Series win on the line, 2 riders eligible and ready to win…showdown in vegas!
I won the 2010 NZ MTB Cup Series. This was one of my goals for the season, added to the South Island Cup win - two titles which I’m stoked to have grabbed.
No time to dwell on it though, it’s all just a warm up with the real goal next weekend…Nationals…something I have wanted since my second placing in Nelson last year. And by being part of the racing this weekend in Rotorua the stage is set for an exciting and fast day on the slopes of Mt Vic!
I rocked the Maxxis Aspen tyres this weekend which had literally just turned up at my doorstep – mint for the rotovegas track which was bone dry and fast. It took every advantage to stick with the locals in their turf! The field was cranking with all the strong Elite riders in the country showing up.
I rode the start like a bit of donkey, it was an uphill tarseal climb and by the top I was sitting about 14th. My thoughts headed towards “no way my legs can’t be this bad”. A couple of years ago a bad first lap would have seen me pull out as if I wasn’t at the front I thought I wasn’t in it. I’ve had a huge head change in racing since then and know that there is plenty of time to work the crowd if I can keep my head positive. So I kept calm and started to feel to fire burning by the end of the lap. Lap 2, my legs hit overdrive mode and I had a stormer up the tarseal climb, moving from 12th to 4th in the space of 300m and going uphill like a rocket. I managed to get within 10secs of the 3 leaders..perfect. I was back in the race!
From here I had a real battle with Carl Jones (Bergamont) and Stu Houltham for 3rd spot. I got a gap on Stu and was tussling with Carl for the last few laps. At the end of the 5th lap he attacked my in the singletrack and I just couldn’t follow his wheel. I pulled a small amount of time out of him up the main climb but his local knowledge of the singletrack tested me and I had to settle for 4th.
This round was about the racing, not necessarily the result – it’s put the legs and head in the right space to attack it next weekend in Wellington.
Wicked to be part of the Bergamont crew – we’ve had a huge start to the season results-wise along with being part of an exciting brand introduction to NZ. In every cup race, North and South Bergamont has hit the podium, in most we’ve rounds we’ve hit the podium steps twice or three times.
Bergamont riders have claimed the South Island and North Island Cup Series. Bergamont has taken the 1-2 in the Elite Men NZ Cup Series, myself and Carl taking prime positions. And Katie O’Neil is representing for the girls and doing it well with the NZ Cup Elite Women title as well as 2nd in the North Island Cup…..Bergamont is dominating!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Rocky Road!
Bikes are washed, washings done, another good weekend on my pedallies!
I hit up the local road scene on Saturday, howling winds didn’t stop the Wellington roadies. The interclub race took us all over the Miramar Penisula…..one minute we were heading round the coast at 40k an hour, next minute it was an almost stand still coming round into one of the bays, 16k and slowing quickly. A mad race, with a hill finish. I started on scratch with 4 others, that soon whittled down to two. Myself and Andy Hagan battled it out, I knew he would be a tough fighter on the climb. He proved that he was ready to pounce, but I had the head tuned in and was ready and waiting. Despite not knowing exactly where the finish was I was able to put the power down at the right time to finish just ahead of him taking fastest time and second overall.
Great to be able to get some time in my calendar to race local road races, nothing like getting the Bergamont Dolce 4.9 out there in full force. Pretty sure some of the race goers are still laughing at my Compact Tiagra but it’s been said before and I will say it again…..it’s not just about the bike. Sure I would love to be racing some light fast wheels and carbon but for local racing the Bergamonts got it covered.
Sunday was an early start out on the Karapoti track for a reccy. It’s never been a good race for me. My plan was to go out, ride it hard and give myself a confidence boost knowing that I’ve ridden the course at near race pace after a good dose of rain. The Maxxis Monorail front and Larsen TT rear was a good combo…..for a dryer track! I’ll be looking to run the Maxxis Advantage if the track gets any more rain otherwise will be sticking with this combo. It was pretty slippery out there, but the first and last climbs have been smoothed out which is likely to make for a record breaking Karapoti time on the day if anyone has got the goods.
