikeManawatu Sunday Recreational Ride
BM Race 6 – Sutton Cup – Pre Register Here – Course Info Here

Mon 28 Oct
Track – “Opening Track Meeting Day”

Other dates to pencil in:
Sun 10th November
FEILDING FESTIVAL OF CYCLING 2019 – Click HERE to enter

Kairanga ITT Series

A friendly reminder our Kairanga ITT starts back up on the 9th October (9th 16th, 23rd & 30th October)
Mark these dates in your calendar – We Look forward to seeing you there.

Bike Manawatu Track Cycling  Quick Links

Track CYCLING
Find the 2019-2020 Programme HERE
Find the 2019-2020 Flyer HERE
Find Important Information for 2019-2020 HERE

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Written by Michelle Turner

Created: 13 October 2019

We had 29 people join us on Saturday for our 2nd long endurance training ride to Pongaroa, with a few new faces in there, and some that have never ridden this loop before. After keeping a close eye on the forecast all week, hoping we wouldn’t get rained off, we couldn’t have asked for a better day - blue skies, not too hot and not a lot of wind either.
Bike Manawatu Sponsor, Garry Buys of Bike Barn let us use his car park as our meeting point, and went above and beyond what I was expecting by bring there to meet us and having the doors open if anyone needed a last minute bathroom stop - thanks Garry.
From there, we split up in to our two groups and headed off with our first scheduled meeting spot at Pahiatua with the support van driven - supplied by Rob Ryan of Palmfeild Motors and driven by Neil Vertogen. Both groups had a quick catch up, and group 2 were joined by Pahiatua father and son, Marcus and Jackson Fellowes bringing our numbers to 31 for the day.
Normally when we ride this loop, we head out of Pahiatua on to Pa Valley Rd and Route 52 to Pongaroa, however this time we did it in the opposite direction. We carried on to Pongaroa with group 2 having a photo stop at the wooden seat that someone has carefully crafted at the front of their property, with only carol and Jackson climbing up for a photo. We climbed up the Puketoi range and were treated to some stunning views at the top. Normally when we ride this loop, we do it in the other direction and the climb is fairly sharp and steep in spots, but the way we travelled, it was longer, but a lot more gentle on us. Neil met us along the way in a few spots to check our progress, bunnyhopping between the 2 groups.

Upon arriving in Pongaroa, Neil met us with our lunches that were provided by Bike Manawatu sponsor Derek McNabb and the team at Rosebowl Bakery and Cafe. The lunches were a big hit, everyone enjoyed what was supplied, and not having to order and wait for meals at the pub meant we were back on the road quickly. We also had ice cold water and coke supplied by Palmfeild Motors in the van (and they also supplied lollies for us all). Both groups were able to have another catch up here before arranging to meet at Rendezvous for a drink at the conclusion of the ride.
After leaving Pongaroa, we headed towards Pahiatua - there were a number of small undulations before we had the biggest climb of that section, and like the Puketoi range, the climb was longer in this direction, but again, more gentle on us. Neil was there to meet us at the top of this climb, with some welcome ice cold water and coke. When we turned from Route 52 on to Pa Valley road - for most of us we were in familiar territory from here, as we’ve all ridden this road at one time or another. As we turned on to Mangaone Valley Rd for Pahiatua, Marcus and Jackson headed off home towards Rongomai - thanks for joining us, we really enjoyed meeting you both, and hope to see you again soon. We had two more climbs, before one last van stop in Pahiatua. We were 160 kms in by this stage, and a lot of us were feeling very tired, but we were all determined to see the ride to its conclusion. We rode on through Ballance and Post Office Road, before climbing the Pahiatua track, descending and one last climb at Aokautere before our Duval meeting point - Rendezvous.
Here we met with most of group 1, and enjoyed a few drinks, some hot chips and plenty of banter about the day.

