Summer has arrived with long warm days and twilights that seem to last forever. How good is it wandering down a beach in shorts and a t-shirt at 8pm, bathed in sunlight and stoking on life. It's pretty good. But this weekend I was attracted into the hills again for my annual pilgrimage to climb Otepoti's three peaks: Flagstaff, Mt Cargill and Signal Hill as I chased the Urge 3 Peaks Enduro mountain biking event around the city's skyline.
One of the best parts of this race for me is getting to take my daughter Taya along as my assistant and second shooter. She loves this weekend and each year she gets better and better shots. We watched one very slippery section toward the end of the last stage of racing – riders were hitting trees, sliding into rocks – it was an off-camber series of high-speed carnage. Taya watched it all and then turned to me and said, "Dad, one day you might need another assistant, because I'm going to race this when I am old enough."
That actually sent a shiver down my spine. If she had said that in the tussock fields atop Flagstaff, then fine, if she had said that in the native bush of Nichols Creek Track, then I could understand that – even the top sections of Signal Hill would have been fine. But in the gnarliest, slipperiest and most off-camber section after watching 70% of the riders crash? And crash hard? I really hope she goes surfing.
The creation of Olympian Kashi Leuchs, the Urge 3 Peaks Enduro is an iconic race that has an incredible vibe – more like 150 friends testing their limits on six amazing trails, than a high-stress race – even though it attracts some of the world's best riders.
Christchurch racer Joseph Nation (ranked 24th in the world) won the event despite a last day charge by local rider Leighton Kirk. Both were masterful in all conditions, but it was female world number 9 who stole the show in the women's field. Rae Morrison won all six of the stages for a perfect score – finishing more than five minutes ahead of her nearest rival. That's not bad over two days of racing.
Okay, so now back to the beach ... you might want to check this latest forecast.
See you up there ... Derek
PS Last day for ordering custom prints for Xmas delivery is December 9, but we have some new mounted prints in stock at 1 Dowling Street, Dunedin, right now.
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