So it’s full steam ahead for the weekend up in Rotorua now, race day Saturday. Looking forward to hitting the forest again, love the vegas tracks!
I hit up the local road scene on Saturday, howling winds didn’t stop the Wellington roadies. The interclub race took us all over the Miramar Penisula…..one minute we were heading round the coast at 40k an hour, next minute it was an almost stand still coming round into one of the bays, 16k and slowing quickly. A mad race, with a hill finish. I started on scratch with 4 others, that soon whittled down to two. Myself and Andy Hagan battled it out, I knew he would be a tough fighter on the climb. He proved that he was ready to pounce, but I had the head tuned in and was ready and waiting. Despite not knowing exactly where the finish was I was able to put the power down at the right time to finish just ahead of him taking fastest time and second overall.
Great to be able to get some time in my calendar to race local road races, nothing like getting the Bergamont Dolce 4.9 out there in full force. Pretty sure some of the race goers are still laughing at my Compact Tiagra but it’s been said before and I will say it again…..it’s not just about the bike. Sure I would love to be racing some light fast wheels and carbon but for local racing the Bergamonts got it covered.
Sunday was an early start out on the Karapoti track for a reccy. It’s never been a good race for me. My plan was to go out, ride it hard and give myself a confidence boost knowing that I’ve ridden the course at near race pace after a good dose of rain. The Maxxis Monorail front and Larsen TT rear was a good combo…..for a dryer track! I’ll be looking to run the Maxxis Advantage if the track gets any more rain otherwise will be sticking with this combo. It was pretty slippery out there, but the first and last climbs have been smoothed out which is likely to make for a record breaking Karapoti time on the day if anyone has got the goods.
So it’s full steam ahead for the weekend up in Rotorua now, race day Saturday. Looking forward to hitting the forest again, love the vegas tracks!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
From backyard beginnings….
Somehow I managed to get myself roped into riding back to the Picton ferry with Bex at the beginning of the week, she had ridden out to Nelson on Friday through all the thunderstorms! The return trip was far less eventful weather wise although the legs were a bit had it after the weekends racing.
This should have set me up for a quiet week of spinning but I couldn’t resist hitting it hard a couple of times, adding extra hills to my normal commute. It hasn’t really benefited me as I spent the weekend feeling rather lazy and not going near my bike. It’s a bit of a reflection of the effort that’s been put in over the last month, the body was ready to have a weekend off racing, the travel and the need to be somewhere at a certain time.
A crazy Wellington weekend, hugely hot and deadly still on Saturday followed by an early winter on Sunday left me time to have a think about the times that got me started in cycling.
I grew up on a small block of land in Wanganui behind Virginia Lake where me and my brothers (Craig and Nathon) spent endless hours building jumps, challenging each other to ride up the steepest hill, making jumps at the tops of the hills and jumping down them, building cyclocross hurdles and doing time trials on the motorbike. It wasn’t all fun and games with the yearly planting of pine trees to sell as Xmas trees which funding our racing.
Our paddock became a bit of a hang out for the local club riders, we had skills days, cyclocross races and eventually Mum and Dad organised a kids series for under 12 year olds called “Kiwi Kids Mountain Biking”. These started out to be 10 kids having fun to about 80 kids wanting to win over a near 10yr period! Not many people know but this series was the start of many champions, Sam Blenkinsop, one of the best Downhill riders in the world, Jono Hamlin (multiple NZ Track Cycling Champion and now Motocross rider) and Glen Haden (multiple NZ Downhill Champ and now Motocross rider) to start with a few names!
I was super excited when I found out I could ‘race’ a bike. It all started in 1986 when Craig and I rode BMX in Wanganui at the local BMX races in Castlecliff, at the time I was getting laughed at because I was always last on my little blue chopper! I turned up to my first road race when I was 12 on my Mtb bike and raced well but knew I could go faster on a road bike. Brent Anderson who looked after the younger riders said to he wanted me to use a club road bike to see how I went which at the time was a weapon! A white and blue Tarini with tubular tires and old shimano 600. I raced that for 3 years and treated it like my own bike. It got a good clean each Saturday morning so it was sparkling for the afternoon race. Not quite as fancy as the younger riders these days are getting, but damn it looked clean! The following year I got into Track Cycling on the old 500m Cooks Gardens Track before it got pulled down.