The ride was a resounding success and enjoyed by all, approximately 200 kms and 2300 metres of climbing. A big thank you to all of the riders who came along - well done everyone and thank you to Garry Buys, Derek McNabb and his team at Rosebowl Bakery and Cafe and to Rob Ryan of Palmfeild Motors - your support is really appreciated and contributed to the success of the day


Team Hughes Joinery are doing two laps of the Tour de Manawatu course on Sunday 27 October, the Feilding Festival of Cycling on Sunday 10 November is followed by the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge on Saturday 30 November. This is probably enough long distance events as most people will be busy with Christmas and their summer holiday - but if you’re keen to join us in February for a 2 day trip, Rob Ryan is arranging a trip to Ohakune on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23 February 2020. Included in the $155 cost is transport for your bike, bus travel to Ohakune, 1 nights accommodation in Ohakune and a support vehicle, Once we are in Ohakune there will be a 65km ride finishing at the top of Mt Ruapehu, before returning to our accommodation for the night. On Sunday morning we will ride approximately 200kms to Raetihi and on to Pipiriki and Jerusalem along the River Rd to Whanganui, then home to Palmerston North via Marton. This is a spectacular ride, with some stunning scenery - this is a great chance to ride somewhere new, and take in some beautiful scenery - if this is something you would like to do, please register your interest here
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MKZGLG9

Details

Written by Michelle Turner

Created: 05 October 2019

3 Day Big Easy

Last weekend saw 40 or so Manawatu riders take part in another one of Garry Buys’s 3 day Big Easy rides.  The old hands were there, as well as a few new riders.

Saturday morning saw us all arriving to the Bike Barn car park discussing the ominous black clouds on the horizon and the building head wind.  We were divided in to 3 groups, and were lucky enough to have 2 support vehicles thus year, Neil and Jayne Vertogen drove the Bike Barn van supporting groups 1 & 2, while Brian Harper-Smith drove the ‘business class’ support van for group 3.

The weather was definitely challenging on day 1, but we all arrived in Taihape in good spirits, with groups 1 and 2 riding up through Kimbolton and Rangiwahia, and group 3 riding via Kakariki and then up state highway 1.  We headed off to Cafe Telephonique for a lovely evening meal and a few headed off to the Gretna hotel to watch the Japan  World Cup match, where rumour has it, John Van Lienen let the moths out of his wallet and shouted a round for the bar.

On day 2 we awoke to a much better day, ready to tackle the not so Gentle Annie across to Havelock North.  This stretch of road sees you climbing over 2500 metres, and some spectacular views and long descents - one member of group 1 reached a top speed of 93kph.  We were treated to sunshine, blue skies and at times, a welcome tailwind. We were also treated to an oasis in the dessert - the wonderful Jenny Bull and the Bull’s campervan at the DoC campsite after the Gentle Annie climb and descent.  Jenny had hot coffee, lollies along with cookies and cake supplied by Rosebowl Bakery and Cafe.  All 3 groups were able to have a quick catch up here before carrying on until our final destination - Havelock North.  Once all the groups had arrived, we went across the road to enjoy a lovely meal at Maina.

Monday had us riding from Havelock North back to Palmerston North - group 3 rode straight down state highway 2, while groups 1 & 2 rode State highway 59 through Tikikino.  We all stopped and had a quick catch up at the truck stop at Matamau.  Before we all departed for home.  I can’t speak for all groups, but for group 1 we arrived dry at the truck stop, had some rain for the next 10kms until Dannevirke, then dry until the top of the Pahiatua Track when we were greeted with heavy rain and hail as a welcome home.

All groups rode in to the Coachman for a debrief, some hot chips and a drink or two.

Garry’s 3 day Big Easy’s are always popular, and if you get the opportunity to come along, you definitely should - every ability is catered for.  The experiences you’ll have and the comradery is second to none. 

There are 3 long distance rides planned that you can be a part of:

Pongaroa - 1 day ride, 200kms on Saturday October 12, please pre-register here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YHLWVGH

Mountain to Sea to Windmills - 2 day ride, 22/23 February 2020, details here http://bikemanawatu.co.nz/index.php/club-news/notices/2664-mountain-to-sea-to-windmills-22-23-feb-2020

And register your interest here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MKZGLG9

And Garry is planning another 3 day ride in early May 2020, this one will be heading to Ohakune on day 1, day 2 will be riding down to the Bruce road and up whakapapa, then back to Ohakune and up to Turoa ski field.  Previous 3 day Big Easy entrants will all receive an invite, but if you are keen to join this ride, please contact Garry at Bike Barn so you don’t miss out