City councilors gear up for epic duel in Le Race

Christchurch City Councilors Mike Davidson and Glenn Livingstone are gearing up for an epic cycling duel in Le Race on March 24, as part their 2018 sporting three-peat.

The two councilors have been cycling buddies for some time and last year competed in Le Petit, the 50km shorter version of Le Race.

This year however, the city leaders decided to lead by example to promote healthy living among Christchurch residents by completing the Coast-to-Coast, Le Race and the Christchurch Marathon.

“I have done Le Race before, but because of all this training, I am fitter than any previous year,” said Cr Davidson.

“This year I hope to finish Le Race under four hours, but most importantly I want to smash Glenn.”

The two men clearly mean business, but Cr Livingstone did not look too concerned.

“I just hope that I don’t embarrass Mike,” said Cr Livingstone, while hitting the pedals in an open-air spin class in Cathedral Square as part of a council event to promote the merits of sport and exercise.

Only three weeks ago, both men completed the two-day individual event of the Coast-to-Coast and did not seem to have lost any momentum going into Le Race on March 24.

Cr Davidson said that his weight had dropped under 80kg in preparation for the Coast-to-Coast “but my sweet tooth has gotten the better of me since then, so I still need to lose a few kilos.”

Cr Livingstone also lost a few pounds in recent months and said it would make a huge difference when tackling the feared 100km hill course of Le Race.

“And just as importantly, we are a bit older, more cunning and wiser than we were in the past.”

He added that Christchurch provided the ideal natural environment for sport, “so why would you not get into it?”

He recently watched a person at the supermarket check-out pay $28 for a packet of cigarettes, and quickly did the sums.

”For 100 packets of cigaretted you could buy yourself a pretty good bike, have a complete change of lifestyle and a whole lot of better air for your lungs.”

Councilors Livingstone and Davidson may not be winning the race on March 24, but their private battle will be one to watch.

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