I really enjoy going back to the Wanganui Club and racing every now and again, the club was very supportive over the years and there are a lot of nice people still involved. Bex laughs whenever we drive through Wanganui and we see a cyclist as I can just about always name them! Small town!
So that was how it all started for me, backyard beginnings.
And how it finishes for me in cycling? ….. I’ll be cycling until the stars stop shining! Racing will have it’s day, but the sweet feeling of two tyres and a bit of speed will never die!
This should have set me up for a quiet week of spinning but I couldn’t resist hitting it hard a couple of times, adding extra hills to my normal commute. It hasn’t really benefited me as I spent the weekend feeling rather lazy and not going near my bike. It’s a bit of a reflection of the effort that’s been put in over the last month, the body was ready to have a weekend off racing, the travel and the need to be somewhere at a certain time.
A crazy Wellington weekend, hugely hot and deadly still on Saturday followed by an early winter on Sunday left me time to have a think about the times that got me started in cycling.
I grew up on a small block of land in Wanganui behind Virginia Lake where me and my brothers (Craig and Nathon) spent endless hours building jumps, challenging each other to ride up the steepest hill, making jumps at the tops of the hills and jumping down them, building cyclocross hurdles and doing time trials on the motorbike. It wasn’t all fun and games with the yearly planting of pine trees to sell as Xmas trees which funding our racing.
Our paddock became a bit of a hang out for the local club riders, we had skills days, cyclocross races and eventually Mum and Dad organised a kids series for under 12 year olds called “Kiwi Kids Mountain Biking”. These started out to be 10 kids having fun to about 80 kids wanting to win over a near 10yr period! Not many people know but this series was the start of many champions, Sam Blenkinsop, one of the best Downhill riders in the world, Jono Hamlin (multiple NZ Track Cycling Champion and now Motocross rider) and Glen Haden (multiple NZ Downhill Champ and now Motocross rider) to start with a few names!
I was super excited when I found out I could ‘race’ a bike. It all started in 1986 when Craig and I rode BMX in Wanganui at the local BMX races in Castlecliff, at the time I was getting laughed at because I was always last on my little blue chopper! I turned up to my first road race when I was 12 on my Mtb bike and raced well but knew I could go faster on a road bike. Brent Anderson who looked after the younger riders said to he wanted me to use a club road bike to see how I went which at the time was a weapon! A white and blue Tarini with tubular tires and old shimano 600. I raced that for 3 years and treated it like my own bike. It got a good clean each Saturday morning so it was sparkling for the afternoon race. Not quite as fancy as the younger riders these days are getting, but damn it looked clean! The following year I got into Track Cycling on the old 500m Cooks Gardens Track before it got pulled down.
I really enjoy going back to the Wanganui Club and racing every now and again, the club was very supportive over the years and there are a lot of nice people still involved. Bex laughs whenever we drive through Wanganui and we see a cyclist as I can just about always name them! Small town!
So that was how it all started for me, backyard beginnings.
And how it finishes for me in cycling? ….. I’ll be cycling until the stars stop shining! Racing will have it’s day, but the sweet feeling of two tyres and a bit of speed will never die!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
One goal down – 2 more to go!
It’s great to take the South Island Cup for the 2nd year, finishing with the same results as last year - two 1st places and a 3rd.
The final round of the South Island Cup was in Nelson, a similar course to last years nationals with almost the same conditions to keep us all honest…..MUD, and lots of it! Approaching this race I was aware it was going to be a challenge with more competition than the last 2 rounds. New Zealand Champ Stu Houltham was racing, plus on form rider George Bennett along with a handful of North Island riders.
