Monuments

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BY: Niall Frost

Published: 1st March, 2011

The past weekend registered the first meaningful races of the 2011 road season; Het Nieuwsblad (previously Het Volk) and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne.   For me they are the start of the race season and the most interesting races of the year, where we find out who is in shape out of the winter period and who has been bluffing!

However, these are small fry compared to the top 5 one day races in road cycling, "The monuments"; Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Giro di Lombardia.  These events all share one common theme which is epic history.  Road riders are judged by their ability to win a monument because with a one day race there is no room for error and the brutal courses require you to be on top form.

Naturally, you're now wondering why I'm banging on about road cycling on xcracer.com!  Our sport has neither the history nor coverage or participation that road cycling enjoys but I'm not going to let this stop me in proposing 5 one-day MTB monuments (hopefully you'll come back and read about the next 4...)

First up is an event which is on the same date every year since 1986, features a largely unchanged course and is massively weather dependent.  The Karapoti Classic.

The Karapoti is held on the Akatarawa ranges near Wellington, New Zealand and is on the first Sunday of March each year.    Considering the first mainstream mtb's appeared in early 1980s this event was at the forefront of the sport in New Zealand and remains the pinnacle on any home grown riders' palmares.   The start line must also be unique in that riders stand in the river awaiting their orders before racing into the hilly rainforest-esque terrain.


Racing commences up the gorge to the obviously named, "warm up climb" which is viciously steep and splits the race immediately.  Deadwood ridge follows where caution is recommended to avoid knee deep gravelly mud (in a wet year), before diving into the rock garden and praying for a good line!  Devil's Staircase is a push for most, Big Ring Boulevard is an all out speed fest before the final challenge of Dopers climb by which time the canny racer will have stopped to oil their chain to prevent mechanicals, 50km will be feeling like a long way by now.   The loop concludes with a blast back down the gorge to finally cross the river and pray you've broken the magical 3hr barrier.



Since the loop doesn't change you can truly compare your times to riders from previous years who have ridden the same course.  A brief look through the, "3hr club" reveals a few well known UK racers (there are loads more that I haven't listed, but you'll have to have a peek yourself):
1993 Paul Hinton 2hrs 33mins (93rd fastest time) First overseas winner in 1990
2002 Rob Lee 2hrs 46mins
2004 Rich Wood 2hrs 54mins
2008 Ant White 2hrs 53mins
2008 Fiona McDermid 2hrs 47mins (I'm sure Fiona raced for UK at world cups)

The current course record is held by Clinton Avery at 2hrs 14mins and to provide some perspective, Clinton was a stagiare with Radioshack (Yes, that's Lance's old team) in 2010.  Other notable participants include Dave Weins (previous Leadville 100 winner) and Kashi Leuchs (3 time Olympian), it's clear to see that this event has attracted some riders with serious pedigree.

So to 2011, who should you look out for?  Well the NZ National Championships have just finished so that should provide some indication although Karapoti is known for it's unpredictability.  My bet is on Anton Cooper, a super fast Junior from Christchurch although the UK's Calum Chamberlain will be lining up and representing Great British interests.

If you are planning a Southern Hemisphere randonee, you should have this event on the radar.  Absolutely fantastic atmosphere, impeccable history and the chance to write your name into the 3hr club all mark this event out as a shoe-in MTB monument.

Niall
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