Venus de feline

Some of you will already know of the Solo Race of Six Friends, organised by Auckland Central Cycling Club, being held on July 31 2011. This is the inaugural running of the event and has already attracted some stellar entries and excellent sponsors.

The event is a race over approximately 130 kilometres of mixed terrain and surfaces. It is an unmarshalled race, over a set course, contested by teams of six. To finish a team must have all six riders finish and the team's time is taken from their last rider home.

The course is top secret and has been set by yours truly, and while I do have some roads in my quiver of out of the way places that are best left for single man versus inner demon type rides, the roads in the race will still take riders to many unfamiliar places, will challenge many riders, may make a few people hate me for a little while, along with a few epiphanies of "I always wondered where that road went".

With the course being secret, and in keeping with the nature of the race, teams will only find out shortly before they start exactly where they are heading.

Teams will start at three minute intervals, and there is an arcane and carefully measured handicapping system at work, to ensure competitive racing. The course itself will prove a great leveler and should make for a few good war stories.

With a capped field size there is still room for a further four teams. If you are interested email me and I will email an entry to you, or visit Auckland Central Cycling and enter online.

Additionally there is a Facebook group for the event with some imagery of possible roads, bravado and nerves.