The race started fast on the main climb which split the field straight away, the pace was a little fierce for me so I backed off and found my own rhythm. At the end of the 1st lap I was in 4th but soon went to 5th when flying Junior Richard Anderson came past and left me wondering if I was having a good day. My descending was appalling and I was loosing time. I was starting to panic but soon got my mind into the race and got the flow going by the start of the 3rd lap where I put in a surge in the big ring up the main climb and pulled back some time. From there I knew I’d grovelled back into the podium positions.
The last 2 laps were good and finally passing Stu Houltham moved me into 3rd spot, fast closing down on my team mate Carl Jones who was riding really well. To get 2nd I had to climb like a demon and catch Carl by the top of the climb before we got into the descents but just couldn’t quite do it had to settle for 3rd. George Bennett was 2 and a half minutes ahead of Carl. I was 15 seconds behind Carl.
I was happy with 3rd. I raced hard and was pleased with my last half of the race, I know where I messed up and will work on that over the next month.
I’m now looking forward to some weekends off racing and staying put in Wellington with Bex for the next three weeks. One of the goals is to do a recky of the Karapoti course plus some good ride time on the Nationals course at Mt Vic.
The final round of the South Island Cup was in Nelson, a similar course to last years nationals with almost the same conditions to keep us all honest…..MUD, and lots of it! Approaching this race I was aware it was going to be a challenge with more competition than the last 2 rounds. New Zealand Champ Stu Houltham was racing, plus on form rider George Bennett along with a handful of North Island riders.
The race started fast on the main climb which split the field straight away, the pace was a little fierce for me so I backed off and found my own rhythm. At the end of the 1st lap I was in 4th but soon went to 5th when flying Junior Richard Anderson came past and left me wondering if I was having a good day. My descending was appalling and I was loosing time. I was starting to panic but soon got my mind into the race and got the flow going by the start of the 3rd lap where I put in a surge in the big ring up the main climb and pulled back some time. From there I knew I’d grovelled back into the podium positions.
The last 2 laps were good and finally passing Stu Houltham moved me into 3rd spot, fast closing down on my team mate Carl Jones who was riding really well. To get 2nd I had to climb like a demon and catch Carl by the top of the climb before we got into the descents but just couldn’t quite do it had to settle for 3rd. George Bennett was 2 and a half minutes ahead of Carl. I was 15 seconds behind Carl.
I was happy with 3rd. I raced hard and was pleased with my last half of the race, I know where I messed up and will work on that over the next month.
I’m now looking forward to some weekends off racing and staying put in Wellington with Bex for the next three weeks. One of the goals is to do a recky of the Karapoti course plus some good ride time on the Nationals course at Mt Vic.
Monday, January 18, 2010
2 rounds, 2 wins!
I came back from the 1st round of the South Island Cup like an old person, legs were smashed at the start of the week and it was first up, first dibs on the car in the morning instead of riding the famous wainui hill to work.
These couple of days off the bike, along with some serious eating and muscle recovery set me up for the next hit at the South Island Cup Series - Dunedin.
The good weather hung about making for a fast course, the same one will be used for the upcoming Oceania Games in March. It was about 6.5ks a lap, 6 laps for Elite.
Having just flown in the morning of the race I was a bit stressed to discover my front rotor was bent. Time ticked away as I attempted to sort it out, in the end borrowing one (thanks heaps to Steve from Invercargill!).
The race started fast with the juniors fighting for the lead heading into the first single track section. I held back and wound up the pace leading into the first climb, establishing a gap by the second lap on Brad Hudson which I was able to extend to about 40 seconds and then hold for the remainder of the race.
The climbs were great, was able to give them a bit of a drilling, taking it easy down the descents and having a bit of fun with the course. The main descent was a bit tacky with steep off camber sections and tree roots, I enjoyed the little ramp drop offs and jumps.
Again it was a long race by cross country standards, total race time for me was 2hrs 15, after a similar length race in Christchurch. It will be interesting to see what finishing times the remaining South Island Cup race and the North Island Cups will be. If NZ mountainbiking organizers want to draw the crowds, riders and make the racing faster perhaps they should be aiming for a winners time of 2 hours or less…World Cups are sometimes under 2 hours, Swiss Cups were sometimes down to 1 hour 45mins with laps as short as 3.5k. Just something to consider to bring the speed back into our cross country racing.
