Summer rides and racing

A few of the GP riders have been active at the local races in the Wairarapa leading up to Christmas. Silas, Jono, Davis and Backy all raced at the recent Rice Mountain Classic.

A highlight on the local race calendar, the Rice Mountain Classic is arguably the toughest one day race in the region. The course features the dreaded Kurnau climb and a summit finish on Admiral Hill.

Silas was the highest finisher of the GP riders (3rd in A grade), having a close battle with Andy Hagen at the finish.

Next to finish was Backy in 4th place.

Followed closely by Davis in 6th place.

Jono finished in 10th place (B grade), his first big race.

All above photo's courtesy of Adrian Rumney.

After the race we called by Cuckoo in Greytown. Coffee, beer and pizza, perfect for post race recovery. The Moa pizza is a favourite amongst the GP riders. Recommended.

Moa's all round.

Since then we've been putting in the miles over the Christmas break, preparing for racing in the New Year. Kieran is racing at the Tour de Vineyards near Nelson and JC is in action at the Elite Nationals road race in Christchurch. Lovers is on the comeback trail and will be lining up at the Lake Dunstan Cycle Classic in Cromwell. A few of us will be racing the Capital Cycles sponsored 2 day tour of Martinborough too.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world... Slim hasn't lost his edge even though it's the off season in Europe. He spotted this white unicorn while vacationing in Barcelona yesterday.

GP Christmas lunch

The most highly anticipated event on the GP social calendar, The 2009 GP Awards ceremony and christmas lunch were held at Scopa on 23 December. The nominations for the coveted 2009 GP awards were...

1. Davis Meo for; His continued involvement in the Bianchi Research and Development programme.

2. Guiseppe Barnett for; Retiring as a dodgy photocopy salesman and turning pro bike rider at the age of 45, better late than never.

3. Joe Cooper for; Incorrectly thinking that winning a South Pacific Grand Tour might redeem the fact that his sock height is punter.

4. Craig Loveridge for; Stupidly thinking the world was ready more Loveridge's. Rumor has it the only reason Ziggy was bought into the world was so Lovers could down a few celebratory units.

5. Jono Hales for; Despite being a singlet wearing bearded runner he managed to kick the ass of a former Dulux KOM winner on the mighty Col d'Izoard.

6. Brent Backhouse for; Stupidly being of the belief that a new TT bike would be OK.

7. Slim for; Being fortunate enough not to have gone around the bays more than twice for the year.

8. Glenn Owen for; Wearing his registration tags at all times and not getting picked up by the local dog control officer.

The Dark Horse, White Horse and Rabid Dog award recipients are revealed in the above video. Warning, content may offend some viewers.