After the Motu

Well bit slack here about keeping this up to date! Never mind 1 computer + 3 people means that when the muse strikes it may not be at a time when the technology is free!!
Motu day was long, reasonably successful and true to form I was the best first reserve on the day. Luckily for Maurie and Andrew they managed to get a good mountain biker, and Andrew was able to do the road bike - and a good 40 minutes faster than me, and Maurie had a good run and kayak. I think it was the earliest Maurie has ever finished a Motu Challenge event but his excitment soon went when he realised that he still didn't get a hot shower!!
Lucy's team didn't have such a good day. Nicole found someone to do the mountain bike after the original biker had to pull out due to injury, and they were in contention but unfortunately Amber had a recurrence of an old injury so didn't manage to finish the run. Lucy left on the road bike with the only other biker left, but was soon biking on her own, knowing that she was on a timeline to get to the kayak transition before the official cutoff time. Lucy biked extremely well - followed by an anxious mother and the tail-end Charlie vehicle. It was a hot afternoon by then (cold and cloudy most of the day!) and was quite windy. But she managed to cut 7 minutes off her time - not bad for a hard solo bike - and she made the cutoff time. Lucy is awesome! I did take some photos but the camera is not around so will post them later.

Of biking and being a reserve

Lucy and Shirley on the way!



Well my return to the world of exercise has been a baptism of fire!!
After driving Lucy and Shirley up to Motu to do the road bike - and watching them blast their way through the 52 kms (machines the pair of them!) I found myself on my bike a week later doing the same thing - still astonished and not quite sure how it happened! I managed to get up Traffords Hill (Shields whanau take note!) and then down the other side without too much damage! Very scary on the downhill at the top - further down you go the gentler the slope which suits wusses like me. I was surprised at my time - not too far behind Lucy but I died completely in the last 10kms - legs felt like tree stumps (still looked particularly attractive and shapely tho!) But as Sarah said the pain disappears quickly and you are soon ready for the next challenge. So what was the next challenge?? Promotion to first reserve in Maurie's Motu Challenge team!! I listened with a mix of horror (who?? me!?!?!?) and quiet humility (as us finely honed athletes do) as I was told I was quite capable of doing the road bike leg. So off we went again last Sunday to do a repeat performance. It was cold, rainy and an extremely strong wind was blowing at Motu - again I had to ask myself what was I doing there? I set off - yeehaa tail wind to Motu - easy peasy ride. Turn right at Matawai - whoops strong head wind! Gamely I rode on until 2 bends from the top of Traffords (very little forward momentum at this point!) a reeeaaallly big gust of wind hit me and I literally stopped mid pedal! I managed to unclip but then had to walk about 20 metres until I could get back on my bike. So up I went and cruised over the top into a strong gusty swirling wind, so I zigzaged, very slowly down the top part of the hill. It was scary as I was blown in all directions, but once the road was less exposed I managed to pick up a little bit more speed. I was HUGELY disappointed at my time as I did feel I was biking more consistently than the previous week, but have sucked it up and am ready to be the best first reserve in Opotiki.

Janet Frame

This post harks back to the one I did on mum's birthday. One night while helping Lucy with her homework I came across this poem by Janet Frame - and it really struck a chord with me! So I really want to put this up for people to read and to hear how they react to it.

The Place



The place where the floured hens
sat laying their breakfast eggs,
frying their bacon-coloured combs in the sun
is gone.

You know the place-
in the hawthorn hedge
by the wattle tree
by the railway line.

I do not remember these things
-they remember me,
not as child or woman but as their last excuse
to stay, not wholly to die.

After reading this I started to think of the places of my childhood - my grandparents place in Otoko where we spent half our time ( and which I now drive past reasonably regularly!) which exists now only in the memories I and my family have. I also thought about growing up in Taupo - the place where my children spent a lot of time - which also now no longer exists. But my thoughts are that for me those places are as they always were - they exist in my memories and for my children the existence of their childhood haunts in Taupo will also be bright and bold in their memories. The places of my childhood will exist until there is no longer anyone to remember them - and in memory they are always places of fun, laughter and love.