It was a bit disappointing to see only a few elite riders riding in Dunedin, but awesome to see the standard of junior riders coming through. I’m looking forward to Nelson round with a few more guns lining up – will be a more challenging race and the end of a 3 good racing weekends for me. I’m ready to battle it out and wanting to take the hat-trick!
These couple of days off the bike, along with some serious eating and muscle recovery set me up for the next hit at the South Island Cup Series - Dunedin.
The good weather hung about making for a fast course, the same one will be used for the upcoming Oceania Games in March. It was about 6.5ks a lap, 6 laps for Elite.
Having just flown in the morning of the race I was a bit stressed to discover my front rotor was bent. Time ticked away as I attempted to sort it out, in the end borrowing one (thanks heaps to Steve from Invercargill!).
The race started fast with the juniors fighting for the lead heading into the first single track section. I held back and wound up the pace leading into the first climb, establishing a gap by the second lap on Brad Hudson which I was able to extend to about 40 seconds and then hold for the remainder of the race.
The climbs were great, was able to give them a bit of a drilling, taking it easy down the descents and having a bit of fun with the course. The main descent was a bit tacky with steep off camber sections and tree roots, I enjoyed the little ramp drop offs and jumps.
Again it was a long race by cross country standards, total race time for me was 2hrs 15, after a similar length race in Christchurch. It will be interesting to see what finishing times the remaining South Island Cup race and the North Island Cups will be. If NZ mountainbiking organizers want to draw the crowds, riders and make the racing faster perhaps they should be aiming for a winners time of 2 hours or less…World Cups are sometimes under 2 hours, Swiss Cups were sometimes down to 1 hour 45mins with laps as short as 3.5k. Just something to consider to bring the speed back into our cross country racing.
It was a bit disappointing to see only a few elite riders riding in Dunedin, but awesome to see the standard of junior riders coming through. I’m looking forward to Nelson round with a few more guns lining up – will be a more challenging race and the end of a 3 good racing weekends for me. I’m ready to battle it out and wanting to take the hat-trick!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Living it up at Living Springs
It’s all started, the much talked about national cross country circuit, south island cup, north island cup, one off nationals….opinions are varied but at the end of the day it’s great to have a racing circuit to pick and choose from and to test out the legs on.
Christchurch was host to another big weekend of cycling, not too unlike the recent Festival of Cycling with a range of disciplines hitting the road and tracks hard. While the crowds would have been obviously drawn to Sunday mornings Elite Road Nationals it was awesome to have a Cross Country circuit with heaps of supporters out there lining the track. Thanks to all those people who were calling out my name….it’s great motivation!
I enjoyed being back in the scene and catching up with other riders, while it was a smaller field than I would have expected it was still dotted with riders wanting to check out their own and others form at this early stage of the season. The 6k circuit which we ended up doing 7 laps of was filled with demanding climbs and rewarding flowing descents. Hot weather made for a great dry track. Living Springs is definitely a good spot for Christchurch locals to make use of, awesome views and well formed tracks.
I started fast, which worked well, I had a few followers in the first 100m who I was able to work a gap on as the first lap progressed, then it was all about lengthening the gap each lap. The biggest challenge was from Anton Cooper racing in the Under 19’s who ramped it up in his 5th and last lap to pull the gap closer and take out the win in his category. Unfortunately Richard Anderson who was racing Anton had a nasty crash, good to hear today that he hasn’t broken any bones.
I’m loving the X-link rear suspension on my Bergamont when hitting rough grounds at full pace, a sweet race. Hopefully there is some pace in the field at Dunedin next week to give the spectators something to get excited about. I’ll be hitting it hard and enjoy the Dunedin circuit.
With three weekends in a row of travel and racing it’s going to be a month for managing food, sleep and training effort … with Bex still on school holidays it should be easy to manage between the two of us.
