Remembering

Back in the 90's

We raced from TePuke to Whakatane for stage 2 of a three stage race.

We had a tail wind and it was a very fast ride. Average speed over 43kph.

At this point Kyle, Phil and Kevin were pulling us along on the Matata straights.

Why I remember this ride was that the sprint started 1km out (a long way) and the speed was frantic.

I got on to Phils wheel as he was more experienced than me and I stuck hard to his wheel.

100 meters from the finish there was a horrific crash just in front and around us. Phil dodged the lot and lucky for me I got through.

If anyone has been in a high speed group crash on your bike you will know what I mean. Screaming of tyres and brakes, crashing of metal and thumps of bodies and faces hitting the deck. Just bloody chaos. Of course the air is blue with extreme cursing and accusations flying around. A couple of hours later we started the last leg of the three from Whatatane to Kawerau. Another scorcher!