From the second I arrived, I knew it was going to be a long day. As part of our William Pike Challenge, we have to take part in a six hour cycling event called the Rakahuri Rage. We had to put ourselves into teams of three and do a long relay. One person would go and do the track, then when they got back they would tag the next person and they would go. However, we have twenty people in our class, so we had to have six teams of three and one team of two. Guess who was in that team. That's right, yours truly. Anna, my friend and I decided to challenge ourselves and do it together. I'm still partly regretting that decision.
So there we were, in the scorching heat, preparing to start what must of been the longest day of my life. The first person in the team had to do an extra two km to even out the bikers, which I bullied Anna into. It ended up working well though, because it gave me time to hydrate and prepare for the start of my lap.
It seemed like no time before Anna was whizzing around the corner, slapping me on the arm and I was away. I'd like to tell you that I went flying around the corner at one hundred miles an hour, passing everyone ahead of me and arriving back before Anna even had a chance to sit down, but sadly, that was not the case.
No matter how much adrenaline I'd been storing up could've prepared me for this race. Don't forget, it was a piping hot day, and most of the track was in direct sunlight, so by the time I got back I was sweating bucket loads, panting like it was going out of season and already thinking about giving up. I had no such luck however because the second I got back everyone was congratulating me on doing so well, and the giving up feeling disappeared like quicksand.
It seemed like no time before Anna was whizzing around the corner, slapping me on the arm and I was away. I'd like to tell you that I went flying around the corner at one hundred miles an hour, passing everyone ahead of me and arriving back before Anna even had a chance to sit down, but sadly, that was not the case.
No matter how much adrenaline I'd been storing up could've prepared me for this race. Don't forget, it was a piping hot day, and most of the track was in direct sunlight, so by the time I got back I was sweating bucket loads, panting like it was going out of season and already thinking about giving up. I had no such luck however because the second I got back everyone was congratulating me on doing so well, and the giving up feeling disappeared like quicksand.
I had about half an hour to eat something and re hydrate before I was back on my bike and starting all over again. By about the third lap It was all I could do to stay upright and that quitting feeling was starting to creep back up on me when a man passing me snapped his chain turning the corner. That gave me a bit of a shock, but he told me that he was fine and to carry on, which gave me a newfound energy ( well, more like adrenaline ) and my bike and I made it back in one piece.
Although it was tough going for me, it was even harder for some other people. One of the highlights of my day was seeing the smiles on people's faces as they completed their lap and being able to cheer them on. One of the people I was most proud of however, was Derrin. We talked to each other after each lap and congratulated each other. It really helped me get through the day.
Although it was tough going for me, it was even harder for some other people. One of the highlights of my day was seeing the smiles on people's faces as they completed their lap and being able to cheer them on. One of the people I was most proud of however, was Derrin. We talked to each other after each lap and congratulated each other. It really helped me get through the day.
All in all, I completed six laps that day, which was a pretty good achievement, and I didn’t fall off once. And as a bonus, the next day at school, my principal awarded Anna and I a William Pike beanie each for doing it in a team of two and thoroughly enjoying it. So, all’s well that ends well.
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