AvantiPlus Riders 1st Northlanders
AvantiPlus Riders Charles Afford and Chubby Hale are 1st Northanders in Tour of Northland.
Charles Tour
Stage one: After an early breakaway by 2 riders, an even tempo was set by the pack for most of the race and the usual strong cross wind from Ruawai to Dargaville made staying with the pack essential. With 10km to go the pace picked up and I was lucky enough to stick in the front bunch echelon when the split happened. The breakaway riders were caught right on the line and I finished in the pack, 8 seconds down on the stage winner.
Stage Two: A reasonably fast but steady first 30km until the Kaihu hill, where teammate Mike Kilduff set the pace on the front. The strong riders stayed together up into the forest and through the fast decent. With Mike on the front again at the bottom of the first climb in the forest, I took advantage of the reduced size of the pack and attacked from the bottom. With no-one chasing I soon rode out of sight and stayed away. Eventually a few riders bridged up and two continued to ride away while the rest dropped again, leaving me to it for the rest of the stage. From the top of the Wairau summit I decended alone and rode against the cross wind to get to the finish line with just over a minute on the chasing bunch and 3rd overall for the stage. This also took me to 3rd on GC time.
Stage Three: An early attack from the dominant team saw a split happen that I wasn’t able to stay with. The main bunch chased to reel a few in but the rest stayed away for the stage and I was only able to finish with the bunch, slipping to 10th on GC.
Stage Four: A hot tempo over all the costal climbs saw the pack split up early. I was expecting this and had warmed up accordingly, so was able to stay in the front bunch and ‘lead the charge’ over a number of the climbs. As usual, 2 riders from the dominant team, including the yellow jersey, had again gone out infront while the rest of their team slowed things up for the chasers. By the time we arrived at the helena bay hill things were thinned out nicely and the pace really went on. We climbed steadily and one by one riders were dropped until only 10 or so remained by the cafe, including teammate Tim Hitchcock and I. Shortly after this the real attack happened, and we both had to dig deep to stay with them. Luckily the hill does eventually end, and we crested together for a fast, fun decent. The pack re-goruped and started chasing properly, cruising along the flats towards SH1 at around 50kph. With about 10km to go on SH1 we caught the breakaway riders and rode together briefly. The yellow jersey and one of his team members then attacked again and immediatley their team did their best to stall the pace. With the 2nd bunch not far behind, we were not so keen on this new snail pace, so it was up to us remaining riders to continue the effort to the finish line. Matt Gorter attacked hard 5km out to ride away for a well deserved 3rd place, while Tim and I finished with the front bunch. Sticking with the attack at helena bay secured my time and I was able to hold onto my 10th placing on GC and 1st Northlander.
Chubby’s Tour
The twin coast tour consisted of four stages, starting on the Thursday and finishing on the following Sunday. It was an extremely hilly course but with good conditions every day made the 360km race very pleasant. I rode in group 3a with my coach Kevin McKenzie, where they set the pace right from the word go, reaching speeds of 55+km per hour. Riding for Avantiplus Whangarei I finished the first day 10mins ahead of my rival Kim Reyburn. I wanted to be Northlands fastest women and first overall too! Over the next 3days I could see the yellow jersey disappearing out of site, but the Northland’s fastest women getting closer and closer each day. By the last day I knew that there was no way I was going to win overall, but having approx 25mins up on Kim I was pretty sure about winning Northlands Fastest women unless I did not finish the final stage. In the completion of the tour I ended up being Northlands Fastest female, 2nd in my age group and 3rd women overall. I was very pleased with the end result but next year I will defiantly go in group 2 where I can battle Kate for the yellow jersey.
About Chubby Hale
We are very pleased to welcome Chuuby Hale as our latest "Sposored Rider"
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