This duathlon course is without a doubt one of the coolest courses I have ever done. The first 3km off road run has some steep climbs, flat water race tracks to stride it out on and some technical down hills to keep your mind on the job. Once off the run it’s on to the MTB for some solid climbing on forestry roads before descending on to the water race track. A few creek crossings and sections of technical riding makes this ride unlike any other multisport bike stage. 
Course map
Course profile
Jim Cotter chased Kashi hard with Gavin Mason and me not far behind. Losing contact with the lead group on the first major climbs I worked hard through the single track and eventually caught and passed Gav. We raced back and forth for the remainder of the race with Gav just pulling away on the final run to take the 3rd position with Jim 2nd and Kashi 1st.
Same course but 1 year earlier - just as great this year
The first 5km kayak start with a hot pace driven by a number of K1 paddlers keen to push the pace. Having done every limited paddle training this year meant that I was red lining the whole way. Thanks to my new Sission Evolution Omega I was able to limit my losses to the top paddlers to 2 minutes.
On to the MTB stage I worked my way through the field from 7th out of the water to 5th going into the run. Once into the brutal off road run my Salomon Speed Crosses came into their own on the steep greasy slopes. Over the 5km run to the finish I managed to reel in 4th and 3rd place to finish in 3rd place. 
With a bit of drizzle, a light wind and a little sun from time to time the conditions for the R&R Sport Otago Peninsula Challenge were great. The breath taking scenery on this course is defiantly a highlight and there were a few times when I got up close and personal with the scenery during a few crashes on the fast greasy grass down hills.
Taking in just about every steep hill possible the course is a tough one. A gun field assembled on the start line and the pace was hot from the start. 
It has been a big learning curve entering the world of mountain biking and this race was no exception. It had rained a lot in the week leading into the race and all of the practice rides I had done around the track that week had ended up with me on my arse or in the bushes struggling to ride the wet slippery conditions. The boys at R&R Sport bike work shop set me up with some good mud tires for the conditions and a bit of advice that would turn out to be a massive help come race day. 
Luckily the track had dried out a bit come race day which made things a bit easier. I was racing in the senior age group category and our race consisted of 4 laps which took in the best bits of Bethuns Gully and Forester Park. 
A fast start saw everyone tearing off the start line. I worked hard to hold onto the front rider during the first 10minutes. As we entered the technical single track for the first time I could tell I was riding better than he was. At some stage he popped his cleat due to messing up a technical corner and I got past him into the lead. For the remainder 2/3rds of the lap I didn’t look back and rode hard through the technical descents.
It was great to hear that I was 45 seconds up on second place by the end of the first lap and I used this to fuel my effort. For the next 3 laps I set to work riding as hard as I could, focusing on good lines, pushing the up hills and keeping my energy levels topped with Leppin Squeezes every 20min. I rolled across the finish in 1st place in a time of 1hour52min, I had won the senior grade by 5 min which I was stoked about. I came across this old video of me cycling in the lead up to the 2008 Coast to Coast Longest day. This was coming to the end of a 2hour tempo ride home following the 33km Crouses Crossing mnt run on the West Coast. My old aero bars and Giant OCR3 road bike bring back some great memories.