Christchurch was host to another big weekend of cycling, not too unlike the recent Festival of Cycling with a range of disciplines hitting the road and tracks hard. While the crowds would have been obviously drawn to Sunday mornings Elite Road Nationals it was awesome to have a Cross Country circuit with heaps of supporters out there lining the track. Thanks to all those people who were calling out my name….it’s great motivation!
I enjoyed being back in the scene and catching up with other riders, while it was a smaller field than I would have expected it was still dotted with riders wanting to check out their own and others form at this early stage of the season. The 6k circuit which we ended up doing 7 laps of was filled with demanding climbs and rewarding flowing descents. Hot weather made for a great dry track. Living Springs is definitely a good spot for Christchurch locals to make use of, awesome views and well formed tracks.
I started fast, which worked well, I had a few followers in the first 100m who I was able to work a gap on as the first lap progressed, then it was all about lengthening the gap each lap. The biggest challenge was from Anton Cooper racing in the Under 19’s who ramped it up in his 5th and last lap to pull the gap closer and take out the win in his category. Unfortunately Richard Anderson who was racing Anton had a nasty crash, good to hear today that he hasn’t broken any bones.
I’m loving the X-link rear suspension on my Bergamont when hitting rough grounds at full pace, a sweet race. Hopefully there is some pace in the field at Dunedin next week to give the spectators something to get excited about. I’ll be hitting it hard and enjoy the Dunedin circuit.
With three weekends in a row of travel and racing it’s going to be a month for managing food, sleep and training effort … with Bex still on school holidays it should be easy to manage between the two of us.
Ride hard not long :)
Monday, January 4, 2010
Seeing in the New Year
My last week of holidays has been relaxing and enjoyable. Bex and I took off up to the ‘naki for a few days. We hit up Lake Mangamahoe, on the way into New Plymouth from the south. I had some good days of training on tracks that are very different to those here in Wellington, there were some really cool steep damp descents with lots of tight single track and plenty of tree roots. I’ve been testing out my stealth new riding kit, Fifty3eleven, designed and produced in Christchurch and supplied to me by Andrew Widdup. Stoked that he’s started to manufacture mens gear after the success of his Athena range for the ladies. The Fifty3eleven kit is well constructed, uses quality fabrics and chamois and has a great fit. 
Back in Wellington it’s been a windy couple of days – making for some dicey moments up on the Skyline track behind our place….literally blown off my bike and bracing myself against the hill! Bex keeps telling me it makes me stronger….a Wellington girl at heart! Also have had a chance to explore some of the Belmont Regional Park by mountain bike and knock off my first timed climb of Paekakariki hill on my road bike (10mins 24 seconds….about 3.8kms of solid climbing)
Whether it’s the wind or not, I feel I’m ready to tackle the first round of the NZ MTB Cup Series in Christchurch on Sunday. I have great memories of the Living Springs tracks after a successful (and hilarious) South Island Single Speed champs there last year. Unfortunately for the spectators this weekend there will be no pink pajamas, gorillas, near nudity or beer sculling on course….but here’s hoping there will be fast and furious racing instead.
Work first though – it will be good to be back into the routine – hope everyone enjoyed their new years break wherever it was and that you got some good k’s in.
Back in Wellington it’s been a windy couple of days – making for some dicey moments up on the Skyline track behind our place….literally blown off my bike and bracing myself against the hill! Bex keeps telling me it makes me stronger….a Wellington girl at heart! Also have had a chance to explore some of the Belmont Regional Park by mountain bike and knock off my first timed climb of Paekakariki hill on my road bike (10mins 24 seconds….about 3.8kms of solid climbing)
Whether it’s the wind or not, I feel I’m ready to tackle the first round of the NZ MTB Cup Series in Christchurch on Sunday. I have great memories of the Living Springs tracks after a successful (and hilarious) South Island Single Speed champs there last year. Unfortunately for the spectators this weekend there will be no pink pajamas, gorillas, near nudity or beer sculling on course….but here’s hoping there will be fast and furious racing instead.
Work first though – it will be good to be back into the routine – hope everyone enjoyed their new years break wherever it was and that you got some good k’s in.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)